Arnie probably didn’t know this himself: his 40-year-old cult role has been in gaming software for 20 years

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Who doesn’t know him, the “Terminator”? It’s Arnie’s cult role that has even haunted some game developers for 20 years – in a positive sense

If there’s one role you associate with Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s the Terminator. The first film from 1984 finally helped him make his breakthrough – and you can still see that in unexpected places today.

There is actually a 20-year-old compression software from AMD called Compressonator that is still being updated. Never heard of it? Arnie probably feels the same way.

We explain why this software and the Terminator go well together in the article section What is the program good for? If there were ever any doubts about the origin of the tool’s name, they have now been finally dispelled.

We have none other than Raja Koduri to thank for this. In a recent tweet from him it says the following:

Every time I see the name “Compressonator”, I have to smile. If I remember correctly, Seth Sowerby came up with the name at ATI, inspired by the then “Governator” of California.

(The man from whom the quote above the picture originates is very well known in the tech scene: Raja Koduri (Image: EEtimes.com))
(The man from whom the quote above the picture originates is very well known in the tech scene: Raja Koduri (Image: EEtimes.com))

Who is Raja Koduri? The GPU expert has worked at the biggest names in tech, including Apple, Intel and AMD, as a high-level graphics chip developer. The Compressonator software in question even dates back to his ATI days.

The Canadian GPU manufacturer ATI made a name for itself with Radeon graphics cards ATI was then bought by AMD in 2006. The well-known brand name Radeon can still be found on AMD graphics cards today.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was Governor of California in the days of ATI. Due to his history as a famous actor in the Terminator films, he was often referred to as The Governator – which was probably the inspiration for the name of the compression tool.

What is the program good for?

The play on words in the name of the compression software based on Arnie’s Terminator role fits the content quite well.

After all, the Terminator’s job is to terminate or eliminate something – and that’s exactly what compression is all about.

(When the Compressonator arrives, unnecessarily large textures no longer speak to the hand.)
(When the Compressonator arrives, unnecessarily large textures no longer speak to the hand.)

In relation to games, the basic idea is to make elements such as textures as small as possible using compression methods without the graphic quality suffering (too much) visibly as a result. This means that unnecessarily used memory space is terminated to a certain extent

What does Koduri do today? Koduri founded a company called MIHIRA in 2023 (via Aninews). It aims to help game developers with suitable tools to significantly expand their storytelling thanks to support from AI functions.

GPU expertise and AI are an obvious combination when you consider how much money GPU manufacturer Nvidia earns in this area.