First game arrives for AMD 64-bit chip

the_syco

The first computer game designed to take full advantage of the 64-bit features of Advanced Micro Devices' Athlon chip came out Tuesday, although the operating system to run it won't appear for about another year.

Atari has released a 64-bit version of "Shadow Ops: Red Mercury," according to AMD and Atari. Chips that allow 64-bit addressing can handle far more memory than the 32-bit chips found in desktops today, a situation that should lead to graphics that are more dense and realistic.

The game, which revolves around fighting computerized opponents in exotic locales around the world, was originally developed for Microsoft's Xbox, which uses a 32-bit chip. Converting the game to 64-bit functionality did not take much time, an Atari spokesman said.

The fact that Atari came out with the first 64-bit game is somewhat of a surprise. Earlier this year, AMD said 64-bit versions of Ubisoft's "Far Cry" and Epic Games' "Unreal Tournament" would come out in the first quarter.

Those games, though, have been pushed back because of delays to the 64-bit version of Windows XP, which is designed for chips based on the x86 architecture, such as the Athlon or Intel's Pentium. Originally due last year, the operating system was initially pushed back till the end of 2004. Now it's not expected until mid-2005, an AMD spokesman said. Beta versions of the operating system, however, are available that can run the new game.

linkie

SantaHoe

Converting the game to 64-bit functionality did not take much time, an Atari spokesman said.

Hmmm I wonder if this means we'll have 64-bit patches for some existing 32bit games.
Although "not take much time" is pretty non-specific.

StRiKeR

nice info

ViperVenoM

sounds sweet

Mutant_Fruit

I'd be interested in benchmarks with the game using the 64bit features as compared to when it doesn't. We'll finally see if gaming actually benefits from the extra its.

Khannie

I've seen direct comparisons on Solaris....the company I work for makes 32bit and 64bit Solaris software (both run on 64bit platforms). Memory says that the 64bit stuff running on 64bit platform wasn't much faster. Graphics applications may benefit more.

There are probably benchmarks for Solaris out there to whet your appetite though.

<edit> one thing to note....64bit apps use more memory than equivalent 32 bit apps (because the size of equivalently named variables doubles). When we were porting, we tried to keep the extra memory usage below 10%, but this required some diligence. </edit>

KdjaCL

SantaHoe wrote:

Hmmm I wonder if this means we'll have 64-bit patches for some existing 32bit games.
Although "not take much time" is pretty non-specific.

LOL funny , think you wil find 64bit buyable versions rather than patches cept in Unreals case cos Epic rock and give away free content near daily.

kdjac

OfflerCrocGod

Khannie wrote:

<edit> one thing to note....64bit apps use more memory than equivalent 32 bit apps (because the size of equivalently named variables doubles). When we were porting, we tried to keep the extra memory usage below 10%, but this required some diligence. </edit>

I remember when I was having a bit of an argument with a few people here about the fact that binary exectuable files in 64-bit systems were bigger because of that very fact...don't think anyone actually listened Also as far as I can recall 64 bit Solaris is not fully 64-bit the design took into consideration the fact that not all libraries benefited from 64-bits.....the major math ones are all 64-bit but there are other ones were the performance was actually *worst* as 64-bit therefore they are still 32-bit libraries. I'm not 100% certain about this as I'm not a Solaris user! This just highlights the fact that 64-bits are not some magic power-up where everything will be suddenly better and faster, it all depends