Unless, of course, the games actually NEED
-32-bit colour
-Textures larger than 256x256 (technically known as 'postage stamp' size in the industry...
-More than 2 texturing units
-More than 2 projection matrices (this is *really* silly, it costs nothing in terms of memory to support more matrices, the card just wasn't built to do it; even old Rage cards had 10 matrices...)
-Texture combining (needed to really make USE of more than one texture)
in which case the hardware CAN'T physically handle the games.
I should mention that I haven't picked out any features there which are 'new' and have only been around for a few years. My old Savage 4 - which, I might add, was around at the same time as the V3; had nearly the same performance; and cost far less - does most of those and *more*, such as texture compression. And yes, it was also compatible with old games such as FF7. So the V3 really isn't a good card in any sense of the word...
Ok, yes, those are all very valid points. However, 3Dfx tech isn't exactly dead. IIRC, nVidia is incorporating some stuff from the original 3Dfx Rampage design, so not ALL of their stuff is bad.
The main cause of their downfall was the change of management that happened somewhere after the Voodoo2 was released, and unfortunately the new management wasn't to smart when it came to financial matters. The tech people were definitely top notch, if not ambitious, for if you remember, Rampage (which was supposed to have hardware capabilities similar to the GF3), was originally scheduled to be the next released card after the Voodoo2.
Also, yes, you are correct in that compared to hardware standards of today, the V3 is not exactly the best of cards. Personally, the only reasons (other than a lack of money) that I'm staying with the V3 is that currently the performance it's giving (framerate-wise) is still enough to where I can enjoy the games I play, and because I'm having a little contest with how long the card can last (speed-wise) in the games that come out (in order to really get a fair "trial", you'd have to assume that it does have drivers that support for DX8.1, and I'm still hearing reports on the X-3Dfx.com forums that the 3DHQ team is still working on it), and because I haven't found a Voodoo5 to use (Ok, so driver-wise I'd still be in the same boat, but I would at least have support for some stuff, like texture size and 32bit color), if only to see its reputed FSAA quality in action.
Yes, I know I'm stubborn, and may even be acting like an idiot by not upgrading, but if (and when) I do decide to get a newer card that's actually made by a still-existing company, I'd probably go for ATi, if only because they're not nVidia.
Oh, and besides, if I didn't keep carrying the 3Dfx fanboy torch around here, there'd be nobody to argue with about things like this!
