| Games
Convention 2005 Teil 4: AGEIA
Q: First we
would like you to introduce yourself and provide us with some
background information on AGEIA, its history, focus and more…
Emanuel Marquz:
My name is Emmanuel Marquez Manger content acquisition Europe.
AGEIA started 3 years ago with the mission to build a physics
processor that would transform gaming much as graphics processors
did ten years ago. Our PhysX processor works in combination
with the PhysX software engine that provides the core simulation
technology. Game developers access the PhysX engine through
a standard API for both software physics and physics simulation
on the AGEIA PhysX processor. The physics technology at
AGEIA was developed internally and with a company called
Novodex that was acquired by AGEIA in 2004. We have recently
bolstered our team by acquiring Meqon, a physics technology
company based on Sweden.
- Headquarters: Mountain View, California
- Founded: 2002
- Worldwide Presence: 8 offices in 6 countries
- Investors: BankAmerica Venture Partners, TSMC, Granite
Global, Apex, HIG, CID
Q: What can you tell us
about your current relationship to game developers and publishers?
EM: Game
developers and publishers provide the key part of our product
– the games. You can view our product much like a
game console where the consumer is really purchasing a game
experience. Our goal is to provide a tool for the developer
so they can develop great content. We provide a software
engine so any game can include physics as a part of the
game play. By adding a physics processor to augment the
physics engine, the game developer now has incredible processing
power to add game play features not possible with software
alone.
The PhysX SDK is recognized as the
leading physics SDK. We have been selected by technology
companies like Epic as the standard physics solution for
the Unreal 3 engine that is used by dozens of companies.
AGEIA licensed the PhysX SDK to SONY as a standard physics
engine that is integrated into the SONY SDK for the PLAYSTATION3.
Our goal is wide adoption of physics into games so our software
technology is made widely available over the Web.
Q: How many people are working
for AGEIA?
EM: Since we are a
private company, we don’t publish the number of employees.
Q: What is a PPU and why
should anyone be concerned about owing one?
EM: Much
as early 3D products from 3Dfx and nVidia revolutionized
games, so will AGEIA’s PhysX processor. Through game
releases at launch and through 2006, gamers who own a PhysX
processor will gain a richer and more realistic experience
in the game. And like 3D, as developers learn and get more
experience with physics, the games will just keep getting
better.
Q: In what ways do you think
your PPU will revolutionize gaming?
EM: The easiest way
to answer this is to notice what is absent from current
games. When you shoot a wall, do you blow a hole in it?
When you step in water, does it splash? When you blow up
a building, does it break into itty bitty pieces? Why not?
The reason is that the game developer does not have the
processor cycles to do all the required calculations to
manipulate pieces or break objects. Our goal is that if
it moves, blows up or launches it should react as if it’s
real. Things break, water splashes, cloth moves and objects
have mass. All of these effects take processor horsepower
and the PhysX processor is what will make these effects
possible.
Q: What can you tell us
about the hardware specs? For example, who makes the chip,
what size is it and etc…?
EM: PhysX facts are:
- 125 million transistors
- 182 sq mm in 130nm TSMC
- 20 watts
- 128MB GDDR3
- PCI at launch
- ASUS and BFG are our add-in-board partners
- Worldwide launch in Q4 2005
- Anticipated consumer pricing of US$249 to $299
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