A few things come to mind when one is considering pimping out a gaming rig; CPU, RAM, of course graphics card, cooling, and maybe other peripherals. If AGEIA gets their way, you will also need to think about your physics card, or better yet, PhysX card.

The triforce of computing power.

As a major underdog to nVidia and ATI, AGEIA refuses to go silently into the dark night. Instead, they are giving the fight all they have. Their recently adopted “free to a good home” strategy for their PhysX engine appears to be getting some major support. With the signing of BioWare, they now appear to be getting to the point where their hardware becomes a serious consideration for any gaming rig.

Must... use... the .... force!!!

To most people, in-game physics refers to how realistic a driving simulation is, or how high I can jump. In reality, game physics affects everything from the amount of pieces that fly off my wrecked car to whether or not I will be able to shoot through that flimsy cover you have foolishly chosen to hide behind. So what does the AGEIA card actually add to this experience? Well if the game does not support their engine: nothing.

I think the most moving demonstration was the fact that I was able to shoot the leaves of a palm tree and have the leaf actually develop bullet holes, finally disintegrating. Unfortunately until now, AGEIA had at most moderate support, but with the addition of Bioware, things are definitely changing.