Who is the winner? Isn't it too soon to tell?

Nope. As I've said before, the winner of this generation was IBM.

BuuUUuuut the Wall Street Journal has a bit on a new book, The Race for a New Game Machine by David Shippy and Mickie Phipp. I've often commented how in the business world you see what we would consider to be odd matches of companies in bed with each other. We all know that IBM was "in bed" with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo - this is old news. But Shippy is alleging that, well...

But a funny thing happened along the way: A new "partner" entered the picture. In late 2002, Microsoft approached IBM about making the chip for Microsoft's rival game console, the (as yet unnamed) Xbox 360. In 2003, IBM's Adam Bennett showed Microsoft specs for the still-in-development Cell core. Microsoft was interested and contracted with IBM for their own chip, to be built around the core that IBM was still building with Sony.

All three of the original partners had agreed that IBM would eventually sell the Cell to other clients. But it does not seem to have occurred to Sony that IBM would sell key parts of the Cell before it was complete and to Sony's primary videogame-console competitor. The result was that Sony's R&D money was spent creating a component for Microsoft to use against it.

It would seem that some folks in Sony's legal department might need to reexamine things: they should've made sure there was a non-comptition clause or SOMETHING to have prevented this from happening. Either that or IBM's lawyers did their best to make sure that IBM held most of if not all the important cards in whatever happened. This is more likely to me - after all, before there was the "all powerful" Microsoft that the FTC had to bust down on during the 90's, there was IBM who ruled with an iron fist in a way that Microsoft couldn't. I'm sure their laywers are amongst the darkest, most evil and heinous the industry has to offer!

I mean, obviously, if what IBM had done was illegal or breaching contract, well, we would've heard about a massive lawsuit by now. Or will hear about one in the next month ;)

Its interesting. I always knew that Cell and Xenon were related due to their PowerPC roots (which in turn was derived from their POWER line of CPU's). They have common roots, but are very different. But if this is indeed true? The two are a lot more related than I had ever imagined! I've already commented that I believe the PS4 and Xbox 720 are already in development - I would not be surprised if this drove Sony or Microsoft to Intel or AMD for their next CPU. Or at least make damned sure IBM doesn't try this again!