9.06.2007

Value Gaming - game.amd.com

AMD recently launched a new gaming website. This is an excellent idea from a company that can deliver a complete gaming platform. There is just one tiny problem, it's 2 years too late. Where was this wise guy who came up with the gaming website idea two years ago when AthlonFX was king? The gaming crowd has moved on and AMD is just embarrassing itself by pretending to offer anything attractive which is at the moment quite impossible with a $300 quad core from Intel.

This 'gaming' site gives the same feel as the 'break free' website. It feels rushed, half baked and hollow. Browsing through only gave me a feeling of sadness for the smaller company that once had the right product for this very demanding and unfaithful market. The target audience for gaming sites are smart and knowledgeable. They read reviews, benchmarks and are constantly aware of what is the best and the latest. In a very obvious way this website hides information a gamer needs to create the best system. Understandably the site only offers AMD and ATI products. The problem is every gamer already knows they're not the best nor is it the cheapest. Which really leads to the question whether this was a useful exercise for AMD.

All in all, this is yet another poor marketing attempt with an advertising gimmick that is off timing and completely useless for its indented audience. If you think you have a different opinion then ask yourself the question, do you find the need to return to AMD's gaming website? I didn't think so.

13 comments:

Ahmar Abbasi said...

The acts of a desperate company trying to still be relevant........people can only forgive one mediocre product after another before they start jumping ship.....

Anonymous said...

lol
hd2900 sucks 8800s ass
k8 sucks c2ds ass

amd suks ass

go amd if you like gaming that suks ass

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the Value Gaming site is, in itself, AMD’s true self realization of its tenuous position in the market in full contrast to the sheer power and size of Intel. Intel has systematically and successfully, attacked AMD’s position in every segment of the market. The desktop first, the Laptop, and now, upon the release of Barcelona, the great server assault, beginning with the Tigerton launch. Waiting in the wings is Penryn, like the Sword of Damocles, ready to strike in 4Q like a timed drop.

More tragic, from AMD’s perspective, is Intel’s 2008 lineup. AMD cannot in any way address these incredible leaps in CPU technology, as Intel ‘tick tocks’ from architecture to refinement to architecture within an eighteen month period. One can only speculate the quantum leap in performance of Intel’s current processors with an integrated memory controller, or CSI. The Core Processor on steroids, at 45 and 32 nM.

As a side note, the integrated memory controller WAS NOT an AMD innovation, as proclaimed by seriously misinformed and ignorant AMD fans. The Intel Timna family of processors (http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Timna/index.html) in 1999 was the first, and subsequently rejected, CPU ever produced with an IMC. Further, it had a graphics unit embedded in its core. How’s that for FUSION, or more relevantly, Confusion.

The mere mention of the word ‘value’ used in conjunction with ‘gaming’ is a foolish and ridiculous contradiction in terms, let alone naming a website ‘Value Gaming’. To the enthusiast, ‘value’, performance wise is at best a compromise, at worst, a four letter word. When one thinks of a gaming rig, we think watercooled, overclocked, RAID 0 Raptors, big screens with high resolutions, SLI or Crossfire, and the FASTEST PROCESSOR out there. I know, I’m typing on one right now. Value gaming, by any true gamers or enthusiasts’ estimation, signifies compromise somewhere in the box. I ask you, is this what today’s new AMD is all about, asking gamers to compromise with value? Yeah, OK, sure.

SPARKS

Ahmar Abbasi said...

Only now AMD realized the "significance" of value gaming when Intel has reduced their top of the line processors selling for $1000 pre core 2 to a mere ~$300 and their GPU line is reduced to competing with Nvidia's fourth best GPU.

AMD should just stick to doing what they are good at making powerpoint presentations, crappy websites with propaganda and their specialty crying to the masses about how its a monopoly totally forgetting the fact that its their own incompetence that got them to this position in the first place............

I am soo happy to see this arrogant company taste some humble pie......their dumbasses should have been planning their company's future instead of distributing "multicore for dummies" flyers........

Anonymous said...

sparks you don’t know what a gamer is.
One of the best games and most sold games of all times (Sims), 99% of the people who bought the game didn’t know what is all that stuff you named.
The people who bought the game said, what video card I should by to play this game? Does my computer work with this game?
There goes your "knowledge" game people.


Besides dumb ass Intel “presscottringheat” the mediocre product you are talking about eat Intel ass for 8 years (1999-2006) in every computer game.


And Intelrat your articles are all misinformed, the web site was clearly created by the Ati team. And “The problem is every gamer already knows they're not the best nor is it the cheapest.” AMD CPUs are cheaper, motherboard are cheaper, GPU cheaper. Unless for you high $ value, cheaper price?! Since you are so dumb dumb must be this.

They read reviews, benchmarks and are constantly aware of what is the best and the latest.
That’s why Intel never had one sold PC for gamers in the 8 years of complete Athlon domination?

This is an excellent idea from a company that can deliver a complete gaming platform.
That your love Intel doesn’t have, because its 100.000 employees are too busy doing nothing, and don’t have the brains to do it.

There is just one tiny problem, it's 2 years too late.
8 years. Athlon crushed Intel in gaming during 8 years!

The gaming crowd has moved on and AMD is just embarrassing itself by pretending to offer anything attractive which is at the moment quite impossible with a $300 quad core from Intel.
The game guys don’t pay more than 150$ for a processor. And besides everyone knows quad = 0% performance increases.

Anonymous said...

8 years. Athlon crushed Intel in gaming during 8 years!

