Review: Dragon Ball Z – Ultimate Tenkaichi (PS3)

AMD has announced a new game labeling system that they feel will allow gamers to know if a game will fit the PC that they have bought.  Right now, there are only two tiers available, and of course, it looks to only have AMD parts for certification, so don’t expect to see them put any Intel or Nvidia parts under this labeling system.

Part of this new process most likely is due to the recent issues with AMD and the lack of a clear Quad Core strategy.  The Phenom chips were late to the party, and with the cost to performance issues, AMD has taken a back seat to Intel with the major game PC vendors like Voodoo, Alienware or Falcon Northwest.  This branding strategy hopes to improve that image as well as give AMD a way to show off the fact that they can be a complete point to point system for most gamers, due to making both graphic cards as well as processors and motherboard chipsets.

The lower tier ranking is called AMD Game!, and calls for the following specifications:

• AMD Athlon X2 5600+ Processor
• ATI Radeon HD 3650 Video Card
• AMD 770 Motherboard Chipset

The high end tier is called AMD Game! Ultra and is sports these specs:

• AMD Phenom X4 9500 Processor
• ATI Radeon HD 3850 Graphics Card
• AMD 770 Motherboard Chipset

Maybe it is just me, but I have to say that I am not really big on this system.  For one, it only specs AMD parts, and leaves Nvidia and Intel out in the cold.  Also, computer parts are flying out the doors, with new revisions hitting five minutes after the old part is out the door.  So you would never be able to keep up with the new parts that are coming out.

What I don’t understand is why the PC game industry cannot adopt either the System Labs Requirements test for all PC Games, or use the Windows Performance Index, which allows for a somewhat easy comparison.  Since the index can be adjusted, as it was before launch, it allows for a simple numerical marker that people can easily identify from their system.  I am certain that this approach will not be accepted by many, because it puts Microsoft in control, but it is a lot better than a system that only certifies a third to half of the equipment on the market.

Here is the AMD Game! initiative website, so you can form your own opinions, but for now, as big as I am on AMD, I would have to say give it a pass until a better way can be found.