3dfx chronicle

[Rookie]

I know most of u now use ATi or Nvidia cards,but I believe most of u start 3d gaming experience from Voodoo.3dfx had down,but Voodoo phenomenon deeply incised in our memory,we can look ahead to the future,but we cant forget the history.Now let's Witness the 3dfx/Voodoo history.

Notice:My native language is not English,I cant make the article more smoothly,so dont blame me on my bad English

1994: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

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

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, 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,first multimedia card from 3dfx.

-3dfx unveil T-buffer

-3dfx plummets after posting huge 2Q loss

-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.

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

-3dfx Introduced v33k PCI version

Nov.1999

-3dfx Announced VSA-100 Scalable Graphics Processor and Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 Product Lines
-3Dfx names Alex Leupp new CEO

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

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

-The history reproduced again,but now turn reversed,Nvidia Sued 3DFX

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

-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
-3dfx uncompleted work Rampage prototype debut on Shacknews.

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.

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 stage,unlike his brother,the auctioneer finally only get $1,549.00 .

Feb.19 2002
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).

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."

My last Question left for u :

"What does Voodoo mean to u?When do u involved with Voodoo,whats the Voodoo impact to your gaming experience,and how do u see 3dfx's uprise and demise?"


_________________
Rong"Rookie"Huo
Former Beyond3d Boys,Err,not Bit boys

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rookie on 2002-02-25 15:24 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rookie on 2002-03-01 14:53 ]</font>

 

[Blade]

Until the Voodoo5 died, I was a big-time 3Dfx fan|boy. Enough said.

_________________
Blade
"I hear radio waves in my head.."

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Blade on 2002-02-24 17:00 ]</font>

 

[Doomtrooper]

3DFX was the best but poor business decisions killed them. They had the gaming world in the palm of their hands, a proprietary API (used by many) that was never updated to support advanced features and hardware that failed to moved the business forward. IMO the V3 was their best card ever made. My gut feeling was the STB purchase was the downfall of 3DFX, they pissed off all the OEMS at the time like Diamond and Creative which started the downward spiral to what we see today. I will remember them as THE 3D inovator that brought incredible graphics to the PC years ahead of its time and forced Nvidia and ATI to step up to the plate.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Rookie - heres an old PR you might want to include:

http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG19991109S0046

 

[Idiot]

they didn't have enough leet people/tool at end of the design pipeline, ie where you place and route the chip from register transfer language models. this made them unable to meet the 6 month cycle of the industry.

seeing that about 15 people from the alpha team only took a few monthes to design the NEON chip, they probabily should have hired some people from intel and amd's circuit design and testing teams. Also maybe even buying some of the internal circuit design tools from compaq or HP's cpu teams.

Matrox is likely facing similar problems these days as well. >_&lt;

 

[ChrisK]

While I agreed more with Nvidia's design decisions (more forward looking, IMO) than 3dfx's back then, I do think that, from a today's standpoint, 3dfx's death is a bad, bad thing.

Sorry for being overly negative, but as far as I can see, it's even doubtful whether there'll ever be a competitor besides Nvidia and ATI in the mid- to highend consumer market again. If any of these two players fails or begins to think advancing consumer 3d video cards isn't worth it anymore...


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ChrisK on 2002-02-25 10:07 ]</font>

 

[Geeforcer]

Very nice summary. One small inaccuracy I spotted was that Creative joined 3dfx earlier then Banshee. Creative made an investment in development of V2, which resulted in them being the first company to introduce V2 based card in North America (3D Blaster Voodoo2) as well as permission to use "Voodoo 2" as the part of the card's name.

 

[John Reynolds]

On 2002-02-24 22:29, Geeforcer wrote:
Very nice summary. One small inaccuracy I spotted was that Creative joined 3dfx earlier then Banshee. Creative made an investment in development of V2, which resulted in them being the first company to introduce V2 based card in North America (3D Blaster Voodoo2) as well as permission to use "Voodoo 2" as the part of the card's name.

Actually, there's quite a few errors throughout this summary (such as an E3 being held in March and not May), but I'm too lazy for line-by-line corrections. :rollseyes:

 

[Rookie]

Quote from Wavey:

Rookie - heres an old PR you might want to include:

Wavey,thx for your input.

Quote from Geeforcer:

Creative made an investment in development of V2, which resulted in them being the first company to introduce V2 based card in North America (3D Blaster Voodoo2) as well as permission to use "Voodoo 2" as the part of the card's name.

Geeforcer,I cant find the old PR.

Quote from John:

Actually, there's quite a few errors throughout this summary (such as an E3 being held in March and not May), but I'm too lazy for line-by-line corrections.

John,I start voodoo experience from V2,I cant say the whole is accurate,but most of them r right.History is buried in dust,it's so difficult to pick them up

 

[Geeforcer]

Creative Technology Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 1998 Results

SINGAPORE - April 28, 1998 - Creative Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ: CREAF) the leading provider of multimedia products for personal computers, today announced financial results for the third fiscal 1998 quarter and nine months ended March 31, 1998.

Sales for the third quarter of fiscal 1998 were US$298.4 million, compared to US$282.8 million for the same quarter last year. Net income for the quarter was US$45.2 million, compared to US$44.2 million for the same quarter last year. Earnings per share were US$0.48, compared to US$0.48 for the same quarter last year.

Sales for the nine months ended March 31, 1998 were US$981.2 million, compared to US$952.9 million for the comparable period last year.

Excluding a gain of US$18.5 million or US$0.19 per share from the sale of quoted investments in the first fiscal quarter, and a one-time write-off of acquired in-process technology of US$60.3 million or $0.63 per share in our second fiscal quarter, net income and earnings per share for the first nine months of fiscal 1998, were US$171.8 million and US$1.81, compared to US$115.8 million and US$1.29 for the corresponding period in the prior year.

