Axis - The Crux of Game Creation

Heber | For Immediate Release

Heber has received an incredible industry response to its landmark integrated video control system - Axis - at the recent ATEI and EELEX shows.

Axis is the result of extensive market research and years of gaming industry experience. It allows designers the freedom to start creating their ideas immediately, by providing unparalleled ease of connectivity. And no other system offers the same high levels of security, giving manufacturers peace of mind at remarkably low prices.

"We spent three days at EELEX unable to move from the stand due to the huge number of visitors. I have never known a show like it," said Heber Managing Director Richard Placito. "We designed Axis knowing it would be a huge hit in the Eastern European markets, but even we were surprised by the level of interest."

"ATEI was a different kind of show but again we enjoyed high visitor numbers who seemed to feel that Axis provides everything a game developer needs in today's fast-moving competitive market," he added.

Axis is the latest in Heber's comprehensive range of electronic control systems, which include the ground-breaking Pluto 5 and 6 and the feature-rich Firefly boards and controllers, all of which were created for different aspects of the gaming sector and which continue to sell strongly.

Axis is available with a development kit , providing everything a game designer could possibly need, including the video controller itself, an Axis Evaluation Board, Linux Build and a suite of Linux device drivers. It is possible to set up in minutes, meaning that there is no more convenient or faster way to develop games. With an incredible raft of security features and the unparalleled back up of the Heber Customer Support department - Axis is set to be the crux of game creation.

Editor's Notes

Axis - technical data

The Axis family of video controllers is compact and powerful, using at its heart, a 1GHz Via Eden. processor, that is low cost and enjoys longevity of supply. In addition, the Via Eden. is renowned for its low power consumption and heat emission. This allows the Axis to be passively cooled.

An integrated 3D Savage 4 video processor provides the high performance video for Axis with an amazing 256MB of SDRAM main memory. Yet Axis is supplied in an incredibly compact, ventilated enclosure - ideal for restrictive gaming environments. Two 120-way connectors on the enclosure enable easy connection to a backplane, which can either be supplied by Heber or built to a customer's own specifications.

The Heber backplane design provides flexible I/O (input/output) functionality and provides 4 USB ports, I/O connectors and serial ports that enable RS232, RS485, ccTalk, SPI, TTL and I²C connectivity with a wide range of gaming industry standard interfaces. Proven Heber integrated I/O provides real time control.

Security Features:

The innovative Heber Security Device is unique to each Axis customer. It uses triple-DES encryption to protect customer game software that is held on removable storage - providing a game-to-hardware locked platform. A Smart Card socket can be used to provide dongle security. A battery-backed microcontroller with Real Time Clock provides additional security. And up to eight switches and analogue inputs can be monitored when the power is removed.

Operating System:

Axis runs a Linux operating system from either a Compact Flash card or other IDE device, which can be easily removed for operating system updates or game change. Axis uses the Linux 2.6 kernel, which is supplied together with all the necessary device drivers.

Expansion options:

Axis has a PCI slot for optional PCI card expansion with two standard PCI cards and one Heber custom PCI expansion card using a Heber riser card.

Quality:

Heber is fully ISO 9001:2000 accredited. Every single unit supplied is fully tested, certified and traceable. This guarantees the consistency and quality of all its gaming controllers.

For further information contact:

Amy James

Marketing Co-ordinator

Email: [email protected]