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Endor AG was a German electronics company founded in 1997 headquartered in Landshut , Bavaria . The company manufactured and marketed the sim racing game peripherals mainly under the name of the Fanatec brand, compatible across racing games. The company filed for bankruptcy in July 2024, with the remaining business assets, including the Fanatec name brand, being bought by gaming peripherals maker Corsair Gaming . Corsair wound up the Endor AG company in September 2024, with no jobs being lost and the Fanatec brand name continuing for the time being.

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126-506: Endor AG was established in October 1997 by German businessman Thomas Jackermeier. As an active player of early PC games , he very quickly recognised the decisive role that input devices would play on performance, reality, and fun. During the 1990s, Jackermeier argued that the stock of the high quality sim racing devices was limited, so he decided to give up his wholesale biking store which was used to finance his educational degree during his time at

252-486: A Software Publishers Association conference that the market for console games ($ 5.9 billion in revenue) was 12 times that of the computer-game market ($ 430 million). However, computer games did not disappear. The industry hoped that the CD-ROM and other optical storage technology would increase computers' user friendliness and allow for more sophisticated games. By 1989, Computer Gaming World reported that "the industry

378-497: A Software Publishers Association study found that 74% of personal computers were IBMs or compatible, 10% Macintosh, 7% Apple II, and 8% other. 51% of IBM or compatible had 386 or faster CPUs. By 1992, DOS games such as Links 386 Pro supported Super VGA graphics. While leading Sega and Nintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3–7  MHz , the 486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of Doom on

504-611: A decade, from 2007 to 2016 fiscal years, until it was removed from the ranking in 2018. In 2020, it was reinstated and ranked 45th, being the 7th-largest technology company in the ranking . Intel supplies microprocessors for most manufacturers of computer systems, and is one of the developers of the x86 series of instruction sets found in most personal computers (PCs). It also manufactures chipsets , network interface controllers , flash memory , graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and other devices related to communications and computing. Intel has

630-691: A different configuration. (The game Les Manley in: Lost in L.A. satirizes this by depicting two beautiful women exhaust the hero in bed, by requesting that he again explain the difference between extended and expanded memory .) Computer Gaming World provided technical assistance to its writers to help install games for review, and published sample configuration files. The magazine advised non-technical gamers to purchase commercial memory managers like QEMM and 386MAX and criticized nonstandard software like Origin Systems 's "infamous late and unlamented Voodoo Memory Manager", which used unreal mode . By 1996,

756-511: A different connotation on consoles which are typically restricted much more heavily. As publicly released development tools are rare, console mods usually refer to hardware alterations designed to remove restrictions. PC games are sold predominantly through the Internet, with buyers downloading their new purchase directly to their computer. This approach allows smaller independent developers to compete with large publisher-backed games and avoids

882-491: A game for the platform and 66% of developers currently developing a game for PC. In 2018, the global PC games market was valued at about $ 27.7 billion. According to research data provided by Statista in 2020 there were an estimated 1.75 billion PC gamers worldwide, up from 1.5 billion PC gaming users in the previous year. Newzoo reported that the PC gaming sector was the third-largest category across all platforms as of 2016 , with

1008-419: A game is popular enough mods generally arise even without official support. Mods can compete with official downloadable content however, or even outright redistribute it, and their ability to extend the lifespan of a game can work against its developers' plans for regular sequels. As game technology has become more complex, it has also become harder to distribute development tools to the public. Modding has

1134-542: A genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times. The game was originally distributed through the shareware distribution model , allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of texture mapping graphics in a popular game, along with Ultima Underworld . In December 1992, Computer Gaming World reported that DOS accounted for 82% of computer-game sales in 1991, compared to Macintosh's 8% and Amiga's 5%. In response to

1260-437: A limited group of private investors (equivalent to $ 21 million in 2022), convertible at $ 5 per share. Just 2 years later, Intel became a public company via an initial public offering (IPO), raising $ 6.8 million ($ 23.50 per share). Intel was one of the very first companies to be listed on the then-newly established National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations ( NASDAQ ) stock exchange. Intel's third employee

1386-406: A major influencing factor for the development and marketing of graphics cards . Emulators are able to play games developed for other platforms. The demoscene originated from computer game cracking . The uncoordinated nature of the PC game market makes precisely assessing its size difficult. PC remains the most important gaming platform with 60% of developers being most interested in developing

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1512-563: A major retrenchment for most of the major semiconductor manufacturers, except for Qualcomm, which continued to see healthy purchases from its largest customer, Apple. As of July 2013, five companies were using Intel's fabs via the Intel Custom Foundry division: Achronix , Tabula , Netronome , Microsemi , and Panasonic  – most are field-programmable gate array (FPGA) makers, but Netronome designs network processors. Only Achronix began shipping chips made by Intel using

1638-763: A much greater falling off of disk sales than anyone anticipated." A third attributed the end of growth in sales of the Commodore 64 to the console, and Trip Hawkins called Nintendo "the last hurrah of the 8-bit world". Experts were unsure whether it affected 16-bit computer games, but games lost shelf space at computer software stores, and many of the hundreds of computer-game companies went out of business. Hawkins said that while foreign videogame competition increased, "there's an increase in product supply without an increase in demand". He in 1990 had to deny rumors that Electronic Arts would withdraw from computers and only produce console games. By 1993, ASCII Entertainment reported at

1764-616: A new microprocessor manufacturing facility in Chandler, Arizona , completed in 2013 at a cost of $ 5 billion. The building is now the 10 nm-certified Fab 42 and is connected to the other Fabs (12, 22, 32) on Ocotillo Campus via an enclosed bridge known as the Link. The company produces three-quarters of its products in the United States, although three-quarters of its revenue come from overseas. The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)

