After reporting its first ever billion-dollar quarter, Silicon Valley-based chipmaker Nvidia has announced planes to purchase chipmaker, Ageia.

While Ageia’s might not be a household name, the company was responsible for the world’s first dedicated physics processor in 2006. The chip was designed to handle real-time physics calculations for more impressive and diverse visual effects in games. Ageia’s PhysX software is also currently being used in all three current generation consoles.

Terms of the deal…

Physics are a really important aspect of any game whether it is a platformer, an RPG or a first-person shooter. Our world and every kind of interaction we have in it are ruled by the laws of physics so any kind of world that intends to resemble our own must abide by those same rules. more »