NVIDIA announced Tuesday that PhysX support was coming to the PS3. This morning, they announced the SDK is also available for the Wii. While the PS3 announcement was cool, today’s Wii reveal is more puzzling.

While NVIDIA says it’s being aimed at cross-platform development to ensure common components across various systems, I don’t think the Wii has the horsepower necessary to really take advantage of PhysX. Sure, we’re seeing some decent things with games like The Conduit, but the amount of video memory and processing power in the system can’t push high levels of physics.

It’ll be interesting to see how many games turn it up a notch on the Wii because of the availability of the SDK. I think it will be more a help to the PS3 in the long term, but only time will tell.

PS3 press release:

NVIDIA Provides Physics Technology for PLAYSTATION(R)3

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it has signed a tools and middleware license agreement for PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM)) with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI). As a result, the binary version of the NVIDIA(R) PhysX(R) technology software development kit (SDK) is now available to registered PS3 developers for free download and use on the SCEI Developer Network.

The NVIDIA PhysX software development kit SDK consists of a full-featured API and robust physics engine, designed to give developers, animators, level designers, and artists unprecedented creative control over character and object physical interactions by allowing them to author and preview physics effects in real time. The continued adoption of NVIDIA PhysX technology by the world’s leading content developers is resulting in games that not only look as realistic as possible, but also provides gaming experiences where the world’s literally come to life: environments become highly interactive with effects such as persistent debris, including shattered glass and weapons ammunition, trees that bend in the wind, and water that flows with body and force.

“NVIDIA is proud to support PLAYSTATION 3 as an approved middleware provider,” said Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA. “Games developed for the PLAYSTATION 3 using PhysX technology offer a more realistic and lifelike interaction between the games characters and other objects within the game. We look forward to the new games that will redefine reality for a new generation of gamers.”

The PhysX technology source code SDKs for PS3 and all major gaming platforms are available for license directly from NVIDIA. For more information on licensing PhysX SDKs or NVIDIA PhysX technology, please visit: www.nvidia.com/physx.

Wii press release:

NVIDIA Becomes a Nintendo Worldwide Third Party Tools Provider With PhysX SDK for Wii

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — NVIDIA Corporation today announced that it has been approved as a third party tools solution provider for the Wii(TM) console. As a result, the NVIDIA(R) PhysX(TM) technology SDK is now available to registered Wii developers.

“Nintendo has reshaped the home entertainment and video game market with the success of the Wii console. Adding a PhysX SDK for Wii is key to our cross-platform strategy and integral to the business model for our licensed game developers and publishers,” said Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA. “With NVIDIA PhysX technology, developers can easily author more realistic game environments for the evolving demands of a broad class of Wii gamers.”

The NVIDIA PhysX software development kit (SDK) consists of a full-featured API and robust physics engine, designed to give developers, animators, level designers, and artists unprecedented creative control over character and object physical interactions by allowing them to author scalable physics in real time.

The PhysX SDK for the Wii console, and all major gaming platforms, are available for license directly from NVIDIA. For more information on licensing PhysX SDKs or NVIDIA PhysX technology, please visit: www.nvidia.com/physx.