Some thoughts on the 3dfx buyout.....

[Deeko]

Ok I'm probably gonna ramble on here, and I'm probably gonna jump around from topic to topic, and I don't care if you read it, I just feel like saying it

Anyway...first off...what is gonna be left of 3dfx? I saw in one of the interviews or somethin that someone(I think Brian Burke) was assuring that this was not a complete takeover, that they were just buying the core assets. So what's gonna be left? If they are gonna have no patents or anything left, and like no employees, what is gonna be left? It's not like they can ever sell anything again, nvidia even has rights to the 3dfx name.
Hmm...next...this definitly came as a shock to me. From the looks of it, this was 3dfx' descision, why would they do this? I just don't get it, why would you sell youself to your biggest rival? I mean, they were doing poorly, but they were coming back a little, with the new driver enhancements, they were making up alot of the speed difference and gaining alot of respect back. Rampage must not have been nearby, otherwise they wouldn't have done this. They would've at least waiting until after the launch,
Next...VoodooTV....just recently released. Why would they release a new product if they knew this was going to happen? This couldn't have happened overnight or anything. They had to have like known it was coming or something. They couldn't have been expecting such a small thing like VoodooTV to save them, could they?
Employees...what's happening to them? Is Nvidia not taking any of them? That wouldn't make sense to me, I mean they've got this technology from them, wouldn't they need some people that knew how it worked to help them out?
Future cards....I wonder what's gonna happen? What I see as a best case scenario for the next generation assumes that a dual chip Rampage would have been faster than NV20. What would be cool would be if they released single Rampage as low end, NV20 as mid, and Dual Rampage as high end. I highly, highly doubt that will happen, but it would be pretty cool. More than likely they will just throw it all out. What a waste. They will probably somehow manage to encorporate GP technology, but that more than likely wouldn't happen until like NV30, right? Because NV20 and NV25 are already along.
It must have really sucked to have worked on Rampage if they just scrap it. That thing has been in development for so long now. If it is just scrapped, and I was an engineer that had been working on it since it's conception, I would be pretty pissed right now. That is such a waste of good technology.

Hmm...I think that's it. That's my longest post ever

 

[PistachioByAzul]

So Deeko, who do you think is cuter, AJ or Howie?

 

[Deeko]

Do you wanna fight? Right now?

 

[Deeko]

btw, brian has the best voice, I could care less about looks

 

[PistachioByAzul]

To me it doesn't really sound like nVidia has any specific plans for 3dfx. They just bought them because it would probably be cheaper in the long run to avoid the pending lawsuits, and because they will find one way or another to make use of 3dfx's name and technology in the future.

 

[Wingznut]

I believe that nVidia knew that 3dfx had an excellent case against them.

 

[Rudee]

That first post was hard on the eyes. More white space needed.

 

[WetWilly]

From the looks of it, this was 3dfx' descision, why would they do this?

Three words for you - "maximizing shareholder value" or "saving our asses" - take your choice. I believe there was serious doubt about how long they'd stay afloat once they announced their latest financials (which were also announced today). I also believe there was something in there about an inability to secure additional credit lines. Even if Rampage was just around the corner (and that's not a given), there's something else just around the corner - an 800 lb. gorilla known as NV20. Whether the NV20 actually lives up to the hype is almost irrelevant if 3dfx doesn't have the funds to keep operations going.

VoodooTV...

Too much velocity to stop?

this definitly came as a shock to me

Very true, but objectively speaking once they were at less than $2/share they were a REAL valuable target for someone. ATI should have really stepped in for this one. Their battle with nVidia was already heating up, and those lawsuits would have been great ammo.

Employees...what's happening to them? Is Nvidia not taking any of them?

nVidia will pick and choose few people, if any. That's what they did to Aureal before Creative bought the remains. nVidia has also apparently scavenged over at Matrox, which is believed to be one reason why the G800 was delayed.

Future cards....I wonder what's gonna happen? What I see as a best case scenario for the next generation assumes that a dual chip Rampage would have been faster than NV20

Doesn't fit. I posted elsewhere about driver support. It's not worth it for nVidia to hire/allocate resources to write drivers for a foreign product, which is what Rampage is to nVidia. I expect it'd be a LOT cheaper to generate the MX/value version of the NV20. I suspect that Gigapixel technology is more valuable to them than anything else at 3dfx. I think DaveB3D said/hinted that HSR was one of the fruits of the Gigapixel acquisition. Gigapixel stuff may rear its head in a later revision of NV20 drivers or in the NV30.

