A64-version America's Army is on the way!

Bane the ECF · Oct 2, 2003, 06:04 AM

For those freaks who already have the Athlon 64 or Athlon FX-51 platforms, the U.S. Army announced the 64-bit Linux self-booting CD version of America's Army: Operations...

http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3103154102.html

Quote:

A new 64-bit Linux CD can instantly turn an AMD Opteron-equipped PC into the ultimate gaming console, according to Super Computer Inc. (SCI). The company has created a distribution of the popular America's Army multi-player strategy game on a bootable Linux CD, that it says was developed in partnership with AMD, nVidia, and the US Army. According to SCI, the GameStorm CD boots directly into a gaming-console-like environment that maximizes hardware access for the game software and cuts out legacy operating system overhead, resulting in the feeling of "a gaming console on steroids."

SCI says its GameStorm technology fits onto a single CD and essentially turns the PC into an embedded Linux based "console-like" gaming system. The Linux OS scans the hardware, loads a custom distribution of 64-bit embedded Linux, and then runs the game software. The experience for the end-user is fast and powerful game playing that boots in under one minute, without the usual overhead from the legacy operating systems traditionally used in the gaming industry, SCI claims.

"It feels like a gaming console on steroids and even allows for online access so you can connect to online game servers for multi-player action," said Jesper Jensen, CEO of Super Computer, Inc. "With a pure 64-bit environment and no overhead, SCI has created a powerful single-CD showcase for both AMD and GameStorm technology!"

SCI's first GameStorm title, America's Army, originally debuted on July 4, 2002, becoming one of the most popular games online, according to SCI. The Army has recorded more than 1.6 million registered user accounts with more than 1 million players completing basic training. Gamers have played more than 130 million missions and the average number of completed missions per day is 450,000.

"The fact that America's Army is available in 64-bit on the GameStorm CD allows gamers to get a taste of the next generation of gaming just by inserting a CD and powering up the computer," said Major Bret Wilson, Operations Officer for America's Army.

"With the AMD Athlon 64 processor and GameStorm technology, AMD is able to showcase a fully-integrated 64-bit environment that delivers performance and realism to the most demanding gamers," said Tim Wright, director, desktop marketing, AMD Computation Products Group. "AMD64 will revolutionize the gaming market by delivering immersive super-realistic environments."

Earlier this year, Super Computer Inc. unveiled what was claimed to be the world's first AMD Opteron processor-based gaming server cluster, featuring U.S. Army's "America's Army Game," at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Company Marketing Manager Jay Majumdar says America's Army on GameStorm will be distributed free by AMD with Opteron-equipped PCs, and that the company is now working on porting several more 32-bit and 64-bit games to the GameStorm platform.

Majumdar notes that Army recruiters will use the CD during recruiting events. "They can run the game on a floor model at Best Buy, and leave the hard drive untouched," he says.

MSX · Oct 2, 2003, 06:43 AM

Woot. I think gameplayers have been waiting for a solution like this for years. Put the game in and have it work. The only issue being the multitudes of hardware out there... and the lack of 64 bit compiled linux drivers. That'll come round, I hope its a big success. More gamrs distributed in that way would be cool.

It would eliminate the need for an OS for gameage. Very revolutionary as your gamin rig could be OS free. Only unfortunate thing is the first one is AA... Which is sad. Well, heres to cool features on games I dont enjoy! *cheers*

ToshiroOC · Oct 2, 2003, 12:02 PM

This is a great step forward, both for 64 bit processing stuffs and also for bootable-cd games, which I've long thought would be a good step towards making computers more like consoles for those who want them to be

Judas · Oct 2, 2003, 12:18 PM

...i'm waiting for Full Fledged DVD Games.... (better then shoving cd after cd in for some programs... games that are making way to the computer lately)

MSX · Oct 2, 2003, 05:48 PM

Yeah thats another thing they need to work on... The only big companies doing that are Konami, and usually you'll only see them in 'collector editions'. Really people it costs less than a new game to get a DVD drive...

