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Development around the original Cell processor hasn't stalled and IBM will continue to develop chips and supply hardware for future gaming consoles, a company executive said.

IBM is working with gaming machine vendors including Nintendo and Sony, said Jai Menon, CTO of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, during an interview Thursday. "We want to stay in the business, we intend to stay in the business," he said.

The Cell processor, which was developed by IBM in conjunction with Sony and Toshiba, made its first appearance in Sony's PlayStation 3 gaming console in 2005. The hybrid chip includes processor cores based on IBM's Power architecture. However, there have been questions surrounding Cell's future and its implementation in gaming consoles. Consoles such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii also use IBM processors, though not the Cell chip.

IBM confirmed in a statement Friday that it continues to manufacture the Cell processor for use by Sony in its PlayStation 3. IBM also will continue to invest in Cell as part of its hybrid and multicore chip strategy, Menon said.

"I think you'll see [Cell] integrated into our future Power road map. That's the way to think about it as opposed to a separate line -- it'll just get integrated into the next line of things that we do," Menon said. "But certainly, we're working with all of the game folks to provide our capabilities into those next-generation machines."

Menon did not elaborate on specific chip and hardware developments for gaming systems, but said its Power processors have capabilities that are similar to those of the Cell chips.

"The kinds of things you used to be able to do with the Cell you can do in ... [the] Power line," Menon said.

There are also giant servers that will provide gaming capabilities through the cloud for which the company will also provide hardware, Menon said.

"Some of this consumer stuff is also a cloud play. There are giant servers out there that provide some of the gaming capability. Some of that will come through cloud-based offerings as well," Menon said.

The company earlier this year released the Power7 processor, and is working on the next-generation Power8 processor. IBM is putting a lot of resources into developing Power8, and the company is in line to release the new chip in the same time frame as earlier processors, Menon said.

The company has a history of releasing chips every three years, which points to a Power8 chip release for 2013.

The PlayStation 3 combines Power processor cores with specialized hardware to deliver advanced gaming capabilities. IBM is trying to increase its focus on developing multiple processing components in systems to intense graphics requirements and specific application needs.

"There are many things we are doing that will impact the consumer," Menon said.

Everyone knows CD sales are down. The solution? Bundle it with a videogame. That seems to be the trend these days, the latest one coming from Lil Wayne, who has partnered with the makers of "Def Jam Rapstar" and Best Buy to give away his latest album "I Am Not A Human" to anyone buying the game. There are limitations. The giveaway only lasts from Oct. 12 through Oct. 19, and only in Best Buy locations.

The deal was struck between Rapstar creators Def Jam and 4mm Games, and Wayne's label Cash Money Records. Wayne's single "A Milli" is also featured in the game, which is a sort of rap-centric karaoke game that lets users record and share video of themselves performing.

The news comes on the heels of a similar album-game bundle from Soundgarden. The reunited group is piggybacking on the newly released "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" videogame, attaching a copy of the greatest hits retrospective "Telephantasm" to 1 million versions of the game.

That was a one-week exclusive made available to "Guitar Hero" fans a week before the album was otherwise available for sale. Soundgarden also provided an exclusive track to the game, "Black Rain," and the full "Telephantasm" tracklist is available in the game as downloadable content.

This practice of bundling albums with games inspired the RIAA to revise its rules on awarding Gold and Platinum status to albums. "Telephantasm" for instance was given Platinum status as a result of the 1 million bundle, as the units were non-returnable. However, since the product was scanned by retailers as a video game, sales were not able to be counted by SoundScan as an album purchase and therefore were not reflected on Billboard's charts.

So far, these experiments have been limited to music-focused games like "Guitar Hero" and "Rapstar." It will be interesting to see if artists start doing the same with other types of games that enjoy even more widespread popularity, such as the "Modern Warfare" franchise or other action based titles.