Using The Diamond EDGE

Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. recently announced that the Sega PC title Panzer Dragoon is now shipping with its new custom built gaming PC line of multimedia accelerators, underscoring both companies' commitment to deliver the hottest titles for arcade-style action gaming on PCs running the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system.

In addition to Panzer Dragoon and Virtua Fighter Remix, Diamond and Sega expect to deliver more Sega Saturn titles for the Diamond EDGE 3D in the coming months. Diamond also is bundling Sega PC's Ecco the Dolphin, Comix Zone and a sample version of Tomcat Alley with its Stealth64 Video 2001XLe multimedia accelerator for PCs by the end of this month.

Panzer Dragoon is a surreal, action-adventure game that thrusts players into a futuristic fantasy where they soar through seven intricate levels of breathtaking landscapes, battling evil giant dragon flies and man-sized killer wasps from the back of their armored blue dragon. The Diamond EDGE 3D version of Panzer Dragoon runs at high resolutions and high color depths under Windows 95, resulting in crisper, cleaner graphics that bring the Dark Dragon and his legions of genetically altered enemies to life as they assail players from 360 degrees.

Using the Diamond EDGE 3D board on a Pentium-based computer, Panzer Dragoon players will experience faster, smoother game play than ever before. The advanced video game ports on the Diamond EDGE 3D board allow gamers to use genuine Sega Saturn controllers for the ultimate PC gaming experience. “By bundling Panzer Dragoon with the Diamond EDGE 3D board, Diamond is fulfilling the promise of bringing the premier arcade gaming experience to the PC,” said vice president of marketing for Diamond Multimedia. “Diamond EDGE 3D owners can look forward to more hot new titles like Panzer Dragoon throughout the year.”

“The real-time 3D perspectives, fluid flying movement and intense air battles in Panzer Dragoon all showcase features of the type of PC gaming only available from the Sega/Diamond EDGE 3D partnership,” said vice president, general manager for Sega PC, Sega of America. “Our relationship with Diamond will allow us to fully leverage the Sega arcade heritage in the computer gaming market.”

Diamond's EDGE 3D line of multimedia accelerators provides an integrated solution with fast, true-color 2D graphics, smooth, full motion digital video and hardware wavetable audio, plus the additional feature of 3D acceleration. Several leading PC game developers are working with Diamond to deliver a new generation of titles that leverage the power of the Diamond EDGE 3D board.

With the Diamond EDGE 3D, games can be played in resolutions as high as 1024X768. Games for the Diamond EDGE 3D can feature up to one billion colors and use double-buffered 3D to achieve the fast, realistic arcade action gamers demand. The dedicated 3D engine on the Diamond EDGE 3D accelerator supports fast polygon rendering, texture-mapping for photo-realism, quadratic texture-mapping for perspective correction and rendering of curved surfaces, as well as special effects including diffused lighting, specular highlights, reflection mapping and alpha blending for fog, smoke and transparency.

Prices for the Diamond EDGE 3D line, bundled with Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter Remix and NASCAR Racing from Papyrus, start at $ 299. The Diamond EDGE 3D is available through Diamond's domestic and international distributors and at many major computer retail outlets throughout North America. Selected OEM customers of Diamond are also offering systems incorporating the Diamond EDGE 3D.

Gaming PC