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Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (13220)	6/11/1999 11:32:00 PM
From: Yeagher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

"I've hardly heard any anti-ATI talk. The worst that people say is that ATI's is not the top end card." I think the bigger point of today's lawsuit, could very well be that 3dfx wants to make sure that their competition doesn't release a glide emulator for the next generation of glide games. Glide is far, far from being passe', irregardless of appearances. Hopefully (sigh) 3dfx has got more than a few developers signed on for either exclusive glide games or for games specially optimized for glide. I can't think of a single game that can only be played on ATI hardware. People want their cake, and eat it too. I think that's the basis for so much hostility. Plus, once glide is out of the way, nVidia boosters feel they won't have to deal with the glide issue. Any ideas about today's TDFX stock dive?

To: Sun Tzu who wrote (13220)	6/12/1999 12:20:00 AM
From: Marc	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16960

Graphics Chip Maker 3dfx Sues Creative Technology In Patent Dispute SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Computer graphics chip maker 3dfx Interactive Inc. said Friday it is suing Creative Technology Ltd. for allegedly infringing 3dfx copyrights and for allegedly not paying its bills. 3dfx (TDFX) said Creative Technology (CREAF) and its Creative Labs Inc. unit, which makes computer sound and graphics cards, breached licensing agreements and infringed 3dfx copyrights when it incorporated 3dfx Glide source code into Unified technology. 3dfx also claims Singapore-based Creative Technology hasn't paid for some 3dfx products. The Glide code helps developers write three-dimensional game titles and software to run on 3dfx accelerators. John Danforth, general counsel for Creative Labs, said the suit is "totally baseless." He said the company's products don't contain 3dfx's Glide source code, as 3dfx alleges. Creative agreed to let 3dfx look at the source code for the disputed programs, Danforth said, but 3dfx decided to file the suit in the midst of discussions. "We're baffled by this complaint and the fact that they elected not to take the opportunity, which they instigated, to look at the source code," he said. 3dfx develops chips and software for rendering 3-D graphics on personal computers and arcade games. Its Voodoo line of graphics chips still is used mainly in boards bought by hard-core PC game players. Creative Technology had relied on 3dfx to supply about 30% of the video chips used in its graphics boards and last September had announced plans to use a 3dfx chip in its new 3-D Blaster Banshee graphics software. But this spring, 3dfx decided to start making its computer graphics boards inhouse under the Voodoo brand name instead of allowing other companies to buy its 3-D graphics technology. The shift in policy follows 3dfx's purchase May 13 of STB Systems Inc., a maker of graphics controllers and video drivers. - Roy Reynolds; 201-938-5400 Copyright (c) 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.