Residential Broadband, Second Edition

Games

For those who have children, the popularity of video games is unmistakable. Sony, Sega, and Nintendo are among the chief beneficiaries of holiday season gift-giving. With enhanced computing capability, games are being devised in which the computerized opponent learns the behavior of the player and changes its actions accordingly. The seriousness of games is reflected in the cost to produce them. Production costs regularly exceed $10 million, with some costing as much as $30 million, as reported for the forthcoming game Shenmue from Sega. The desire for ever-faster twitch games with more realistic visual images and sound are propelling a new generation of microprocessors. Among the more important of these are the Sega Dreamcast and the ...