Wally
Retired Admin
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Το χρονικο της μεγαλης 3dfx (απο ενα ποστ στο Beyond3d)
Link1994:The start
March 1994.
Three Talented Engineer from Silicon Graphics(Scott Sellers), Mediavision(Gary Tarolli,Ross Smith) founded a great corp,the name is"3Dfx"¡£
1995:The rising
Το χρονικο της μεγαλης 3dfx απο ενα ποστ στο Beyond3D
Jan.1995
Another genious joined 3Dfx as the fifth employee and first engineer,Brian Hook,he created Glide,but one year later,he left
3dfx and joined idsoftware to follow his icon Johnn Carmack and Michael Abrash¡£
Mar.1995
3Dfx named their first 3d chip as Voodoo,Early on,3Dfx ReceiveS $5.5 Million in initial funding
Nov.1995
-3Dfx introduced earthbreaking Voodoo Graphics,and Leading developers such as Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Interplay Productions, Acclaim Entertainment, Mindscape, Sierra On-line, Looking Glass Technologies, Accolade, Domark, and over 50 other developers worldwide all anounced Support to Voodoo.
all anounced support to Voodoo,Voodoo Gaming commuinity is shaping.Futhermore,Orchid(later acquired by Diamond) would build first Voodoo card
-Here came the 42th employee of 3Dfx,his name is Brian Burning,he was responsible for 3dfx developer relations department,his great promotion made developer accept Voodoo Chip and Glide API.
1996:The Development
Feb.1996
3Dfx and Alliance Semiconductor announce support for Microsoft Direct3D
Mar.1996
15 titles Voodoo games Debut in E3,Voodoo's amazing effect Shocked the world
Aug.1996
3Dfx announced partnered with Diamond Multimedia, Diamond will offer Monster3d Card based on Voodoo Chip.Before 3dfx decided to build it's exclusive card,
Diamond is one of the most important associate of 3dfx.
Nov.1996
-3Dfx Introduce VOODOO RUSH daughter card, a 2d/3d all in one GRAPHICS SOLUTION,Since it's poor performance and bad compatibility
,it defintely was a serious misstep of 3dfx,but due to Voodoo initial sucess and lately Voodoo2 's huge success,People forbeared Rush's failure.
-3Dfx appointed former Capcom president Gregory Ballard as CEO
1997:The peak
Jan.1997
Hercules joined Voodoo union with Stingray 128/3D Graphics card which is based on Voodoo Rush Chip¡£
Feb.1997
3Dfx announced support GL Quake,since Quake have so many fans all over the world,the Sucessful support to Quake made 3Dfx win the heats of hardwarecore gamers¡£At that time,many quake fans was also Voodoo disciple¡£
Mar.1997
3DFX files for initial public offering of common stock
Jul.1997
Sega Terminated the contact with 3Dfx,3Dfx's early competitor,PowerVR get the contract.
Aug.1997
Another two AIB enchanted by Voodoo Spell:
Jazz announed Adrenaline Rush 3D video accelerator card. Canopus announced it will release the Pure3D Voodoo Card.
Sep.1997
3Dfx accuse Sega&NEC conceal the contract (http://news.com.com/2100-1001-202877.html)
Nov.1997
-3DFX announced VOODOO2 grahphics chipset,Voodoo2 has unparalleled performance, it can drive Quake2 as fast as 100fps Runner Champion.Much more surprising is that Voodoo2 have unique SLI Tech,can link two cards parrallelly£¬Undoubly,Voodoo2 SLI is uncompromise performance King at that period.
-Creative launched Voodoo2 at the first of the world,that meaned another Weight boxer join Voodoo family.
1998:Change
Jun.1998
3Dfx Introduced Voodoo Banshee,3dfx first 2d/3d in one card,but it only have one texture unit,so the performance cant defeat Voodoo2
Sep.1998
-3Dfx Optimized Voodoo2 and Voodoo Banshee drivers for 3DNOW! Technology,significently improve the game performance on AMD Platform
-3Dfx filed Suit Against nVIDIA,3dfx claims that Nvidia TNT using 3Dfx Interactive's unique patented multi-texturing technology
Nov.1998
3DFX Unveiled Voodoo3 Product Family:V33k,V32K
Dec.1998
3Dfx buyed STB,Exclusive tech,Exclusive Chip,no other brand Voodoos...Subsquently,3dfx ally Diamond,Creative,Hercules all went for Nvidia front
1999ecline
Feb.1999
3dfx launched Voodoo3 Product line.Voodoo3 family include Voodoo3 2000, Voodoo3 3000, and Voodoo3 3500,BUT Nvidia announce TNT2 one month later, most important,TNT2 Ultra defeated Voodoo3 3500.From then on 3dfx lose performance crown forever,from the leader to become a follower,its shame for 3d harbinger
May.1999
3dfX misses expectations (http://news.com.com/2100-12-258427.html), shifts fiscal year,this cast a shadow to 3dfx future.
