NVIDIA and Electronic Arts Form Exclusive Strategic Alliance!

[Mem]

Link .

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

SANTA CLARA, CA?APRIL 10, 2003?NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that it has formed a strategic relationship with Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS), the leading worldwide publisher of PC and console games. The two companies will work together to produce and market next-generation 3D content under the EA GAMES and EA SPORTS brands, which include such top-selling games and franchises as Madden Football, Command & Conquer, James Bond 007, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf and Battlefield 1942. By supporting NVIDIA® graphics processing units (GPUs) for desktop and notebook PCs, including the new NVIDIA® GeForce? FX family of GPUs, EA is able to deliver innovative and rock-solid gaming experiences to PC consumers worldwide.

?EA is excited about this relationship as it allows us to continue our long standing relationship with NVIDIA,? said Scott Cronce, vice president and chief technology officer at EA. ?Working with NVIDIA?s high-quality GPUs will help us as we continue to enhance graphics performance in our games and produce cutting-edge content.?

Under terms outlined by their agreement, NVIDIA hardware will become the preferred PC graphics platform for EA?s worldwide studios to give its developers the best solution for realizing their creative visions. EA development teams will use PCs powered by NVIDIA GPUs to create eye-popping 3D effects while allowing full compatibility across all PC gaming systems featuring NVIDIA hardware. NVIDIA and EA will also discuss opportunities to implement NVIDIA-specific features and special effects in several upcoming EA titles such as Madden NFL Football 2004 and others for the PC platform.

NVIDIA also announced that it has been awarded the exclusive OEM bundling rights to certain EA PC titles. Under terms of the agreement, NVIDIA will act as sole OEM distributor of certain PC titles published under the EA Games and EA Sports brands, bundling select content with its PC manufacturer and system builder partners.

 

[GnomeCop]

.....so what.... on every EA game at startup after we see the "CHALLENGE EVERYTHING" intro we get to see that "NIVIA the way its meant to be played" intro too?

 

[ElFenix]

i hate that nvidia ad that comes in games. ati had 2/3 the market share nvidia does so they have to do QA testing with ati parts too.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i hate that nvidia ad that comes in games.

That's a shocker.

ati had 2/3 the market share nvidia does so they have to do QA testing with ati parts too.

ATi has 19-21% of the entire GPU market (depending which source you use) compared to nVidia's 31-33% hold, but that's not really the target market for this alliance. The AIB market is where this'll help nV and hurt ATi, as nVidia controls nearly 60% compared to ATi's 30% share. Yes, game devs will still have to Q&A test for ATi parts, but that doesn't mean they'll optimize or implement vendor specific code like nVidia's proprietary cG.

The good news is that it doesn't look like EA will be producing any nVidia exclusive titles as rumored by a few unreliable web sources. Looks like the extent of the exclusivity deal will be that EA games will only be distributed with nVidia retail cards and OEM boxes with nVidia cards.

Chiz

 

[AmdInside]

NVIDIA and EA will also discuss opportunities to implement NVIDIA-specific features and special effects in several upcoming EA titles such as Madden NFL Football 2004 and others for the PC platform.

 

[Wingznut]

NVIDIA also announced that it has been awarded the exclusive OEM bundling rights to certain EA PC titles.

Does that mean they are going to start bundling games again? I hope so.

 

[eklass]

uhm, this topic is way ignorant

what it is, is nvidia convincing ea to use some specific nvidia stuff... kinda like intel asking programmers to use SSE. funny, amd seems to be stil around

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i hate that nvidia ad that comes in games.

That's a shocker.

ati had 2/3 the market share nvidia does so they have to do QA testing with ati parts too.

ATi has 19-21% of the entire GPU market (depending which source you use) compared to nVidia's 31-33% hold, but that's not really the target market for this alliance. The AIB market is where this'll help nV and hurt ATi, as nVidia controls nearly 60% compared to ATi's 30% share. Yes, game devs will still have to Q&A test for ATi parts, but that doesn't mean they'll optimize or implement vendor specific code like nVidia's proprietary cG.

The good news is that it doesn't look like EA will be producing any nVidia exclusive titles as rumored by a few unreliable web sources. Looks like the extent of the exclusivity deal will be that EA games will only be distributed with nVidia retail cards and OEM boxes with nVidia cards.

Chiz

A little clarification, please . . . doesn't this really (simply) mean that EA will be using nVidia powered cards for dev work?

Under terms outlined by their agreement, NVIDIA hardware will become the preferred PC graphics platform for EA?s worldwide studios to give its developers the best solution for realizing their creative visions. EA development teams will use PCs powered by NVIDIA GPUs to create eye-popping 3D effects while allowing full compatibility across all PC gaming systems featuring NVIDIA hardware

. . . And the "bundles".

Big Deal.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: apoppin
A little clarification, please . . . doesn't this really (simply) mean that EA will be using nVidia powered cards for dev work?

