It's particularly interesting to read Sweeney's views on this subject, considering that he's been talking about the shift back to software rendering since 2000

It's particularly interesting to read Sweeney's views on this subject, considering that he's been talking about the shift back to software rendering since 2000 or so, when GPUs started becoming programmable. Check out this old interview: http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/sweeney.shtm http://archive.gamespy.com/legacy/interviews/sweeney.shtm 2006-7: CPU's become so fast and powerful that 3D hardware will be only marginally benfical for rendering relative to the limits of the human visual system, therefore 3D chips will likely be deemed a waste of silicon (and more expensive bus plumbing), so the world will transition back to software-driven rendering... If this is a case, then the 3D hardware revolution sparked by 3dfx in 1997 will prove to only be a 10-year hiatus from the natural evolution of CPU-driven rendering. His timeline was off by a few years, but I think he basically had the right idea all along.