The PhysX physics card certainly hasn’t been the success that Ageia were hoping for, but that could soon change.
Ageia has just announced a new deal with Japanese graphics card manufacturer ELSA, who are going to be start selling the PhysX cards in Japan. The cards will be known as ELSA Phynite X100s and will retail for around 6000 Yen, which is just over $50 USD.
The idea behind the Ageia PhysX card is similar to the idea behind graphics cards. Graphics cards were first introduced to help alleviate calculations from a computer’s CPU, specifically calculations relating to 2D and 3D graphics. The PhysX card works in a similar fashion, handling calculations involving physics, allowing the CPU to work on other calculations.
With current Ageia PhysX cards still sitting in the $130-$180 USD price range, many PC gamers are unwilling to put so much cash down for a card that is only supported by a number of average titles. If the Japanese price were to translate to international markets however, more gamers might start buying the cards, which would in turn give developers more incentive to include full PhysX support in their games.
[via Digital Battle]
