IBM has been working with Microsoft for the past two years to develop a next generation processor specifically for “high definition gaming and entertainment.” In order to meet the demand, still unnamed processor, is being produced in both East Fishkill, NY and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing in Singapore. IBM engineers have been working on the chip since 2003 at three locations including, Rochester, Minnesota; Austin, Texas; and Raleigh, North Carolina.

The chip features a customized version of IBM’s industry leading 64-bit PowerPC core. The chip includes three of these cores, each with two simultaneous threads and clock speeds greater than 3 GHz. It features 165 million transistors and is fabricated using IBM’s 90 nanometer Silicon on Insulator (SOI) technology to reduce heat and improve performance. The chip’s innovative 21.6 GB/s Front Side Bus (FSB) Architecture was customized to meet the demanding throughput and latency requirements of the Xbox 360 gaming platform software.

Other Xbox 360 chip features include:

* C 3 identical multi-threaded PowerPC-based CPU cores operating at 3.2 GHz enhanced with specialized function VMX acceleration for gaming applications and high speed 128 bit vector unit

* C 1 MByte Shared L2 Cache with custom logic for high-speed data streaming for graphics and system applications

* C 5.4 Gb/s per-pin Front Side Bus (with an aggregated bandwidth of 21.6 GBs)

* C Highly configurable and programmable utilizing e-fuse technology

Tecmo and Bungie will play nice in Dead or Alive 4 by including a female spartan. Dressed like our favorite alien stomping grunt, Master Chief, the female spartan will battle against DOA veterans.

X05 set the stage for Tecmo and Bungie Studios to reveal a surprising collaboration between the two Xbox lovin’ companies: a female Spartan would appear as a fighter in the upcoming Dead or Alive 4. It’s not quite Halo 3, but hey, it’s pretty close.

This is a little old, but we like the content. Programming The Nintendo Game Boy Advance is a free downloadable eBook, albeit split into seperate PDF files. I wish there was a combined PDF to download.

This unique and highly-anticipated book was not released in book stores due to legal problems with Nintendo. As a result, the “e-book” edition is available here, exclusively, for free as a downloadable PDF e-book

We like that despite the fact, the author did not get the book published, he didn’t drop it. And instead allowed people to download his book.

If you are interested in console programming this could give you a start.

Nintendo has joined McDonald’s in a plan to boost the appeal of it’s new online gaming service. McDonald’s will be hosting free wi-fi for the Nintendo DS, allowing customers to play against other people around the globe.

While MCD currently offers wi-fi in some restaurants, it’s not free.

“Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is simple to use. Beginning with free access at participating McDonald’s, we have removed one of the major barriers that have kept people from going online to play games.”

Nintendo will be launching its online gaming service on November 14, 2005. November will also mark the release of the first available online games for Nintendo DS, Mario Kart and Tony Hawk. With two more games coming by the end of the year, Animal Crossing: Wild World and Metroid Prime Hunters, the pickings are still very slim. It’s unknown whether the DS will be able to catch the PSP multiplayer line up.

While awaiting the arrival of the highly anticipated FPS game Quake 4 in none other than #Quake4 (EFnet) tonight I ran into a guy (dyntix) who was telling me about some killer FPS game named .kkrieger: chapter 1 that believe it or not only has the the footprint of 96KB yet delivers Quake 4 equivalent graphics.. I couldn’t believe it.

After visiting the developers website and spending almost a nanosecond downloading, I ran the single binary. It began to what appeared to be some sort of decompression which took less than a minute. A demo began and after hitting a button a menu was brought up with the option to start a new game. I was immediately immersed with extremely high quality graphics with very accurate lighting and shadowing models coupled with an almost perfect representation of a long never ending hallway. I couldn’t believe it. I spent 15 mins going through the game demo and finally beating it. I felt so satisfied that someone could develop something so small that had such a large game feeling.