1890-422: A powerful graphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in realtime. GPUs may be an integrated part of the computer's motherboard , the most common solution in laptops, or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicated Video RAM , connected to the motherboard through either an AGP or PCI Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in

2016-707: A precursor to personal computer games. Home computer games became popular following the video game crash of 1983 . In the 1990s, PC games lost mass market traction to console games on the fifth generation such as the Sega Saturn , Nintendo 64 and PlayStation . They are enjoying a resurgence in popularity since the mid-2000s through digital distribution on online service providers . Personal computers as well as general computer software are considered synonymous with IBM PC compatible systems; while mobile devices  – smartphones and tablets, such as those running on Android or iOS platforms  – are also PCs in

2142-676: A processor for tablets and smartphones – to the market in 2012, as an effort to compete with Arm. As a 32-nanometer processor, Medfield is designed to be energy-efficient, which is one of the core features in Arm's chips. At the Intel Developers Forum (IDF) 2011 in San Francisco, Intel's partnership with Google was announced. In January 2012, Google announced Android 2.3, supporting Intel's Atom microprocessor. In 2013, Intel's Kirk Skaugen said that Intel's exclusive focus on Microsoft platforms

2268-600: A reader's challenge to find a DOS game that played better than the Amiga version the magazine cited Wing Commander and Civilization , and added that "The heavy MS-DOS emphasis in CGW merely reflects the realities of the market". A self-reported Computer Gaming World survey in April 1993 similarly found that 91% of readers primarily used IBM PCs and compatibles for gaming, compared to 6% for Amiga, 3% for Macintosh, and 1% for Atari ST, while

2394-723: A resurgence in the United States with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). In Europe, computer gaming continued to boom for many years after. Computers such as the ZX Spectrum and BBC Micro were successful in the European market, where the NES was not as successful despite its monopoly in Japan and North America. The only 8-bit console to have any success in Europe would be

2520-414: A single computer, using technologies such as NVidia 's Scalable Link Interface and ATI 's CrossFire . Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved 3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance. The Creative Labs Sound Blaster line

2646-698: A single group. PCs may possess varying processing resources of video gaming systems. Game developers may integrate options to adjust screen resolution , framerate, and anti-aliasing . Increased draw distance and NPCs amount is also possible in open world games. The most common forms of input are the mouse / keyboard combination and gamepads , though touchscreens and motion controllers are also available. The mouse in particular lends players of first-person shooter and real-time strategy games on PC great speed and accuracy. Users may use third-party peripherals . The advantages of openness include: There are also disadvantages, including: The openness of

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2772-579: A standalone business unit. Unlike Intel Custom Foundry, IFS will offer a combination of packaging and process technology, and Intel's IP portfolio including x86 cores. Other plans for the company include a partnership with IBM and a new event for developers and engineers, called "Intel ON". Gelsinger also confirmed that Intel's 7 nm process is on track, and that the first products using their 7 nm process (also known as Intel 4) are Ponte Vecchio and Meteor Lake . In January 2022, Intel reportedly selected New Albany, Ohio , near Columbus, Ohio , as

2898-623: A stroke regained much of its leadership of the field. In 2008, Intel had another "tick" when it introduced the Penryn microarchitecture, fabricated using the 45 nm process node. Later that year, Intel released a processor with the Nehalem architecture to positive reception. On June 27, 2006, the sale of Intel's XScale assets was announced. Intel agreed to sell the XScale processor business to Marvell Technology Group for an estimated $ 600 million and

3024-418: A strong presence in the high-performance general-purpose and gaming PC market with its Intel Core line of CPUs, whose high-end models are among the fastest consumer CPUs, as well as its Intel Arc series of GPUs. The Open Source Technology Center at Intel hosts PowerTOP and LatencyTOP , and supports other open source projects such as Wayland , Mesa , Threading Building Blocks (TBB), and Xen . Intel

3150-486: A struggle with Microsoft for control over the direction of the PC industry. Since the 2000s and especially since the late 2010s, Intel has faced increasing competition, which has led to a reduction in Intel's dominance and market share in the PC market. Nevertheless, with a 68.4% market share as of 2023, Intel still leads the x86 market by a wide margin. In addition, Intel's ability to design and manufacture its own chips

3276-506: A userbase of about 40 million accounts. Origin , a new version of the Electronic Arts online store, was released in 2011 in order to compete with Steam and other digital distribution platforms on the PC. The period between 2004 and now saw the rise of many digital distribution services on PC, such as Amazon Digital Services , GameStop , GFWL , EA Store , Direct2Drive , GOG.com , and GamersGate . Digital distribution also slashes

3402-452: Is RISC-V , which is an open source CPU instruction set. The major Chinese phone and telecommunications manufacturer Huawei has released chips based on the RISC-V instruction set due to US sanctions against China . Intel has been involved in several disputes regarding the violation of antitrust laws , which are noted below. Intel reported total CO 2 e emissions (direct + indirect) for

3528-541: Is episodic gaming , an adaptation of the older concept of expansion packs , in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as Half-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price. The defining characteristic of the PC platform is the absence of centralized control, an open platform ; all other gaming platforms (except Android devices, to an extent) are owned and administered by

3654-538: Is a cross-platform API for graphics rendering that is also used. The version of the graphics card's driver installed can often affect game performance and gameplay . In late 2013, AMD announced Mantle , a low-level API for certain models of AMD graphics cards, allowing for greater performance compared to software-level APIs such as DirectX, as well as simplifying porting to and from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, which are both built upon AMD hardware. It

3780-469: Is achievable using only the CPU, potentially allowing players a much greater degree of control over the world in games designed to use the card. Virtually all personal computers use a keyboard and mouse for user input, but there are exceptions. During the 1990s, before the keyboard and mouse combination had become the method of choice for PC gaming input peripherals, there were other types of peripherals such as

