In the award-winning videogame Mirror's Edge, DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, introduces players to a new heroine named Faith. Faith belongs to a network of couriers called 'runners' who use acrobatic moves to transport confidential information across the cityscape of rooftops and aerial skyways to avoid being detected. To deliver this never-before-seen sense of movement and perspective, DICE has turned to NVIDIA PhysX technology to give gamers an eye-popping experience on the PC.
"Faith's world in Mirror's Edge is visceral, immediate, and very dangerous; it is imperative that the gameplay reflect this level of urgency," said Owen O'Brien, Senior Producer at DICE. "NVIDIA PhysX technology affords us the ability to bring a totally new level of immersion to the game, and by doing so, gamers can truly become part of the world."
With the NVIDIA PhysX physics engine, the world of Mirror's Edge comes to life with real affects of wind, weapons impact, and in-game movements. Every-day objects within the game become part of the overall experience. Cloth, flags, and banners can now impact weapons and players; ground fog interacts with the player's footsteps; explosions fill the air with smoke and debris; and weapon impacts are enhanced with interactive particles.
On the PC, PhysX technology harnesses the power of CUDA, NVIDIA's general-purpose, parallel-computing architecture, to handle 10-20 times more visual complexity than what's possible without a GeForce CUDA-enabled GPU. And unlike competitors' solutions, which do not offer hardware-scaling capabilities, only PhysX technology leverages the best of both CPU and GPU architectures to deliver the ultimate, immersive, user experience. With over 100 million CUDA-compatible GeForce 8 Series and higher GPUs shipped to date, PhysX technology has the largest installed base of general-purpose, parallel-computing processors to run on.
"If you love intense combat scenes, fast-paced chases, and sky-high adventures then Mirror's Edge is the game for you," said Ujesh Desai, vice president of GeForce desktop business at NVIDIA. "Gamers will appreciate the greater freedom of movement, including sliding under barriers, tumbling, wall-running, and shimmying across ledges -- all within an environment that is dynamic and immersive, delivered in part by our PhysX technology."
Consisting of a robust physics engine, API, and middleware software, NVIDIA PhysX technology is interactive entertainment's most pervasive physics engine and is already included in more than 140 shipping titles for PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 computer and video game system from Microsoft, Wii, and the PC.
Mirror's Edge was awarded "Best Xbox 360 Game" at the GC Developers Conference in Leipzig, Germany. It also received the Game Critics Award for "Best Original Game" at E3 in July. Mirror's Edge shipped to retail stores worldwide on November 11th for the PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system. The PC version of Mirror's Edge will ship in January 2009 to retailers worldwide. For more information about the game, please visit http://www.mirrorsedge.com/
