Xbox Addict

DVD Emulators for XDK’s

Applied Microsystems Corporation (Nasdaq: APMC) and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) have signed a multi-year agreement under which Applied will supply DVD emulators for Microsoft’s Xbox Development Kits (XDK). This agreement follows a letter of intent that was announced by the two companies in July. The DVD emulation technology developed by Applied will accelerate the process of designing games for the Xbox(TM) video game system, Microsoft’s highly anticipated, future-generation video game console scheduled to launch in fall 2001.

"Applied’s DVD emulation technology will be a valuable addition to the XDK, contributing greatly to the ease with which game developers can create titles for Xbox," said J Allard, Microsoft’s general manager of the Xbox platform. "We’re looking to get these units out and into the hands of Xbox game developers as quickly as possible."

"Microsoft’s Xbox will take video games to a whole new level, and Applied will contribute by helping game developers spend less time fiddling with their tools and more time being creative," said Steve Verleye, president and CEO of Applied Microsystems. "Having our technology in the Xbox Development Kit puts us squarely in the middle of the video game development market."

Applied’s DVD emulator replaces the target DVD drive with a hard disk, DVD mechanics emulation, DVD layout and mastering tools. Data that would normally be read from the DVD is translated to files on a hard disk on the game developers’ computer. The emulator lets developers see their games run as if they were actually accessing target DVDs and eliminates the need to burn DVDs, which can be a time-consuming and expensive process. And because the data can be accessed more easily from the developer’s hard drive, the total development time for any game system is significantly reduced.