3906-608: Is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California , and incorporated in Delaware . Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components and related products for business and consumer markets. It is considered one of the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturers by revenue and ranked in the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue for nearly

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4032-498: Is another large customer for Intel. In September 2024, Intel reportedly qualified for as much as $ 3.5 billion in federal grants to make semiconductors for the Defense Department. According to IDC , while Intel enjoyed the biggest market share in both the overall worldwide PC microprocessor market (73.3%) and the mobile PC microprocessor (80.4%) in the second quarter of 2011, the numbers decreased by 1.5% and 1.9% compared to

4158-411: Is considered a rarity in the semiconductor industry , as most chip designers do not have their own production facilities and instead rely on contract manufacturers (e.g. AMD and Nvidia ). In 2023, Dell accounted for about 19% of Intel's total revenues, Lenovo accounted for 11% of total revenues, and HP Inc. accounted for 10% of total revenues. As of May 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense

4284-438: Is expected to affect Intel minimally; however, it might prompt other PC manufacturers to reevaluate their reliance on Intel and the x86 architecture. On March 23, 2021, CEO Pat Gelsinger laid out new plans for the company. These include a new strategy, called IDM 2.0, that includes investments in manufacturing facilities, use of both internal and external foundries, and a new foundry business called Intel Foundry Services (IFS),

4410-406: Is moving toward heavy use of VGA graphics ". While some games were advertised with VGA support at the start of the year, they usually supported EGA graphics through VGA cards. By the end of 1989, however, most publishers moved to at supporting at least 320x200 MCGA , a subset of VGA. VGA gave the PC graphics that outmatched the Amiga. Increasing adoption of the computer mouse , driven partially by

4536-477: Is not unusual for a game company to use a third-party game engine , or third-party libraries for a game's AI or physics . Multiplayer gaming was largely limited to local area networks (LANs) before cost-effective broadband Internet access became available, due to their typically higher bandwidth and lower latency than the dial-up services of the time. These advantages allowed more players to join any given computer game, but have persisted today because of

4662-466: Is planned for 2027. Including subcontractors, this would create 10,000 new jobs. In August 2022, Intel signed a $ 30   billion partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to fund its recent factory expansions. As part of the deal, Intel would have a controlling stake by funding 51% of the cost of building new chip-making facilities in Chandler, with Brookfield owning the remaining 49% stake, allowing

4788-510: The Command & Conquer franchise. Following the successful release of Le Mans wheel for PC, Endor began to develop the first officially licensed wheel for the PlayStation system, called Speedster 2. It was marketed directly by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and gained the major success. Endor later continued the relationship with SCEE with the development of the Speedster 3 wheel and

4914-446: The 2023 Super Formula Lights series. PC game A personal computer game , also known as a computer game or abbreviated PC game , is a video game played on a personal computer (PC). The term PC game has been popularly used since the 1990s referring specifically to games on " Wintel " ( Microsoft Windows software/ Intel hardware) which has dominated the computer industry since. Mainframe and minicomputer games are

5040-496: The BASIC source code of even commercial games. Microchess was one of the first games for microcomputers which was sold to the public. First sold in 1977, Microchess eventually sold over 50,000 copies on cassette tape. As with second-generation video game consoles at the time, early home computer game companies capitalized on successful arcade games at the time with ports or clones of popular arcade video games . By 1982,

5166-710: The Mad Catz Panther XL , the First-Person Gaming Assassin 3D , and the Mad Catz Panther , which combined a trackball for looking / aiming, and a joystick for movement. Other common gaming peripherals are a headset for faster communication in online games, joysticks for flight simulators , steering wheels for driving games and gamepads for console-style games. Computer games also rely on third-party software such as an operating system (OS) , device drivers , libraries and more to run. Today,

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5292-623: The Master System . Meanwhile, in Japan, both consoles and computers became major industries, with the console market dominated by Nintendo and the computer market dominated by NEC 's PC-88 (1981) and PC-98 (1982). A key difference between Western and Japanese computers at the time was the display resolution , with Japanese systems using a higher resolution of 640x400 to accommodate Japanese text , which in turn affected video game design and allowed more detailed graphics. Japanese computers were also using Yamaha 's FM synth sound boards from

5418-507: The PowerPC architecture developed by the AIM alliance . This was seen as a win for Intel; an analyst called the move "risky" and "foolish", as Intel's current offerings at the time were considered to be behind those of AMD and IBM. In 2006, Intel unveiled its Core microarchitecture to widespread critical acclaim; the product range was perceived as an exceptional leap in processor performance that at

5544-587: The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 , a law sought by Intel and the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). During the late 1980s and 1990s (after this law was passed), Intel also sued companies that tried to develop competitor chips to the 80386 CPU . The lawsuits were noted to significantly burden the competition with legal bills, even if Intel lost the suits. Antitrust allegations had been simmering since

5670-531: The University of Regensburg while obtaining his Masters of Business Administration. Following this, he bought AB-Union which later renamed to Endor Ltd. and later the current Endor AG legal name, as well as the establishment of Fanatec, the company's flagship brand. In the beginning, Endor sold a variety of PC peripherals, such as the Game Commander/Alpha Twin joystick and the licensed trackball for

5796-489: The Zen microarchitecture and a new chiplet -based design to critical acclaim. Since its introduction, AMD, once unable to compete with Intel in the high-end CPU market, has undergone a resurgence, and Intel's dominance and market share have considerably decreased. In addition, Apple began to transition away from the x86 architecture and Intel processors to their own Apple silicon for their Macintosh computers in 2020. The transition

5922-641: The microprocessor and microcomputer , computer gaming on mainframes and minicomputers had previously already existed. OXO , an adaptation of tic-tac-toe for the EDSAC , debuted in 1952. Another pioneer computer game was developed in 1961, when MIT students Martin Graetz and Alan Kotok , with MIT student Steve Russell , developed Spacewar! on a PDP-1 mainframe computer used for statistical calculations. The first generation of computer games were often text-based adventures or interactive fiction , in which

