The latest news concerning the two most anticipated games of the summer, Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, has raised a few questions about the games and the graphics manufacturers backing them.
Doom 3 which has now acquired an August 3 release date, seems to be nVidia's secret weapon, as the company expects the game to run up to 50 per cent faster on its boards than on, rival ATIs R420 chips.
ATI on the other hand has relied and paid heavily in order to secure a voucher deal with Valve and has been hit hard by the continuous delays of H-L 2s launch. It also seems that ATI partners are now pressuring the company to do something. ATI must have been listening if we are to believe the latest stories which claim that Gabe Newell has admitted that H-L 2 will be sent to VU Games in August.
The fight between the two graphics companies has evolved from one of technological achievement to one of semantics but it now seems that both manufacturers have been caught-up in their own hype about the games they chose to promote and are now left at the mercy of the developers.
Both companies will claim that the need to achieve a faster release has to do with prestige but what both nVidia and ATI are forgetting is that both titles have been delayed to such an extent that any vestige of credibility has long ceased to exist.
Still many will see this race to ship, as an adequate reason to support their graphics card manufacturer of choice. True gamers however, will be equally eager to get their hands on both games.
