Nintendo investment hints at Game Boy future
‘Stacked’ portable from sector leader looms.
Nintendo has revealed a significant investment in Matrix Semiconductor, a firm boasting its prowess in developing 3D memory “by stacking memory arrays vertically.”
This will mean that more power can be squeezed into less space, ideal for the handheld market and perfectly suited to mobile gaming technologies.
Matrix describes its research thus far: “By stacking memory elements vertically, Matrix uses a much smaller die area for a given density than traditional DRAM, SRAM, flash, and Mask ROM. By decreasing the chip size and increasing the yield, Matrix 3-D Memory can be produced at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies.”
Other firms believed to have invested in Matrix include Microsoft and Sony, though Nintendo is the only party to have made a significant noise about it.
“The portable and mobile device markets are expanding rapidly. Matrix's cost and density advantages over existing technologies support the memory requirements of our portable video game machine, Game Boy Advance," says Yasuhiro Minagawa, head of PR at Nintendo Japan. "We believe Matrix's technology will help us to make our exciting game titles more efficiently.”
However, this deal has been widely seen as Nintendo paving the way for it’s next generation of portable devices, already confirmed as being in development alongside the GameCube successor.
We’re sure that as the months pass by, all will become clear.
This will mean that more power can be squeezed into less space, ideal for the handheld market and perfectly suited to mobile gaming technologies.
Matrix describes its research thus far: “By stacking memory elements vertically, Matrix uses a much smaller die area for a given density than traditional DRAM, SRAM, flash, and Mask ROM. By decreasing the chip size and increasing the yield, Matrix 3-D Memory can be produced at a fraction of the cost of existing technologies.”
Other firms believed to have invested in Matrix include Microsoft and Sony, though Nintendo is the only party to have made a significant noise about it.
“The portable and mobile device markets are expanding rapidly. Matrix's cost and density advantages over existing technologies support the memory requirements of our portable video game machine, Game Boy Advance," says Yasuhiro Minagawa, head of PR at Nintendo Japan. "We believe Matrix's technology will help us to make our exciting game titles more efficiently.”
However, this deal has been widely seen as Nintendo paving the way for it’s next generation of portable devices, already confirmed as being in development alongside the GameCube successor.
We’re sure that as the months pass by, all will become clear.
Companies:
Nintendo
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