6048-558: The nVidia PhysX PPU , ostensibly competing with middleware such as the Havok physics engine . Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players, and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhysX cards in games such as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and City of Villains , prompted arguments over the value of such technology. Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies

6174-519: The semiconductor memory market, widely predicted to replace magnetic-core memory . Its first product, a quick entry into the small, high-speed memory market in 1969, was the 3101 Schottky TTL bipolar 64-bit static random-access memory (SRAM), which was nearly twice as fast as earlier Schottky diode implementations by Fairchild and the Electrotechnical Laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan . In

6300-739: The top-selling games for the Atari 8-bit computers were ports of Frogger and Centipede , while the top-selling game for the TI-99/4A was the Space Invaders clone TI Invaders . That same year, Pac-Man was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers, while Donkey Kong was licensed for the Coleco Adam . In late 1981, Atari, Inc. attempted to take legal action against unauthorized Pac-Man clones , despite some of these predating Atari's exclusive rights to

6426-457: The x86 processor market is AMD, with which Intel has had full cross-licensing agreements since 1976: each partner can use the other's patented technological innovations without charge after a certain time. However, the cross-licensing agreement is canceled in the event of an AMD bankruptcy or takeover. Some smaller competitors, such as VIA Technologies, produce low-power x86 processors for small factor computers and portable equipment. However,

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6552-459: The 22 nm Tri-Gate process. Several other customers also exist but were not announced at the time. The foundry business was closed in 2018 due to Intel's issues with its manufacturing. Intel continued its tick-tock model of a microarchitecture change followed by a die shrink until the 6th-generation Core family based on the Skylake microarchitecture. This model was deprecated in 2016, with

6678-754: The Commodore or Apple, and the Tandy 1000's enhanced graphics, sound , and built-in joystick ports made it the best platform for IBM PC-compatible games before the VGA era. By 1988, the enormous popularity of the Nintendo Entertainment System had greatly affected the computer-game industry. A Koei executive claimed that "Nintendo's success has destroyed the [computer] software entertainment market". A Mindscape executive agreed, saying that "Unfortunately, its effect has been extremely negative. Without question, Nintendo's success has eroded software sales. There's been

6804-527: The Fanatec brand, manufactures and markets the sim racing game peripherals, such as racing wheels, shifters, pedals and cockpits, even under license from several automakers, such as BMW , McLaren and Porsche . All of products are applicable for most racing games, including the official licensed games based on the World Rally Championship , Formula 1 , NASCAR and more. Fanatec has since involved in

6930-434: The Internet. Online multiplayer games have achieved popularity largely as a result of increasing broadband adoption among consumers. Affordable high-bandwidth Internet connections allow large numbers of players to play together, and thus have found particular use in massively multiplayer online role-playing games , Tanarus and persistent online games such as World War II Online . Intel Intel Corporation

7056-409: The PC as opposed to porting from other computers. Bing Gordon of Electronic Arts reported that customers used computers for games more than one fifth of the time whether purchased for work or a hobby, with many who purchased computers for other reasons finding PC games "a pretty satisfying experience". By 1987, the PC market was growing so quickly that the formerly business-only computer had become

7182-510: The PC difficult; an observer said that year that Flight Simulator had sold hundreds of thousands of copies because customers with corporate PCs could claim that it was a "simulation". From mid-1985, however, what Compute! described as a "wave" of inexpensive IBM PC clones from American and Asian companies, such as the Tandy 1000 and the Leading Edge Model D , caused prices to decline; by

7308-487: The PC platform allows players to edit or modify their games and distribute the results over the Internet as "mods". A healthy mod community greatly increases a game's longevity and the most popular mods have driven purchases of their parent game to record heights. It is common for professional developers to release the tools they use to create their games (and sometimes even source code ) in order to encourage modding, but if

7434-476: The PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism. Computer Gaming World reiterated in 1994, "we have to advise readers who want a machine that will play most of the games to purchase high-end MS-DOS machines". By 1993, PC floppy disk games had a sales volume equivalent to about one-quarter that of console game ROM cartridge sales. A hit PC game typically sold about 250,000 disks at

7560-511: The SSI Gold Box games such as Pool of Radiance , or The Bard's Tale , for example. By the late 1970s to early 1980s, games were developed and distributed through hobbyist groups and gaming magazines, such as Creative Computing and later Computer Gaming World . These publications provided game code that could be typed into a computer and played, encouraging readers to submit their own software to competitions. Players could modify

7686-595: The UN Broadband Commission's worldwide target of 5% of monthly income. In April 2011, Intel began a pilot project with ZTE Corporation to produce smartphones using the Intel Atom processor for China's domestic market. In December 2011, Intel announced that it reorganized several of its business units into a new mobile and communications group that would be responsible for the company's smartphone, tablet, and wireless efforts. Intel planned to introduce Medfield –

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7812-682: The United States. Intel was incorporated in Mountain View, California , on July 18, 1968, by Gordon E. Moore (known for " Moore's law "), a chemist ; Robert Noyce , a physicist and co-inventor of the integrated circuit ; and Arthur Rock , an investor and venture capitalist . Moore and Noyce had left Fairchild Semiconductor , where they were part of the " traitorous eight " who founded it. There were originally 500,000 shares outstanding of which Dr. Noyce bought 245,000 shares, Dr. Moore 245,000 shares, and Mr. Rock 10,000 shares; all at $ 1 per share. Rock offered $ 2,500,000 of convertible debentures to

