Sega’s $5M investment saved Nvidia in 1996, now Jensen Huang is heading to Tokyo to mark 30 years of partnership — Akihabara event will include a GeForce RTX 5090 FE lottery, an RTX Spark presentation, and more

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In the mid-90s Sega provided a $5M lifeline to Nvidia before its first hit GPU.

Nvidia DGX Spark
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Nvidia and Sega have scheduled an event next week to celebrate their history and longstanding friendship. The invitation-only shindig takes place at GiGO Akihabara, Tokyo (you can apply via Twitter/X). Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will star at the July 15 event, officially unveiling the RTX Spark for the first time in Japan. Attendees will also get a chance to win a GeForce RTX 5090 FE in a raffle.

If you will be in Tokyo on July 15, it might be worth pitching for an invite, and if you’re exceptionally lucky, you might visit the event, then go home with one of the best graphics cards available in 2026. The GeForce Japan social media managers are asking for comments that encapsulate 'memories of Nvidia or Sega' with photos, videos, anecdotes,” and so on (machine translation). You have until sometime on July 12 to concoct your invitation pitch. Remember, Japan time is about half a day ahead of the mainland US time zones.

Though it is clearly spelled out what the Nvidia side of the celebration will present on the day (the RTX Spark and a raffle RTX 5090 FE), no such specific teases have come from the Sega camp.

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The lack of any teaser might make you think that Sega isn’t going to reveal anything new at the event, or conversely that something big is on the horizon. But if Sega were to pull a hardware surprise out of the bag, it could make quite a splash.

The Japanese gaming icon exited the console race back in 2001, when it ceased production of the Dreamcast. However, it released rehashed mini consoles like the Genesis Mini and Game Gear Micro at the beginning of the 2020s. More recently, some Mini Arcades (like Sonic, OutRun, and Golden Axe) have been released in partnership with MyArcade. It would be great if Sega could do something ambitious again, or even come out with a mini console capable of handling Saturn or Dreamcast titles. With some kind of lightgun support, please.

Nvidia and Sega – an enduring bond

As mentioned in the intro, Nvidia and Sega are old buddies. Nvidia nearly collapsed in 1996, just three years after its founding, and only the belief and generosity of a senior Sega executive at the time saved Nvidia from the graveyard. This is according to Huang’s recollections of a very difficult time for Nvidia, shared in interviews in 2024.

The story goes that Nvidia’s work to design a GPU for a next-gen Sega console fell through largely due to incompatibility with the emerging DirectX API. Sega’s management appreciated the efforts, though, and believed in young Mr. Huang enough to invest $5M in the green team. This investment gave Nvidia the breathing room to pivot from its previous graphics architecture and come out with the DirectX-friendly RIVA line (1997), followed by the unstoppable GeForce series (1999).

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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
News Editor

Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.

4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thisisaname
    I'm quite sure that right now is not a good time to release any hardware that is not AI related.
    They could say they are working on something due to be released around 2028 or maybe 2030 :ROFLMAO: 🤯
    Reply
  • blppt
    Fun fact, when shopping around for the graphics chips for the upcoming Dreamcast, Sega was briefly considering 3DFX technology, though it would have ended up being inferior to the highly efficient PowerVR chip they settled on.

    (Yes, I know Nvidia eventually absorbed 3DFX, but at that time such a notion would have been absurd given how tiny Nvidia was at the time)
    Reply
  • jkflipflop98
    With the Xbox brand imploding and the Playstation camp shooting itself in the foot. . . this would be the perfect time for Sega to come back to life with the Dreamcast 2
    Reply
  • gamerk316
    jkflipflop98 said:
    With the Xbox brand imploding and the Playstation camp shooting itself in the foot. . . this would be the perfect time for Sega to come back to life with the Dreamcast 2
    No it wouldn't; consoles have always been giant money pits which only exists to sell exclusives and make the money back on SW sales. Sega's IP library is bare, and third party support was a major reason for the Dreamcasts failure. There's literally ZERO reason for them to even consider it.

    Also remember that for years Sega's HW division was propped up by their Arcade business, which obviously doesn't exist anymore.
    Reply