heres a comdex release on the v2
A bit of history and inline with what Gary said
http://www.wave-report.com/archives/1998/97340801.htm Quote:
Maybe it simply determined not to be required.
A product with no market so to speak.
`Voodoo 2 will not be a long term product '
3Dfx
Voodoo 2 came back from metal changes just before COMDEX. Announcements
by card companies with Voodoo products include: Creative, Diamond, Jazz,
and shown on the floor is Orchid. Of course there is Quantum 3D.
3Dfx sees this chip set and implementation being narrowly focused on the
avid gamer and vis-sim market. They expect no OEM wins other than to meet
this niche market. They expect to get the cards using this product to
market using retail, system integrators and companies focusing on BTO.
The ISV response has been very positive with 24 indicating they will do
something special to leverage the chip. It is also interesting that the
card companies are thinking about raising the bar and implementing 8MB
systems and not the minimum 6MB designs.
One of the reasons is that this
would allow for 16 bit systems with double buffer and z on a 800 X 600
display. It is 3Dfx's view that the best target for the gaming experience
is 800 X 600 at 60f/s. They see little advantage to go to 1024 X 768.
Thus, with this as a target the game designer can focus on 15,000 to
30,000 triangles per frame to maintain the 60 f/s rate. At this rate they
can support two textures per triangle and alpha blending, filtering and
fog with no penalty. They see the point that 3Dfx is delivering raw
performance that no other company can. "You can't get it anywhere else."
3Dfx has again done a very effective job of delivering on the promise of
setting the bar in game performance. If you want raw power which game
developers have avidly supported 3Dfx is where the action continues to
be.
It is also interesting that Voodoo 2 is the Sega chip solution that got
displaced by NEC and PowerVR. What 3Dfx has done is to take its loss with
Sega and used it as a lever to raise the bar in the PC space.
Although
Voodoo 2 will not be a long term product
and it, in its most effective
implementation, is a multiple card solution, 3Dfx has reinforced the
brand name identity it has created. That is, come to us for the fastest
and most capable game 3D engine. Good marketing and execution in the face
of adversity. It may also be good financially if they win in the lawsuit
against Sega, NEC and VideoLogic.
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