Nvidia CEO Talks Next-Gen Consoles

kukyfrope writes "Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO of Nvidia recently shared his thoughts with the San Jose Mercury News about next-gen consoles, claiming that developing a chip for the 360 was too expensive and that the inclusion of a Blu-ray player will help the console last for 10 years. Huang also predicts that the 360 cannot afford to be a DVD-only system by Christmas 2007, likening the 360-DVD vs PS3-Blu-ray battle to the Dreamcast-CD vs PS2-DVD battle. 'The first PlayStation had a CD-ROM drive. The PlayStation 2 had DVD. It makes no sense for the PlayStation 3 to use DVDs. To postpone it by a few months so they could include Blu-ray was a master stroke. When that comes out, it's going to look so much more advanced than last-generation game consoles,' Huang said."

Of course Nvidia says it's a great move

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't Nvidia make the graphics chip for the PS3, but not the 360? Isn't that a bit like Firestone saying that Chevies are better than Fords because Fords use Goodyear tires, but the Chevies come with Firestone?

Blue-ray

[another_fanboy]

the inclusion of a Blu-ray player will help the console last for 10 years

How many consoles have games available ten years after launch?

"Advanced" for the sake of it...

[chudgoo]

The actual uses of Blu-Ray versus the initial outpouring of cash are the real concerns.
Dreamcast's failure had little to do with the storage medium as many games released for PS2
were also released for dreamcast. (Not every game USES the full capacity of the medium)

Another thing to think about is that the world hadn't had a *significant* change in home video formats
for more than a decade when DVD first surfaced. The public was ready and willing to buy into DVD.
This time around the *demand* simply doesn't exist. Sony will of course try to *generate* demand
via bruteforce marketing, but ultimately this may prove to be a mistake.

BTW. There does seem to be a slight hint of bitterness in his comments, which is understandable given
that EVERY one of the next-gen consoles are powered by their rival's GPUs. (ATI)

It seems odd for Nvidia to claim that developing a GPU for the 360 was too expensive when ATI managed to
do not only that, but the PS3 and Wii GPUs as well.

Nvidia dropped the ball big time by not developing a new GPU for at least one of the nextgen consoles...

Re:Blue-ray

[MaestroSartori]

That would be the PS1, and soon enough the PS2 I suspect. Unless developers suddenly ignore the huge number of people who own them, of course, which one would hope won't happen overnight!

Graphics aren't everthing...

[Albert.Three]

My issue with this article is that it assumes that the winner of the next-gen console war will be largely based on which console comes out on top as the graphics powerhouse between the PS3 and the 360. The fact that the PS3 has Blu-Ray and the 360 has the pedestrian DVD format is not going to swing buyers to Sony's side in and of itself. What will contribute to the success of the respective consoles will be the same thing (and arguably only thing) that has ever mattered when it comes to video games: the games themselves. Graphics will only take a console as far as they are able to make games that people want to play. The only thing that movitates anyone to go out and drop $XXX on a console is the fact that there is at least one game on it that they HAVE to play. I think that dispite all of the clamouring over prices and graphics power, in the buyers mind it will eventually come down to "do I want to play Halo 3 or Metal Gear Solid 4?" (or whatever the must have exclusive games end up being)

Advanced

[ludomancer]

...it's going to look so much more advanced than last-generation game consoles

Now there's an ignorant statement if I've ever read one. Since when did storage medium directly affect the talent and output of a development team? That's like saying your daughter will be a better driver if you buy her a Lexus instead of a Honda.

Dreamcast VS PS2 - Not the same thing...

[engagebot]

"360-DVD vs PS3-Blu-ray battle to the Dreamcast-CD vs PS2-DVD battle"

Eh, I'm not so sure about this. First of all, the Dreamcast didn't use a CD-ROM. It was a proprietary 'GD-ROM' that was actually a higher capacity disk (at least 1GB, i don't remember the details). The point wasn't that the dreamcast's media wasn't big enough to hold the content the developers were looking to put out, it was just that the machine didn't play DVD movies.

The 360 can play DVD movies just like the PS2 and PS3. It just can't play *BluRay* movies. The catch is, we're yet to find out whether people are even going to even care about that or not (format wars, HDTV requirement, DRM, etc).

Back then, one system had functionality that the other lacked, and that added functionality happened to be something that was important to alot of consumers. That being said, it surely wasn't the lack of DVD video functionality that broke SEGA.

We won't be seeing *games* that push the limits of each system's storage capacity for some time. Not to mention, most buyers buy the system that has the games they want to play. The only exception to that is a parent who doesn't care either way, so they'll more than likely opt for the cheaper (360/wii) or more kid-friendly (wii) of the bunch.

Re:Blue-ray

[steveo777]

Your post demands some clarification. I'm pretty sure you're talking about "Prince of Perisa: The Sands of Time" when you talk about an IP. Well, it's not the first. The first was on a Mac. It also made an appearnce on the SNES.

OTOH, it is sad that some incredible games (Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, Metal Arms: Glitch in the System) don't get the install base they deserve. Or perhaps the sequels they deserve. But I'm sure it has a lot to do with the fact that games aren't anywhere near as maketed as they have been in years gone by. Anybody remember how hyped FFVII was? It was on pop cans and all over the TV. VIII? IX? Nothing but a few magazine pages.

If pulishers aren't willing to tell everyone about their games, they shouldn't be suprised when nobody buys them. It seems like the few magazine ads and game interviews and previews is all any game really gets (unless it's from EA, then it might get a TV commercial or two).

Re:PS4 Release Date

[MBGMorden]

If they try this it will be the final nail in the coffin of this system. People buy console games because they just work. No wondering about "does in work on my version of the console or anything", just work.

There is a reason why only hardcore gamers play PC games more complicated than Solitaire or Tetris. They're the only ones with the time and energy to keep the system working with the latest games.

The consoles serve the rest of the market, and Sony is about to shoot themselves in the foot by messing this up.

DVD vs Blu-Ray

[BigNumber]

IMHO, the more advanced the console is, the less capacity it needs on the media. Back in the PS1 days, a large portion of the disk was dedicated to pre-rendered video and audio. The graphics on the new systems are advanced enough to produce the same quality video on-the-fly using an instruction set that is much smaller than the amount of space needed for the pre-rendered stuff.

So if the games don't need the extra space, the compatibility with movies is the only real reason to choose one media type over the other. Since I believe both new DVD formats (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray) will fail, the added cost to the PS3 isn't worth it.

Re:Advanced Is Great

[MrSquirrel]

Not to mention it's not like Blu-Ray is the GPU/CPU/RAM/controller -- it's just the media that the game comes on. DVD's already offer hefty storage, I have yet to own a game that takes more than 1 DVD (not counting bonus materials)... so having a Blu-Ray drive in a VIDEO GAME SYSTEM doesn't seem very important to me, or anyone who actually cares about gaming, considering it increases the price by $200 while increasing the level-o-fun by zero.