> If it was POWER6 based it would not really be a POWER6 in
> any meaningful way. POWER6 added all sorts of on-chip stuff
> that is completely useless for a console.

The spec listing might refer to a custom-built chip with cores derived from the cores of the POWER6 chip so that POWER6's all sorts of on-chip stuff wouldn't play any role anyway.

> the A2 appears to be based on the PPE from Cell / Xenon.

Btw, does the A2 have AltiVec/VMX?

> why on earth would you want such DP power in a console?

Probably for the same reasons Cell's PPE and Xenon's core also have this DP power per clock and core ;-)