CAIRO: Intel Corporation confirmed at Cairo ICT its support of Khayal's first-ever commercial 3D game developed in the Arab world: "Abo Hadeed. Created by three Egyptian engineers that were chosen by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) Technology Development Fund, "Abo Hadeed was developed with support from Intel's Software and Solution Group (SSG) and runs best on Intel Core 2 Duo processors, the company said in a statement. At Cairo ICT's exhibition, four of Egypt's main channel players including ETE, Inmac, North Africa Company and Nordix demonstrated the bundle on their desktop machines. In addition to optimizing "Abo Hadeed to run 40 percent faster on Intel Core 2 Duo processor based desktops, Intel's Software and Solutions Group worked with Khayal on bullet-proofing the game's CD copy protection. It also created 3,000 special copies of the game that are locked to work only on Intel Core 2 Duo and later processors. Khaled Elamrawi, Intel general manager in Egypt, Levant and North Africa, said, "It is our aim to support local talent by giving them the opportunity of developing new and innovative projects, which will in turn lead to more ideas in the future. Our role is to make them deliver and give them the opportunity to make profit of their valuable experience. Following their third place finish in Egypt's first Business Plan Competition in 2005, organized by the MCIT, Ahmed El Deeb, Mostafa Ashour and Ahmed Sabry co-founded Khayal as the first company in the region to provide Advergaming services in a 3D game. The trio received a grant from MCIT covering premises and equipment for 18 months through the Technology Incubators Program (TIP). The game took two years to develop and is now available on the market for LE 50. "Abo Hadeed is the first commercial Egyptian 3D game and is inspired by local characters, such as car mechanics and farmers who eat fuul to restore their health. The game is entirely in Arabic, although there is some Egyptian slang present that helps set the casual life theme throughout 10 levels. It is designed for single and multi-player modes.
