The cynical will immediately ask : what does Matrox have to do with 3D ? I will chuckle along, although I choke on that a bit too. You see, the computer business is just as complicated as Wall Street trading. To make the right choice, you have to know the markets, the technologies, the companies, and guess where the wind is blowing.

Yet, Matrox is the only company to refer to past products that have been retired from the market. Kudos to Matrox then, for having the balls to keep available pages on the Mystique and the M3D. I just wonder if they get any hits on those pages these days.

So, let us see what the 3D card history shows at Matrox's :/

• First, there was the Mystique, a half-baked first attempt which was not entirely botched thanks to great 2D quality
• Facing the facts, Matrox issued the M3D, a sister card to the Mystique which finally allowed for something ressembling 3D
• They finally got around to something with the Mystique G220, Matrox's first AGP all-in-one 2D/3D solution
• Then came the Millenium G200, another would-be contender in the 3D gamespace, but that has left next to no trace in the collective mind of the world
• Finally, with the Millenium G400, Matrox actually showed some 3D muscle, only to be immediately quashed by the competition
• The Millenium G450 did worse, and was thrashed mercilessly
• Then Matrox shed the Millenium G550, which became the industrie's leading card in VOC - which nobody used
• Finally, Matrox burst a neuron and came out with the Parhelia, which it straightaway touted as High Fidelity Graphics

The cruel truth is that, by this time, the 3D market is practically cornered by the combat that rages between ATI and nVidia. The Parhelia fares only marginally better than its predecessors, due to the fact that it was, once again, an acceptable performer.

But among all the bloodshed, Matrox walks along, unconcernced and unhindered. Their financial results are astoundingly solid, and Matrox is still a privately-owned company. No IPO, no shareholders to muck up their lovely talking heads, or spear their engineers into delivering a truly 3D product.

In other words, a dream company living the perfect dream.

And now, on to a wholly different competitor.