Chip maker NVIDIA entices 600 gamers

Aarnav Dhanuka, 12, was glued to the laptop screen, oblivious of the high-decibel music blasting away. For Dhanuka, a resident of Goregaon (East), a suburb in Mumbai, winning this round of the game was important for two reasons: If he won he would get a Dell Alienware Laptop with the latest Nvidia graphic chip and Rs 100,000 as prize money.

More than 600 gamers, like Dhanuka, had gathered at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai to be part of GeForce LAN, the annual gaming tournament held by graphic chips manufacturer NVIDIA. This was the first time NVIDIA was organising the event out of the US, since its launch six year ago.

The make-shift structure built by NVIDIA had fanboys streaming in from as early as 5.30 a m — not just gamers from across India but from several other countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

Avid gamers got the chance to try their hands at the most popular games such as Counter Strike 1.6, Call of Duty 4, FIFA, Need for Speed and GTA. Iffat Hussain, 19, and her group of four friends, were excited, scanning the tables every five minutes to see if the first round is anywhere near to close.

For Hussain the added attraction was the only-girls category.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan, who met and felicitated the gamers, said: “Just as GPUs were fundamental to the making of Ra.One, they are the key ingredient in every PC.”

NVIDIA’s GeForce graphics processing units (GPUs) power PCs made by or distributed by most PC OEMs across the globe, whether it be for desktop PCs, notebook PCs, PCs loaded with Windows Media Centre and media extenders such as the Apple TV. GPUs enhance the user experience for playing video games, editing photos, viewing and editing videos and high-definition, or HD, movies. GPUs also enable the rich visual user interfaces of the Windows Vista and Apple OS X operating systems.

“GeForce LAN was started six years ago and we wanted to do something special for gamers. Our main focus as a company has been on the graphic processing unit (GPU). This event celebrates gaming. India is a big growing market for us. We work very closely with the extreme gaming guys and we thought if we can do this in India, it has to be on a similar platform. With a film like Ra.One, we thought that it was the right opportunity,” said Ujesh Desai, vice-president of product marketing.

The adrenaline rush among the gamers went a notch up as he presented them with the G.One signature edition graphic cards. NVIDIA worked closely with the film production company Red Chillies to create the visual effects of the science fiction flick, Ra.One.

In India, NVIDIA is focused in gaining market share from players like Intel and Qualcomm by focusing on a 360 degree approach. “There are about 150-160 million youngsters in the age group of 25-27 years, spread across 30-35 cities that are into technology and are ready to spend to get the best. We realised that there was an enormous growth in digital content in India and the content is getting rich day-by-day,” said Vishal Dhupar, managing director (South Asia).

“When it comes to computing resources I think NVIDIA is in a position to play a very important role. I think, the GPU, as a technology is now coming up especially with the desktop growth of 15-17 per cent. Even for mobile computing space I think NVIDIA is in the right space.”

On the mobile front, including tablet and smartphones, NVIDIA claims it has taken steps in recent quarters to become a leader in the mobile chip market. The company’s Tegra applications processor has netted many key design wins, including devices from Samsung. LG and Motorola for their handheld devices.