That's why this is an example of how badly AMD has been managed. Those eight years when they were better, THAT is when they should have been promoting their products for gaming in this manner.

I think that promoting AMD/ATI for gaming is a great idea, but it's maddening to realize that it's an idea they should've had YEARS AGO. Even when they had the performance lead, they were unable to make as much progress as (IMO) they could and should have.

Intel is in a much better position right now, and what are they doing? Continuing to advertise as much as they can, continuing to promote their product and generate as much 'mindshare' as they can. Being better is not enough, if you're not also smarter and more ambitious, you can have a better product and still lose.

I'm one of those people who believe that a competitive AMD brings a lot of benefits to hobbyists and DIYers. I also believe that AMD has done a truly lousy job of marketing and promoting their product, and it's catching up to them now.

Joe said...

This article and most of the replies just shows how ignorant you Intel fanboys are about the gaming market. NO, most gamers do not buy the fastest and most expensive CPUs. As proof I present your own statement that the Q6600 (C2D Quad Core @ 2.4GHz) is selling well amongst gamers. If gamers only wanted the best and didn't care about value, they'd go for the QX6700 (C2D Quad Core @ 2.66GHz) which is a faster but much more expensive part. So clearly gamers do care about value and not just performance.

Once Barcelona ships, AMD is going to own the value gaming segment. In a few months all the gamers will be buying 2.4-2.6GHz quad core AMD parts rather than C2Ds. Barcelona is a compelling value and you Intel fanboys are too blind to see it. You won't know what hit you when AMD takes over the lead once again.

Joe said...

Dr. Roborat64, one thing I do agree with you on is that game.amd.com is a complete joke of a site. It's just marketing BS with stale news you can get at a million other places.

Just for fun I ran the "Evaluate Your System" application (it's under the Games submenu, click the image on the left). It tells me my Core2Duo @ 2.4 GHz here at work is inadequate and that I should upgrade to a Quad FX platform. As you all know, Quad FX is the biggest POS in AMD history but that doesn't stop AMD from trying to sell it.

Anonymous said...

"Once Barcelona ships, AMD is going to own the value gaming segment. In a few months all the gamers will be buying 2.4-2.6GHz quad core AMD parts rather than C2Ds."

Problem A: Barcelona is a SERVER CHIP, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are intending to refernce K10 (or "10h") architecture in general.

Problem B: AMD needs to make money, do you really think they are going to price the quad core 2.4's and 2.6's lower than Intel (also factor in the added cost of large die vs MCM solution and 65nm vs 45nm)?

They are going to GOUGE AMD fans initially (like yourself) and see how things go after they start getting decent supplies (Q2'08?). At that point depending on how Penryn fares, it may be back to AMD's slash and burn pricing strategy - that would be the point where value comes in.

Anonymous said...

"All in all, this is yet another poor marketing attempt with an advertising gimmick that is off timing and completely useless for its indented audience."

Hey, what can you do when you have limited money and can't afford to advertise? Make a gaming site, send out emails to all the local zealots so they can link to it and there you have it. Who needs Henri!?! Ruiz is probably thinking hey this sales and marketing stuff is easy - I can just let all the top guys "amicably" depart!

I just hope AMD was smart enough to power the site off of the only currently available quad core chips right now - CORE2!

Anonymous said...

“sparks you don’t know what a gamer is.
One of the best games and most sold games of all times (Sims), 99% of the people who bought the game didn’t know what is all that stuff you named.”


Get out of your house once in a while, junior. Really! Here are a couple of (to name a few) companies who build Gaming Rigs. Have you ever played FEAR, DOOM, or MS FS X, on a really hot, dual core, dual graphic card, overclocked rig, at let’s say 1600X1200, native? Nah, not you, you’re a 3800 AMD Guy, right?

VooDoo
Alienware
Falcon Northwest
Dell XPS

If no one is spending big bucks on gaming rigs, then who is buying all these machines? DOH! Who’s buying the $500 to 1000 graphics cards, hmmm?

“Besides dumb ass Intel “presscottringheat” the mediocre product you are talking about eat Intel ass for 8 years (1999-2006) in every computer game.”

Try to use your limited comprehension here, OK? Timna Family of processors was not the Prescott Family of processors. There were no Prescotts in 1999, Ok? Prescott doesn’t have an IMC, or a graphics solution on chip, got that? By the way, sonny, how old were you in 1999, twelve?

Lastly, if you are going to counter argue, bring some relevant facts to the table. Blindly, attacking people who make valid arguments with nothing but rant, not only shows your immaturity, but also limited capacity to follow an argument. Further, “all that stuff” I mentioned is called hardware. Expensive hardware is big business, you know (‘high margin’, for your next book report). It’s a business that AMD is failing miserably at, at 2 billion dollars a year loss.

One more thing, it’s the Gamers/hardware freaks who suggest to others what to buy, friends, family neighbors, etc. Read MAXIMUMPC once in a while.

Ok, now, that’s settled, you can go back to playing the ‘SIMS’ on your 3 year old rig.

SPARKS

Anonymous said...

Not everyone is as rich as you Sparky.

Anonymous said...

Rich? Hmmm. The money I spend for upgrades (every 18 months or so), come from my dividend checks. I'll give you one guess what company sends me the moola?

By the way, 'JOE', the value machine (Q6600) wasn't for me, if you recall. It was a new machine for my wife. Remember, "just for fun"? She is very happy, by the way.(she never closes a damned thing)

As for MY new machine, at the end of the year, there WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NO COMPROMISE. I don't give a flying frig about value, I'll let INTC worry about that, they're good at it.

SPARKS