7938-584: The advent of such mobile computing devices, in particular, smartphones , has led to a decline in PC sales . Since over 95% of the world's smartphones currently use processors cores designed by Arm , using the Arm instruction set , Arm has become a major competitor for Intel's processor market. Arm is also planning to make attempts at setting foot into the PC and server market, with Ampere and IBM each individually designing CPUs for servers and supercomputers . The only other major competitor in processor instruction sets

8064-402: The assumption of unspecified liabilities. The move was intended to permit Intel to focus its resources on its core x86 and server businesses, and the acquisition completed on November 9, 2006. In 2008, Intel spun off key assets of a solar startup business effort to form an independent company, SpectraWatt Inc. In 2011, SpectraWatt filed for bankruptcy. In February 2011, Intel began to build

8190-420: The companies to split the revenue from those facilities. On January 31, 2023, as part of $ 3 billion in cost reductions, Intel announced pay cuts affecting employees above midlevel, ranging from 5% upwards. It also suspended bonuses and merit pay increases, while reducing retirement plan matching. These cost reductions followed layoffs announced in the fall of 2022. In October 2023, Intel confirmed it would be

8316-451: The company as NM Electronics on July 18, 1968, but by the end of the month had changed the name to Intel , which stood for Int egrated El ectronics. Since "Intel" was already trademarked by the hotel chain Intelco, they had to buy the rights for the name. At its founding, Intel was distinguished by its ability to make logic circuits using semiconductor devices . The founders' goal was

8442-425: The company's focus to microprocessors and to change fundamental aspects of that business model. Moore's decision to sole-source Intel's 386 chip played into the company's continuing success. By the end of the 1980s, buoyed by its fortuitous position as microprocessor supplier to IBM and IBM's competitors within the rapidly growing personal computer market , Intel embarked on a 10-year period of unprecedented growth as

8568-512: The computer's hardware, often requiring a fast central processing unit (CPU) to function properly. CPU manufacturers historically relied mainly on increasing clock rates to improve the performance of their processors, but had begun to move steadily towards multi-core CPUs by 2005 . These processors allow the computer to simultaneously process multiple tasks, called threads , allowing the use of more complex graphics, artificial intelligence and in-game physics. Similarly, 3D games often rely on

8694-485: The console sector second-largest, and mobile gaming sector biggest. 2.2 billion video gamers generate US$ 101.1 billion in revenue, excluding hardware costs. "Digital game revenues will account for $ 94.4 billion or 87% of the global gaming market. The APAC region was estimated to generate $ 46.6 billion in 2016, or 47% of total global video game revenues (note, not only "PC" games). China alone accounts for half of APAC's revenues (at $ 24.4 billion), cementing its place as

8820-432: The cost of circulation, eliminates stock shortages, allows games to be released worldwide at no additional cost, and allows niche audiences to be reached with ease. However, most digital distribution systems create ownership and customer rights issues by storing access rights on distributor-owned computers. Games confer with these computers over the Internet before launching. This raises the prospect of purchases being lost if

8946-461: The crash were largely limited to the console market, as established companies such as Atari posted record losses over subsequent years. Conversely, the home computer market boomed, as sales of low-cost color computers such as the Commodore 64 rose to record highs and developers such as Electronic Arts benefited from increasing interest in the platform. The North American console market experienced

9072-522: The developer of the Gran Turismo game series, partnered with Fanatec as the official steering wheel supplier for the 2023 Gran Turismo World Series along with the brand's appearance in the Brand Central which featured in Gran Turismo 7 . Additionally, Fanatec also became the personal sponsor for 2018 FIA-Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup champion Igor Fraga to give the support for his career in

9198-405: The distributor goes out of business or chooses to lock the buyer's account, and prevents resale (the ethics of which are a matter of debate ). Valve does not release any sales figures on its Steam service, instead it only provides the data to companies with games on Steam, which they cannot release without permission due to signing a non-disclosure agreement with Valve. However, Stardock ,

9324-560: The early 1980s, and manufacturing and development centers in China, India, and Costa Rica in the 1990s. By the early 1980s, its business was dominated by DRAM chips. However, increased competition from Japanese semiconductor manufacturers had, by 1983, dramatically reduced the profitability of this market. The growing success of the IBM personal computer, based on an Intel microprocessor, was among factors that convinced Gordon Moore (CEO since 1975) to shift

9450-474: The early 1980s. To enhance the immersive experience with their unrealistic graphics and electronic sound, early PC games included extras such as the peril-sensitive sunglasses that shipped with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or the science fiction novella included with Elite . These extras gradually became less common, but many games were still sold in the traditional oversized boxes that used to hold

9576-506: The early 1990s and had been the cause of one lawsuit against Intel in 1991. In 2004 and 2005, AMD brought further claims against Intel related to unfair competition . In 2005, CEO Paul Otellini reorganized the company to refocus its core processor and chipset business on platforms (enterprise, digital home, digital health, and mobility). On June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs , then CEO of Apple , announced that Apple would be using Intel's x86 processors for its Macintosh computers, switching from

9702-630: The early-mid-1980s, and by 1985, the NEC and FM-7 computers had built-in FM sound. The first PC sound cards , such as AdLib 's Music Synthesizer Card, soon appeared in 1987. These cards allowed IBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card, released in 1989, which featured much higher sound quality due to

9828-483: The end of 1986, the equivalent to a $ 1600 real IBM PC with 256K RAM and two disk drives cost as little as $ 600, lower than the price of the Apple IIc . Consumers began purchasing DOS computers for the home in large numbers. While often purchased to do work on evenings and weekends, clones' popularity caused consumer-software companies to increase the number of IBM-compatible products, including those developed specifically for

9954-774: The extra " feelies ". Today, such extras are usually found only in Special Edition versions of games, such as Battlechests from Blizzard . During the 16-bit era , the Amiga and Atari ST became popular in Europe, the Macintosh and IBM PC compatibles became popular in North America, while the PC-98, X68000 , and FM Towns became popular in Japan. The Amiga, X68000 and FM Towns were capable of producing near arcade -quality hardware sprite graphics and sound quality when they first released in

