The PhysX, Physics Processing Unit (PPU) was today announced at the Game Developers Conference by it's maker, silicon valley company, AGEIA Technologies. For use in next generation platforms, the chip is a hardware accelerator for physics engines, and if AGEIA have their way, it will revolutionise gaming in a similar way to the GPU.

The chip already has it's own SDK, named Novodex, which it seems a number of high profile companies are already using. It does however remain to be seen which next generation platform the chip will be used in, and indeed whether or not an add-in board for a PC will be available.

Tim Sweeney, founder and lead programmer of Epic Games comments,

"We've been using the NovodeX Physics SDK with the Unreal Engine 3 for the past year and it has added some awesome effects. It's going to be exciting to see what NovodeX can do once the PhysX chip hits the market."

Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft's President and CEO

"The Ubisoft creative team thrives on working with the most advanced technology available, which drives both our creativity and our passion for making state-of-the-art games,"

Is this part of the next gaming revolution? I guess we'll find out sooner or later, I for one won't be buying anything until most of my favourite games are supported.

** Update **
If you read this article on the inquirer you'll find out that it is indeed a PC addon card and should be available by years end.