And like Wingznut said, it looks like nVidia got a GREAT bargain. Getting rid of the lawsuits and a competitor was well worth the money. Plus they got all the assets and no liabilities, like driver support.

 

[TheBigZ]

Also note that part of the deal was a $15mill payment from Nvidia now. That tells me that 3dfx didn't have the cash to keep the doors open for more than another couple weeks tops. It's a shame, but they were obviously hurting. And it looks to me like it was either this, or bankruptcy.

 

[AdamK47]

LOL.... Did you see that Simpson?s episode where Homer was reading the newspaper and he asked Lenny and Carl the same question about the Backstreet Boys as he was reading it from the paper? Carl and Lenny went on with who they thought was better, then Homer interrupts them and says "Wrong, your both stupid!"

 

[Deeko]

Yes, I did see that. As with all Simpsons episodes, it was funny. And it wasn't a newspaper, it was a little book of quizes....that was the one where the quiz book told him he only had 2 years to live and he went crazy so they went to spring break and all that....

 

[AdamK47]

Yeah, thats it! At least you have good taste in TV shows.

 

[pidge]

Here are my thoughts:

"Anyway...first off...what is gonna be left of 3dfx? I saw in one of the interviews or somethin that someone(I think Brian Burke) was assuring that this was not a complete takeover, that they were just buying the core assets. So what's gonna be left? If they are gonna have no patents or anything left, and like no employees, what is gonna be left? It's not like they can ever sell anything again, nvidia even has rights to the 3dfx name."

It looks like NVIDIA just bought the assests (primarly their technology). This is not like the purchase of Gigapixel by 3dfx a while back. NVIDIA owns the 3dfx name, trademarks and patents pending approval by the share holders. I don't believe we will see anymore 3dfx boards on the market anymore nor their cool boxes. 3dfx is dead.

"Hmm...next...this definitly came as a shock to me. From the looks of it, this was 3dfx' descision, why would they do this? I just don't get it, why would you sell youself to your biggest rival? I mean, they were doing poorly, but they were coming back a little, with the new driver enhancements, they were making up alot of the speed difference and gaining alot of respect back. Rampage must not have been nearby, otherwise they wouldn't have done this. They would've at least waiting until after the launch,"

They were broke. They could not afford to release the Rampage, even if it was a good card. They just didn't have any money left. The fact that 3dfx is borrowing 15 millions dollars just to close down the company shows you how badly they were doing financially. I mostly feel bad for their employees. It must be a shocker indeed, especially during this time of year. I hope they all recover and find excellent jobs.

"Next...VoodooTV....just recently released. Why would they release a new product if they knew this was going to happen? This couldn't have happened overnight or anything. They had to have like known it was coming or something. They couldn't have been expecting such a small thing like VoodooTV to save them, could they?"

I don't believe this was in the works. Brian Burke stated that he was not aware of this when he was with 3dfx. It seems that this was a very new development, perhaps the timing was to coincide with their quarterly earnings release. The quarterly earnings release was just a sign that they had reach their low (they were just over $1 a share yesterday). I am sure they felt they owed their investors and this was the best economic choice they could make.

"Employees...what's happening to them? Is Nvidia not taking any of them? That wouldn't make sense to me, I mean they've got this technology from them, wouldn't they need some people that knew how it worked to help them out?"

I am sure NVIDIA will take the best of 3dfx, that is if they want to join NVIDIA. It might be hard working for your biggest enemy but alot of them probably have families and morgages and the reality is that the bills need to be paid.

"Future cards....I wonder what's gonna happen? What I see as a best case scenario for the next generation assumes that a dual chip Rampage would have been faster than NV20. What would be cool would be if they released single Rampage as low end, NV20 as mid, and Dual Rampage as high end. I highly, highly doubt that will happen, but it would be pretty cool. More than likely they will just throw it all out. What a waste. They will probably somehow manage to encorporate GP technology, but that more than likely wouldn't happen until like NV30, right? Because NV20 and NV25 are already along."

I am not sure. You should ask NVIDIA that questions

"It must have really sucked to have worked on Rampage if they just scrap it. That thing has been in development for so long now. If it is just scrapped, and I was an engineer that had been working on it since it's conception, I would be pretty pissed right now. That is such a waste of good technology."

Yes. I can't imagine having the desire to work hard for a company where the shares were just over $2. Many software developers are stating their dissapointments with 3dfx in the recent past because their cards lacked new technology that they desired, plus the fact that Glide was on its way out must have made it seem like it would take a miracle to recover.

I don't know who's fault it was but I do know 3dfx made many mistakes. So sad. Except for performance with their recent cards and delay in releasing them, I have never had a reason to complain about 3dfx cards. So sad