Earlier today, hardware manufacturer AMD pulled back the curtain on AMD Game!, a new branding program meant to help mainstream consumers identify and purchase gaming-capable PCs.

In advance of the announcement, I had the chance to talk with AMD desktop gaming strategist Brent Barry about the new initiative, the software behind it, how AMD approaches system-eating games like Crysis, and just what it means for the PC Gaming Alliance since AMD Game! is an independent effort.

We also discussed the confusion that could stem from not branding compatible games with the AMD Game! logo, not to mention the periodic updates to the AMD Game! guidelines that won't be reflected with any sort of name change or... Read more

Hardware manufacturer AMD today unveiled a new plan to simplify the process of determining PC gaming system requirements for mainstream consumers.

Titled AMD Game!, the program will allow gamers to purchase hardware which meets a certain set of minimum requirements. New systems and parts will be labeled with AMD Game! or AMD! Game Ultra badges, meant to inform customers that the machine can capably play "today's games."

"We're trying to help people identify PCs that are really ready to play the latest games," AMD desktop gaming strategist Brent Barry explained to Shacknews. "Basically, to bring a little bit of that console-like simplicity to the mainstream gamers."

Those who buy the AMD Game! certified systems will then be assured a standard of performance when playing recently released games. The company plans to update the specifications every six months to keep in line with current industry trends, though the name of the labels will remain the same.

"We looked at a couple of different ways that we could try to identify what you needed," said Barry. "One idea was essentially to do an AMD Game! 1... Read more

AMD is releasing its new Radeon flagship product today, the HD 2900 XT videocard. Only one thing is important, can it beat NVidia's GeForce 8800? Apparently not. You can find reviews at Tech Report, HardOCP, Overclockers Club, Hexus, Altgamer.org, Driver Heaven, Bjorn3D and HotHardware.

Tech Report reports on the latest AMD CPU price cuts, which has almost all Athlon 64 X2 chips (the exception being the 6000+) under $200 now. There are also hefty cuts for the Athlon 64 FX-74 ($799 from $999) and FX-72 ($599 from $799).

The new Athlon64 X2 6000+ CPU hits the review circuit over at TechReport, AnandTech and AMDZone. The new chip turns in some fairly good numbers but Intel is still ahead of the game these days.

Word around town for a little while has been that the new R600 chip from ATI was getting close and was looking impressive. Seems that we wont be seeing that card until next quarter now. Bummer.

AMD today announced the introduction of Athlon 64 X2 CPUs based on 65nm process technology, allowing for more aggressive performance scaling and reduced power consumption. The new Athlon 64 X2 5000+ will be $301, the 4800+ $271, the 4400+ $214 and the 4000+ $169, though retail availability of these chips is sketchy at the moment. Thanks Tech Report.

Tech Report, HardOCP and AnandTech all have Quad FX reviews posted, checking out AMD's four core solution. For most intents and purposes it looks like you can hold on to your money.

Tech Report has a couple of press releases from AMD, announcing that it has completed its $5.4 billion acquisition of ATI. Wasting no time, the company also announced plans for Fusion processors - CPU/GPU hybrid chips. Fusion processors are expected in late 2008 or early 2009.

Tech Report has a story up with the latest on AMD's 4x4, their dual-socket solution for hardware enthusiasts. AMD hosted an event with Luxology, VoodooPC, and Microsoft on hand to show off the dual-core dual-CPU platform. Among other things, AMD promised to sell dual-CPU kits for under a grand.

It was rumored for a while now, and today it has become official: AMD is acquiring Canadian graphics chipset manufacturer ATI for $5.4 billion. The majority of that money, $4.2 billion, will be paid in cash, the rest with AMD shares. In PR speak, here's what AMD hopes to get out of this deal (apparently two companies merging will give the consumer more freedom, I'm not sure how that works)

AMD's acquisition of ATI will position the new company to deliver innovations that fulfill the increasing demand for more integrated solutions in key market segments while also continuing to develop "best-of-breed" discrete products that empower customers to choose the combination of technologies that best serves their needs. In 2008 and beyond, AMD aims to move beyond current technological configurations to transform processing technologies, with silicon-specific platforms that integrate microprocessors and graphics processors to address the growing need for general-purpose, media-centric, data-centric and graphic-centric performance. Thus, the combined company intends to empower its customers to create their own unique products and solutions within an open-innovation ecosystem free from artificial barriers to customer success.

DailyTech has this story up with a table showing planned price cuts for AMD processors. As expected, these cuts are massive, with a $649 Athlon 64 X2-5000+ AM2 soon going for $282, a $522 Athlon 64 X2-4600+ AM2 going for $224 and many other top-of-the-line Athlon CPUs becoming close to or more than 50% cheaper as well.

According to this CNet story, AMD has entered into a nonbinding agreement with the state of New York that would have AMD build a $3.2 billion plant in Saratoga Springs. Construction could start during the summer of 2007, with the plant opening in 2010. The plant would make chips based on 32-nanometer manufacturing technology (AMD is moving to 65nm later this year, and 45 in 2008).

Tech Report has a story about AMD's plans for some of its older Athlon CPUs. Athlon 64 X2 4800+, 4400+, and 4000+ for Socket AM2 and model 4400+ for Socket 939 chips will be retired soon, as will 4000+, 3700+, 3200+, and 3000+ single core chips. Several Sempron CPUs will be discontinued as well.

We mentioned Intel slashing prices yesterday, and it looks like AMD will follow suit. According to The Inquirer, several top-line Athlon CPUs will become some 50% cheaper soon.

AMD today announced the launch of the Athlon 64 FX-62 and Athlon 64 X2 5000+ CPUs, which are compatible with the new socket AM2 platform. With AM2, AMD is finally supporting DDR2 memory. Benchmark of the new CPUs and the one or both of the new core logic chipsets (ATI and NVIDIA) can be found at Tech Report, PC Perspective, Bjorn3D, Motherboards.org, GamePyre, Hardware Secrets, HEXUS and Guru3D.

Tech Report reports on AMD's most recent price cuts, which discount the Athlon 64 X2 lineup by up to 20%. Linked in the story is this bit from The Inquirer, where they report that there will be some dramatic price cuts for Opteron 200-series CPUs soon.

AMD today announced the release of the Athlon 64 FX-60, their latest dual core processor now available for anyone who has a spare thousand bucks. Reviews can be found at Tech Report, AnandTech, NeoSeeker, Hexus, Trusted Reviews, bit-tech.net, PC Perspective and Bjorn3D.

EETimes.com reports on the most recent AMD analyst conference call, during which it was revealed that the chip manufacturer plans to release quad-core processors by 2007. The previous AMD road map had such a CPU being released in 2008. AMD also has plans to release a reference platform for notebooks, to speed up the time it takes to bring such products to market.

DigiTimes reports that AMD has lowered the prices for its CPUs. The biggest changes are for the AMD Turion 64 Mobile CPUs, but Athlon 64 X2s have gone down in price as well.