3Dfx and Activision Renew Relationship

The announcement earlier today about nVidia and Activision's new business relationship definitely had the folks at 3Dfx wondering what happened to their close relationship with the software maker that built a separate 3Dfx version of its popular game Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries for gamers.

GameSpot News spoke with 3Dfx's Director of Corporate Communications, Steve Schick, about what is happening with 3Dfx's deal with Activision and said that it has "no effect of 3Dfx's relationship with Activision."

Activision's release today read as though it had completely given up on 3Dfx and consequently welcomed nVidia with open arms. Schick informed us that after he spoke with Activision, both companies determined they will release a joint announcement tomorrow renewing their already established relationship to clear up the confusion.

Schick reclaimed what has already been said, "3Dfx's line of products is backward and forward compatible with any sibling in its product line." And went on to add that one major hardware advantage that it has over its competition is that the technology has made it easier for developers to program games for 3Dfx's products because the company doesn't introduce a new chip every six months like its competitors. Instead, Schick said that since 3Dfx "uses an 18 month model for chip development; we offer a much more stable environment to work with."

Schick said that 3Dfx is already working closely with Activision on a few upcoming titles including Heavy Gear II and Sin. And there's proof of what the union can do, judging from what Quake II looks like along with the cache of about 200 plus games that already support the boards.

Schick went on to say that, "since the chips are API agnostic, developers have the advantage of working with DirectX, OpenGL, or 3Dfx's Glide." Also, 3Dfx sports features such as multitexturing (which can't be done using Direct3D), higher performance, and"with all the little features that our chips can do, it adds up to a great platform in the long run for both developers and gamers."