In 2006, Sony unveiled the long-awaited 'next generation' video game console, a shiny (albeit heavy) machine whose underlying hardware architecture continues the teachings of the Emotion Engine, that is, focus on vector processing to maximise performance, even at the cost of complexity. Meanwhile, their new 'super processor', the Cell Broadband Engine, is conceived during a crisis of innovation and will have to keep up as trends for multimedia services evolve.
This write-up takes a deep look at Sony, IBM, Toshiba and Nvidia's joint project, along with its execution and effect on the industry.
On the article's length
I'm afraid this article is not the typical 'lunchtime' one that I usually write for other consoles in this series. If you are interested in every area of the PlayStation 3, you are in for the whole journey! Having said that, this writing encompasses ~6 years of research and development carried out by countless engineers, so I don't expect you to digest it all at once. Please take your time (and breaks if needed) and if at the end you are hungry for more, help yourself at the 'Sources' section!