There had been a small outcry about the Mystique and its (non-existant) 3D capabilities, so Matrox produced the M3D (proof, if any was needed, that the Mystique could not handle 3D all by itself). I decided to add it to my collection - thinking that I might as well buy an add-on card from the vendor of something that I did recognize as a good video card, rather than buy a different brand. Goes to show that even with years of experience, compounding error is still a possibility.

So the M3D did end up doing 3D - in a way. The PowerVR chip that made the core of the card was not entirely lame - it was just not recognized by the gaming industry that had made 3Dfx and the Voodoo the winning horse. The M3D did give me a chance to play Quake II like I had never seen it before, and MechWarrior II did look better with it than just under the Mystique with which it had been bundled. But that did not make me any happier.

The M3D card, a Mystique daughter card

For the first time, I got on the Internet and wrote an email to Matrox support. I told them that I did not appreciate the fact that my purchase did not live up to its own publicity. I wanted to hear that they were working on the problem. I wanted them to say that a patch was in the works, that things would be solved somewhere down the road. To their credit, they answered my mail, quite politely even. But the answer was clear : they would not solve the problem. And no patch was being worked on. The ONLY update they ever made to their Mystique/M3D line was available and that was that.

The problem did get solved somewhere down the line : by a Voodoo 2.

The Mystique

The Matrox Millenium