Intel steps up game developer support for dual-core

[Apoptosis]

Good news for the game development community, Intel has really been stepping things up. Intel talked about how many games will be going threaded, but it will take some time. At IDF we saw that Intel demoed games with 4 and 8 threads, which is a step in the right direction

SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 8, 2005 - Intel Corporation today announced it has been working closely with game developers on threading their games and has expanded seeding of its dual-core-based software development platforms. These efforts will fuel gaming software and features such as physics, artificial intelligence, character animation and world simulation that can take advantage of multiple CPU cores and threads.

The effort -- part of the Intel Software and Solutions Group's Early Access Program -- is based on the dual-core Intel(r) Pentium(r) Processor Extreme Edition that also includes Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, providing the ability to process four software "threads," and the Intel(r) 955X Express Chipset, formerly codenamed "Glenwood." The fully loaded platforms include the latest Intel tools and applications to help developers more rapidly design and deploy multi-threaded applications. The platforms come with development tools such as the Intel(r) C++ Compiler, Intel(r) VTune(tm) Performance Analyzer, Intel(r) Performance Primitives, Intel(r) Threading Tools and others.

Intel will also continue to seed other client and server platforms over the coming months. "The game is over for software that is written only for a single processor," said Robert Crooke, vice president, Digital Enterprise Group and general manager, Business Client Division, Intel. "Intel is providing the platform and tools to help out the game developers as they start the transition to a multi-core and multi-thread environment." As games become more complex and demanding, multithreaded game engines are critical in game design as developers will have the ability to code specific portions of games, such as physics and artificial intelligence, to individual threads. With multi-core processors and Hyper-Threading Technology enabled processors, each logical core can handle specific threads individually, balancing the load over different logical cores, while increasing realism and richness in next-generation games.

As a leading technology enabler to the gaming industry, Intel continues to assist game developers in a variety of ways. Beginning well before the introduction of Hyper-Threading Technology in 2002, Intel helped the game industry build the infrastructure around threaded tools, applications and games. Intel also offers a suite of software tools and products for threading and 64-bit code. Dual-core technology is the next step in taking advantage of multi-threaded applications and delivering game developers and gamers increased capabilities and game play for the next-generation of games.

"Intel's platform is the most important part of the game development pipeline," said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. "It's where we first see our art, and where we create our initial code and content. It sets a lot of our expectations for technology for both the present and the next generation." "The dual core system is going to help us produce much more 'living' games with much more animation, AI, physics, all sorts of cool stuff that we were not able to do before," said Martin Sevigny, Ubisoft
technical director. "Parallel processing will be an important element of
delivering these capabilities."

Intel plans to deliver two separate dual-core desktop-based platforms, the Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition and the Intel(r) Pentium(r) D processor, and accompanying dual-core-enabled chipsets in the second quarter. The Intel Pentium Processor Extreme Edition platform is targeted at power users, such as computing and entertainment enthusiasts who crave computing power for audio, video, digital design and gaming tasks. The availability of these development systems is one of many activities, under the Intel Early Access Program (http://www.intel.com/ids/eap) designed to provide developers a direct pipeline to information and tools about the latest Intel technologies. Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at http://www.intel.com/pressroom.

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