DIAMOND LAUNCHES INDUSTRY'S FIRST MULTIMEDIA ACCELERATOR WITH INTEGRATED
3D, 2D, DIGITAL VIDEO AND WAVETABLE AUDIO FOR ADVANCED GAMEPLAY UNDER
WINDOWS 95

Sega to Port Saturn Games for Diamond Edge 3D Accelerator Featuring NVIDIA
Technology

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 18, 1995 -- Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc.
(Nasdaq: DIMD), a leader in PC graphics accelerators, has announced a line
of integrated 3D multimedia accelerators that allows consumers to play a
new generation of advanced games featuring photo-realistic 3D
environments, fast 2D graphics, full-motion digital video and hardware
wavetable audio, under Windows 95. Named "Diamond Edge 3D", the new PCI
product line is based on technology from NVIDIA Corp. and sports a digital
gameport for precise joystick control, as well as two video gameports that
allow specialized, multi-player versions of Sega Saturn titles, such as
the arcade hit Virtua Fighter Remix, to be played on Windows 95 PCs.

Diamond's Edge 3D is believed to be the only single-board solution offering
all of these features and is expected to be initially shipped in late
October at consumer prices starting from $249 - $299. Other 3D boards
hitting the market this year are expected to exceed Diamond's starting
prices for Edge 3D multimedia accelerators and to not offer an integrated
multimedia solution including 3D, 2D, wavetable audio, digital video and
specialized game ports.

Diamond expects the Edge 3D multimedia accelerator line to help usher in a
new generation in PC gameplay under Windows 95. Traditionally, most PC
games were written to support 320x200 resolution with maximum 256 colors
and could not feature realistic 3D graphics without slowing down the
gameplay. With Diamond Edge 3D accelerators, game developers can support
resolutions as high as 1024x768 with 65,000 colors while still achieving
fast, realistic action. In the past, this type of technology was available
only to engineers and designers with prices topping $2,000.

"Diamond's Edge 3D provides all of the features consumers need for the
ultimate PC gaming experience in one affordable product," said Ken Wirt,
vice president of marketing for Diamond Multimedia. "For the first time,
gamers can experience the realism and fast- action traditionally reserved
for dedicated video game systems with a Diamond Edge 3D board on their
Windows 95 PCs."

Top game developers including Sega, Interplay, Domark, Papyrus and others
are developing games specifically designed to take advantage of the
enhanced features offered through the Diamond Edge 3D accelerator line,
including realistic 3D graphics, full-motion MPEG video sequences, faster
gameplay, video texture mapping, special effects and high- fidelity
Wavetable audio. More than 50 game companies have already received Edge 3D
software development kits (SDKs) and Diamond expects to ship more than 200
development systems by the end of September.

Diamond is bundling four enhanced versions of top-selling titles with the
Edge 3D accelerator: Sega's Virtua Fighter Remix; Interplay's Descent:
Destination Saturn ; Domark's Absolute Zero; and Papyrus' NASCAR Racing .
(See accompanying releases.) Other upcoming titles include Sega's Panzer
Dragoon and Interplay's Descent II.

"Sega is excited about doing business with Diamond Multimedia to provide
the Sega Saturn games Virtua Fighter Remix and Panzer Dragoon with the
Diamond Edge 3D multimedia accelerator," said Bill White, vice president
of strategic alliances and new business development for Sega of America.
"For the first time, users will be able to experience realistic 3D games
on their PC. Thanks to NVIDIA technology, Virtua Fighter Remix and Panzer
Dragoon will have fast action and realistic, high resolution graphics on
the Diamond Edge 3D. And with the Saturn game controller ports, families
today can further expand the use of their Sega Saturn accessories."

"The innovative features of Diamond's Edge 3D accelerator combined with the
cutting-edge gameplay of Descent: Destination Saturn make this bundle a
clear winner for PC game enthusiasts this year. We are very excited about
all of our upcoming products for Diamond's Edge 3D," said Jill Goldworn,
vice president of OEM sales, Interplay.

David Kaemmer, chief technical officer of Papyrus, said, "Many of the
processor-intensive features of our games can be accelerated by Diamond's
Edge 3D -- high-resolution, 3D graphics, real-time mixing of digital
sounds -- this new card makes our NASCAR Racing scream under Windows!"

Consumer 3D Graphics

The 3D functions of the Diamond Edge 3D were designed specifically for the
consumer multimedia market where the primary application is interactive
entertainment. Traditionally, 3D graphics were created by drawing large
numbers of successive polygons using the CPU, which resulted in a tradeoff
between detailed graphics and speed of interactivity. With the Diamond
Edge 3D, the hardware engine accelerates polygon rendering of real-time,
texture-mapped 3D images at the highest possible frame rates without
unduly slowing the CPU. In addition, the Diamond Edge 3D can create
realistic 3D graphics by using nine control points to create a curved
surface, called quadratic texture mapping (QTM).

