Wednesday, August 25, 1999
- David Filip
Rumor Mongers!
There are some things in life that
look odd no matter how they're presented to us. Some people put
a billion bumper stickers over their cars. Others panic at the sight
of insects. Some intentionally purchase Jar Jar Binks merchandise.
Even stranger, people put out press releases like this one:
The StuffCo representative said the
following about his company's announcement. "We here at StuffCo
are incredibly happy to have advanced our distribution alliance with
Sendstuff. Sendstuff's proven same-day access to Orgy-Burger's
inexonerable promotional syndicate and Snowjob's phlegmatic technical
obfuscation will surely provide our consumers with the most exciting,
immersive, inebriating box art in the history of nationwide SKU
releases." When asked why he was babbling, he went on to inform
us that "countercircumnavigation of pedantry can result in low
yield redundancy of repetition, and only with minor fluctuations in
StuffCo's credibility." StuffCo is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Thingsnstuff, inc.
Ahem.
That paragraph was a test of the
needless press release. If, in fact, there had been any information of
consequence, it would have been posted on the news page. "StuffCo,"
"Sendstuff", "Orgy-Burger," "Snowjob"
and "Thingsnstuff, inc." do not and are not intended to
represent any known or unknown people or companies, in business or
defunct.
It does look a little like company
announcements though. Wouldn't you be happier to hear something like
"A game that was cancelled by one publisher found a new
publisher." Sometimes the whole story can be told in a single
sentence.
At other times, the overwhelming
lack of a story can lead to a whole new type of report. Presidential
Candidate Gov. Bush Jr. wouldn't comment on drug use rumors, then said
he wouldn't comment on any of his personal mistakes for the past 7, 15
or 25 years depending on the news source and whether he even did make
any mistakes at all.
Who knows what he won't comment
about next? Perhaps he won't comment on whether or not he may have
said "my favorite campaign contribution is CRACK COCAINE, if you
know what I mean" while winking and nudging with some unnamed
gang representatives lead by Darth Vader. Who can say? He didn't
return my calls, but I didn't make any either. A lack of communication
is no communication at all. It's not an announcement, but the lack of
denial (for the REAL question, anyway) is as ripe for speculation as
the T-buffer and the timing of its press release.
In last week's column I suggested
that the T-buffer's PR was timed to coincide with the release of a
Nvida engineer's Computer Gaming World info and to keep hype going for
3dfx. Apparently this opinion didn't sit well with some readers, who
presented even more compelling evidence that the NV10's press coverage
was designed to take the limelight away from 3dfx. After a little
digging, I actually came to agree.
A piece of the puzzle came from
alert reader John Reynolds, who directed me to a shocking little piece
of information at
http://www.crus.com/hardware/previews/nv10
Apparently there was a
"misunderstanding" between CRUS and Guillemot, and an NV10
preview was supposed to be posted, allegedly along with box art and a
SEPTEMBER RELEASE DATE. CRUS is a fine news site and retracted all of
this information as a misunderstanding, but Guillemot and Nvida aren't
sloppy. I'm not saying that any of these intentionally put the wrong
date in, but you never know how individuals and "anonymous"
sources may work to drum up promotion.
That is true especially in light of
the CGW interview with the anonymous engineer. Anyone who has ever
written a column dreams of finding the incredible, all-knowing
anonymous source inside a big secret. We could be the ones to find
that Deep Throat guy from the Watergate scandal, or that other Deep
Throat guy who tipped Mulder off to UFOs during the X-Files, or like
Linda Tripp. Or not.
In this particular case, the unnamed
engineer gave unofficial stats and numbers that Nvida didn't commit to
at Siggraph 99, and one has to wonder why. Perhaps this individual
timed his interview ahead of 3dfx's public press release?
A review of Siggraph's events can be
read here
And the Special Interest Group on
Computer Graphics' official website is http://www.siggraph.org/
After checking those details, I saw
an interview with Nvida's Nick Trantos at http://www.powergamerz.com/pc/interviews/triantos.htm
and became even more suspicious. Anyone who talks to the media on
behalf of a company usually wants to make the company look good.
That's a given. What surprised me is that he alluded to the
"T-bluffer", a fan-made application that shows how all the
T-buffer features can be enacted with OpenGL today. Compare the
T-bluffer with 3dfx's official info to see how you feel about it.
http://www.bjorn3d.com/files/tbuff/T-buff.zip
http://www.3dfx.com/view.asp?IOID=296
Even though I still don't think the
T-buffer is something to shout about, perhaps Nvida really doesn't
have much else "set in stone" for their next card. They may
need to take the wind out from 3dfx's sails (if you like puns, sales)
to buy some development time.
The key reason for this idea was
suggested in an email and a helpful post from BRIT. Not only does it
cover the issue of 3dfx's silence regarding their upcoming chip's
polygon power (they are a publicly traded company with a higher
profile) but it also cites an interview with Nocture's developers that
seems to deflate Nvida's proposed T&L technology. Full Scene Anti-Aliasing
will help every game but T&L won't, especially under the
conditions mentioned.
When he discusses MRM, compare the
background mountains with the foreground soldiers in the Team Fortress
2 preview pictures from Half-Life's
CD. You'll get the picture. BRIT's comments, in full, are available
here
http://www.guru3d.com/opinionated/1/reaction2.html
Nvida has speculative technology
that was only shown behind closed doors at Siggraph. 3dfx actually has
something they've publicly committed to, and can show to the press.
Considering the "quietness" from both sides, it's
just as likely that 3dfx keeps news releases cool until the tech is
ready (they introduced the T-buffer for
certain because they're sure it'll be in their next card), and Nvida's
recent coverage is what we're likely to see when a company has info
leaks who want to give a little push against a strong competitor. The
rumors at S99 suggested the next-gen cards would have a ten million
triangles-per-second output. However, considering other rumors I've
covered, I'm willing to wait until Hilbert reviews the next generation
himself. Then we'll know.
After Siggraph's results and a
couple emails, I picked up some good information
and corrections about the T-buffer too. Although it is very similar to
the OpenGL accumulation buffer, T-Buffer code is a "proprietary"
technology being written for multiple platforms (not
exclusively GLide) and to run the
T-buffer's effects in software mode.
I also have it from two reliable
sources and one unreliable source that the details about the fuzziness
of motion from the anti-aliasing in the Nintendo 64 were incorrect.
The Mario's Head Border Fuzz, as I call it, is noticeable on
resolutions as low as 256x224, and should not affect the Full Scene
Anti-Aliasing effects on your PC games with the typically higher
resolutions. There probably won't be any drawbacks to 3dfx's AA
feature at all.
With this in mind, the shoe is on
the other foot and Nvida is in the hot seat. How will things look when
they make their scheduled September 7th announcement? All I can tell
you is that Ms. Tripp better uncover the truth. If the NV10 is
anything short of a miracle board and doesn't serve as a floor wax and
a dessert topping, Tripp'll never work in this town again.
I'd also like to remind you that my
articles have now been safely placed ,in the Guru's
"Opinionated" section. I'll be sharing this space with Jason
Shute's editorials until I sell out to THE MAN and have my columns
put in a section named "Delicious Luncheon Meats from the Oscar
Meyer Corporation." But that didn't happen yet. My future
Opinionated stories will include Epic's marketing approach to Unreal,
strategy games, bump mapping, and more. Stay tuned next week, because
you'll bear witness to the most offensive back-to-school special EVER!
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