10080-653: The first commercial user of high-NA EUV lithography tool, as part of its plan to regain process leadership from TSMC . In August 2024, following a below-expectations Q2 earnings announcement, Intel announced "significant actions to reduce our costs. We plan to deliver $ 10 billion in cost savings in 2025, and this includes reducing our head count by roughly 15,000 roles, or 15% of our workforce." In December 2023, Intel unveiled Gaudi3, an artificial intelligence (AI) chip for generative AI software which will launch in 2024 and compete with rival chips from Nvidia and AMD. On 4 June 2024, Intel announced AI chips for data centers,

10206-445: The first commercially available dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), the 1103 released in 1970, solved these issues. The 1103 was the bestselling semiconductor memory chip in the world by 1972, as it replaced core memory in many applications. Intel's business grew during the 1970s as it expanded and improved its manufacturing processes and produced a wider range of products , still dominated by various memory devices. Intel created

10332-456: The first commercially available microprocessor, the Intel 4004 , in 1971. The microprocessor represented a notable advance in the technology of integrated circuitry, as it miniaturized the central processing unit of a computer, which then made it possible for small machines to perform calculations that in the past only very large machines could do. Considerable technological innovation was needed before

10458-440: The first quarter of 2011. Intel's market share decreased significantly in the enthusiast market as of 2019, and they have faced delays for their 10 nm products. According to former Intel CEO Bob Swan, the delay was caused by the company's overly aggressive strategy for moving to its next node. In the 1980s, Intel was among the world's top ten sellers of semiconductors (10th in 1987 ). Along with Microsoft Windows , it

10584-410: The general sense as opposed to console or arcade machine . Historically, it also included games on systems from Apple Computer , Atari Corporation , Commodore International and others. Microsoft Windows utilizing Direct3D become the most popular operating system for PC games in the 2000s. Games utilizing 3D graphics generally require a form of graphics processing unit , and PC games have been

10710-532: The growing popularity of Microsoft Windows simplified device driver and memory management. The success of 3D console titles such as Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider increased interest in hardware accelerated 3D graphics on PCs, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable products with the ATI Rage , Matrox Mystique , S3 ViRGE , and Rendition Vérité . As 3D graphics libraries such as DirectX and OpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of

10836-404: The higher latency of most Internet connections and the costs associated with broadband Internet. LAN gaming typically requires two or more personal computers, a router and sufficient networking cables to connect every computer on the network. Additionally, each computer must have its own copy (or spawn copy ) of the game in order to play. Optionally, any LAN may include an external connection to

10962-591: The home versions of Namco 's game. As the American video game market became flooded with poor-quality cartridge games created by numerous companies attempting to enter the market, and overproduction of high-profile releases such as the Atari 2600 adaptations of Pac-Man and E.T. grossly underperformed, the popularity of personal computers for education rose dramatically. In 1983, American consumer interest in console video games dwindled to historical lows, as interest in games on personal computers rose. The effects of

11088-441: The improvements introduced with products such as ATI's Radeon R300 and NVidia 's GeForce 6 series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern game engines . PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics. Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of physics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of

11214-494: The inclusion of a PCM channel and digital signal processor , led AdLib to file for bankruptcy by 1992. Also in 1989, the FM Towns computer included built-in PCM sound, in addition to a CD-ROM drive and 24-bit color graphics. In the late 80s and throughout the entire 1990s decade, DOS was one of the most popular gaming platforms in regions where it was officially sold. By 1990, DOS

11340-508: The largest and fastest-growing, and most important platform for computer game companies. DOS computers dominated the home, supplanting Commodore and Apple. More than a third of games sold in North America were for the PC, twice as many as those for the Apple II and even outselling those for the Commodore 64. With the EGA video card , an inexpensive clone had better graphics and more memory for games than

11466-566: The largest video game market in the world, ahead of the US's anticipated market size of $ 23.5 billion. Bertie the Brain was one of the first game playing machines developed. It was built in 1950 by Josef Kates . It measured more than four meters tall, and was displayed at the Canadian National Exhibition that year. Although personal computers only became popular with the development of

11592-675: The magazine mocked as "amateur acting" in the added audio and video —new games such as Myst included many more assets for a richer game experience. Many companies sold "multimedia upgrade kits" that bundled CD drives, sound cards, and software during the mid-1990s, but device drivers for the new peripherals further depleted scarce RAM. By 1993, PC games required much more memory than other software, often consuming all of conventional memory , while device drivers could go into upper memory with DOS memory managers . Players found modifying CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files for memory management cumbersome and confusing, and each game needed

11718-416: The majority of its business until 1981. Although Intel created the world's first commercial microprocessor chip—the Intel 4004 —in 1971, it was not until the success of the PC in the early 1990s that this became its primary business. During the 1990s, the partnership between Microsoft Windows and Intel, known as " Wintel ", became instrumental in shaping the PC landscape and solidified Intel's position on

11844-577: The market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as Unreal . However, major changes to the Microsoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older DOS-based games unplayable on Windows NT , and later, Windows XP (without using an emulator , such as DOSBox ). The faster graphics accelerators and improving CPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time,

11970-400: The market. As a result, Intel invested heavily in new microprocessor designs in the mid to late 1990s, fostering the rapid growth of the computer industry . During this period, it became the dominant supplier of PC microprocessors, with a market share of 90%, and was known for aggressive and anti-competitive tactics in defense of its market position, particularly against AMD , as well as

12096-526: The microprocessor could actually become the basis of what was first known as a "mini computer" and then known as a "personal computer". Intel also created one of the first microcomputers in 1973. Intel opened its first international manufacturing facility in 1972, in Malaysia , which would host multiple Intel operations, before opening assembly facilities and semiconductor plants in Singapore and Jerusalem in

