Ageia, purveyors of physics-stuff (man I hated physics in high school), has announced that version 2.4 of their PhysX SDK will be available to PS3 developers on March 31st, 2006.

The Ageia PhysX SDK includes extensive physics functionality and multithreading capabilities, which are uniquely suited for the multicore architecture of the Cell processor adopted on the PlayStation 3. The latest Ageia PhysX SDK version 2.4 is optimized for the Cell processor.

In the 2.4 release, several components of the Ageia PhysX pipeline have been offloaded from the PPU of the PlayStation 3 to the SPUs; developers can fully control the component deployment. This has resulted in a 50% reduction in maximum PPU load, leaving more room for game code and smooth frame rates.

“Real-time physical simulation is the new frontier in computer entertainment, and the PlayStation 3 will lead the way with the help of Aegia PhysX technology,” said Dominic Mallinson, Vice President of US R&D for Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Our collaboration with Ageia will provide PlayStation 3 developers with another powerful tool, enabling the creation of amazingly rich and realistic interactive entertainment.”

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