Conclusion
TH: Does Bigfoot have any plans to revamp the Killer NIC into PCI Express, based on enthusiasts that have boards which lack proper layout to support the Killer NIC because of dual or 3-way SLI?
Harlan: In short, yes. The issue is one of technology limitations. There will be no big “latency” differences in a PCI-E versus a PCI version, since our benefits come mostly from ‘bypassing Windows’… only slightly more throughput performance and ability to fit better into some folks’ PCs. Good news is that the PCI version just recently hit $149.99 MSRP (deals are everywhere), and we’re dedicated to making that version continue to be best-in-class... Many folks have an open PCI Slot, and there’s no reason to wait (for who knows how long) for our engineers to finish PCI-E when it won’t be better from a latency standpoint, and will continue to carry any new features found in PCI-E forward with it.
TH: Finally, are there any new cool ideas being tossed around at Bigfoot? For example, a consumer router with BitTorrent capability so that consumers can turn off their PC but have a router that will continue torrenting with an external hard drive? Or maybe a a consumer VoIP solution for gamers in the form of an external device acting as a server/client?
Harlan: Tons of cool ideas, and many underway. Right now, we’re not announcing anything new, but I will leave you with a few industry observations. First is that Online Gaming continues to grow and get more complex and more ‘social’ and more “experience rich”. It is my expectation that VOIP is going to become a ‘standard’ feature of games, and video is not far behind. Second, the idea that an MMO has to be slow-paced is frustrating to me. Why can’t we play Battlefield 2 and Age of Conan as one game?
I believe that our final goal – The End of Lag – is to make it possible to play twitch-MMO games that let you ‘take aim’ in a massive battle and experience the VOIP bloodlust calls of your friends while you hack into real players in real time on a massive scale. This vision is why I founded Bigfoot Networks, and technologies and products that enable it are what you can expect more of from Bigfoot in the future.
TH: Thanks to Harlan Beverly, CEO of Bigfoot Networks Inc. for his time answering our questions!
