April of last year brought us one piece of news which sent shivers down our spines. 3dfx was dead, Long Live nVidia.
"On February 19, 2002, the 3dfx.com website will be shut down entirely", this short message greets the few visitors who brave the desert and visit what once used to be a thriving gamers paradise.
It's a sinking feeling you get when you visit, a sense that someone, somehow was wronged. This sentimentality is partly a result of the many hours spent enjoying games courtesy of the 3dfx special blend of Haitian magic and partly the process of watching a giant fall.
An extra sad note comes from watching the fallen, shivering body of 3dfx, in its death-throws informing visitors Did you know nVidia GPUs are the graphics of choice for Half Life users? Except for patents, trademarks and such, $55m will buy you a lot of dignity.
The whole point of the competitive process is watching the small guy fight and triumph over the big and established one. 3dfx became complacent, they rested on their apparent success and gave nVidia the chance to sneak in. In a similar way ATI are now challenging nVidia, it's a constant case of history repeating itself. This time however, nVidia should know what to expect and what they have to do.
But unfortunately this whole process is manufactured to fit best young teenage rebelious minds. nVidia was no small guy, ATI certainly aren't, AMD advertise on Ferrari's, so they are more less ruled out.
No there are no small guys, you won't beat the Status Quo by putting together your own system, you will not help some struggling genius, so you might as well go buy any off the shelf set-up.
Let's hope something changes soon.