Creative also announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized using up to US$100 million for the buy-back of company shares. Such a buy-back will be subject to market conditions and to the final approval and implementation of a revision of applicable Singapore laws and regulations. Under current Singapore law, Creative cannot buy-back its own shares.

"We are pleased with the results this quarter in spite of some industry-wide challenges," said Sim Wong Hoo, chairman and chief executive officer of Creative Technology Ltd. "In this quarter, we have substantially strengthened and broadened our product offerings. We have developed outstanding new products in graphics, PC-DVD™ and speakers, while strengthening our technological and market leadership position in our core audio business. We have introduced the Sound Blaster® PCI audio standard. This is the first step toward the next generation PC audio platform - Creative's Environmental Audio, together with Creative's high-quality, multi-speaker systems."

Business Developments

Creative has made a number of announcements in the past several months that further its leadership position in the industry. These announcements include:

The launching of two new PCI audio solutions, the Sound Blaster PCI64 and Creative Ensoniqâ„¢ AudioPCI which are designed to deliver a consistent, high-quality PC audio experience for the mainstream market. Also introduced was the PCWorks FourPointSurroundâ„¢ speaker system for 3D audio games and entertainment.
Being the first in the industry to ship a 3D accelerator gaming card based on the Voodoo 2 Graphics chip set from 3Dfx Interactive. 3D Blasterâ„¢ Voodoo2 is available in a fully-equipped 12MB version and a powerful 8MB version making it the most powerful 3D gaming solution to date in Creative's extensive line of high performance graphics cards.
The shipping of a complete family of PC-DVD solutions including an aggressively-priced, stand-alone PC-DVD drive - the Creative Blaster® DVD-ROM - for an estimated street price of US$149.99. Creative is the recognized industry leader in the PC-DVD marketplace. According to PC Data, Creative has amassed a market share in excess of 85 percent in U.S. retail.
The introduction of a new line of multimedia kits designed specifically for systems integrators. The new Multimedia PCKITSâ„¢ provide systems integrators with the key components they need to build high-powered multimedia systems at compelling price points. These kits include the latest in high-performance, Creative-branded hardware for audio, 2D/3D graphics, PC-DVD or CD-ROM drive technology and speaker subsystems in an all-in-one package.
Awards and Recommendations

In the last quarter, Creative received numerous awards and recommendations from a variety of top trade publications and organizations. These include the following:

Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold
Received "Editor's Choice" from PC Magazine
Placed on the "Winlist" in Windows Magazine
Received "Editor's Choice" from Electronic Musician

PC-DVD Encoreâ„¢
Received "Editor's Choice" from PC Gamer
Earned the "GameWorthy" award from c/net gamecenter
Received "Editor's Choice" from Computer Reseller News

3D Blaster Voodoo2
Earned a top rating from Computer Gaming World Online

Graphics Blasterâ„¢ Exxtreme
Awarded the prestigious "Five-Star" rating from Byte Magazine

Creative also won the Harvey Communication Measurement Award for having the Number One Most Noticed Advertisement (highest visual response) and the Number One Most Read Advertisement (highest readership response) for its eight-page, multi-color advertising insert in PC Magazine.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

Except for the historical information contained herein and/or in the accompanying conference call (including our guidance, if any, on future revenues, margins, expenses and earnings) are forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Such statements are subject to the attached cautionary statements which are provided pursuant to The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Creative Technology Ltd. develops, manufactures and markets a wide array of advanced multimedia solutions for the PC, entertainment, education, music and productivity tools markets. Creative's products are marketed through both the OEM and retail channels under a variety of trademarks, including the "Blaster" family name. Sound Blaster® has become the multimedia industry's de facto audio standard. Sound Blaster is an audio platform consisting of a sound card or chipset, software drivers and bundled software applications that enable PCs to produce high quality audio. Creative's corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing are based in Singapore, with sales, distribution and research and development being carried out through an extensive, global network of subsidiaries located in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Balance Sheets &amp; Statements of Income



Sound Blaster is a registered trademark and Blaster is a trademark of Creative Technology Ltd. All other products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized as such.

Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements:

Except for the historical information contained herein and in the accompanying conference call on today's date, the matters set forth herein and in the accompanying conference call (including our guidance on future revenues, margins, expenses and earnings) are forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others: potential fluctuations in quarterly results due to the seasonality of Creative's business and the difficulty of projecting such fluctuations; reductions in the market value of products sold by Creative, including increases in supply or declines in demand or prices for CD-ROM or DVD drives, board and chip-level products, and software products; the short product cycles that characterize most of Creative's products; the increasing proliferation of sound functionality at the chip and operating system levels; Creative's reliance on sole sources for many of its chips and other key components; the timely ramp, delivery and market acceptance of new products, including Creative's next generation audio, graphics accelerator, CD-ROM and DVD drives and communications products; the volatility of share prices for companies in Creative's industry and the effect of those prices or other events beyond Creative's control; and other risk factors described in Creative's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the past twelve months.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Geeforcer on 2002-02-25 21:11 ]</font>

 

[Rookie]

Geeforcer,thx very much!

here I add more old dev comments on 3dfx demise:

Sacrifice Joby Otero on 3dfx

George Broussard on 3dfx

John Carmack on 3dfx

Tim Sweeny on 3dfx

Brian Hook on 3dfx

Related interview:

NVIDIA interview at Gamer's Depot

NVIDIA interview at Firing Squad

NVIDIA Conference Call Notes at FiringSquad

________________
Rong"Rookie"Huo
Former Beyond3d Boys,Err,not Bit boys

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rookie on 2002-02-26 15:51 ]</font>