Open Game Console Project

XVampireX · Alpha Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Israel

Hello everyone, you may not know me as I do not post on this forum until just now.

Introduction:
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There was sometime when I added ZephyrXero into my jabber roster.
I did so because I had the same idea of developing an Open Source based Gaming Console which will encourage game developers to develop for Linux. So I gave my concept document to ZephyrXero and what happened was that he didn't like it and thought I was putting his project down as if mine is far superior or something. It's a misunderstanding, my project is just different from what ZephyrXero's, at the very least, business model wise.

My concept is to develop a gaming console based on the Linux kernel (For many good reasons), and then develop an emulator or some sort of compatibility layer with the PC Linux. It has many different design plans which I wouldn't get into at this point, however. But the basic concept is that it would be 1 console, with unique hardware. This is where our concepts are different: ZephyrXero wants to develop a specification for a console, and I want to develop a console. So how are you think we may co-operate? Simple:

The Concept:
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Everyone here knows about the Sony Playstation 3 system, correct? Then everyone should also know that the PS3 is open for modification, OS wise. What we do is -

We develop a custom distro which we then distribute, the custom distro can be used on the PS3 at first, and then we can make it to work and co-operate/inter-operate with the OGCS. The benefits?

The biggest benefit would be the market share we get to hold right away: Anyone who has a PS3 would be able to use our custom distro, and SDK to develop games for it, as we will release the SDK under a completely non-restrictive license: Do whatever you want with it (Open source or Closed source project wise) as long as the target platform is the console. That's at least what I'm thinking.

Some other benefits are that we don't quite have to develop the hardware, as the hardware is already built for "us".

If all goes well, maybe sony will see great potential in us and we can have a manufacturing company working with us.

If there is a great need, there are some things I'm doing right now to get the neccessary funding for a project of that size.

Conclusion:
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Please post all comments, questions and additions to the concept. It seems like concepts evolve when they are shared, at least they evolve better and faster.

Thanks.
-Serge

wertigon · RC Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 73 Location: Kramfors

On the paper it sounds good, however, I'm not sure if the plan will pan out.

First off, Sony would probably rather NOT do anything that endangers their market potential. Remember, one of the reasons for OGCS to exist in the first place is to break the oligopoly. Also, I'm not sure just how much customization the PS3 Linux version allows in terms of the licensing, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's a TiVo-ized version.

Also, the difference between console development and PC development is that you work much much closer to the hardware in console development. I don't know how useful a generic SDK would be in that case.

But otherwise it definitely looks like a sweet deal. Smile

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Saxbryn · RC Joined: 08 Feb 2006 Posts: 77

I agree with wertigon to a large extent, however, the first part of your introduction makes me wanting for "both sides of the story" ere I form my definitive opinion.

So far, I'd like to emphasize the very most important point wertigon brought up:

wertigon · RC Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 73 Location: Kramfors

Actually, OGCS wouldn't have a problem if Microsoft or Sony decided that "eh, this is a good thing, let's join!" - However, in that case it will be on the OGCS terms. We won't sell out to any company, but any company is free to join in on the fun. Even the big three (though it'll probably be a cold day in hell before that happens...).

- Per
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ZephyrXero · Posted: Wed 2006 Nov 22 5:55 pm Post subject:

Exactly, if Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo wanted to jump on board, I'd be thrilled, but as wertigon already said, they'd have to play by our rules. No one company should have major control over the OGCSC as a whole, and I'm afraid none of those three companies would be satisfied unless they did. They've already got their own consoles, with decent or better market share and plenty of money coming in.... unless one of the big three fails miserably in this generation of consoles, don't expect them to be jumping on board any time soon.

However, with that stated...Serge has brought up a very interesting idea. For OGCSC, we will need to develop our own custom Linux distro and SDK...so, there's nothing stopping anyone from making a friendly fork of the project to make a derivative distro that's intended for use with the PS3. It won't be something the OGCSC actively develops, but I'm still all for it, if someone wants to when the time comes ;)
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XVampireX · Alpha Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Israel

You didn't understand my concept, my concept is to make one custom distro that works with both projects, and I didn't mean that sony will start distributing our own custom console with the software (the custom distro) or that we buy a PS3 and preload it with the custom distro, what I meant is that anyone who wants may take the custom distro and load it into their PS3 or the console that will be the OGCS.

ZephyrXero · Posted: Wed 2006 Nov 22 6:07 pm Post subject:

I'm afraid that's not possible. The PS3 and the OGCS certified consoles will have different hardware. To make sure the distro is as lightweight and fast as possible, we will not include any hardware support out of the box that is not part of the spec, so it would not run on a PS3 natively without some form of modification. Especially in the processor department. OGCS consoles will most likely use an x86-64 processor, while the PS3's Cell processor is basically a modified PowerPC chip, with additional mini-cores... Which would require a completely different set of packages alone.

Also, for developers to reap the benefits of a console as opposed to a PC, the components of our distro will be highly optimised, and highly generic code can not be optimised and retain the genericness.
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wertigon · RC Joined: 23 Feb 2006 Posts: 73 Location: Kramfors

Actually it wouldn't be totally impossible to share *some* codebase.

While some parts definitely needs to be as lightweight as possible, that's mostly low-level stuff like the kernel. Other things such as package system, base UI, glue code etc can very well be shared between the two projects, and I for one refuse writing a GUI in Assembler. Especially x86 Assembler. Razz

I think the best option would be to have two separate forks of the project that collaborate on some parts. Like Zephyr said, I don't think it's possible to make one generic system that works everywhere, and at the same time maintain the speed and lightweight required for the projects.
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vzone392 · Beta Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 27

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vzone392 · Beta Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 27

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