the most powerful games machines ever created
Emotion Engine is three times more powerful than an Intel Pentium
III chip
Could those innocuous looking little boxes labelled "PlayStation"
and "PlayStation 2" actually bring about a nuclear war? They
conceivably could, according this this World Net Daily article.
According to the article, the FBI and U.S. Customs are concerned
about the possibility of Iraq, everyone's favourite dictatorship,
using the game systems in military applications.
Two government agencies are investigating the purchases because the
PlayStations can be bundled together into a sort of crude
super-computer and used for a variety of military applications, say
intelligence sources.
"Most Americans don't realize that each PlayStation unit contains a
32-bit CPU -- every bit as powerful as the processor found in most
desktop and laptop computers," said one military intelligence
officer who declined to be identified. "Beyond that, the graphics
capabilities of a PlayStation are staggering -- five times more
powerful than that of a typical graphics workstation, and roughly
15 times more powerful than the graphics cards found in most
PCs."
What could Iraq do with such a primitive super-computer constructed
with Sony PlayStation 2s?
"Applications for this system are potentially frightening," said an
intelligence source. "One expert I spoke with estimated that an
integrated bundle of 12-15 PlayStations could provide enough
computer power to control an Iraqi unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV
-- a pilotless aircraft."
Of particular concern seems to be the possibility of the machines
being used as guidance systems and nuclear yield simulators,
hardware that Iraq currently doesn't have. But is it really
possible that a Playstation could guide a nuclear missile?
