Digital Journal — With each passing week, Nintendo’s next-generation console is looking more like a winner than a passé stalwart playing catch-up.
As PlayStation 3 disappoints fans with news it would only deliver half the units by the holiday shopping season, the Nintendo Wii is attracting headlines for its innovative design and performance. Also, its dedication to a pre-holiday launch is earning kudos. Case in point: IBM is shipping millions of microprocessors to Nintendo in order to keep the gaming company on track for a November release.
IBM’s “Broadway” chip is a 90-nanometer process version of the 180-nm “Gekko” chip used in its GameCube console since 2001. IBM is tight-lipped about the chip’s extensive details, only revealing it’s designed specifically for the Wii, and that it draws 20 per cent less power than Gekko while boosting performance.
Nintendo is not the only winner here. IBM is looking like a genius by signing deals with Wii’s other gaming competitors, including the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. IBM’s reputation and stock will surely rise if every console maker exceeds expectations.
If we were gamblers, we wouldn’t put our money on black — we’d put it on Big Blue.
