Guru3D: Looking at XBOX360, most of our readers obviously know that the graphics solution is provided by ATI, an architecture close to the R580 has been used. Can we expect the level of support for niche quality features was we see them on the PC Consumer card platform as well. In other words, what level of support for eye candy like AA and HDR will we see for XBOX 360 titles now and in the near future?
Neal:  As a point of clarification, the graphics system that we provided for the Xbox 360 is well beyond the R580.  With that in mind, I think you can definitely expect support for amazing graphics features in Xbox 360 titles well into the future.  Thats one of the best parts of having a console for several years.  Each Christmas, we typically see a new benchmark for the graphic quality of console titles.  As developers take better advantage of the graphics core inside the 360, the gaming experiences will be better.

Guru3D: Looking at eye-candy in the likes of HDR, what's the next big thing for ATI to introduce technology wise? What will be the next focus? Graphics cards are getting closer and closer towards a real cinematic experience rendered in real-time. We have seen dramatic improvements when shaders where introduced and now followed by HDR. A nice example is the Crytek 2 engine which obviously shows an incredible graphics experience. What's next, what do we need besides raw computational power ?

Neal:  I think that raw computational power is essential but unless that is paired with a very high standard of visual quality, then that power is squandered.  I think HDR + AA is a great example of that.  The amount of work put into ATIs Avivo display technologies are proof that ATI is concerned about the quality of these graphics features.

As I look at the not-too-distant future with DX10 around the corner, I see features there that excite me more complex shaders, geometry shaders - water, fog, smoke, or dust that interacts with environment geometry.  Now youve really got me started ; )  With the power behind ATI graphics cards, you can use instancing to animate thousands of individual characters with a variety of textures, animations, and geometry.  Boy, this list is starting to get long

From a technology perspective, one of the most amazing features of the Xbox 360 core that Im looking at now and looking forward to - is the Unified Shader Architecture (USA).  In this architecture, there arent dedicated vertex and pixel shader engines, but a unified shader engine capable of handling both types of instructions.  The possibilities there are only now being demonstrated.

Guru3D: By the time this interview will be published we'll see Ageia PhysX cards in-stock in the stores. Physics acceleration could very well be the next big thing in the graphics card industry. Much again a product that will rely on heavy support from the gaming industry. We all noticed the press-releases from both NVIDIA and ATI. Do your think that Physics acceleration should be a part of the graphics processor, as a stand-alone solution, or even a process that should be running over the CPU. Can you tell us a little about that ATI is planning precisely when it comes to physics acceleration.

Neal:  I think better physics in games is one of the best advances, outside of graphics, that will be made in technology over the next two years.  Physics is a real interest for ATI.  Its part of a larger story that is commonly known as GPGPU (General Purpose computation on Graphics Processing Units). As GPUs have grown in raw processing power, they are capable of performing more than the specific graphics computations for which we designed them. They are now capable coprocessors, and their speed makes them useful for a variety of applications.  To give you an idea, the latest dual-core CPUs are able to handle around 10 GFLOPS.  Our latest GPUs, by comparison, can handle around 375 GLOPS.  Thats a huge difference.  We can use a portion of that raw processing power to handle tasks like physics in a game.  We talked about this back in September 2005, when we introduced the X1000 family of Radeon graphics cards to the press.  Personally, I think an interesting gaming rig would include a set of CrossFire ATI video cards where one card handles graphics and the other can handle physics in a game.  When there are no physics to be calculated, you get the benefit of two powerful graphics cards that work with all games, all the time.

Guru3D: Last question and sorry .. but I just have to ask. I met Richard Huddy once or twice and he's ... quite a personality . I recently learned that you get to boss him around. I mean there's a lot of employees ... ATI regular staff, developers, marketing, management, higher management and so on. And floating a mile or ..  let's say ... two above everybody there's Richard Huddy always very present ... how on this earth can you manage a man like that ? :)

Richard Huddy back in 2005 at a press-briefing gave an excellent presentation, then all of a suffen he'd switch to a comic note. At the Radeon X1000 Family launch for example, in the middle of the presentation he'd switch to and discuss dating tips for geeks. An extremely professional individual, yet quite the character to observe.

Neal:  What an interesting question!  I think that Richard is one of those rare individuals in this industry. Hes capable of communicating effectively at almost any level. He can swim with the programmers in the middle of game code. At the same time, hes able to see the strategic advantages of industry trends and marketing.  Ive worked in the game industry throughout the world and I can tell you - that kind of person is really hard to find. I would say that I dont ever really boss Richard around. I see myself more as a person that simply tries to clear obstacles out of his path and hold up a large umbrella to shield him from some of the garbage that might be raining down on him from above