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IBM mainframe ties the knot with video game chip

Virtual 3D environments get souped up

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Computer giant IBM is set to reveal a new project which will merge business mainframes with the microchip used in the latest Sony PlayStation.

IBM and multiplayer online game firm Hoplon Infotainment have teamed up to integrate the Cell game console processor with Big Blue's mainframe computers, according to reports.

The two firms have worked together in the past on the mainframe hosting of a beta version of a massively multiplayer online game.

The new partnership will see the integration of the Cell Broadband Engine with mainframes and Brazil-based Hoplan's virtual world software, bitVerse.

The hybrid technology should better handle the boom in virtual online worlds such as Second Life which uses 3D characters in a complex environment.

An announcement is expected from both firms later today. ®

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