3dfx on the move

What's after Voodoo3?

By now, all of the big names in the graphics card industry have played their cards for the next 6 months - 3dfx with Voodoo3, ATI with Rage128, Nvidia with TNT2, S3 with Savage4, and Matrox with G400. Some manufacturers, like ATI, have already released products out onto the market, while others, such as Nvidia, have just recently had vendors announce cards based on their chips. Based on a few internal hunches and followed up by a few tips, we thought we might have a lead for some big plans regarding one of the biggest players in the 3d field - 3dfx.

As reported in Vooodoo Magazine this month, some speculation has been forming about 3dfx's next generation part. Before and throughout GDC, we've been hearing some similar info, and this is what we've been able to learn through a little digging. This article was written during GDC, but we've had to hold back for about a week on release until we received preliminary confirmation of the validity of its contents.

The Campaign

As most of you know, 3dfx has launched a new, $20 million advertising campaign, centering not specifically around Voodoo3, but rather their new corporate image and "customer branding for 3d accelerators." While this does coincide with the product announcements for their various flavors of Voodoo3, you'll notice that the television commercials (one of which is available for viewing on-line at 3dfx) don't specifically hawk Voodoo3. Don't get me wrong, there's quite a push for bringing customer awareness to 3dfx's new cards, but if you look closely, there's a lot more hiding under the obvious…