Nintendo Head Honcho Speaks. We Listen
Nintendo Director talks on all things GameCube and why the Nintendo 64 had such troubles.
At a recent press junket, Nintendo Japan director and general nice guy Mr Iwata, spoke about what is under the GameCube’s bonnet in terms of power, development methods and how the company has learnt from mistakes made with the N64
Q: Can you explain the early stages of development on the GameCube?
Iwata-san: Development began by analysing the problems of the Nintendo 64 and applying the solutions to our next console.
Q: What do you think were the problems of the N64?
Iwata-san: We went from the Super Famicom era of layered sprite graphics to full 3D with the Nintendo 64. There was a deterioration in terms of technical know-how and hardware restrictions which inhibited software development.
Q: Can you explain the hardware configuration of the GameCube?
Iwata-san: Sure, the layout is very simple. Generally speaking, it's divided into three parts; the video processor dubbed 'Flipper,' the memory portion dubbed 'Splash,' and the CPU dubbed 'Gekko.' The CPU was developed by IBM and is based on the PowerPC G3 line. It also includes a secondary cache of 256KB.
Q: Were these your original specifications?
Iwata-san: For the most part, yes. We realised a secondary cache was important during our probe of the problems with the Nintendo 64. That was mainly due to the disparity between processing speed and memory access. We knew a secondary cache would be vital for our next console, and that's what led us to the Gekko.
Q: What's the difference between the clock speed, and the CPU in the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube?
Iwata-san: It's about 4-5 times more powerful. The Nintendo 64 was approximately 93.75Mhz, while the Gekko runs at 485Mhz. If you take the secondary cache into consideration though, it's about ten times as powerful.
Q: What about the graphics processor, Flipper?
Iwata-san: It has built-in DRAM and even some audio related interfaces. All three components were built to work together for optimised performance. As you know, originally the GameCube was codenamed Dolphin and that explains the names of the components. The Flipper (graphics processor) is responsible for the locomotive power of the system, the Gekko (CPU) is the brain, and the Splash (memory) is what happens when everything works together.
Q: You've explained the Splash component as a memory buffer, partially used for textures. What about the memory built-in to the Flipper?
Iwata-san: As I mentioned, it features built in DRAM similar to the graphics processor of the PlayStation2. The memory basically helps with the bottlenecks associated with processing data at such high speeds. Also it creates a bus zone which allows parallel data processing. Technically the function of the memory on the graphics processor is similar to the PlayStation2, though the approach is completely different.
Q: Can you explain the texture compression capabilities of GameCube?
Iwata-san: The technology was developed by an American company, and is called S3TC. Compared to the Nintendo 64, our texture compression capability has increased over 100 times. Generally speaking, full colour images are broken down to 4-bit size, so our compression rate is 1/4. Some developers have been able to achieve rates as high as 1/6, but realistically, it's 1/4.
Q: Its been said by Shigeru Miyamoto that the cost of software development on GameCube is roughly 1/10 that of the Nintendo 64. Why?
Iwata-san: When the Nintendo 64 was first released, developers needed to purchase expensive equipment such as silicon graphics workstations. On the GameCube however, development can be done on modified PC's.
Q: We've heard some GameCube developers are utilising Pentium III - 1Ghz systems for their software. Does that sound accurate?
Iwata-san: The specifications could be much lower than that, and developers still wouldn't have trouble making GameCube software on a PC-type setup.
Q: Do you think the significant reduction in development cost will attract new developers and talented individuals to GameCube?
Iwata-san: The barriers to enter the industry have been lowered, and we look forward to developers focusing all their energy on software creation. Whenever you take the technical hurdle out of development you open the door for more interesting ideas and software for your users.
Q: Can you explain the early stages of development on the GameCube?
Iwata-san: Development began by analysing the problems of the Nintendo 64 and applying the solutions to our next console.
Q: What do you think were the problems of the N64?
Iwata-san: We went from the Super Famicom era of layered sprite graphics to full 3D with the Nintendo 64. There was a deterioration in terms of technical know-how and hardware restrictions which inhibited software development.
Q: Can you explain the hardware configuration of the GameCube?
Iwata-san: Sure, the layout is very simple. Generally speaking, it's divided into three parts; the video processor dubbed 'Flipper,' the memory portion dubbed 'Splash,' and the CPU dubbed 'Gekko.' The CPU was developed by IBM and is based on the PowerPC G3 line. It also includes a secondary cache of 256KB.
Q: Were these your original specifications?
Iwata-san: For the most part, yes. We realised a secondary cache was important during our probe of the problems with the Nintendo 64. That was mainly due to the disparity between processing speed and memory access. We knew a secondary cache would be vital for our next console, and that's what led us to the Gekko.
Q: What's the difference between the clock speed, and the CPU in the Nintendo 64 and the GameCube?
Iwata-san: It's about 4-5 times more powerful. The Nintendo 64 was approximately 93.75Mhz, while the Gekko runs at 485Mhz. If you take the secondary cache into consideration though, it's about ten times as powerful.
Q: What about the graphics processor, Flipper?
Iwata-san: It has built-in DRAM and even some audio related interfaces. All three components were built to work together for optimised performance. As you know, originally the GameCube was codenamed Dolphin and that explains the names of the components. The Flipper (graphics processor) is responsible for the locomotive power of the system, the Gekko (CPU) is the brain, and the Splash (memory) is what happens when everything works together.
Q: You've explained the Splash component as a memory buffer, partially used for textures. What about the memory built-in to the Flipper?
Iwata-san: As I mentioned, it features built in DRAM similar to the graphics processor of the PlayStation2. The memory basically helps with the bottlenecks associated with processing data at such high speeds. Also it creates a bus zone which allows parallel data processing. Technically the function of the memory on the graphics processor is similar to the PlayStation2, though the approach is completely different.
Q: Can you explain the texture compression capabilities of GameCube?
Iwata-san: The technology was developed by an American company, and is called S3TC. Compared to the Nintendo 64, our texture compression capability has increased over 100 times. Generally speaking, full colour images are broken down to 4-bit size, so our compression rate is 1/4. Some developers have been able to achieve rates as high as 1/6, but realistically, it's 1/4.
Q: Its been said by Shigeru Miyamoto that the cost of software development on GameCube is roughly 1/10 that of the Nintendo 64. Why?
Iwata-san: When the Nintendo 64 was first released, developers needed to purchase expensive equipment such as silicon graphics workstations. On the GameCube however, development can be done on modified PC's.
Q: We've heard some GameCube developers are utilising Pentium III - 1Ghz systems for their software. Does that sound accurate?
Iwata-san: The specifications could be much lower than that, and developers still wouldn't have trouble making GameCube software on a PC-type setup.
Q: Do you think the significant reduction in development cost will attract new developers and talented individuals to GameCube?
Iwata-san: The barriers to enter the industry have been lowered, and we look forward to developers focusing all their energy on software creation. Whenever you take the technical hurdle out of development you open the door for more interesting ideas and software for your users.
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