Features of the Diamond Edge 3D engine include fast polygon rendering,
texture-mapping for photo-realism, quadratic texture-mapping for
perspective correction and rendering of curved surfaces, as well as
special effects including diffused lighting, specular highlights,
reflection mapping and alpha blending for fog, smoke and transparency.

High Performance 2D Acceleration

The Diamond Edge 3D delivers fast 2D Windows acceleration at resolutions as
high as 1280x1024, color depths to 1 billion and refresh rates of up to
120Hz. Designed for Windows 95, Edge 3D accelerates graphics performance
in high color and true color modes. Conventional products perform well in
only one mode, typically 8bpp mode.

Wavetable Audio

A high-fidelity hardware wavetable audio engine is integrated into the
Diamond Edge 3D. The wavetable samples are stored in system memory
allowing game developers to provide custom samples for exciting sound and
MIDI effects tailored to each individual game. Efficiently designed to
share system resources and reduce total system cost, Edge 3D uses the
computer's main memory to hold wavetable samples. Unlike most wavetable
products available today, which require expensive additional read only
memory, new sound samples can simply be downloaded for use with the
Diamond Edge 3D.

Video Acceleration

Video texturing and full-motion video acceleration add excitement to games
developed for the Diamond Edge 3D. Video texturing allows the mapping of
video onto a surface as if it were a texture for video to be used as an
interactive part of a game. For instance, video of someone's face can be
mapped onto a 3D rendered head that moves and talks, instead of being used
only for passive introductions or sequences as in most titles today.
Full-motion video playback and scaling of true-color MPEG, Indeo and
Cinepak are now fully supported in software.

Digital Gameport and Video Gameports

Diamond Edge 3D's eight-channel digital gameport enables a fine degree of
PC joystick control and quick response to user actions during game play,
solving the latency problem of traditional PC gaming. The Diamond Edge 3D
also has two unique video gameports that allow gamers to use genuine Sega
Saturn peripherals, such as the Saturn Control Pad, Mission Stick and
Arcade Racer, to play ported versions of Saturn games on their Windows 95
PCs.

Designed for Windows 95

Windows 95 is expected to enable easier installation, usability and better
support for games and game hardware. In order to meet this expectation,
hardware vendors, at a minimum, need to offer devices that support 2D
graphics, 3D graphics, digital video acceleration, quality audio and Plug
and Play installation. The Diamond Edge 3D provides hardware that supports
Windows 95 as a game platform, including real-time, photo-realistic 3D and
2D graphics, full-motion video, video-based special effects, concurrent
high-fidelity Wavetable audio and integrated digital gameports and
videogame connectors all in a single board. Diamond also plans support for
all Direct APIs for Windows 95 as they become available from Microsoft.

Pricing and Availability

The DRAM version of the Diamond Edge 3D, based on SGS Thomson's STG2000
multimedia accelerator chip, is available for PCI-bus in 1MB upgradable to
2MB (the Diamond Edge 3D 2120XL) or 2MB standard (the Diamond Edge 3D
2200XL.) The VRAM configuration, based on NVIDIA Corp.'s NV1 multimedia
accelerator chip, is available for PCI in 2MB upgradable to 4MB (the
Diamond Edge 3D 3240XL) or 4MB standard (the Diamond Edge 3D 3400XL.) Both
chips are based on NVIDIA's NV1 technology. Diamond estimates pricing for
the 2000 series to start at $249 to $299 and for the 3000 series to start
at $399 to $449. The Diamond Edge 3D is expected to be available through
OEMs, nationwide distributors and at most major computer retail outlets.

Diamond Multimedia

Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets
high-performance multimedia solutions for the PC, PowerPC and PCI Power
Macintosh markets. Products include graphics and multimedia accelerators,
which incorporate graphics, video and MPEG acceleration in a single
subsystem. Diamond also manufactures sound cards, audio/telephony
subsystems and multimedia upgrade kits for the personal computer market.
Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Diamond has marketing and technical
support facilities in Tokyo, Munich and Slough (U.K.). The company's
products are sold through regional, national and international
distributors as well as to major computer retailers, mass merchants and
OEMs worldwide. Diamond's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq exchange
under the symbol DIMD.

How to Contact Diamond Multimedia

There are many ways to reach Diamond for sales support, technical
assistance, driver updates and general information:

The Main Phone Number is 408-325-7000; Fax: 408-325-7070
Product Support Voice: 408-325-7100; Product Support Fax: 408-325-7171
24-Hour Fax On Demand Service: 1-800-380-0030
America OnLine (Keyword: DIAMOND)
CompuServe (GO DMNDONLINE or GO GRAPHBVEN) [75300,3673]
Microsoft Network: GOTO DIAMONDONLINE
Internet Web Site: http://www.diamondmm.com
FTP Site: ftp.diamondmm.com
For information on Diamond products: 1-800-468-5846
BBS numbers at 408-325-7080 (to 14.4K baud) or 
               408-325-7175 (to 28.8K baud)
 
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