The Great Dumbing Down of Video Gaming Consoles - Businessweek

Sign of the CPU times

"But here we are with the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox due for imminent arrival, and there is no real custom silicon to be found. Both Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT), according to numerous industry reports and my sources, will use high-powered, but nevertheless off-the-shelf chips designed by AMD (AMD) in their upcoming consoles. This is a big win for AMD, which already counts Nintendo and its Wii as a customer, since it will have locked up the gaming market. It’s also a dramatic shift in what a gaming console “means” in 2013 vs. what it used to mean."

The Great Dumbing Down of Video Gaming Consoles - Businessweek