NVIDIA Japan marks 30 years with Sega, RTX 5090 FE giveaway planned

NVIDIA Japan is preparing a small fan event in Akihabara to mark 30 years of NVIDIA and Sega history.

According to NVIDIA GeForce JP, the event will take place on July 15. Jensen Huang is expected to attend the event in Japan, where NVIDIA will unveil RTX Spark (I mean it’s kinda already revealed, but he likes to re-announce things). The company will also give away a GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition to one attendee selected by lottery.

NVIDIA is asking fans to post memories related to NVIDIA or Sega before July 12. These can include photos, videos or short stories. Selected users will be invited to the event, with winners contacted by direct message on July 13.

Sega saved NVIDIA

The Sega connection is not just a marketing reference. NVIDIA’s first chip, NV1, launched in 1995 and was tied closely to Sega’s PC gaming plans. The card was sold as the Diamond Edge 3D and even included ports for Sega Saturn controllers.

That partnership later became one of the most important moments in NVIDIA’s history. Jensen Huang recently recalled that NVIDIA had chosen the wrong graphics architecture and could not deliver the chip Sega expected for its next console. Huang said he went to Sega’s CEO Shoichiro Irimajiri and asked him to convert the remaining $5 million contract payment into an investment.

According to Huang, Sega agreed even after being told that NVIDIA would likely still fail. The money gave NVIDIA enough time to abandon its earlier approach and rebuild around the technology that became RIVA 128. That chip launched in 1997 and sold 1 million units in its first four months, giving NVIDIA its first major success in PC graphics.

Huang also said that if Sega had kept that investment, it would now be worth about $1 trillion. Sega later sold its stake after NVIDIA went public in 1999.

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