The Week Ending February 15, 2000

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3DFX On the Edge
Twelve months ago 3DFX was at its peak, hot on the heels of a huge Christmas sales season for the Voodoo 2.   Today, the company is knee-deep in financial trouble and last week had to announce a 20% staff reduction, which just goes to show how fast things change in the 3D graphics industry.  Unquestionably hurt by the fact most PCs now come 3D accelerated out of the box (and most of those 3D cards aren't from 3DFX), 3DFX also saw its proprietary 3D GLIDE standard completely evaporate over the past year.  What's left is a company that has to compete directly on performance with other firms that offer fully-integrated 2D and 3D video boards.  Thus far 3DFX has had a tough time beating rival Nvidia.  As much as I enjoyed the Voodoo brand in its heyday, I have a hunch that 3DFX's Voodoo 4 and 5 cards just aren't going to cut it when they arrive later this Spring.  Unless 3DFX has some incredible technology up its sleeve, I fear the company has a rocky year ahead.

King of Online Press?
Do you ever wonder what game companies get the lion's share of press coverage?  Well, last week I came across an interesting online resource that attempts to track which game companies have the best visibility when it comes to online press coverage.  Although I'm not sure of exactly how empirical the site's methods are, Microsoft comes out on top, closely followed by Sega, Sony and Nintendo.   One thing to note is that the list seems to be rooted in European coverage (how would you otherwise explain Virgin being at #15 ahead of LucasArts?).  However, I must admit to being fascinated with the idea of actually determining which companies get the most attention from the online press.  It's an interesting list, and you can check it out here.

Next, read about a game system that is dead on arrival >>

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