Sony and nVidia have signed an agreement which will enable registered PlayStation 3 developers free use and downloads of the nVidia PhysX SDK. The PhysX technology, which nVidia purchased from Aegia last year has moved (in nVidia hand's) from a hardware based API to a software API - which means that PhsyX code can run on any CPU for which it is compiled.

PhysX is built into a number of game engines (with the most notable being the Unreal 3 engine) - and offers developers "unprecedented creative control over character and object physical interactions by allowing them to author and preview physics effects in real time". With nVidia to provide support to PlayStation 3 developers with PhysX, it is anticipated that optimised physics routines will be placed in some forthcoming PlayStation 3 titles, allowing developers to dedicate more system resources to shaders, AI and other parts of the game engine.

PhysX technology is present in many games powered by the Unreal 3 Engine - and has also been used by EA in the PC version of Mirror's Edge.

Tony Tamasi, Senior Vice President of Content and Technology at nVidia had the following to say regarding the announcement:

NVIDIA is proud to support PLAYSTATION 3 as an approved middleware provider. Games developed for the PLAYSTATION 3 using PhysX technology offer a more realistic and lifelike interaction between the games characters and other objects within the game. We look forward to the new games that will redefine reality for a new generation of gamers.

The PhysX API is also available for the PC, with API extensions allowing the code to be used on the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii along with the PlayStation 3.

We expect to have more information about what this announcement means for gamers, nVidia, and registered PlayStation 3 developers next week, directly from the show floor at GDC!

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Thanks to brat81 for this news submission!
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