Shack: Where does that leave the unknowing game buyer, especially if they're looking at a system-intensive game like Crysis or Assassin's Creed?

Brent Barry: Besides some games out there that are incredibly poorly optimized pieces of... software, that don't run well on anything, even a super computer, Crysis is one of the most hardcore, demanding games that's on the market.

You're always going to have outliers, it's just a software problem. But Crysis is an incredibly demanding game, but is actually a really interesting example. AMD Game! is actually one way we have a solution to that mainstream problem.

Our product line, top to bottom, is able to deliver a pretty capable gaming experience. You can play Crysis on our integrated graphics. It might not be the absolute best experience, but it works.

If you add in the HD 3450 card and you're running in Hybrid Crossfire mode, all of a sudden you can have a pretty good experience. You know, running at lower resolutions, you can have a pretty good gaming experience, you know, good enough.

Once you pop up to the AMD Game! settings, with that system level, you get a pretty good experience.

Crysis definitely was one of those games that gave us concern, as it should with everyone. I would love to see publishers and game developers make more informed decisions to make sure games are going to run really well on the PCs that are being sold that are made for gaming.

Shack: You've mentioned something about a program that would optimize the system for gameplay with the press of a button? How does that work? Will it auto-configure a game's settings?

Brent Barry: It's not about the game configuration, it's about the PC. It's all about what you can do within the PC and the OS, lots of low-level options, high-level options, and such. Things that you can set that the really high-end enthusiast already knows about, different ways you can teak your PC.

What we're trying to do is take something that is a pain in the butt and takes forever to do manually and turns it into a real quick easy process. It's even the kind of tool that, as we're designing it for the mainstream, it's also something that's going to be very valuable to the enthusiast."

Now, I know I'm being totally ambiguous about this, but I don't want to get you guys into trying to report on something [you haven't seen yet], I just want you to understand that there's a piece of innovation behind the program as well.

We're not just trying to attack the point of purchase.. we're also trying to get into how do we turn the PC into a better gaming machine as well.

Shack: Speaking about things that are a huge pain in the butt, how do you going to ensure that these mainstream folks will be able to configure their games to match the expected performance?

Brent Barry: We're really trying to take this and make it ready for the mainstream. When we do all of our testing, we let the game auto-detect and run.

We expect that the mainstream gamer is not doing any configuration. I'm sure that a lot of folks do, they push a lot of buttons to try to see what happens, some of 'em might even use a tweak guide, but in general, I figure that the mainstream gamer just accepts what they get, and so what we want to make sure that what they get is a good experience.

For example, they might put in Crysis, and have just bought their PC at Big Box, and get about five frames per second and just really don't know better. They aren't having the greatest experience, but it's "the latest and greatest in PC."

We want to make sure that what they get is a better experience. Whereas the [software] configurations can really make a big difference, that's not a piece we're trying to address here.

I will say that, within the PC Gaming Alliance, we are addressing those kinds of issues, but I think that's something that the spokespeople at the PC Gaming Alliance should talk about when they're ready.

Shack: How does AMD Game! work alongside Games for Windows? Microsoft has that handy System Ranking feature in Vista that no one seems to have taken advantage of.

Brent Barry: We don't get into any of that. That's not something that we, as a hardware company--I mean, remember, we make glass, basically. We're silicon vendors.

What we can affect are the way that we market position to products. Microsoft, I think they had a very, how can I put this, a really ambitious program for Games for Windows. I think a lot of the things they were trying to do were very inspired, I think they were the right options, but beyond that, I don't think I want to comment on how successful [it was].

What I will say is Microsoft and their Games for Windows folks are partners of ours with this. They're really excited because they think that we are doing the right moves to really make a difference in the gaming industry.

Now, they were doing lots of stuff as well to try to help simplify things, make a better experience, and they're taking it from one angle. We're taking it from another. One of the real advantages, I think, of bringing more people together, have an entire industry that's focused on this, it means we can solve even more problems.

We're trying to bite off what we can chew. We aren't gonna try to save the planet, we're gonna try to tidy up our yard, essentially. We're trying to make sure that, with the platform requirements that we can set, with the marketing initiatives that we can set, the leadership we can provide with our partners, that we can deliver a better experience at that point-of-purchase type of level.

It really is about simplifying and enhancing the experience. We hope that our initiative won't stop just with us, that maybe some of our competitors and partners will also carry forward in trying to help simplify this process.

Turn the page for a frank discussion about how AMD Game! does and doesn't work with the PC Gaming Alliance.