3dfx Interactive Inc. is shutting its down the 3dfx.com web site for good on February 19.

You can get 3dfx graphics drivers and sundry other resources from Voodoofiles.com.

There is also a pointer to the web site of Nvidia which bought the assets of the rival graphic chip supplier in April last year.

This is what we wrote at the time of the sale:

The final curtain approaches for 3dfx, the graphics chip designer. It has completed the sale of its assets to Nvidia - patents, trademarks etc. for $55m in cash And it could stand to get up to a million Nvidia shares, if it meets certain criteria.

Following the sale, 3dfx is effectively a dead company. Just three years ago, the company was at a high-point - we well remember its extravagant Comdex party that year, with Kool & the Gang pumping out the music.

But then the company messed up - it rested on its design laurels, letting Nvidia steal through the blind side to take the performance crown. And it messed up again, big time, with an ill-advised and hugely expensive plunge into the retail card market - alienating its OEM customers in the process. Soon the company is to be no more. Who will notice, when it's gone?

Our rhetorical flourish prompted dissent from some of our readers. You can see their response here. ®