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Intel teaches Haswell the core values of teamwork, optimism
Sure you can make wild, individualistic boasts about having a 22nm fabrication process and three different GPUs, but that stuff counts for nothing without the magic of cooperation. The Amish know that and so does Intel, which is why its forthcoming Haswell cores will support Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) -- a new instruction set designed to allow cores to work together more closely without hammering each others' fingers. TSX takes greater responsibility for the division of labor between cores at the hardware level, relieving the software programmer of some of this burdensome duty and hopefully allowing for finer-grained threading as a result. The system also relies on inherent optimism, with each core assuming that the others have handled their part of the work successfully. Inevitably, there'll be occasions when this happy belief gets splintered and a bad job has to be started again from scratch, but on average things should get done quicker and leave more energy for the barn dance.
Assassin's Creed 360 has superior AI, says Ubisoft producer [update 2]
Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond has let slip what she must have assumed was a minor detail, suggesting the Xbox 360 version of Ubisoft's upcoming release will boast superior crowd AI when compared to the PlayStation 3 version. She points to 360's more-capable threading technology as the reason for this slight improvement. Raymond also noted that the Xbox team is working on some special achievements for Assassin's Creed, but she did not comment on the state of PS3 "entitlements."Many had anticipated that Assassin's Creed would be one of PS3's future hits (a reason to invest in the pricey console), if not the killer app -- but that was when AC was "exclusive" to Sony's console. Will news that the Xbox 360 version is apparently "smarter" drive some console sales away from Sony and into Microsoft's corner? Will the MS camp try to market this detail to its advantage? This is an issue to watch.[Update 1: clarified wording with regard to comment #4.]Update 2: As described in comment #7, IGN writes: "you will actually feel for handholds." We assume this means the (Xbox 360) controller will vibrate when Altair is in position to use safe hand- and footholds. But with a lack of rumble support, how will the PS3 handle this gameplay feature?
