Nvidia to buy Ageia, improve gaming physics
NVIDIA recently announced that it intends to acquire AGEIA Technologies. The acquisition was announced after the signing of a definitive agreement. The deal might finally push hardware accelerated physics into the mainstream, and also yield a hybrid GPU-PPU add-in board.
AGEIA’s flagship product is the PhysX Physics Processing Unit (PPU). Sold as a new discrete add-in board, the PhysX PPU is a specialized physics processor.
There are a number of advantages of using a PPU. First off, it increases system performance. Without a PPU, the CPU handles all physics calculations in games. But with the CPU already weighed down by having to process all the game logic, this means only a limited amount of physics can be run, and even that small amount of physics can hamper the PC’s overall performance during a game. Theoretically, a separate PPU will offload those performance-limiting physics calculations from the CPU.
The second key advantage of using a PPU is that it results in far more realistic physics. An explosion doesn’t simply create a hole in a building anymore, it sends debris flying across the screen, smashing into other buildings and creating collateral debris. Fog doesn’t just appear on the screen, but becomes a part of the game with a texture of its own, enveloping characters as they travel through it. You can see a demo here.
Despite how promising the technology may seem, there’s a catch. In order for a game to take advantage of AGEIA’s PPU, it must have been developed using the PhysX SDK, AGEIA’s physics engine. To date, only 140 games actually use the PhysX SDK. AGEIA, founded in 2002, has had all the technology necessary to effectively push PhysX, but has lacked the influence to get game developers to use its product, despite offering the SDK for free along with free support.
NVIDIA’s purchase of AEGIA isn’t completely unexpected. AGEIA has been gaining traction in the industry at a snail’s pace, with few major game developers actively supporting PhysX. Even though Sony’s PS3 has PhysX support, game developers have still not developed many games for PhysX technology.
Unlike AGEIA, NVIDIA is a company that has a tremendous amount of influence as well as a large enough user base to push acceptance of AGEIA’s PPU. Forbes’ 2007 company of the year, NVIDIA has also been actively looking for ways to further its dominance and open new revenue streams.
Industry experts expect NVIDIA will combine the Physics Processing Unit with the Graphics Processing Unit, creating a single add-in board that has qualities of both processors.
Financial details of the acquisition have not been revealed. AGEIA has a number of large investors, including Apex Venture Partners, BA Venture Partners, HIG Ventures, Granite Global Ventures, CID Equity Partners, and VentureTech Alliance.
Next Story: MTV, Flixwagon partner for Super Tuesday mobile news
Previous Story: EBuddy raises nearly $10 million, focusing on mobile web chat
