Are we the losers?

[russmon]

With the ATI and nVidia "wars" will it mean we are the losers in the end? I am asking because I noticed in KOTOR that there are options that only nVidia card owners can take advantage of (some soft shadowing effect). Now my ATI 9800 cannot see these effects but someone with an FX5700 could? Some people have said yes this is true.

So my question would then boil down to this: Could someone with a "lessor" card such as a FX5700 Ultra have better performance than a higher range card like the 9800 Pro if a game is optimized for one platform or the other? It surely seems games like HL2 are this way.

Your opinion and rant is appreciated.

 

[shadus]

Sure and a developer who optimizes for an ati card will get better performance there... welcome to the world of computer gaming, it's been like this for years and years and years. Glide/OpenGL/DirectX7-9 etc etc etc.

Its not a real big deal honestly and competition drives the industry, we don't get screwed regardless becaues it drives both card manufacturers to improve the following generation significantly.

Shadus