I thought to myself, if this guy can do this much with 65K, imagine what he could do with an entire DVD worth of space and about a year of his own time! Watch out Carmack!

Download the free game here.

dyntix also had a couple of other great links that I thought I’d pass along:

(dyntix) check this one, free: http://wouter.fov120.com/cube/
(dyntix) supports multiplayer too
(dyntix) there is one more, http://www.nexuiz.com/index.php?module=media

Yeah, you think you’re cool with your $85 Aéropostale belt? I think not! From the guys who brought you the original NES buckle, they have done it again, this time with the classic Atari joystick belt buckle.

I can’t help but say “Is that an Atari joystick or are you just happy to see me?”

They have a ton of funny pics on their website.

Even people who don’t play World of Warcraft heard about the Corrupted Blood spell. (Side note: the fact that wikipedia has an entry on it, blows my mind.) If you didn’t know, the Corrupted Blood event in WoW was not by design. It was a simulated virus that seemed to take on a life of it’s own. Now researchers are wondering if such a game could be use to model real-world disasters.

All Things Considered, October 5, 2005 · A recent outbreak of a “plague” in a popular online game has scientists considering how the virtual world may provide clues to what people would do in real-world pandemics. In the role-playing game World of Warcraft, a “corrupted blood” spell killed characters and affected players in unexpected ways.

In NPR tradition, text is not available, it’s streaming media only.

Leeeeeeeeeeeeeroyyyyyyyy Jenkins!

Peter Jackson has been recruited to produce the big screen version of Halo. While it is a popular game and single-handedly catapulted the Xbox into must own territory - few, if any, games have translated well to the movies. They often contain cheesy acting, lame plots, b-movie actors, and often don’t resemble the game in question. But Peter Jackson, having successfully directed the Lord of the Rings movies, could change all that.

Peter Jackson is a avid fan of the Halo series, and says he cannot wait to work on the movie. And if he shows commitment to this movie as he did to LOTR, I think we will all be in for a real treat.

Of course, I would just be happy if he would make The Hobbit.

All I have to say is it’s about time…

Besides your regular bug fixes, EA has choosen to add a couple of goodies and extras to this patch, most notibly a new map. You can check out the complete details in the Community Update and if you’re a geek like us, you’ll want to have a look at the ChangeLog.

Direct Downloads:
bf2_patch_103.exe - SuperDuper Fast Mirror (171MB)
bf2_patch_103.exe - EA Official FTP (171MB)
bf2_server_103.exe - EA Official FTP (128MB)
bf2-linuxded-1.1.2551.0-installer.zip - EA Official FTP (133MB)

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a known issue with MOD autoactivation in 1.03 dealing with passworded servers. If you are attempting to join a passworded server of any kind, be sure to manually activate the MOD in question before trying to join (this also applies to connecting to passworded retail BF2 servers if you currently have a different Mod activated).

GameStop is offering an XBOX 360 bundle labeled “The Omega Bundle” that comes packed with not only an XBOX 360 but a 42″ Dell Plasma TV, 20 games, 3 extra wireless controllers and much much more. See below.

This Xbox 360 Omega Bundle with Dell Plasma TV includes the following items:

1. Xbox 360 System
2. Dell 42 Inch Plasma TV
3. Perfect Dark Collector’s Edition
4. Project Gotham Racing 3
5. Kameo: Elements of Power
6. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
7. Dead or Alive 4
8. Call of Duty 2
9. GUN
10. Quake 4
11. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
12. Condemned
13. Madden NFL 06
14. Amped 3
15. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
16. NBA 2K6
17. NHL 2K6
18. Top Spin 2
19. Ridge Racer 6
20. Need For Speed: Most Wanted
21. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06
22. Frame City Killer
23. 3 Xbox 360 Wireless Controllers
24. Xbox 360 64 MB Memory Unit
25. Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit
26. Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery
27. Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter
28. Fuego Faceplate
29. Xbox Live 12 Month Card
30. 1 Year Product Replacement Plan