NEC licenses VideoLogic 3D

Electronic News, April 3, 1995 by Anthony Cataldo

SAN BRUNO, CALIF. - NEC has committed approximately $2.54 million for an exclusive worldwide license to market an upcoming 3-D games system built on technology developed by U.K.-based multimedia board manufacturer Video Logic Inc.

Under terms of the agreement, VideoLogic will furnish NEC with its proprietary PowerVR 3-D games platform and NEC will supply the remaining silicon for the systems, VideoLogic said.

NEC plans to begin selling the PowerVR-based systems by year-end and will pay VideoLogic royalties based on the number of dedicated chipsets sold. Discussions are now under way with potential customers and a letter of intent with a major games company has already been received, according to VideoLogic.

Last year NEC was given an exclusive contract to manufacture and distribute PowerVR devices sold to PC and game manufacturers. NEC is also the sole distributor of VideoLogic's PC multimedia products in Japan.

Last December NEC bared the framework of a joint development plan, saying it planned to develop application-specific ICs and software around the PowerVR platform for the broad games market (EN, Antenna, Dec. 19, 1994).

With its advanced semiconductor expertise and worldwide strengths in electronics, NEC is an ideal partner for VideoLogic," said Derek Maclaren, chairman of VideoLogic. "Together, the two companies ave the technology, resources and skills to develop revolutionary new products for the games and virtual reality markets, which provide previously unattainable levels of realism and interactivity at very attractive prices."

PowerVR systems are said to provide photographic-quality pictures, 3-D animation and special effects, including lifelike shadows and shading. Under development the last three years, PowerVR is also described as scaleable, making it suited for a range of price/performance levels such as home video game machines, coin-operated arcade games, interactive TV and PCs.