12222-538: The mid-to-late 1980s. Among launch titles for the IBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1981 was Microsoft Adventure , which IBM described as bringing "players into a fantasy world of caves and treasures". BYTE that year stated that the computer's speed and sophistication made it "an excellent gaming device", and IBM and others sold games like Microsoft Flight Simulator . The PC's CGA graphics and speaker sound were poor, however, and most customers bought

12348-605: The node. The first microprocessor under that node, Cannon Lake (marketed as 8th-generation Core), was released in small quantities in 2018. The company first delayed the mass production of their 10 nm products to 2017. They later delayed mass production to 2018, and then to 2019. Despite rumors of the process being cancelled, Intel finally introduced mass-produced 10 nm 10th-generation Intel Core mobile processors (codenamed " Ice Lake ") in September 2019. Intel later acknowledged that their strategy to shrink to 10 nm

12474-521: The player communicated with the computer by entering commands through a keyboard. An early text-adventure, Adventure , was developed for the PDP-11 minicomputer by Will Crowther in 1976, and expanded by Don Woods in 1977. By the 1980s, personal computers had become powerful enough to run games like Adventure , but by this time, graphics were beginning to become an important factor in games. Later games combined textual commands with basic graphics, as seen in

12600-406: The powerful but expensive computer for business. One ComputerLand owner estimated in 1983 that a quarter of corporate executives with computers "have a game hidden somewhere in their drawers", and InfoWorld in 1984 reported that "in offices all over America (more than anyone realizes) executives and managers are playing games on their computers", but software companies found selling games for

12726-431: The previous owner of competing platform Impulse , estimated that, as of 2009, Steam had a 70% share of the digital distribution market for video games. In early 2011, Forbes reported that Steam sales constituted 50–70% of the $ 4 billion market for downloaded PC games and that Steam offered game producers gross margins of 70% of purchase price, compared with 30% at retail. Modern computer games place great demand on

12852-670: The primary and most profitable hardware supplier to the PC industry, part of the winning 'Wintel' combination. Moore handed over his position as CEO to Andy Grove in 1987. By launching its Intel Inside marketing campaign in 1991, Intel was able to associate brand loyalty with consumer selection, so that by the end of the 1990s, its line of Pentium processors had become a household name. After 2000, growth in demand for high-end microprocessors slowed. Competitors, most notably AMD (Intel's largest competitor in its primary x86 architecture market), garnered significant market share, initially in low-end and mid-range processors but ultimately across

12978-514: The product range, and Intel's dominant position in its core market was greatly reduced, mostly due to controversial NetBurst microarchitecture. In the early 2000s then-CEO, Craig Barrett attempted to diversify the company's business beyond semiconductors, but few of these activities were ultimately successful. Bob had also for a number of years been embroiled in litigation. U.S. law did not initially recognize intellectual property rights related to microprocessor topology (circuit layouts), until

13104-722: The real-world motorsport competitions in addition of its long-time existence in the virtual racing industry. In July 2018, Fanatec became the official partner for the Formula 1, which sponsored the F1 Esports Series and supplied its gaming peripherals. In January 2021, the SRO Motorsports Group has named Fanatec as the title sponsor for the GT World Challenge, having previously being the official partner for SRO E-Sports GT Series in 2020. On May 18, 2023, Polyphony Digital ,

13230-531: The release of the 7th-generation Core family (codenamed Kaby Lake ), ushering in the process–architecture–optimization model . As Intel struggled to shrink their process node from 14 nm to 10 nm , processor development slowed down and the company continued to use the Skylake microarchitecture until 2020, albeit with optimizations. While Intel originally planned to introduce 10 nm products in 2016, it later became apparent that there were manufacturing issues with

13356-405: The same year, Intel also produced the 3301 Schottky bipolar 1024-bit read-only memory (ROM) and the first commercial metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) silicon gate SRAM chip, the 256-bit 1101. While the 1101 was a significant advance, its complex static cell structure made it too slow and costly for mainframe memories. The three- transistor cell implemented in

13482-508: The site for a major new manufacturing facility. The facility will cost at least $ 20 billion. The company expects the facility to begin producing chips by 2025. The same year Intel also choose Magdeburg , Germany , as a site for two new chip mega factories for €17 billion (topping Tesla 's investment in Brandenburg ). The start of the construction was initially planned for 2023, but this has been postponed to late 2024, while production start

13608-498: The smartphone market. Finding itself with excess fab capacity after the failure of the Ultrabook to gain market traction and with PC sales declining, in 2013 Intel reached a foundry agreement to produce chips for Altera using a 14 nm process. General Manager of Intel's custom foundry division Sunit Rikhi indicated that Intel would pursue further such deals in the future. This was after poor sales of Windows 8 hardware caused

13734-514: The speed and capacity limits of the optical discs which most other gaming platforms rely on. Valve released the Steam platform for Windows computers in 2003 as a means to distribute Valve-developed video games such as Half-Life 2. It would later see release on the Mac OS X operating system in 2010 and was released on Linux in 2012. By 2011, it controlled 70% of the market for downloadable PC games, with

13860-421: The standstill agreement" according to their notice. On May 9, 2024, American manufacturer Corsair Gaming intended to acquire Endor AG, which included the Fanatec brand, pending the approval of German regulators. By September 23, 2024, Corsair had acquired the company and all of its assets, and announced Endor AG would be wound up, with no jobs to be lost and the Fanatec brand name to continue. Endor, through

13986-400: The success of adventure games such as the highly successful King's Quest series, and high resolution bitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality graphical interfaces in new releases. Further improvements to game artwork and audio were made possible with the introduction of FM synthesis sound. Yamaha began manufacturing FM synth boards for computers in

