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Nvidia, which saw its graphics hardware power the original Xbox and PS3, turned down the chance to continue its relationship with Sony with the PS4 because of the “opportunity cost,” Tony Tamasi, senior VP of content and technology at Nvidia, told GameSpot.
“I’m sure there was a negotiation that went on,” said Tamasi, “and we came to the conclusion that we didn’t want to do the business at the price those guys were willing to pay.”
“Having been through the original Xbox and PS3, we understand the economics of [console development] and the trade-offs.”
For Nvidia, working in the console business would impact what it can achieve elsewhere and this wasn’t deemed worthwhile.
“We’re building a whole bunch of stuff,” continued Tamasi, “and we had to look at console business as an opportunity cost. If we say, did a console, what other piece of our business would we put on hold to chase after that?”
He concluded: “In the end, you only have so many engineers and so much capability, and if you’re going to go off and do chips for Sony or Microsoft, then that’s probably a chip that you’re not doing for some other portion of your business. And at least in the case of Sony and Nvidia, in terms of PS4, AMD has the business and Nvidia doesn’t. We’ll see how that plays out from a business perspective I guess. It’s clearly not a technology thing.”
PS4 will be released this holiday season.
Source: GameSpot
