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The Race for a New Game Machine: Creating the Chips Inside the XBox 360 and the Playstation 3 Hardcover – January 1, 2009

by David Shippy (Author), Mickie Phipps (Author)

4.2 96 ratings

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A personal account of the author's leadership of the team that created a revolutionary microprocessor that changed personal computers and the gaming industry.

Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Citadel Pr
Publication date

January 1, 2009
Dimensions

6.5 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0806531010
ISBN-13

978-0806531014
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Citadel Pr; First Edition (January 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0806531010
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0806531014
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,568,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #883 in Microprocessor & System Design
- #1,640 in Computers & Technology Industry
- #1,802 in Game Programming

Customer Reviews:
4.2 96 ratings

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Mickie Phipps
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Mickie Phipps worked for IBM for nearly six years in various management and leadership positions from 1999 through 2004. She spent two of those years as a second-line manager and project manager in the Sony/Toshiba/IBM Design Center, responsible for both the PowerPC core and the 240 people who designed it for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. She held ultimate responsibility for an on-schedule delivery of a functioning design to the manufacturing team. Prior to her position with IBM, Ms. Phipps served as the Deputy Director of Engineering at Eaton Corporation, a company that develops large semiconductor manufacturing equipment. She spent twenty years with the United States Air Force, first as an active duty officer and then later as a civil servant and as a Reservist. Most of her service centered on research and development of future generation airborne weapons. Ms. Phipps, now a retired USAF Reservist, resides in Kingsland, Texas, with her husband Jerry. She owns and operates an online bookstore and is pursuing a long-overdue career in writing. She holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and a M.S. degree in management from Troy State University of Troy, Alabama.
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David James Shippy
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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

96 global ratings

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SPAM

Great Read!

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2019

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A very detailed, well told story about something I never knew. What a nightmare!

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Amazon Customer

A good book with a bit to much fluff

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2018

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I'd like to say this book is perfect but the author spends to much time telling us about things that don't matter. I think the idea is to give us some flavor for how upscale life is at IBM, but it doesn't come off that way.

There's also too many examples of what video games are, the same ones over and over again, and a bit to much back patting.

But it is a must read if you care about this very important chapter in video game history.

2 people found this helpful

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pstar726

Engaging, Educational, Suspenseful, Entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2009

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What an exciting book that is especially powerful in being told by the chief engineer of the project. Shippy is a genuine, open, fair minded,and entertaining hero. It is inspirational to see the team building and leadership principles that are involved in the completion of this "impossible" task. I highly recommend this book!

One person found this helpful

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Beamer

I enjoyed it

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2009

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I enjoyed this book. In truth, I was predisposed to. I'm working for a company that makes Xbox games and I'm in school trying to get a job at Microsoft actually helping shape the future of the Xbox. Essentially this is the topic that really gets me going.

Yet I only gave it three stars. Why? Because I felt it lacked the depth it needed. It turns itself into a cross between a technical book and a business book, leaving it lacking a bit on each side (particularly the business side.) I think this was likely a deliberate decision, hoping to appeal to a wider audience, particularly us game nerds. That's a weakness, however. There could have been a great deal of discussion, particularly on the business end. Organizational design is touched upon, but done so lightly. Here was a joint venture between IBM, Toshiba and Sony, with Microsoft then butting in. The timetables were tight. So many organizational issues, so much innovation to manage, yet the book deals so little with this, leaving constant questions. This is where I longed for the book to go.

As a bit of history I recommend it. If your work involves any of the companies mentioned above then I recommend the book. If you're hoping to be a leader in video games I recommend this, as it'll be fun to second-guess the decisions made and try to see how your leadership would have worked. If you're looking to learn something, particularly something you can apply to your own unrelted business, I'd say you're wasting time.

I enjoyed this book. But I should have - this is very close to the life I want.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Either you like reading about technology

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2018

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Either you like reading about technology, and you will love this book, or you couldn't care less and you should probably ignore this book.

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Desert Living

I like it, what can I say.

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014

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Now after the Xbox One and PS4 have shipped, I look back on this book and think how Sony didn't let Microsoft know it's plans this time around. Maybe they made damn sure AMD didn't pull the same stuff IBM did. I found this book very intriguing on how the whole process worked, and the leaked knowledge which helped Microsoft build a better box.

Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2011

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very insightful peek into how processors are designed and made and how the current crop of consoles came to exist.

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Eric V. Dawson

Get ready for technical jargon to whiz past your head.

Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2009

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For anyone that is interested in a more behind the scenes look at the development of the XBox 360 and PS3, I highly recommend this. There is a lot of technical mumbo jumbo that you just have to try and get past, but I really liked hearing the story from an insider point of view.

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Rai

great book

Reviewed in Mexico on January 3, 2023

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I really enjoyed this lecture, it was great to know the insides and the know-how of making a groundbreaking chip for these systems

Kevin

Regardless if you are a Sony or a Microsoft fan I think it's worth a read.

Reviewed in Canada on February 6, 2017

Verified Purchase

If you are a fan of the video game industry in general, then you will enjoy this book. It is very well written and chronologically details the events leading up to the creation of these chips. The author does a remarkable job of using everyday analogies to help readers understand some of the complexities of chip engineering. I really enjoyed this book. Regardless if you are a Sony or a Microsoft fan I think it's worth a read. It also shines some light on the massive organization that is IBM - back when they were at the peak of their Power4/Power5 chip business.

A. N. Onymus

Interessante Einblicke...

Reviewed in Germany on July 6, 2009

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... in die Welt der Chip-Entwicklung. Es geht weniger um die Technik, wenn auch immer wieder eine kleine Exkursion eingefügt ist, sondern um den Faktor Mensch, also die Erfahrungen eines Teamleiters im mittleren Management und das tägliche Auf und Ab der Arbeit. Gut geschrieben, es sind auch keine herausragenden Englischkenntnisse notwendig, um dem Text zu folgen. Durchaus vergleichbar mit "iWoz" (Biographie von Steve Wozniak).

2 people found this helpful

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Puao

Great story

Reviewed in Mexico on September 22, 2015

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I found it very interesting to know exactly how everything went from the IBM side in this huge project that redefined supercomputing and game consoles in that era. For the ones that didn't live through it, the processor that powered the Xbox 360 and PS3 was more powerful than any PC you could get in that era and I don't remember that happening at any other console generation. So this was a huge technical breakthrough that happened at a company that is not very worried in doing those things anymore.

GJKAM

Four Stars

Reviewed in Canada on March 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

An amazing read. Must buy if you are a tech nerd and into console gaming.

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