3D tech with immediate benefits

[Brimstone]

I fully understand the limitations that Surround Gaming impose: budget, desktop space, etc.

But if you're purely talking about a feature that brings about immediate benefits with limited developer requirements (or none), then I would honestly say look no further than Surround Gaming.

It really is one of those deals that once you sit down and experience it, you will never want to go back to a single display game.

I sent Matrox a Quake2 build that I made from the source code that I snagged off the ID FTP site. In all, it took me about 10 minutes to identify the changes needed to make Surround Gaming work. 10 whole minutes.

This is one of Surround Gamings strongest points: it requires so very little coding to make it work. Granted, there are some things that certain games might have to make additional adjustments to, such as the HUD, etc. But most developers would have a very good idea as to where in the code the changes would need to be made.

Anyhow, I've been really blown away by the feature. If you think back to what some said about the Voodoo5's FSAA...Turn it on, never look back...that's the same way I view S.G.

Great point. Now if only ATI and Nvidia supported something like this more game developers would probably make an effort to implement into there games. The whole conecpt of surrond gaming is very cool. It can have a huge impact on gameplay (more immersion and a wider screen view). Its safe to assume that not a whole lot of people are going to put 3 moniters on their desks but its a great option to have for the hardcore gamers. The option for Surround Gaming is one of the best things to come out this year.

 

[Typedef Enum]

I think Matrox is doing a pretty good job thus far in getting support for this feature. Just think about the T&L Christmas just a few short years ago. Believe me, I don't fault nVidia at all for what turned out to be, but in hindsight, hard-wire T&L never really came close to what could have been.

In just the past 2 weeks, Matrox has been able to get a patch for Nascar 2002, Ghost Recon, native support for an uncoming title names "Bandits", and now Unreal Tournament 2003.

In addition, Serious Sam 2 is on the verge of being released, as well as some other titles which I cannot really disclose (not under any sort of NDA, but I promised...)