I was pretty young at the time, but I recall the market for graphics being a lot wider open at the time Quake was released. Remember 3dfx? They produced the Voodoo series of graphics cards. They're barely a distant memory now.
Quake was also the standard for a game that was willing to fully exploit the hardware of the time.
Quake was also the standard for a game that was willing to fully exploit the hardware of the time.