Is ATI using Havok payback?

If you havnt heard, ATI is to use the Havok engine in the future. Havok is used in many games, in many ways. ATI until now was somewhat without a true physics engine thats used in gaming as well as for cpu usage. Heres a few links http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate [...] 48,00.html and http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/co [...] 7-135.html In my opinion, this is a shutout for nVidia, and TWIMTBP. Not using DX10.1 and saying its not important after what we all saw with AC may have been the last straw for the AMD/ATI team. I know it looks weird to see AMD heading towards an Intel subsidiary, but after all the things that nVidia had possibly done to control gaming, this just may be payback. This will leave nVidia in a bad spot. Something had to happen as ATI needed this, but going with nVidia wasnt in the cards. Another blow to nVidia here. Thoughts?

With competition one improves.
Without competition, nVidia grew arrogant and somehow bullied other companies.
Now the Intel and AMD are taking their revenge.
Somehow reminds me of the good old Gordon Frohman...

weird bed fellows... hmmm

I see it as a way for AMD/ATI to be able to guarantee it's continued existence. It can work more closely with Intel keeping a fairly open relationship on the Video card Crossfire side of things. Making it so AMD/ATI can leverage the graphics side of the company while the CPU side is failing to compete on the higher end.

Could also mean that even if the CPU side of things fail we'll still see them around as a video card and chipset manufacturer.

Quite a brilliant move by intel, if you ask me. Since AMD offers graphics solutions on the intel platform and intel has a Physics engine but no GPUs, why not let AMD compete with NVidia on intels platform. And while AMD will try to establish havoc physics and probably even help to improve it, intel can develop their own physics processor/larrabee/many-core/whatever-you-call it. Once they are done, they just slip in with their own offering.
In addition to all that, once AMD starts to put the GPU on the CPU-die, i bet they will put a few instructions in that were born out of this very cooperation. If that happens, Havoc will be the new physics standard. Would be a good thing too.

I know most of us know this but lets not forget that ATI falling behind was never their fault. They probably could have chucked it in and produced a new arch by now but they stuck with what they had and knew that in time the arch they have would pay dividends. To me this is a welcome development, both are heading in the same direction with the long term goal being a CP/GPU ( im not sure what the correct term is). One of the things that came out of the whole larabee/ray tracing thing was that the DX would nt be needed. It could be that in the fullness of time the joint efforts of these two companies may give both M$ and Nvidia the comeuppance the bullying attitude they tend to display deserves.
Mactronix

They already are the physics standard, and have been for a while.
Far more games are power by Havoc than Novodex (Ageia/PhysX/nV), the only major title for nV is UE3 based games, and while they're ok the're far from the major force and PhysX acceleration was optional and not eally used (which limits its short term use too since no plans). Compare title support;

First Havok:
http://www.havok.com/content/blogcategory/29/73/

Now Ageia:
http://www.ageia.com/physx/

Oh wait that's right they've moved that old name is dead (why kill the old links and not just re-direct?), here it is;
http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_physxgames_home.html

You decide what are the big names on those lists, keeping in mind GRAW is built on Havoc not PhysX which is add-on stuff.

This makes alot of sense for AMD because they also do the CPU thing, which is the traditional and easy way to do physics, supporting nV's CUDA based standard promotes a new way limited to nV's style, which is even more limited.

The best option was always M$ bringing out their own API, which doesn't seem to be in the cards anymore. That would've kept it to whomever does the best implementation, now that it' divided into camps there's politics and PR involved, which means people will bribe developers to stick with one or the other, and not just pick the best.

@ Everyone...very nice thread. Surprised this didn't break out into a poo flinging RvG brawl....yet...

It will be interesting to watch Intel and ATI/AMD try to squeeze NV out of the picture. Intel has done a swell job getting NV on it's own little island and now we have ATI getting back up to speed. Is it possible that GITG will make a comeback?...and I thought 2008 was going to be a dull year

A good excuse to hold on to your old graphics card. Potentially now I can buy a 4870 and then run PhysX through my old 8800GTS 640.