3DFX will Beat PowerVR for a Sega Console
Japan wants PowerVR cause it's from (N)ippon (E)lectric (C)ompany,
but if you look at their software title support, they are mostly
accellerating Direct3D routines from Windows95, not offering control
to the game software directly to their silicon registers. Any
console machine out there has minimal OS overhead to function, so
and un-needed layers just won't happen anywhere but a PC.
Gaming programmers have already demonstrated their willingness to write directly to 3DFX silicon registers (which is why TDFX has not rushed to embrace VESA 1 or 2 just yet) and with the gammit of software that can be ported over relatively quickly, 3DFX would probably win that horse race just from the title pool available.
- Frankly, I don't think SEGA will do ANY Console.
You got Mitsushita spending a few hundred million for 3DO's crap, and they don't have a console out after almost a 2 year wait. It's not cause they are stupid, it's because Sony's dumb luck newcommer success with the playstation will be VERY hard to duplicate, and After Nintendoe64 embaressed even the PC gaming market and Phillip CDI with it's incredable abilities, SEGA just may not be able to top this.
The only angle I can think of for SEGA to pull it off is clear if you consider the following:
There are relatively few games that really take advantage of the N64, accept Mario64, which most industry insiders will tell you was THE most expensive video game EVER made to date somewhere around $20-30 Million! But Nintendo wrote it off to marketing expense needed to show off their new N64 platform's capability. The point is, that tons of money have to be spent on new N64 titles (because it is very difficult to write to) for any of them to really attract customers. Now, if SEGA shows up with a 3DFX based machine with a CDROM and maybe 16MB of RAMBUS, and is able to quickly get many PC based 3DFX optimized titles ported over, that would be compelling, as you could enjoy Tomb Raider on your Television, for a few hundred dollars, instead of spending a few thousend dollars on your desktop PC and a descent monitor.
But even this may not fly by XMAS as now, with CPU (zif7) price wars heating up ( you can now get an AMD-K6-200mhz for $250, about half what it was 2 months ago, and 50% less then Intel 200MMX chip ) cheaper SDRAM, 12xCDROMs, etc., why not just get a $1,200 PC that can play Tomb Raider, AND do lot's of other crap no SEGA Console could ever do.
This is basically why I believe SEGA will NOT do another Console, consequently this is NOT a reason, in my opinion, to buy TDFX's stock. |