Jun.1999
-3dfx Filed Suit Against Creative Labs and Creative Technology,Former business friends become antagonist on count.
-3dfx unveiled Velocity 100/200 card for Business Users
Aug.1999
-3dfx unleashed its new Voodoo3 3500 TV (http://news.com.com/2110-1040-229357.html),first multimedia card from 3dfx.
-3dfx unveil T-buffer (http://http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2072903,00.html)
-3dfx plummets after posting huge 2Q loss (http://news.com.com/2100-12-265960.html)
-while Nvidia launched GeForce 256,Nvidia called it first GPU of the world,builded with hardwired Tnl Unit.3dfx simply have no product to defend. :sad:
Sep.1999
-3dfx announced FXT1 texture compression technologies freely available to developers
-3dfx Launched Online Gaming Site 3dfxgamers.com
Oct.1999
-3dfx CEO Greg Ballard abruptly resigned (http://news.com.com/news/0-1006-200-810671.html)
-3dfx Introduced v33k PCI version
Nov.1999
-3dfx Announced VSA-100 Scalable Graphics Processor and Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 Product Lines (http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG19991109S0046)
-3Dfx names Alex Leupp new CEO (http://news.com.com/2100-1040-233463.html)
Dec.1999
3dfx Open Sources Glide API
2000:Struggle
Jan.2000
3Dfx cut 20 percent of workforce
Feb.2000
-3dfx Announces Support for Microsoft Windows 2000
-3dfx demonstrate Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 at Cebit (http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2077275,00.html)
Mar.2000
3dfx bought Gigapixel,it's the last stake of 3dfx,but after Nvidia announced that they got Xbox contact,3dfx official was very disappointed.it proved to be a bad deal.
Apr.2000
-3dfx Entered into Patent Cross-License Agreement with Intel,dismiss all pending patent infringement lawsuits between 3dfx and Real 3D -3dfx announced First Mac-Branded Products: Voodoo4 4500 PCI and Voodoo5 5500 PCI
-3dfx Premiered Voodoo5 6000
May.2000
3dfx announced Ships Voodoo5 5500 AGP card
Jul.2000
Voodoo5 5500 PCI available For Mac.
Aug.2000
-3dfx revenue had fallen more than 36 percent (http://money.cnn.com/2000/08/29/technology/3dfx/index.htm)
-The history reproduced again,but now turn reversed,Nvidia Sued 3DFX (http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2081066,00.html)
Sep.2000
-3dfx Announced Worldwide Shipments of Voodoo4 4500 AGP and Voodoo4 4500 PCI
-OpenGL Architectural Review Board Members Admitted 3dfx Interactive,hmm,too late
Oct.2000
3dfx annnounced Voodoo TV 100 PCI, VoodooTV 200 and VoodooTV-FM
Nov.2000
-3dfx announced Mac version Voodoo4 4500 PCI
-3dfx announced a embarrassing plan: ditched cards ad returns to chips,that meaned 3df had confessed it's earlier exclusive market strategy was a big wrong.
Dec.2000
-3dfx announced at Comdex it will stop making V56k and focus on OEM Market
-A shocking news came to the headline of websites,Nvidia announced to buy out 3dfx graphics chip business
2001:The end
Jan.2001
-3dfx to dissolve, sell assets to Nvidia (http://news.com.com/2100-12-260357.html)
-3dfx Founders Scott Seller said goodbye to 3dfx on the 3dfx/3dfxgamers site:
To our valued customers:
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support you've given 3dfx over the years. Through all our ups and downs, we've always been proud of our extremely loyal customers and fans. That's what makes our recent actions so difficult.
Although we've done our best to avoid taking drastic action, we have finally been forced to admit that there is no possible way we can continue in our current state. As such, we have negotiated an agreement with nVidia that will allow us to provide the best possible result to our creditors, investors, employees and customers.
