128-bit processors and game cubes

I thought the GameCube was 64

No, I''m pretty sure the Nintendo 64 was the 64-bit one

/John

Idiotic marketing. Consoles have something like SSE or altivec, and it gets called "128-bit".

Are you saying that so-called 128-bit game-cubes do not actually have 128-bit processors?! Shock! Horror! I wonder what the 128 refers to then - is it something to do with graphix?

Also: How are games for consoles designed - on PCs? Or with some fancy bit of electronic kit?

Console games are written on the PC, compiled through an appropriate compiler for the system, and the game is tested on a test system.

---------------------------------------------------
laziness is the foundation of efficiency
retrospiral.net | llamas! | megatokyo | FreeBSD | gamedev.net | google

From what I seen the Gamecube doesn''t advertise being "128 bit", if memory serves the processor is 64bit. Comparing the bits of the 3 consoles and a PC really don''t amount to anything.

quote:

---

Original post by sjelkjd
Idiotic marketing.

---

Bitness hasn''t featured in console marketing since the N64.

poppet dumass

---

[ Cannabis mythology | Nested quotes | HTML Character Entities | M$ ]

This post was made from Mozilla Firebird

well one reason is, it would cost a ton of money for everyone to upgrade their 32bit computers to 64 or better. chips like the pentium and duron''s have to be a multi-purpose processor and not just chew game logic all day long.

The main reason why PCs haven''t bumped up to 64-bit is because of the compatibility problems they''d have with all the old software. Everything would have to be run in an emulator, which is easily done, but it defeats the purpose of having the 64 bit processor.

---------------------------------------------------
laziness is the foundation of efficiency
retrospiral.net | llamas! | megatokyo | FreeBSD | gamedev.net | google

here is a little on consoles. They do have 128 bit processors. But they are BAD. They are around 250 MHz. Thats what the PS2 is. The X-Box has a 32-bit. it uses a PIII 730MHz. I have no clue what the Gamecube uses. Simply put, the 128 bits are microprocessors and low MHz.

Scott Simontis
Game Programmer in Training
Have a nice day!
Current Project: Waiting for OpenGL Game Programming Book

quote:

---

Original post by zer0wolf
The main reason why PCs haven''t bumped up to 64-bit is because of the compatibility problems they''d have with all the old software. Everything would have to be run in an emulator, which is easily done, but it defeats the purpose of having the 64 bit processor.

---

Not if you use x86-64!!!

So why ARE consoles 64-bit? If PCs are fine with 32-bit processors why does for example the N64 need to be 64-bit?

What I''m getting at is this: If you take the processor out of an N64 and made a PC with it, would this be equivielent in processing power to a PC built with one of the new 64-bit processors?

quote:

---

Original post by Voice Of Tango
Bitness hasn''t featured in console marketing since the N64.

poppet dumass

---

[ Cannabis mythology | Nested quotes | HTML Character Entities | M$ ]

This post was made from Mozilla Firebird

---

Nope. It was common knowledge that the sega genesis and snes were 16 bit because of marketing.


--------------------------------------------
"What you think you see is only as real as your brain tells you it is."

"do or ddo noot. Tere si mo tyr."
- YodaTheCoda

I believe that all consoles have 32-bit processors, just their memory interface is 128 bit or their graphics processor or memory is 128-bit.

I remember reading an artical when the PS2''s specs where anounced. They were better than current PCs in many ways and people were confused as to why. The main thing was that computers cant realy advance quickly because they have to stay compatible with the orginal computers. Consoles don''t have any such restrictions.


-------------------------------------------------------------

I''m Afraid your opinion is wrong as it does not reflect my own.

quote:

---

Original post by Village Specialton
here is a little on consoles. They do have 128 bit processors. But they are BAD. They are around 250 MHz. Thats what the PS2 is. The X-Box has a 32-bit. it uses a PIII 730MHz. I have no clue what the Gamecube uses. Simply put, the 128 bits are microprocessors and low MHz.

Scott Simontis
Game Programmer in Training
Have a nice day!
Current Project: Waiting for OpenGL Game Programming Book

---

no. the PS2 does not have a 128-bit processor. the EE (R5900) is a 64-bit MIPS III-IV ISA CPU. the main reason the PS2 is touted as a 128-bit console is the data/DMA BUS is 128-bits wide. and while the general purpose and vector registers are 128-bits wide, the PS2 only supports SIMD (single-instruction multiple-data) instructions at 128-bits. i.e. MMX/SSE. moreover the PS2 does not even support 64-bit integer multiplication/division or any 64-bit floating point instructions.....

the GameCube is based on a 64-bit PowerPC processor.



To the vast majority of mankind, nothing is more agreeable than to escape the need for mental exertion... To most people, nothing is more troublesome than the effort of thinking.

but ya doubling the number every 5 years is purely marketeing for better looking games. they want tell you that hey buy my new console its 256 bits. thats 2X better them anything out their, but in reality its misleading. course your pc would run all those games just fine if you had a geforce card or better in most cases.

quote:

---

course your pc would run all those games just fine if you had a geforce card or better in most cases.

---

Throw in the fact that the games on a tv based console only need to run at 640x480 (or slightly different for PAL or SECAM) and yes, you are correct.

quote:

---

Original post by AnonymousPosterChild

quote:

---

Original post by Voice Of Tango
Bitness hasn''t featured in console marketing since the N64.

---

Nope. It was common knowledge that the sega genesis and snes were 16 bit because of marketing.

---

What''s your point? They were before the N64.

poppet dumass

---

[ Cannabis mythology | Nested quotes | HTML Character Entities | M$ ]

This post was made from Mozilla Firebird