zlacker

> past basic use of MMX

MMX is fixed point and shares register space with FPU. Afaik not a single real shipped game ever used MMX for geometry. Intel did pay some game studios to fake MMX support. One was 1998 Ubisoft POD with a huge "Designed for Intel MMX" banner on all boxes https://www.mobygames.com/game/644/pod/cover/group-3790/cove... while MMX was used by one optional audio filter :). Amazingly someone working in Intel "developer relations group" at the time is on HN and chimed in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28237085

"I can tell you that Intel gave companies $1 million for "Optimized" games for marketing such."

$1 million for one optional MMX optimized sound effect. And this scammy marketing worked! Multiple youtube reviewers remember vividly how POD "runs best/fastest on MMX" to this day (LGR is one example).

>>rasz+(OP)
I was using MMX as just an off the top of my head example but you are completely right. SSE would have been a better example. ;)

Also had no idea about them paying for those optimizations but I am not surprised one bit. It is very in character for Intel. ;)