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

To: Jeff Lins who wrote (9797)	12/19/1998 1:50:00 AM
From: Patrick Grinsell	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 16960

Jeff, by the very nature of growth 3dfx must make 3d chips that may be a cut below what we've come to expect. This is not the same "cost is no issue, make it fast" company that we invested in. Making money is now one of their priorities. Do you think that a stencil buffer and 32 bit rendering couldn't have been included in Voodoo3? Of course they could, but if it takes an extra six months why even bother? 3dfx now has to make crucial timing/pricing/compatibility decisions for their mainstream products. Remember we're talking about a product that's gone into prototype just a couple of months after Banshee's release. Damn quick turnaround. I don't think we can judge 3dfx's technology (or lack thereoff) from what looks like a marketing decision. Rampage, on the other hand, sounds like it has gotten free license to get plain silly. If, when the rampage specs are released, you don't see anything that sparks your fire be afraid. BE VERY AFRAID! That means 3dfx will have just pulled everything they had from their bag of tricks. Unfortunately, Q3 seems to be the next big app- both in popularity and for hardware obsolescence. Actually the on-line community is just much more focused on FPS games. Diablo outsold both Quake and Quake II by a wide margin. Myst outsold both with a lightning 3d rendering speed of exactly 1 frame per "click". The only "killer app", as you put it, is one that makes you want to buy a 3dfx card because it greatly enhances gameplay. Until now, these RPG gamers have been getting away with P166 and an ATI card. You can laugh all you want, but I'd wouldn't mind if 3dfx actually paid some of those "hunting game" developers to make their 3d solutions 3dfx only. The hunting games are currently the best sellers. The content sells the card and our card should be where the content sells best, no? Pat P.S. When was the last time you got in a conversation with a redneck hunter about external 32 bit rendering? (Aloha and I don't count. We're freaks of technological nature. ;-) )