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Wow, what John Carmack has to say about 3dfx

C

Czar

Lifer


<< Billy: I'm sure you've seen the news (nVidia buying up most of 3dfx; 3dfx closing their doors shortly), if you haven't been hit up yet for a comment, anything that you'd actually like to say on this? Does this mean GLide is dead (just kidding)...Do you think, with less competition, we'll start to see the video card market, or rather, video card technology, advance a bit more slowly. Anything else on the closure of 3dfx? I mean, hell, they've been a dominant force for so long, it's honestly kind of strange to see them go.

John Carmack: I have been on 3dfx's technical advisory board for a long time now, and it has been pretty frustrating. We had been meeting quarterly since before Voodoo2 shipped, and the product features we had been discussing the entire time still haven't shipped in a product (rampage).

It was painful to watch 3dfx slip from the archetypical kick-ass technology start up to where they wound up.

I think I would have been happiest to have the PC market divided up between three strong players that all had their act together, but at this point, I'm not too unhappy with the market simplification resulting from 3dfx exiting.

John Carmack >>



So he is glad that they left.
 
If you read John Carmack comments in his earlier interviews it`s clear he was not happy with the direction 3DFX were going so this latest remark does not surprise me.

 
3DFX only have themselves to blame. Carmack realizes that. If they would have released their last product on time they would have never had this problem. nVidia got a generation ahead of them and that killed 3dfx.
 
Hey stephen just because nvidia has 3rd party companies to make their cards doesn't make them better than every other chip company. I bet if nvidia took the same approach they would be in the same boat 3dfx was just in too.
 
Ya well Carmack won't be getting his 10 pass rendering for a long time now because people won't be able to afford the $500+ for a card capable of 10 pass rendering due to lack of competition in the video card market. People will still have Voodoo3's and Voodoo5's come Doom3, and unless he doesn't want to make any money he will have to make Doom3 perform on those cards...he sealed his own fate by promoting Nvidia so much, hahaha 🙂
 
He's obviously loving Nvidia alot right now but I still think that ATI could put up a decent fight if they execute on time and release drivers more often.

Carmack is pretty cold, considering that alot of people just lost their job🙁 It's Christmas for Christs sake. Nvidia could have waited until next year.
 
Well, 3dfx always was kick ass in the tech/implementation/compatibility department, but they failed because they wanted in on that OEM sweetness. Buying STB and getting out of the chip making for other vidcard manufacturers is what killed them. If I remember correctly, it wasn't until after acquiring a new CEO/President that they went off on this fatal direction. This is a fine example that should be included in a textbook as a lesson on the perils of messing with a successful business plan.
 
Wow some of you misread everything. Carmack is NOT saying hes GLAD 3dfx is gone.... he said he would prefer 3 or so big players.... but hes not upset with the MARKET SIMPLIFICATION CAUSED by 3dfx leaving..... basically hes saying it makes it alot easier on developers.
 


<< Hey stephen just because nvidia has 3rd party companies to make their cards doesn't make them better than every other chip company. I bet if nvidia took the same approach they would be in the same boat 3dfx was just in too. >>

True they probably would be, but who's fault is it that 3dfx decided to drop their relations with those big card manufacturers and try to do everything themselves. They got greedy hoping they could make more profits by eliminating the middle man. They brought it on themselves. I don't like to see them die, but it is no one's fault but theirs. I'm sad to see all the 3dfx people lose their jobs though.

And I agree with Carmack's market simplification comment, maybe if nVidia slows down, then people can pick up cards that last more than 2 weeks and the minimum bar can creep up so games can actually use more of the these features.

Not that I like seeing nVidia being the only player and I don't want them to stagnate but this 6month product cycle kinda frustrates me hehehe
 
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