Oblivious · Oct 2, 2003, 06:37 PM

Finally! Not that I am an AA fan. But this is the first I've heard of bootable game discs (since the 286 days). All I can say is that I might finally be able to get rid of windows all together as soon as I don't have any more games that depend on it.

Oblivious · Oct 2, 2003, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MSX
Woot. I think gameplayers have been waiting for a solution like this for years. Put the game in and have it work. The only issue being the multitudes of hardware out there... and the lack of 64 bit compiled linux drivers. That'll come round, I hope its a big success. More gamrs distributed in that way would be cool.

It would eliminate the need for an OS for gameage. Very revolutionary as your gamin rig could be OS free. Only unfortunate thing is the first one is AA... Which is sad. Well, heres to cool features on games I dont enjoy! *cheers*

Check it out though, as long as there is no crappy CD copy protection, you can grab the drivers you need and create a new disk with game + specific drivers. It'll be A-OK. The only inconvenience with this system is that nVidia and ATI release drivers every week.

MSX · Oct 3, 2003, 12:03 AM

Yeah... Would be best for it to have a cache system where you can shove your latest inf's Oblivious.

Sharkims · Oct 3, 2003, 12:12 AM

I will give this a try once I get my FX-51, in a few days.

HA-=NLK=- · Oct 20, 2003, 02:09 AM

Yeah I cant wait to try it too.

Oct 2, 2003, 12:02 PM	#3
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	This is a great step forward, both for 64 bit processing stuffs and also for bootable-cd games, which I've long thought would be a good step towards making computers more like consoles for those who want them to be __________________ [img][/img] [color=White]Peace be with you, Joe.[/color] Driverheaven Staff Member (Supermoderator)

Oct 2, 2003, 06:37 PM	#6
Oblivious DivrerHaeven Seinor Mebmer Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 236 Rep Power: 0	Finally! Not that I am an AA fan. But this is the first I've heard of bootable game discs (since the 286 days). All I can say is that I might finally be able to get rid of windows all together as soon as I don't have any more games that depend on it. __________________ Pepole olny raed wrods. Btu oyu shuodl sitll check oyur spleling! http://realgar.hopto.org

Oct 3, 2003, 12:12 AM	#9
Sharkims Seen my brain? Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: WA,USA Posts: 760 Rep Power: 0	I will give this a try once I get my FX-51, in a few days. __________________ System-1: MSI K8N Neo Platinum \|\| A64 3200+(200x11) - Zalman 7000A-AlCu \|\| 1x1gb OCZ PC3200@400(3-3-3-7) \|\| 9800XT \|\| WD Raptors 2x36 RAID0 System-2: MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R \|\| P4 2.4c(FSB:200) - Intel Cooler \|\| 2x256 GEIL PC3200@400(2-3-3-6) \|\| AIW9000 \|\| WD SE 120x2 RAID0 System-3: DELL Inspiron 9100 \|\| P4 3.0c(mobile) \|\| 2x256mb PC3200(3-3-3-8) \|\| Mobility Radeon 9700 - 128mb \|\| WSXGA+ 15.4" \|\| 60gb 5400RPM 8mb

Oct 2, 2003, 06:43 AM	#2
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Woot. I think gameplayers have been waiting for a solution like this for years. Put the game in and have it work. The only issue being the multitudes of hardware out there... and the lack of 64 bit compiled linux drivers. That'll come round, I hope its a big success. More gamrs distributed in that way would be cool. It would eliminate the need for an OS for gameage. Very revolutionary as your gamin rig could be OS free. Only unfortunate thing is the first one is AA... Which is sad. Well, heres to cool features on games I dont enjoy! cheers

Oct 2, 2003, 05:48 PM	#5
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Yeah thats another thing they need to work on... The only big companies doing that are Konami, and usually you'll only see them in 'collector editions'. Really people it costs less than a new game to get a DVD drive...

Oct 3, 2003, 12:03 AM	#8
MSX Burning the frozen... Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 1,201 Rep Power: 0	Yeah... Would be best for it to have a cache system where you can shove your latest inf's Oblivious.

Oct 20, 2003, 02:09 AM	#10
HA-=NLK=- DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Honolulu Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	Yeah I cant wait to try it too.