Did you have a chance to try the SEGA Dreamcast When did it come on the market in the late 90s? Having lived that experience requires a certain age range, but those who were present at that historical moment will confirm that the sensation was unmistakable: trying that device made us feel like we were in the future. It was something very ahead of its time and obviously that led to the collapse of the Japanese company. But what we didn't know is that NVIDIA It almost also went bankrupt because of the console.
Day by day NVIDIAthanks to its graphics card business and the cryptocurrency mining fever, is the third most valuable company in the world. Its logo, brand and name are more than recognizable, but almost three decades ago things were not like that.
It is surprising to know that the company was on the verge of disappearing in 1996, just three years after its founding. And that potential debacle was absolutely courtesy of the ambitions of SEGAwho wanted to win the console war with the Dreamcast at all costs.
The great irony and curiosity is that derived from that situation also arose an endearing and unexpected act of generosity on the part of a SEGA executive who at that time saved NVIDIA from total collapse.
SEGA and NVIDIA: a marriage doomed to fail
Friends of Live Mint They have dusted off the details of this story, which becomes even more relevant when considering that SEGA was also in a critical situation at that time; under pressure to surpass Nintendo with the presence of Sony and its devastating PlayStation in the market, breaking all records.
NVIDIA had only been founded in 1993 and a few years later they obtained a juicy contract that seemed like it would become the key moment to finally take off: the commission to develop the Dreamcast GPU. But things quickly got complicated.
While the firm's previous work creating low-power GPU units had given them experience in manufacturing energy-efficient chips, these designs did not meet the high-end specifications that SEGA required for the Dreamcast, which would launch in 1998.
Given this situation, the contract between both companies seemed doomed to failure. Since NVIDIA had invested a considerable amount of time and money in research and development, but did not have a final product that met the expectations of the Japanese.
This placed the CEO of NVIDIA, a young Jensen Huang, in a difficult position, being forced to confess to SEGA that they could not deliver the agreed GPU, still requesting full payment of the contract, since if they did not obtain the money they would go bankrupt. It was there where a miracle happened.
How the president of SEGA saved NVIDIA from bankruptcy
Against all odds NVIDIA received in a sense payment for his failed attempt to develop the GPU for the Dreamcastall thanks to the intervention of the then CEO of SEGA America, Shoichiro Irimajiriwho knew and respected Huang, so he decided that the Japanese company would invest USD $5 million in the graphics card company to save it from bankruptcy.
That money ultimately became the seed that not only saved the company, but also laid the foundation for the empire it has established to this day. While Irimajiri eventually left his executive positions at Sega, this investment turned out to be very profitable.
At the end of the whole journey, getting out of that predicament and with the new projects signed by NVIDIA, SEGA ended up recovering the investment in triplicate, obtaining profits of USD $15 millionwhich helped the company during its exit from the console business.
In the end it was an act of friendship and camaraderie that saved NVIDIA. Although the Dreamcast did not survive, they would be responsible for the birth of a company that is legendary today.