Not necessarily:

NVIDIA and EA will also discuss opportunities to implement NVIDIA-specific features and special effects in several upcoming EA titles such as Madden NFL Football 2004 and others for the PC platform.

This might not mean anything, as we all know that game devs already optimize for various IHVs. nVidia has brought a lot of attention lately to vendor specific code with their 3DMark2K3 fuss, which is also why I made a big deal out of 3DMark2K3's limitations once it was released. This can mean a few things, either EA will continue to optimize for nVidia cards (perhaps adopt cG, nVidia's propriety HLSL), or they'll implement certain effects that can only be seen with nVidia cards. Either way, this indicates future EA games will cast a better light on nVidia parts, all things being equal (like-parts compared, ie 9700pro vs. FX).

Bundled software might not seem like a big deal, but its mutually beneficial to both parties. Bundle an award-winning game or two from EA that has reached its half-life, like BF1942 (in a month or so) and compare it to an equivalent card; say the 5600Ultra vs. the 9600pro. Slap a sticker on the box that says "BF1942 GeForce FX Enhanced Edition Included!!!", it might persuade the person to buy the FX over the Radeon if prices are similar. nVidia sells a card to a person who thinks they need an FX to play EA games "The Way Its Meant to Be Played", and EA increases their user base and collects a royalty (with the high probability they'll buy R2R or any other Xpack).

Considering some of the junk titles bundled with current video cards (I got Serious Sam:FE and Motocross Madness with my GF4 Turbo and nothing with my 9700pro

), even an older title from a big-name publisher like EA is a big difference.

Chiz

 

[apoppin]

I still don't think it is such a big deal. (EDIT: I already awknowledged the game 'bundles'.)

I think it means that EA will give "preference" to nVidia . . . HOWEVER, if they make too much of it, they won't get more people to buy nVidia cards, rather LESS people - the OTHER 62% who game with OTHER than nVidia - will buy EA games! EA will effectively be shooting themselves in the foot.

I think this is more "symbolic" ( a "victory" for nVidia) that anything else or this will really (only) hurt consumers as ATI and Intel go for their "own game" developers.

Eventually we would see MBs with 2 AGP slots . . .

(at least platforms still can't "touch that" kind of PC flexibility . . . but I'd hate PC gaming deteriorate into "Platform-type Wars" - PC gaming would finally LOSE)

 

[Tab]

I wonder if this is just for the devlopers...

 

[Adul]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: ElFenix
i hate that nvidia ad that comes in games.

That's a shocker.

ati had 2/3 the market share nvidia does so they have to do QA testing with ati parts too.

ATi has 19-21% of the entire GPU market (depending which source you use) compared to nVidia's 31-33% hold, but that's not really the target market for this alliance. The AIB market is where this'll help nV and hurt ATi, as nVidia controls nearly 60% compared to ATi's 30% share. Yes, game devs will still have to Q&A test for ATi parts, but that doesn't mean they'll optimize or implement vendor specific code like nVidia's proprietary cG.

The good news is that it doesn't look like EA will be producing any nVidia exclusive titles as rumored by a few unreliable web sources. Looks like the extent of the exclusivity deal will be that EA games will only be distributed with nVidia retail cards and OEM boxes with nVidia cards.

Chiz

A little clarification, please . . . doesn't this really (simply) mean that EA will be using nVidia powered cards for dev work?

Under terms outlined by their agreement, NVIDIA hardware will become the preferred PC graphics platform for EA?s worldwide studios to give its developers the best solution for realizing their creative visions. EA development teams will use PCs powered by NVIDIA GPUs to create eye-popping 3D effects while allowing full compatibility across all PC gaming systems featuring NVIDIA hardware

. . . And the "bundles".

Big Deal.

that is what it looks like to me. EA will develope on NVIDIA only hardware. Just like they are developing on AMD hardware

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Well, if you can't make a card that plays games the fastest have game designers make games that run rough on the competetion's card.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: GoodRevrnd
Well, if you can't make a card that plays games the fastest have game designers make games that run rough on the competetion's card.

sounds like collusion to me

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Eventually we would see MBs with 2 AGP slots . . .

Actually, I would like to see some 2 AGP slot motherboards enter the market. They would be useful for quad display systems, and the ultra-fast AGP bus could possibly be used for applications other than video.

 

[wetcat007]

Next they'll have them cause problems on ATI cards...

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: apoppin

Eventually we would see MBs with 2 AGP slots . . .

Actually, I would like to see some 2 AGP slot motherboards enter the market. They would be useful for quad display systems, and the ultra-fast AGP bus could possibly be used for applications other than video.

Sounds expensive. Think it'll happen?

I imagine AGP and the new PCI Graphics will-coexist for awhile (?)



Quad displays!?

2 Paraphernalias would give you SIX displays.