Nvidia buys 3dfx

[-Jochen-]

Apparently big news. I saw no posts about this here so I decided to post just to inform those who are interested.

From Toms hardware:

Graphics chipmaker NVidia will buy most of the assets of its ailing ex-rival 3dfx Interactive Inc. The purchase includes all of 3dfx's graphics-related assets, patents, trademarks, chip inventory, and brand names including Voodoo. The price is set at $112 million, with $70 million in cash and 1 million shares of registered NVidia common stock as valued on NVidia's closing price December 14. NVidia will not buy 3dfx's graphics board business, which 3dfx intends to dissolve without ending support for existing customers.

NVidia has not committed either to continuing the 3dfx brandname or absorbing it into its own label. 3dfx and NVidia will put their joint patent litigation on hold until the announced deal is closed, at which time their suits will be jointly dismissed.

For more information, read pcworld.com, cnnfn.cnn.com, zdii.com and techweb.com.

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jochen

Kids today! Why can't they fetishize Fascist military hardware like normal people?

Ladysmith wants you forthwith to come to her relief

Burn your briefs you leave for France tonight

Carefully cut the straps of the booby-traps and set the captives free

But don't shoot 'til you see her big blue eyes

[MikeT]

This news forces me to ask the question, just what type of video card must I get in the future but one that will support my voodoo type games?

MikeT

[Samhain]

The proprietary API used by 3dfx, "Glide," has been on the way out for some time. AFAIK, no new or recent game require it exclusively. Most allow D3D or OpenGL. I don't imagine any new vid cards will feature Glide support.

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Hope you got your things together,

Hope you are quite prepared to die. --CCR

[Quenaelin]

I hope that they will still support it in future becouse lots of people has Voodoo cards including myself. Glide isn't so bad API after all and novadays it is public. 3Dfx just did wrong decision and they become too greed so now they suffer from consequences. I hope NVidia will do some good with Voodoo brand and not just bury it.

[Bruno Weiss]

Why the devil anyone would care...? Ofcourse they will at least have the drivers available, but that is about all you get now anyway from either company, or any of them for that matter. As far as worrying about future API's, any card you buy today, will be outdated by next month, and old in 3 months, worthless in 6 months. Are future API code trends a really unsettling concern?

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"Gentlemen, you may be sure that of the three courses

open to the enemy, he will always choose the fourth."

-Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke, (1848-1916)

[greywolf]

Glide has no place - it did way back when Microsoft didn't have a decent 3d API, but it just isn't nessesary any more.

INstead 3dfx churned out what is essentially rehashed or outdated technology at a bloated price. Nvidia eclipsed them a year ago as the premier 3d hardware maker.

[stimpy]

Creative has created "unified" drivers for their GeForce cards which allow them to run Glide games. If it works at all for the game, they will only run as fast or slower than their D3D counterparts since the drivers translate Glide calls to D3D.

stimpy

[Maximus]

My question is, what games do you have and still play that only run in Glide???

The only one I bought in the last 2 years like that was Red Baron 3D and with my nVidia card I was stuck in software mode. So that puppy was quickly removed from my HDD. Then sent to a Pawn Shop.

[Quenaelin]

Hornet Korea, I am still playing it becouse it is so good Hornet simulation, not the best maybe. And of course Indepence War best space sim ever made, and these games have only Glide support.

WWII Fighters has D3D and OPENGL support also but I prefer using Glide. If you haven't ever used Glide you don't know what you are missing, glad to you.

In older games picture is little bit crispier when using Glide not so smooth and clean as in early D3D supports in DX5 and DX6, thats why I like it. And effects used to be better also, though nowadays it has changed.

[Jarmo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Quenaelin:

Hornet Korea, I am still playing it becouse it is so good Hornet simulation, not the best maybe. And of course Indepence War best space sim ever made, and these games have only Glide support.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Didn't Hornet get upgraded to support OpenGL?

At least the mac version did...

[pford]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bruno Weiss:

Why the devil anyone would care...?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, as a Mac user, it is unlikely that Nvidia will continue to support graphic cards for the Macintosh.

[Robert Mayer]

It's highly unlikely any developers will build Glide support into their games now. Voodoo cards can run OpenGL or D3D games generally, though, so if you're stuck with a 3dfx card you'll be ok in most respects--for a while. But Glide (and the hardware it was designed for) doesn't support all of the current features of video cards (or more importantly, the features required by games to run at full effect), and it sure as hell can't handle DirectX 8 stuff (then again, it won't be until next year that video cards come out from anyone that will be fully DirectX compliant as opposed to just compatible, as most cards are now).

In other words, if you have an older 3dfx card, you really, really need to get a new video card; perhaps when NV20 boards debut you can snag a GeForce or GeForce2 for cheap. If you have a Voodoo 5, you're ok for a while, but I wouldn't get too attached to it.

[Doug Beman]

I think what is even more important and interesting is the impact this will have on the PC (and MAC) market.

First off, many analysts point to 3d's purchase of STB as the first sign of the collapse. While this may or may not be true, it certainly will discourage other companies that make just chips (audio, video, etc) from getting into making entire cards.

Second is the question of whether this is a "good" or "bad" thing. One of the "good" things about the Voodoo and Voodoo2 chips was that lots of card makers could make Voodoo boards, so there were always options, prices were pretty good, etc. However, after 3d started making their own cards and said "nobody else can make cards with our chips," the price/performance ratio of Voodoo cards began dropping like a rock. Look at the prices on the 5000, 5500 and 6000 Voodoo cards: $400 to $550 for a card that was neck and neck with a hot GeForce2 ($300). I think having several people making cards based on the same chip is good, because there will be constant competition and impetus to improve the breed. Going to a market where there are options (which GeForce card is best?) is a good thing. ATI needs to watch out on this, lest the constant improvement in NVidia-powered cards (improvement created by different card makers wanting to be the best) overtake the Radeon, which is in the "only ATI can make Radeon cards" mode. If they don't constantly improve the breed, ATI could go the way of 3d.

Thirdly, this buyout caps off a year or so of bitter, heated legal action between the two. 3D basically bankrupted themselves trying to claim that they invented the entire 3d card market. The same situation just befell Aureal, who got nabbed by Creative Labs after Aureal WON a court case against Creative for copyright infringement. But Aureal spent too much to win, and the patent royalties didn't save them. Must have been a bitter pill indeed for Aureal employees. Currently we have Rambus still running around trying to get fees for RDRAM, SDRAM, DDRAM, VC133, DAMNRAM, and maybe even STLOUISRAMS. IBM is even in on this action; they attempt to charge royalties to white-box/custom PC builders and hard drive makers for things like the very process by which PC makers build PCs. I don't know how similar the video and audio card markets are to the RAM and process markets, but there's a lesson in there somewhere.

DjB

[Doug Beman]

Another point is that, according to analysis, the retail sales market (people buying at EBX) only accounts for about 10% of the market. The rest of the cards (and money) are in OEM machines and companies buying through the distribution/resale channel (I work, for a short time more, for a reseller) and 3D didn't do a good enough job of working that market segment.

DjB

[pford]

Well, I am pleasantly surprised. I looks like Nvidia will support the Mac. I don't know if they or another party (such as Apple Inc.) will make Mac video cards.

I hope Ray will be involved since he seems to have a good working relationship with BTS.

http://www.go2mac.com/displaynews.cfm?newsid=7683

[This message has been edited by pford (edited 12-20-2000).]