PS3 Gets PhysX from NVIDIA

Thanks to a new tools and middleware license agreement between NVIDIA and Sony, game developers may find the PlayStation 3 to be a more attractive platform. As a result of the agreement, registered PS3 developers will now have access to the NVIDIA PhysX technology software development kit (SDK). The SDK will be a free download for use on the SCEI Developer Network.

The NVIDIA PhysX SDK gives developers, animators, level designers, and artists creative control over character and object physical interactions. Using this full-featured API and robust physics engine, developers will be able to author and preview physics in real time.

PhysX provides an exponential increase in physics processing power. This technology enables features such as explosions that cause dust and collateral debris, characters with life-like motion and interaction, dense smoke and fog that billows around objects in motion, and more. As a result of this partnership, games developed for the PS3 using PhysX technology will offer a more realistic and lifelike interactions between objects within a game.

NVIDIA bought Ageia, the manufacturer of the PhysX chip, in Feb. 2008. Ageia originally designed the PhysX API to work with its own hardware, but shortly after NVIDIA acquired the company, it announced plans to turn PhysX into a software API. NVIDIA later began releasing games to encourage support of the technology.

According to NVIDIA, its PhysX software has been adopted by over 150 games. In addition, PhysX is used by more than 10,000 registered users and is already supported by Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Nintendo’s Wii, and PCs fitted with a relatively new GeForce card.

The full press release is below:

NVIDIA PROVIDES PHYSICS TECHNOLOGY FOR PLAYSTATION®3

SANTA CLARA, CA—MARCH 17, 2009—NVIDIA® Corporation today announced that it has signed a tools and middleware license agreement for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI).  As a result, the NVIDIA PhysX technology SDK (binary) is now available to registered PS3 developers for free download and use on the SCEI Developer Network.

The NVIDIA PhysX software development kit (SDK) consists of a full-featured API and robust physics engine, designed to give developers, animators, level designers, and artists unprecedented creative control over character and object physical interactions by allowing them to author and preview physics in real time.

“NVIDIA is proud to support PLAYSTATION 3 as an approved middleware provider,” said Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA. “Games developed for the PLAYSTATION 3 using PhysX technology offer a more realistic and lifelike interaction between the games characters and other objects within the game. We look forward to the new games that will redefine reality for a new generation of gamers.”

The source code PhysX SDK for PS3 and all major gaming platforms are available for license directly from NVIDIA. For more information on licensing PhysX SDKs or NVIDIA PhysX technology, please visit: www.nvidia.com/physx.