Under this agreement, nVidia will acquire certain, specific assets from 3dfx including technology, company and product brands and other assets. In addition, the 3dfx board of directors has recommended to our shareholders the dissolution of the company over the next few months. Until that time, however, 3dfx products will remain available at various retail and online locations, and we will continue to support our current and future customers. For additional information, please see the press releases that were issued by 3dfx on December 15, 2000.
While we firmly believe this agreement is in the best interest of all involved, we deeply regret these actions. Again, we want to extend our sincerest thanks to every one of you who helped 3dfx revolutionize 3D graphics and 3D gaming on the PC.
Sincerely,
Scott Sellers
3dfx Founder and CTO
Apr.2001
-Nvidia completed 3dfx buyout (http://news.com.com/2110-1040-256103.html)
-3dfx uncompleted work Rampage prototype debut on Shacknews (http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/13666/).
Oct.2001
V56K debut on Ebay,MaximumPC reported a hardcore Voodoo fan from Germany bid $2,150 to get the 4-chip monster.check the deal detail on Maximumpc (http://www.maximumpc.com/features/feature_2001-12-05.html).
Nov.2001
Nvidia launched Voodoo Trade in Verto project,and anounced 3dfx.com would close door at Feb.19 2002
"To our valued customers:
3dfx Interactive, Inc. is no longer providing support for any 3dfx products and drivers. Information about 3dfx is no longer available from the 3dfx.com website. Please be advised that on February 19, 2002, the 3dfx.com website will be shut down entirely."
Jan.2002
The second V56K see the light on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewItem&item=132420 0763) stage,unlike his brother,the auctioneer finally only get $1,549.00 .
Feb.19 2002
3dfx.com (http://www.3dfx.com) website closed door?(Until now,3dfx.com still online?)
Here are some dialogue between me and some developer,Due to my mailsever issues,I missed some mails,and my second question is
sensitive,most chipset/board manufacture decline to comment,only Intel Rocks!
Rookie:"As a former 3dfx employee,how do comment on 3dfx rise/demise?Do u think
which factors lead to 3dfx demise?To persuit the wrong tech(FSAA) or wrong market strategy(Exclusive tech) or something else?"
Brian Hook(Former 3dfx first engineer,Glide creator):
"To answer your question, 3Dfx's demise was primarily due to poor management. They had good technology but could not execute on the engineering side and get products out the door. As a result, they essentially stayed with the Voodoo architecture far beyond its useful life expectancy. Without the ability to deliver Rampage and their next
generation products, they simply could not compete with NVidia¡£"
Bubba Wolford(Former 3dfx PR manager):
"3dfx went under due to a lack of execution. The merger with STB also proved to be determental."
Rookie:"As a industry insider,what do u think the biggest impact 3dfx/Voodoo bring to the hardware industry?What do we learned from 3dfx lesson?"
George Alf(Intel PR):
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable commenting, since I'm not a graphics expert.I think 3Dfx provided great technology for the industry, all the way back to their 3Dfx PCI add-in cards that were used in conjunction with your existing graphics card (I have two of these, anyone want to buy them? :smile: all the way to their Voodoo 5500 card, which provided rock solid performance (yes, I have one of these as well!). They were a fine technology company and Intel enjoyed working with them. As far as what lesson we have learned, I'll leave that to other graphics card vendors to answer."
Rookie:"From the view of a game developer,Which 3dfx/Voodoo tech impressed u most?Do u think any 3dfx/Voodoo techs(include Gigapixel) still have effect
on current or future gaming dev?(FSAA,Motion Blur...) "
Dean Sekulic (Croteam):
"the most impressive 3Dfx tech by far is Voodoo1! For me, this is the only revolution in 3D pc graphics. Everything else is evolution. Don't get me
wrong - I like T&L, FSAA and stuff like that, but what 3Dfx did with VoodooGraphics chip and Glide API was really big deal. To shame 3Dfx didn't
do anything new till it was too late (V5). :sad:
I also like V5's RGSS FSAA very much, althrouth it tends to blur textures/fonts. As for motion-blur ... well, it's kinda tricky, but it
should be the next logical step in evolution. I see it like this (to draw a little comparison): 4x FSAA at 800x600
produces better quality picture than 1600x1200 with no FSAA. Then it is fair enough to say that, say 8x Motion Blur at 30FPS *might* look smoother than
no motion blur at 200FPS. I hope. :smile: "
Markus Maki (Remedy):
"3dfx Voodoo1 was the most impressive piece of hardware for a long period of time. It stood out from the competition for a long time, and was the card that in my opinion really started the 3D accelerated gaming on PCs."
