After the Voodoo5 6000 demonstration, we were escorted to another suite to partake in the Voodoo challenge. In several FSAA-enabled demos, including the quirky 3DMark 2000, we watched a Voodoo5 5500 outperformed ELSA's GeForce2 GTS GLADIAC running side by side. 3dfx was eager to mention the poor compatibility of the GeForce2's FSAA, and made it a point to detail the visual anomalies that occur when using a GeForce2 in D3D with FSAA enabled. We shall go more in-depth into the FSAA issue at a later date. When both 3dfx's and NVIDIA's drivers are a bit more mature.
Off the show floor, 3dfx had some interesting things going on. Specifically, a press party at the Playboy Mansion. The party came complete with several tightly but completely clad playmates (don't call them bunnies!). On the one hand, it was pretty cool to see the mansion, food and drinks were free, and the conversations were interesting. On the other hand, what was 3dfx doing blowing a wad of cash on a party at the Playboy Mansion? Last we checked, 3dfx lost over $30,000,000 in their last quarterly earnings. Did they really need to blow a wad of money on a Playboy press party? Of course, now we'll probably never get invited to another one.
Another move 3dfx made at E3 was to write a letter to several Macintosh web sites and magazines. The letter calls for an organized effort to convince Apple to include 3dfx Voodoo5 cards as a Build-to-Order option at store.apple.com. In the letter, 3dfx wrote that "Apple stubbornly insists on shipping the Rage 128 in every PowerMac ordered." (bold added) Apple, or any other company for that matter, is not likely to respond to such a pointed statement in a positive manner. We asked Apple for a comment but never heard back from them.