IBM has begun shipping its first processors for Nintendo for use in the upcoming Wii console, the company said Friday.

IBM's "Broadway" processor is now in volume production, Ron Martino, an IBM business executive responsible for the company's third-party design work involving Power processors and game controllers, said. "Broadway" will be designed on a 90-nm SOI process, shipping from IBM's East Fishkill, N.Y. facility.

Nintendo's Wii was originally expected to be the third next-generation games console to be introduced, following the Microsoft Xbox 360 and roughly about the same time as the Sony Playstation 3. Earlier this week, however, Sony said it would delay its console in Europe, because of a shortage of blue laser components. Gamers have also expressed shock at the system's price tag, which could run up to $599 in the U.S. Nintendo's Wii, by contrast, is expected to sell for less than $250.

The Broadway chip, based on the Power architecture, will be sold in the "millions" to Nintendo, Martino said, and the company is currently satisfying its contractual obligations to Nintendo as far as the volume ramp is concerned. IBM also manufactured the "Gecko" processor for the Nintendo GameCube, and supported it throughout the length of the console.

The Broadway chip will be 20 percent more power-efficient than the Gecko, Martino said. He refused to comment further on the Broadway's architecture, its die size, or other performance characteristics. The production ramp is "meeting our expectations," he said, and the defect densities of the part were typical for other parts made at the facility, which he called "competition

"What's big for IBM is that we have achieved the Triple Crown -- supplying processors to all three of the third-generation consoles in this space," Martino said. The achievement proves the "Power's performance leadership," he said.

Copyright © 2006 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in ExtremeTech.