The Race For A New Game Machine

Transitions between one generation of gaming consoles to another is always risky business, but when you're tasked to help design the processors needed to power the next-generation machines of a multi-billion dollar industry - and invent the technology to do it - the pressure can be intense. With the publication of The Race For A New Game Machine, authors David Shippy and Mickie Phipps take readers on an impressive journey through the design and development of what would become the famed Cell processor, a joint collaboration between Sony, Toshiba, and IBM.

We recently had the opportunity to chat with both about the book that's lighting up the tech world, and in the process helps shine a light into the secretive world of processor development and industrial intrigue. With its intriguing blend of historical narrative and unique look on management, The Race For A New Game Machine is sure to please those wanting an in-depth look into the creation of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 gaming consoles during one of the most unique moments in the history of interactive entertainment.

First of all, congratulations on the book! If you wouldn’t mind introducing yourselves to our readers and take the opportunity to plug the reason we’re all here today!

DS: The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles have changed the face of home entertainment forever, but until now, few people knew the amazing story of how those machines were created. Mickie Phipps and I wrote our book, “The Race for a New Game Machine,” to shine a light on this fascinating work and the brilliant engineers who shattered industry records. Mickie and I met in the Sony/Toshiba/IBM Design Center in Austin, Texas where together we led the multi-corporation design team that created the PowerPC microprocessor core, better known as the “brains” common to both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 chips. So the book provides a true insider’s perspective. When I came to the STI Design Center, I already had nearly twenty years of experience working on microprocessor architecture and design for high-performance chips for notebook computers, desktop computers, high-end servers and mainframes. And then, I spent five years (from 2001 to 2006) as IBM’s chief architect and technical leader for the PowerPC core. During that time, I helped define Sony’s design for the PlayStation 3 processor and Microsoft’s design for the processor chip inside the Xbox 360.

MP: I’d been at IBM for about four years when Chekib Akrout, the Vice President in charge of IBM’s work on the PlayStation 3 chip, pulled me into the STI Design Center. For two and a half years, I was the second line Functional Manager and Project Manager for a worldwide team of more than 240 engineers that were designing the PowerPC Core for the PlayStation 3 chip, and then later, for the Xbox 360 chip. I held ultimate responsibility for the PowerPC core schedule, the product, and the team. Prior to coming to IBM, I spent twenty years with the United States Air Force, first as an active duty officer, later as a civil servant, and then finally as a Reservist. Most of my service centered on research and development of next generation airborne weapons, so leading a chip design team was exciting, new work for me.

Now before we settle in, I have a question regarding the legality of documenting the development of these high-powered processors while you were employed by IBM. Surely the details of conversations and corporate strategy (particularly relevant given the level of security involved) would have been muffled by some iron-clad NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) from the legal gods.

Yet, here we have a rather compelling account of multiple industry rivals competing for the most advanced technology ever seen and willing to spend billions to get it. Given the legal and technical hurdles involved, how did “The Race for a New Game Machine” come about?

The book “The Race for a New Game Machine” is an amazing story which provides an inside view of the fascinating work and the brilliant engineers who shattered industry records in designing the microprocessor chips for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The book details the characters and the accomplishments of this extraordinary team. The book does not disclose any proprietary information.

Isn’t it funny how stories on the internet can take on a life of their own? Early peeks and snippets pegged the book a sensationalized account of the Cell processor’s creation, and how Sony may have inadvertently contributed to the development of the Xbox 360. But the actual read is far less sinister, although no less compelling.

Were you surprised at how quickly the media – particularly the enthusiast gaming press – latched onto this potentially scandalous tale that suggested professional incompetence on Sony’s part, and the ethical negligence of IBM? Surely the controversy (even manufactured controversy) can’t be bad for book sales…

Yes, actually, we were rather surprised by the speed that the Wall Street Journal article spread across the blogging population, particularly gamers. Some spun off on to tangents that didn’t line up with the true story, but we knew it would get straightened out as soon as the book came out. And it did.

I was surprised to see a few glaring omissions regarding the history of the videogame industry, “Do Your Homework,” particularly with the complete omission of Nintendo’s role in resurrecting the industry post-Atari.

I bring this up because many have drawn parallels to the failed partnership between Sony and Nintendo, in which the former was contracted to create a CD-ROM attachment for the latter’s 16-bit console. Disagreements led each party to go their separate ways, the result being Nintendo losing their virtual stranglehold on the industry, replaced by Sony with a machine whose creation they helped fund.

Were you at all familiar with this juicy bit of gaming history and if so can you see any corollaries between the Sony/Nintendo anecdote and the development of the Cell/Xenon processors? Or more appropriately, how the insistence of specific technology may have contributed to the relative success/failures of each company’s platform?

Our intent in documenting the rise of video games was not to draw parallels or to be exhaustive, but to give a taste for how much back story really existed. We assumed that many of our readers would be like we were when we started working on chip design for the game machines: relatively unfamiliar with that rich history. We tried to capture the highlights, but it’s not surprising that someone with a long-term connection to the gaming world might spot holes.

Sony’s Ken Kutaragi is a presence throughout the book, and while his portrayal in the book was generally favorable, his comment that “Eight is beautiful” used to justify a surprise addition to the chip – increasing the Synergistic cores from 6 to 8 – reminded me of similar statements made throughout the PlayStation 3’s launch cycle.

