More on Grid Computing and Gaming

securitas writes "Sony, IBM and Butterfly.net will announce and demonstrate a new grid computing network for PS2 online gaming at the Game Developers Conference next week. The network is based on Linux and the Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) and is designed to support millions of players. This is believed to be the first major consumer application of grid technology. Read the details at the NY Times, CNET and the Washington Post."

And here I thought....

[Kenja]

And here I thought the network interface for my PS2 I purchased was just a fancy means of colecting dust samples from the sournding area. You mean some one may release soem software for it after all this time?

well...

[borgdows]

is there really a major selling-point for the Xbox?!?

We're gonna need grid computers..

[Organic_Info]

We're gonna need grid computering soon to keep up with the hardware requirements for these new games.

There's no way I can keep up with the current hardware/game arms race thats going on.

imagine...

[dj_paulgibbs]

...a beowolf cluster of these!

Oh, wait...

Re:hmm

[Organic_Info]

"How is this different from Parallel computing?"

Its all in the pattern in which you arrange the servers.

Parallel, butteryfly, grid, hexagon, hypercube....... :)

crowded

[Rutje]

support millions of players
That's gonna be crowded on the GranTurisma race tracks...

Butterfly? .Net? hmmm...

[fbg111]

Sounds like MSN 8... Hope Sony's not going to get sued by MS for trademark infringement.

Re:hmm

[Organic_Info]

Yeah, running the cable for it would be fun as well. :)

Re:well...

[DemiKnute]

Technologically it beats the crap out of the PS2 although the game line-up could be better.

Yeah, you cannot beat the breast jiggling code that that there XBox has, no sirree.

Re:hmm

[lovebyte]

How is this different from Parallel computing?

If you go to venture capitalists to sell your brilliant and new idea on parallel computing, they will show you the door.

If you sed 's/parallel/grid/g', then they'll ask you 'How much do you want?'

Imagine ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine a beowulf cluster of ... uh ... nevermind.

Re:Console breakdown, reality crashes in...

[oncewasclever]

The xbox is running a x86 intel chip, I'm sure most of us here don't need to be reminded that the current x86 chips we use today are descendants of of chips designed purely to crunch numbers for business applications.

I'm sure most of us here don't need to be reminded that the numbers used in business applications are different to the numbers used in games. As an example, I offer for your consideration 19.99, a number most often associated with business applications. It is rare indeed to find such a number as this used in a game.

20, on the other hand, or even 100, are numbers commonly found in computer games. It could be argued that these numbers are found in business applications also, so instead I ask you to consider the venerable pi, or even the square root of two; numbers so intensely game-oriented they come with their own description!

In conclusion, I'd just like to say thank you.