Ageia has announced their progress with the PhsyX physics accelerator card, and the Software Development Kit that goes with it.  City of Villains is ready to incorporate the technology into their game as soon as people have the card installed.  They aren’t going to stop at PC’s either, their card, and the drivers will be supported on consoles as well!

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — March 21, 2006 — AGEIA™ Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that City of Villains™ developer Cryptic Studios plans to supercharge the game’s powers and effects for players whose PCs are equipped with Physics Accelerator add-in boards powered by the AGEIA PhysX™ processor. The standalone sequel to the hugely popular City of Heroes from NCsoft, City of Villains was an immediate hit among MMORPG fans and critics alike with its intense interactivity and exceptional particle systems.

While all City of Villains players benefit from the game’s software physics created by the AGEIA PhysX SDK, players with PhysX Accelerator cards will experience some 10 times the number of particles displayed in physics-based events, resulting in an even more immersive experience.


PLUS support for the Cell Processor (PS3)

AGEIA™ Technologies, Inc., the pioneer in hardware-accelerated physics for games, today announced that the latest version of AGEIA PhysX™ SDK version 2.4 will become available to registered PLAYSTATION®3 game content developers on March 31, 2006. The AGEIA PhysX™ SDK is highly recognized for its extensive physics functionality and multithreading capabilities, which are uniquely suited for the multicore architecture of the Cell processor adopted on PLAYSTATION®3. The latest AGEIA PhysX SDK™ version 2.4 is optimized for the Cell processor, adding mind-blowing physics action to the high-definition graphics of PLAYSTATION®3 titles.


AND support for upcoming consoles

With the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4, developers can create rich physics-based environments and effects for both next-generation gaming platforms and PCs with ‘PhysX Accelerator’ PC add-in boards from ASUS and BFG Technologies featuring the AGEIA PhysX processor.

The AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 enables unprecedented game action for both PCs and next-generation game consoles. Game developers can now create dynamic game scenes with unprecedented interactive and destructible environments, in which collisions and interactions between multiple objects or fluids cause real-life reactions on a massive scale.

Beyond providing the ability to develop dynamic physics in games for cross-platform availability, the AGEIA PhysX SDK v2.4 includes two significant physics features — cross-platform cloth and hardware-accelerated joints.