Industry analysts were quick to point to Kutaragi’s increasingly odd behavior and strange (and public) musings as significant reasons for his departure from Sony. Looking back on your experiences with him, do you think this is a fair assessment?

Probably a lot of that has been sensationalized. Kutaragi-san provided our design team and their parent companies with a bold vision that coalesced into the world’s fastest microprocessors and a paradigm shift in home computing. He was a unique and highly intelligent leader, one much admired by everyone on the team. His style and the words he chose to use were sometimes confusing to the Americans on the team, but not to the Japanese. His statement about “eight is beautiful” was more a testament to the cultural differences we dealt with than it was evidence of his odd behavior. We didn’t always understand him, but that didn’t diminish our respect for him.

Over the years Microsoft has built a reputation for competing aggressively with and – let me be charitable – destroying their competition. Isn’t it possible that Microsoft approached IBM in 2002 with at least partial knowledge of these high-end processors in development and was looking to forgo start-up development costs by piggybacking on research instigated by the STI alliance? A later chapter in the book suggests the company adept at ‘crawling’ through Sony patent filings and informed with insider information.

The implication of course being the next-generation Xbox console developed, at least partially, on Sony’s dime. Could this be the ultimate act of corporate hubris, or just spectacular dumb luck on Microsoft’s part in choosing who (and when) would develop the Xbox 360’s Xenon CPU?

While we do not believe there was anything sinister in Microsoft’s actions, it was far from dumb luck. As we describe in the book, there were, and still are, very few companies that have both the design skill and the silicon fabrication skill necessary to pull off a project of this magnitude. They needed cutting edge, custom design work. IBM was a natural choice and deserved to be seriously considered when Microsoft went looking for a partner. If they had insider knowledge or were trying to covertly leverage Sony’s work, it was never apparent to us. Nor do we believe it. Secrecy was the name of the game, and both Microsoft and Sony went to extreme lengths to keep their plans hidden.

Your accounting of Microsoft’s Robbie Bach was quite favorable, especially towards his management style and expansive vision for the Xbox 360. Given the competitive nature of both Microsoft and Sony and how they’ve handled their respective machines, do you think this admiration was justified?

Yes, we do still hold the same admiration for Robbie Bach. The competitive strategies we’ve witnessed have been intense and targeted, but it’s just business as usual. It’s do or die in the consumer market, and survival forces contenders to bare their teeth sometimes.

So after years in development and billions invested, do you think the efforts made by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM in creating the Cell processor was worth it? In your opinion, were the companies able to meet their lofty ambitions?

It doesn’t appear that IBM plans to adopt the Cell chip as their one-size-fits-all solution, but they and their Japanese partners are all pushing forward with it in various products. Was it worth it? From an engineer’s standpoint, a resounding yes! The lessons we learned about microprocessor design, the quantum leaps we made in putting a supercomputer on a chip, and the potential for continued learning and product development makes it all more than worthwhile. The marketing and sales people may not see it that way today, but we think that in time, history will prove that the money invested provided a critical step up in high speed microprocessors. Did the companies reach their lofty goals? Probably not, but that’s a statement today and we hope it will change from a future perspective.

Back on the subject of Nintendo, the Wii console has easily outperformed both its more powerful competitors, thanks in part to its unique controls and appeal to previously underserved markets.

Given the fact that the most powerful hardware has never been the dominant platform, was Sony – and to some extent Microsoft – wrong in assuming they would continue to dominate the market based on performance-technology alone? Or were there other factors – a worldwide economic recession among them – at play here? Any thoughts on this?

The PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are both targeted at completely different market than the Wii. With its unique motion sensor technology, the Wii is a fun, interactive toy that appeals to kids and is a blast at parties. But for hard-core gamers who spend hours every day pushing their skills, competing with players around the world, the speed and realism achieved by the either the PlayStation 3 or the Xbox 360 is impossible to duplicate in the Wii. Having said that, with the economy the way is, there are only so many dollars anyone can apply towards entertainment. That’s also got to have a bearing on who’s winning the war.

This question is specifically for David, who seems to have found respect for the gaming history through the experience, and enjoys playing them with his family. Any thoughts about the current console race, and are you surprised at how both the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been received, particularly within the development community?

The Xbox 360 and PS3 are both very sophisticated game machines and have been favorably adopted by hardcore gamers. I do enjoy playing games with my family and the online capability is amazing. The Wii is an interesting game machine, but I still believe it has some catching up to do on performance to compete with the Xbox 360 and PS3 and capture the hardcore gamers.

We just wanted to thank you once again for taking the time to chat it up with us, and wish you both the best of success with the book. If I might ask, what’s next for David Shippy and Mickie Phipps in the future?

DS: I am currently Vice President of Engineering at Intrinsity, a chip design company in Austin, Texas, that develops high performance microprocessors. I intend to continue pursuing my engineering goals for working on cutting edge technology and leading teams to success.

MP: And I’m living my dream. I have the luxury of being a full-time writer, which has been a life-long passion for me. I will be writing both fiction and non-fiction books.

If you're interested in reading more from The Race For A New Game Machine, head over to your favorite bookseller now, or just click on the cover just below!