14112-656: The time, while a hit console game typically sold about 1 million cartridges. By spring 1994, an estimated 24 million US homes (27% of households) had a personal computer. 48% played games on their computer; 40% had the 486 CPU or higher; 35% had CD-ROM drives; and 20% had a sound card. Another survey found that an estimated 2.46 million multimedia computers had internal CD-ROM drives by the end of 1993, an increase of almost 2,000%. Computer Gaming World reported in April 1994 that some software publishers planned to only distribute on CD as of 1995. CD-ROM had much larger storage capacity than floppies, helped reduce software piracy, and

14238-400: The twelve months ending December 31, 2020, at 2,882 Kt (+94/+3.4% y-o-y). Intel plans to reduce carbon emissions 10% by 2030 from a 2020 base year. Intel has self-reported that they have Wafer fabrication plants in the United States, Ireland , and Israel. They have also self-reported that they have assembly and testing sites mostly in China, Costa Rica, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and one site in

14364-512: The vast majority of computer games are designed to run on the Microsoft Windows family of operating systems. Whereas earlier games written for DOS would include code to communicate directly with hardware, today application programming interfaces (APIs) provide an interface between the game and the OS, simplifying game design. Microsoft's DirectX is an API that is widely used by today's computer games to communicate with sound and graphics hardware. OpenGL

14490-606: The °G game controllers. On June 27, 2006, Endor went public and traded over-the-counter on the Munich Stock Exchange , the Stuttgart Stock Exchange and the Hamburg Stock Exchange , while also restructured its corporate organization. On March 28, 2024, Endor's board dismissed CEO Thomas Jackermeier, effective at the end of March 30 "fulfilling a key condition set by the lending banks for the extension of

14616-408: Was Andy Grove , a chemical engineer , who later ran the company through much of the 1980s and the high-growth 1990s. In deciding on a name, Moore and Noyce quickly rejected "Moore Noyce", near homophone for "more noise" – an ill-suited name for an electronics company, since noise in electronics is usually undesirable and typically associated with bad interference . Instead, they founded

14742-492: Was 65% of the computer-game market, with the Amiga at 10%; all other computers, including the Apple Macintosh , were below 10% and declining. Although both Apple and IBM tried to avoid customers associating their products with "game machines", the latter acknowledged that VGA, audio, and joystick options for its PS/1 computer were popular. In 1991, id Software produced an early first-person shooter , Hovertank 3D , which

14868-547: Was a thing of the past and that they would now support all "tier-one operating systems" such as Linux, Android, iOS, and Chrome. In 2014, Intel cut thousands of employees in response to "evolving market trends", and offered to subsidize manufacturers for the extra costs involved in using Intel chips in their tablets. In April 2016, Intel cancelled the SoFIA platform and the Broxton Atom SoC for smartphones, effectively leaving

14994-457: Was for many years the de facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards. Physics processing units (PPUs), such as the Nvidia PhysX (formerly AGEIA PhysX) card, are also available to accelerate physics simulations in modern computer games. PPUs allow the computer to process more complex interactions among objects than

15120-402: Was founded on July 18, 1968, by semiconductor pioneers Gordon Moore (of Moore's law ) and Robert Noyce , along with investor Arthur Rock , and is associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove . The company was a key component of the rise of Silicon Valley as a high-tech center, as well as being an early developer of SRAM and DRAM memory chips, which represented

15246-455: Was launched in October 2013 and Intel is part of the coalition of public and private organizations that also includes Facebook , Google , and Microsoft . Led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee , the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable so that access is broadened in the developing world, where only 31% of people are online. Google will help to decrease Internet access prices so that they fall below

15372-500: Was less expensive to produce. Chris Crawford warned that it was "a data-intensive technology, not a process-intensive one", tempting developers to emphasize the quantity of digital assets like art and music over the quality of gameplay; Computer Gaming World wrote in 1993 that "publishers may be losing their focus". While many companies used the additional storage to release poor-quality shovelware collections of older software, or "enhanced" versions of existing ones —often with what

15498-955: Was part of the " Wintel " personal computer domination in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1992, Intel became the biggest semiconductor chip maker by revenue and held the position until 2018 when Samsung Electronics surpassed it, but Intel returned to its former position the year after. Other major semiconductor companies include TSMC , GlobalFoundries , Texas Instruments , ASML , STMicroelectronics , United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Micron , SK Hynix , Kioxia , and SMIC . Intel's competitors in PC chipsets included AMD , VIA Technologies , Silicon Integrated Systems , and Nvidia . Intel's competitors in networking include NXP Semiconductors , Infineon , Broadcom Limited , Marvell Technology Group and Applied Micro Circuits Corporation , and competitors in flash memory included Spansion , Samsung Electronics, Qimonda , Kioxia, STMicroelectronics, Micron , and SK Hynix . The only major competitor in

15624-401: Was reported that all Intel processors made since 1995 (besides Intel Itanium and pre-2013 Intel Atom ) had been subject to two security flaws dubbed Meltdown and Spectre. Due to Intel's issues with its 10 nm process node and the company's slow processor development, the company now found itself in a market with intense competition. The company's main competitor, AMD, introduced

15750-469: Was the company's first in their line of highly influential games in the genre. There were also several other companies that produced early first-person shooters, such as Arsys Software 's Star Cruiser , which featured fully 3D polygonal graphics in 1988, and Accolade 's Day of the Viper in 1989. Id Software went on to develop Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, which helped to popularize the genre, kick-starting

15876-428: Was too aggressive. While other foundries used up to four steps in 10 nm or 7 nm processes, the company's 10 nm process required up to five or six multi-pattern steps. In addition, Intel's 10 nm process is denser than its counterpart processes from other foundries. Since Intel's microarchitecture and process node development were coupled, processor development stagnated. In early January 2018, it

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