good matrox 3d gaming newsletter

[roadie]

i got the new version of the martox 3d gaming news letter yesterday, and i have to say that over the past month matrox have really put some effort into getting the support of developers- their list of supported games is going to explode soon. i guess we have parhelia to thank for this

well done matrox!

[The_King]

Well matrox really have get into the game developer market so that the features on the follow up card are implemented.

[Reckless]

Matrox's gaming newsletter hasn't really consisted of anything more than a list of games that run D3D/OpenGL. Back in the days of the G400 release, there was a purpose to this sort of list where titles that supported the unusual features of the card (EMBM & dualhead) were promoted.

I personally believe it's going to be some time before we see 'proper' developer dedication and after a 2 year glut of nVidia tech, it'll be difficult to persaude developers to add support for features such as DM (Displacement Mapping) if they can get a faster/better (no flames please) result by sticking with 'standard' nVidia/ATI D3D capability / GL extensions.

No developer will make a game that only runs with DM unless that feature is present in more than one video card or can be emulated in software albeit with a huge drop in performance and wow factor. Just look at how long it took T&L to be widely used... it never was (expect Q3 engine) ... and even 'it' was replaced fairly quickly with programmable units which, as both nVidia and ATI have the capability, are being put to real use in the current-next generation of games.

The list does however indicate the level of commitment of Matrox's driver development team. If they say a game is supported then it always has been and this is where my praise for Matrox goes! I've a 3 year old card (almost) and they give me updated drivers so I can run the latest FPS! Superb service!