Ubisoft 2000 Annual Report Download - page 42

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UBI SOFT / REFERENCE DOCUMENT
41
The various types of upgradeable engines created by Ubi Soft are
constantly being improved and adapted to the various formats. They
can be divided into four basic categories:
>the latest (2000), REVENGE (Reusable Vehicle Engine): a new-
generation modular engine for car races. REVENGE is the succes-
sor to the RAGE I and RAGE II engines, and sets new standards for
display performance (ability to see more than 1 km in advance),
physical vehicle behavior, fluidity, animation and Artificial
Intelligence. In addition, its flexible programming can handle 32-
bit graphics, compared with 8-bit for previous engines. Its
Artificial Intelligence is capable of handling previously inaccessi-
ble data, such as the stress level of competitors, depending on
how experienced they are (during a race a young driver may, for
example, be pushed into a making mistake by putting pressure
on him);
>OpenSpace: Tonic Trouble, Rayman® 2, the Playmobil line, and in
2000/2001 for Disney’s Donald Duck and Disney’s Jungle Book
Groove Party;
>Rayman® 2D Platform: for the Rayman® game in 1995 and the
Rayman® “youth” line;
>GEN (multimedia application generator): designed for Tim 7 in
1995. This type of engine is used in most educational and cultural
software.
Ubi Soft is working to develop products which incorporate the latest
technological innovations in order to produce better-quality games
with a longer product life, which translates directly into increased
sales volumes. In addition, positioning itself on the latest technolo-
gy raises product visibility and allows the company to take advan-
tage of manufacturers’ marketing campaigns. Finally, thanks to this
technological mastery, more than 50% of the games being develo-
ped will include multi-player and online functions, which make
games more interesting and therefore enhance their product life and
overall success.
>R&D costs constitute expenses for the creation of tools, and thus
are fixed and depreciated over 3 years. There is no basic research.
Our forecast of investment in research and development over the
next two financial years is about FF 30 million.
>The company has not applied for ISO certification (9000-9001).
4.6. GLOSSARY
>>>
Bit:
abbreviation of binary digit. Elementary unit of a quantity of infor-
mation which can only have two values, generally represented by 0
or 1 (false or true). The bit is the basic element of binary information
coding used in digital representation.
C:
programming language in general use, created by D Ritchie for deve-
loping the UNIX operating system and which came into wider use in
the 1980s. C++ is an extension of C adapted for object-oriented pro-
gramming.
CD-Rom:
abbreviation of Compact Disc Read Only Memory. A computer
medium with a compact optical disc format used to store 650 MB of
multimedia data and read by a laser beam.
Game console:
dedicated game computer without keyboard. Their specialization
means that they are generally high-performance machines. Third-
generation consoles with 128-bit processors appeared in 1999. They
can be connected to the Internet for online playing and are equipped
with DVD drives.
Dreamcast:
Sega game console. It has a 128-bit processor and was the first
console with a built-in 56 KB modem for online play (via the
Internet).
GameBoy®:
Nintendo handheld console. This was the first on the market, and
years later it is still around, with its 8-bit processor and its small
black-and-white screen. It has since been produced with a color
screen, Game Boy Color (GBC). More than 100 million of these hand-
held consoles have been sold.
GameBoy®Advance:
new Nintendo handheld console with a 32-bit processor. It hit the
market in March 2001 in Japan, and 700,000 units were sold in the
first week. Sales in the United States and Europe began in June.
According to Nintendo, 24 million units will be sold by the end of
March 2002.
GameCube™:
new Nintendo console which will hit the market in September 2001
in Japan, November in the United States and March 2002 in Europe.
It is targeted at 12 to 18 year-olds and will be compatible with
GameBoy®Advance.