Earlier today, hardware manufacturer AMD pulled back the curtain on AMD Game!, a new branding program meant to help mainstream consumers identify and purchase gaming-capable PCs.

In advance of the announcement, I had the chance to talk with AMD desktop gaming strategist Brent Barry about the new initiative, the software behind it, how AMD approaches system-eating games like Crysis, and just what it means for the PC Gaming Alliance since AMD Game! is an independent effort.

We also discussed the confusion that could stem from not branding compatible games with the AMD Game! logo, not to mention the periodic updates to the AMD Game! guidelines that won't be reflected with any sort of name change or modification.

The plan behind AMD Game!, as Barry puts it, is to help the not-so-tech-savvy walk into a retailer and walk out with a system that they know can run today's games. "Basically, to bring a little bit of that console-like simplicity to the mainstream gamers," he noted.

Benchmarks supplied by AMD show that the AMD! Game systems can provide 30FPS performance at 1280 x 1024 within tested games, while AMD Game! Ultra systems match that same performance at a resolution of 1600 x 1200.

"All of our solution requirements are really informed by real-world gameplay," he explained. "We don't use benchmarks, we're not being arbitrary, we're not trying just to sell-up to higher-end SKUs. We're really looking at what do people need to have the experiences that they expect."

Shack: When you update the AMD Game! specifications every six months or so, will you modify the logo or the name? AMD Game! 2, AMD Game! 3, that sort of thing?

Brent Barry: No. It'll always be AMD Game! We looked at a couple of different ways that we could try to identify what you needed. One idea was essentialy to do an AMD Game! 1, AMD Game! 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and keep going like that. Another one was to do AMD Game! 2007, AMD Game! 2008, AMD Game! 2009, those kinds of things.

At the end of the day, we decided all of those pieces ended up increasing complexity. We were trying to solve the simple problem of helping people to buy the right PC for gaming if they wanted to game. The direction that we've chosen is to make a simple program that can help people to quickly identify the PC on the shelf or in the store which is good for gaming today.

Shack:How are customers going to tell the old and new machines apart?

Brent Barry: As part of our guidelines with our customers--the system builders and OEMs and e-tailers--we're going to be changing out what our guidelines are for usage of the logo. So any time you see an AMD Game! PC, it should be built upon the latest platform specifications.

Shack: So then, what happens to the outdated machines on store shelves once the AMD Game! requirements are updated?

Brent Barry: The way that we are able to manage that is, number one, we work well ahead of time with all of our customers. For example, we'll be developing the 2009 guidelines over the next couple months. When you're dealing with a retail piece, you always have to be in cycle with the retailers to make sure that the retailers and the OEMs have time to be ready for any kind of change."

Shack: Will the AMD Game! logo appear on game boxes to steer mainstream gamers towards compatible games?

Brent Barry: Some of our partners are gonna be using the logo as part of their box and packaging, but that's more of a nod, I think, to what we're doing. It's not a focus for us.

We're not trying to get the AMD Game! logo on a [game] box. It might be a future part of the program. Our focus is on helping people find the right PC.

Keep reading to learn how AMD deals with system-eating games like Crysis and Assassin's Creed, one-button system optimization, and its beliefs regarding mainstream users and configurations tweaking.