Earlier this week, AMD announced a new initiative called AMD GAME! that they hope will make the buying process much easier for prospective PC gamers. Basically, the AMD GAME! certification guarantees a minimum level of performance for a PC, ensuring that gamers can buy it without worry of being unable to play the latest games. At least, that's the theory. Before I give you my thoughts on the program, let's talk a little bit about its details.

AMD tests the systems with a number of games, including Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, World of Warcraft, Lineage II, Sins of a Solar Empire, Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, Sims 2 Deluxe, and Zoo Tycoon 2. AMD then hands out certifications in one of two flavors, AMD GAME! and AMD GAME! Ultra, depending on the performance. There are some minimum hardware specs that factor in as well, and they are as follows:

AMD Game!

Minimum 30FPS at 1280 x 1024 for tested games.

-AMD Athlon X2 process 5600+ processor

-ATI Radeon HD 3650 video card

-AMD 770 chipset or NVIDIA nForce 500 series chipset

-2GB DDR2 RAM

AMD Game! Ultra

Minimum 30FPS at 1600 x 1200 for tested games.

-AMD Phenom X4 9650 processor

-ATI Radeon HD 3870 video card

-AMD 770 chipset

-2GB DDR2 RAM

It should come as no surprise that the processor and video card need to be supplied by AMD to be considered a GAME! certified platform, as this is no doubt an attempt to sell more AMD based systems. But does it also benefit gamers? While enthusiasts will tell you that AMD is still slightly lagging behind in the performance numbers, if AMD can make the buying process easier for casual gamers, they can achieve a good deal of success.

Something to make clear is that AMD GAME! is not intended for anyone that knows how to build their own PC. GAME! is here to assist casual gamers; the kinds that are frustrated when they buy a new PC, toss in Call of Duty 4, and it still doesn't run. Do you know what we call those? Xbox 360 customers. It's sad but true. If PC gaming is dying, it's not because the cost of admission is too expensive as many proclaim. On the contrary, we are at a fantastic time for the price/performance ratio of hardware, and the myriad of options make it an appealing time to build a PC. Rather, the misinformation amongst casual gamers makes it impossible for them to discern which system is for them, ultimately resulting in an abandonment of the platform and another Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 sale. This is what AMD aims to stop with AMD GAME!

Will it work? It certainly sounds interesting, but there are a couple of problems with it. The first is how to deal with certifications in a market that is so dynamic. The latest and greatest hardware is constantly changing, to say nothing of the software itself. How will AMD continue to brand systems a year from now as AMD GAME! when the minimum specs have evolved. What happens to an early adopter that can no longer keep up with games in 18 months? Will AMD offer a streamlined trade-up program for AMD GAME! system, to ease the upgrading process?

If AMD can figure out how to keep their AMD GAME! system relevant in a rapidly changing market, it will succeed. With any luck, PC gaming will win back those clueless whiney, obscenity-spewing 12 year olds that abandoned Counter-Strike for Halo over the years. Hey, what a minute...