14 DAY TRIAL // Ageia's business is not working well. It's a problem for them since the market is not quite ready for PPUs. Imagine that a PPU card has to work in an additional PCI-E slot. Would you trade SLI/Crossfire capabilities in order to have physics computations during your games?
I didn't think so. Maybe a 680i motherboard with 3 PCI-E slots can solve that issue. But remember that G80 is already capable of physics rendering in a manor that brings it closer to Ageia's PPU. And that can't be good for business.
Having completed the picture for you, it's nice to see a price cut concerning Ageia's product. Moreover, several large retailers are offering a comprehensive software package that comes with Asus' or BFG's implementations. The bundle includes City of Villains, Bet on Soldier: Blood of Sahara, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and a demo version of CellFactor: Combat Training, a prequel to the following game CellFactor: Revolution which will come out in December. Needless to say that all these games benefit from the addition of Ageia's PPU to your system.
"We want to provide the bundled entertainment experience that gamers crave. PhysX is the next chapter of gaming evolution. PhysX based games deliver an immersive experience that engages players like never before. These games are a great way to wet consumers' appetites for what's coming this holiday season," says Michael Steele, vice president of marketing for Ageia.
The story can go even further with actual price cuts also applicable to the PCI version of PhysX equipped with 128MB 733MHz GDDR3. Asus and BFG have lowered their prices from $299 to $179 for the PCI version of the card. According to Ageia, more than one hundred games that will support PhysX PPU processor are currently being developed from over 60 software creators and publishers. I wonder if that's actually true or if Ageia is simply playing a song in order to catch the attention of buyers.