Engineering:RealMagic
RealMagic (or ReelMagic), from Sigma Designs, was one of the first fully compliant MPEG playback boards on the market in the mid-1990s.
RealMagic is a hardware-accelerated MPEG decoder that mixes its video stream into a computer video card's output through the video card's feature connector. It is also a SoundBlaster-compatible sound card. [1]
Successors
Sigma design's Realmagic superseded by
- Realmagic Hollywood+
- Realmagic XCard
- Realmagic NetStream2000 - 4000
Several software companies in 1993 promised to support the card, including Access, Interplay, and Sierra.[1] Software written for RealMagic includes:
- Under a Killing Moon - Access Software
- Gabriel Knight
- Escape from Cybercity
- Kings Quest VI - Sierra Online
- Dragon's Lair
- Police Quest IV - Sierra Online
- Return to Zork - Infocom
- Lord of the Rings - Interplay Entertainment
Note: the above titles were on a REELMAGIC demo CD that came with the hardware. The CD also contained corporate promotion videos, training videos, news footage of JFK and the Apollo moon mission. Also included in the bundle, was a complete version of The Horde - published by Crystal Dynamics (1994)
Other software includes:
- The Psychotron (an interactive mystery movie) - Merit Software
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "30 Frames Per Second? Get Reel!". Computer Gaming World: pp. 12. November 1993. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=112. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
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