Sega PC - Press News - Coming Soon Magazine

Sega to Introduce top arcade games for PCs with the Pentium processor with MMX technology

January 8, 1997 -- Sega Enterprises Ltd. is to be among the first companies to offer games for PCs running on Intel's next generation CPU - the Pentium Processor with MMX technology.

Sega intends to be a leader in this new high-performance PC games market by drawing on its popular coin-op arcade portfolio. Sega began developing its award-winning arcade games in 1964 and today dominates many arcade genres. For example, Daytona USA has been the top grossing racing game in British arcades for a record-breaking 100 weeks.

The first Sega PC title for the Pentium processor with MMX technology will be Virtual On which was originally created for arcades with Sega's "Model 2" Computer Graphic Board. The MMX technology allows for direct translation from the "Model 2" arcade board, which is capable of rendering 400,000 polygons per second and results in stunning graphic effects and rich 3D environments. Virtual On also benefits from the speed of MMX technology that permits the game's high- performance gameplay of 30 frames per second in 16-bit color.

Two-player network play (with use of LAN, modem or serial cables) and two-player split screen mode are also added features to Virtual On to produce the dynamic arcade-style experience which Sega fans currently enjoy in arcade centers.

From this spring, most new Sega PC games for native Pentium processor-based Pcs will offer an MMX technology option. The company intends to launch almost a dozen titles in 1997 including Sega Worlwide Soccer - the award-winning football simulation.

The versions of new games will combine Sega's unbeatable arcade game design technology with higher quality graphics, video and audio performance that the new MMX technology supports. The result will be Sega PC games which dramatically surpass the quality of titles developed for existing processors.

"This is the start of a new era in high-performance PC gaming," comments Hitendra Naik, European Product Manager for Sega PC. "The combination of Sega PC's programming expertise and Intel's MMX technology takes PC gaming even closer to the genuine coin-op experience."

"We are delighted that Sega, a games leader, is incorporating Intel's MMX technology into its products, starting with Virtual On," said Claude Leglise, Vice President, Contents Group, Intel Corp. "The graphics, audio and video quality of these new games will provide gamers with an excellent PC experience."

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