Nvidia to ATI: Lets Align Our Marketing Plans

This isn't really surprising. I've been marvelling at how insanely high the prices for cards got. I remember when the GeForce 3 hit and I almost coughed up a lung when I heard $300. It only got crazier from there.

If this is a real conspiracy, then there would have to have been some ATI execs taking bribes from Nvidia. What other possible reason could there be for ATI to go along with an Nvidia suggestion to keep prices high? Nvidia was eating ATI's lunch until recently.

I like that people are surprised. Wake up. The 8 series cards mysteriously fell to below $200 in only a few short months. They offered GTX speeds for less than half the price. If gouging wasn't going on, how the fuck was this possible?

there is one thing that pc games have 100% right, and console games need to get before I can give up pc games completely :

mouse and keyboard!

give me mouse and keyboard for halo 3 and I will gladly never upgrade again.

The other thing is mods, but the days of Quake 2 and Quake 3 mods seem to be gone, any signs of another Counter-Strike?.

but, if you could mod a console game with a pc, then that would be just super sweet.

both of these companies stand to benefit from price fixing.

however, i recall reading that there was another reason for their collusion: that graphics chips are expensive to design, and that both companies were having to "work too hard" in order to make better cards than the other while making money at the same time. the race towards higher transistor counts, smaller fabrication methods, and future product applications seems like a big pain in the ass.

Has anyone else heard about this? of course ATI and NVIDIA wanted money, but did they also work together to call-off their "arms race" which may have been stressing the R&D process and taking a bite out of profits?

Let's not mix words.

PC gaming can not afford to have any type of competition within itself as a market. The REAL competition is between PC vs. Console. ATI and Nvidia really should align forces to help the PC gaming market, create more affordable video cards and PC gaming hardware, but most importantly, technology that is more than capable of playing next gen games.

Are you not sick of buying newly released PC games only to have to tweak settings, update drivers, modify config files, and all the other bullshit JUST to be able to play the game at a reasonable FPS rate? UT3 was a nightmare to get running right at release. Only until Epic released patches months later to optimize the engine did I get reasonable frame rates. THIS is what will be the downfall of PC gaming. Lack of true hardware support.

I've been a PC gamer all my life, but lately, I have lost the patients to deal with it, and as I grow older, I can't afford to pay $1500+ on a new PC every year or so when I can pay $300 on a gaming specific hardware that will be future proof for at least 3 years, and offer load and play simplicity.

Most gamers don't even have the proper knowledge to deal with simple PC functionality. The Jamaican I work with can't even send an e-mail, but plays more console games than anyone I know. That's why the console market will always dominate and be the forerunner for time to come, because any idiot can run a console and game.

hows about this -people who cant afford or handle stress from pcs just shh and play the consoles they are happy with, and well just use our pcs like we always have and try not to get annoyed by constant console PR section digs towards pc gaming dying - if they used more than the north american retail market to judge figures would be more credible. Pr people wont mention any place they dont look good in.
we have no pr people paid to try get people from other consoles or make us look good, but ea and valve recently stated that sales have never dropped for them on pc a steady increase

why would they be releasing saints row 2 burnout etc in october if not a good idea, pc gaming will survive
not in retail shops though. and then theres more than games, anything u want to do on the pc u can learn

i sold my gtx start of june for 140 i like to think i got a good run out of it and it ran fine games with my old athlon 3000 as well as coreduo later, i feel i can buy a card when it looks like it wil last a few years at top.
sum shit just cost a lot, pay for it or go sumwhere else, not a market for nubes or ppl stapped for cash. worst time to buy pc hardware would be the year or two after consoles come out as they using pc tech from a bit ahead logically youd be dumb to buy around then

do yous honestly think every corporation plays fair, i bet next to none have spotless historys, every advert is just to make/con u too buy stuff, even if occasional one makes up fancy words and over exaggerates thing to get u to buy it. get over it shhh the only annoying thing is ppl bitching

p.s i am on coreduo 2160 and radeon 2600 ii can play assasins creed all setting high fine 1024 *768 card cpu and mobo from shop 110 roughly less now that was 5 months ago, if it runs on consoles right now itll run on this cheap rig, and 100 quid for a 9600 wil run everything

Since it seems that the two were colluding to keep prices (and margins) high, and that this is no longer the case, is now the first time to buy a top-notch video card for a fair price?

Does it strike anyone else as all this time they could have been working to stabilize PC as a gaming platform, they were playing price gouge and making it less of a platform?

Wow, that quote is pretty incriminating. I can't think of a phrase that reeks more of breaking antitrust laws than "even though we are competitors."

AMD CEO steps down?

and Looks like AMD is selling off ATI.....


""The biggest damage to AMD's finances came from the divisions that make chips for cell phones and digital television sets. The businesses were absorbed as part of AMD's 2006 acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies, and they were both underperforming, forcing AMD to write down their value by $876 million, or $1.44 per share.

AMD said it plans to sell the businesses and have classified them as discontinued operations in its financial results. ""

http://www.physorg.com/news135533426.html

They decide to lower prices after the pc market starts falling apart and everyone is shaking their wii. I left pc for a long time because I wasn't going to shell out $400-500 for a mid grade card (helping the fat man get fatter) f' that! Hell, I'll play my $400 console first. Anyway, it is nice to see them coming to their senses (amazing what legal action will do, I guess lawyers do have a place in this world). I couldn't believe Ati's new card prices, I was wondering how they were able drop the price to $200-300 now I know. Oh, well I love my new card!

"$5 and $8 stocks are a result of no respect"

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ...awesome statement of the obvious.

That e-mail makes me really sad to have bought an Nvidia card.

I dunno why you think the PC needs "stabilizing" via two video card companies making a cartel.

I get no respect I tell ya, no respect!