AGEIA PhysX SDK for PLAYSTATION 3

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, March 21, 2006, 10:30 AM EDT

AGEIA PhysX SDK for PLAYSTATION 3, Optimized for Cell Processor, to be Available on March 31st

Multithreaded AGEIA PhysX SDK Version 2.4 Offers Fully Parallelized Performance on PLAYSTATION 3

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.- March 21, 2006 - AGEIA Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that the latest version of AGEIA PhysX SDK version 2.4 will become available to registered PLAYSTATION 3 game content developers on March 31, 2006.

The AGEIA PhysX SDK is highly recognized for its extensive physics functionality and multithreading capabilities, which are uniquely suited for the multicore architecture of the Cell processor adopted on PLAYSTATION 3. The latest AGEIA PhysX SDK version 2.4 is optimized for the Cell processor, adding mind-blowing physics action to the high-definition graphics of PLAYSTATION 3 titles.

In the 2.4 release, several components of the AGEIA PhysX pipeline have been offloaded from the PPU of the PLAYSTATION 3 to the SPUs; developers can fully control the component deployment. This has resulted in a 50% reduction in maximum PPU load, leaving more room for game code and smooth frame rates.

"Real-time physical simulation is the new frontier in computer entertainment, and the PLAYSTATION 3 will lead the way with the help of AGEIA PhysX technology," said Dominic Mallinson, Vice President of US R&D for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "Our collaboration with AGEIA will provide PLAYSTATION 3 developers with another powerful tool enabling the creation of amazingly rich and realistic interactive entertainment."

"The debut of the PLAYSTATION 3 is one of the most anticipated launches in the history of games, and we're extremely pleased that AGEIA PhysX technology will be a part of it," said Manju Hegde, founder and CEO of AGEIA. "With AGEIA PhysX technology available for PLAYSTATION 3, PLAYSTATION 3 content creators will have the tools they need to create a new era in action-packed, physics-enabled games." READ MORE...

Tags: ATI, PhysX, PlayStation, SDK, PlayStation 3, SD, Play, Ageia, tat, stat, AG, PLA, K

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com