Date:
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Category:
GPU / Video Cards
Manufacturers:
Ageia
Author:
Kyle Bennett

Ageia's PhysX Needs a Killer App - Editorial

Ageia and their diligent team of press relations folks have been working overtime to make us believe in the PhysX game physics engine, but it is just going to take more than talk to win over the enthusiast.

Now that the choking sound of a million press releases being jammed down my throat by a thousand PR agents has subsided with the passing of the Game Developers Conference, let's talk about one of the products that used GDC as a launching pad.

Ageia and their PhysX Processor has drawn a lot of attention, as well as ATI and NVIDIA talking about being able to run physics engines on their own GPUs. Our buddies at BFGTech are building and already supplying PhysX cards and ASUS will be doing the same in North America. But just what the hell are we going to be doing with them?

You can look at this Ageia page and see what is happening now, very soon, and into the future when it comes to PhysX-Optimized game titles.

Now if you are buying a computer system that is built for you, you might be getting a PhysX card whether you want one or not. And if one is included, why the hell not?

BUT, if you are a build-it-your-own-damn-self kind of guy, what is it going to take to get you to spend $250 on a PhysX card? I don’t know about you, but it is going to take more than some flying barrels full of eye candy to pry $250 out of my hand. The fact of the matter is that Ageia and their PhysX Processor is first at the mercy of the game developers, then at your mercy. There are some swanky games listed on the PhysX site, but do they really all utilize a $250 add-in card to its fullest potential, or at all?

If I am going to spend a few hundred bucks on a PhysX card and some games to go with it, there is simply going to have to be a couple of killer apps in the works. Gametrailers has a high-res video of a game called CellFactor that looks to have the makings of a PhysX killer app. If you watch this video you will see the way gameplay is dramatically changed in a positive way by utilizing a PhysX card’s abilities. In fact, I would dare say that you could not play the deathmatch level shown without a PhysX card due to the way the physical movement of objects becomes part of the game. This is exactly what it is going to take to sell PhysX cards. Consumers are going to demand a killer app that fully utilizes the abilities of the PhysX Processor to positively impact and change the style of gameplay. We don’t need another $250 worth of eye candy; we already own a video card.

Forgetting all the important business components like install base, distribution, technical support, game publisher and developer partnerships…..the list goes on and on. Without a couple of killer apps soon that create their own buzz and solidify a PhysX community, Ageia is simply allowing Red Team and Green Team time to play catch-up. And if Red and Green catch up, I think Ageia’s lifetime will be short or soon ripe for the picking.

Make me part of 15 people playing CellFactor deathmatch online and if that impresses me like the video then I will show you someone that is starting to believe.

PhysX needs killer apps, soon. Otherwise it risks simply becoming another obscure product that never reached its true potential.

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