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The Future of Windows Gaming
GameDaily.biz has up an interview celebrating the tenth anniversary of DirectX. Their talk with Chris Donahue covers how DirectX has evolved, where the industry is going, and some discussion of Microsoft's XNA initiative. From the article: "With XNA, which incorporates both DirectX and the Xbox/Xbox 360 Development Kits, we're making the tools to make it easier to make games for Microsoft's gaming platforms. We're looking to the game development community to surprise gamers with new ideas of what they can do with these tools--and of course, we're helping developers build games that can take advantage of the huge power of the next generation of hardware, both Xbox 360 and Longhorn."
[...] and of course, we're helping developers build games that can take advantage of the huge power of the next generation of hardware, both Xbox 360 and Longhorn
Longhorn isn't next generation hardware. Longhorn will probably require next generation hardware to run well. Quote from I, Cringely, "For Intel to keep growing, people have to replace their PCs more often and Microsoft's bloatware strategy just isn't making that happen, especially if they keep delaying Longhorn."
You may not agree with Cringely's conspiracy theories but it's been fairly obvious that the Windows/Intel duopoly has long been a mechanism to drive unnecessary computer upgrades under the guise of "innovation". Looks like Chris Donahue agrees that we'll be seeing more of the same.
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Well, here's my take on it. As much as I can't stand Microsoft, and as much as I hate Windows, I have to agree with the article, when it comes to Windows gaming. Windows is the platform to have in gaming, and the Xbox 360 will be nothing short of revolutionary. I know that this is an odd thing to say, coming from a Linux geek, but I am actually looking forward to seeing what happens with the Xbox 360 graphics, APIs and etc. I really like what they're proposing with the XNA and the whole 64 bit thing. Of course, the technology is there to implement this type of solution, and Microsoft has the installed base to pull it off. On the future of DirectX, I have to say that it's definitely the standard. I really wish that they would go to an open standard, but DirectX is the standard, and the way to go when developing games.
And they wonder why I left Windows.....
Windows gaming is kind of the Energizer bunny of gaming platforms--it just keeps going and going. And it keeps on innovating. Windows is where new and innovative technology happens first, and it's where new and exciting game genres show up first.
Are all Microsoft employees required to incessantly spout the same crap over and over again. Microsoft has made some good products, but that last thing I want to hear over and over again is the same BS line about how Microsoft keeps innovating. I can't even look out the window anymore without some Microsoft goon shovel feeding me the same line about inovation.
Honestly, I can never really recall any great innovative product ever really being made by microsoft. I know that they've made some good products, but it seems to me that they've all been done before.
OS software was around long before Microsoft ever stuck its foot in the door. Internet browsers were around before IE came around. Text editors, spreadsheets, and other Office software had been developed before Microsoft made their versions. Gaming consoles and video games had been around a lot longer as well.
Windows and IE aren't the best products in the world, but I'm quite happy with Word and my Xbox. I just wish they'd stop thinking I was born yesterday and will believe that they're revolutionizing the world with every single thing they do. It's almost gotten to the point where someone craps in a box and starts heralding it as the next big thing.
If Microsoft wouldn't hype their stuff up so much, maybe some folks wouldn't be so let down when it doesn't live up to all the promises.
Well, Bill, actually this gives a lot of people a reason to buy our console. Little Jimmy will have a much easier time convincing his parents to buy him a $300-$400 console than a $1000+ gaming rig. If most of the big PC gaming hits are ported to the 360, we'll have a lot of would-be PC gamers buying 360 instead, since it's cheaper, and they can play it on any TV!
huge power of the next generation of hardware
,etc, oh piss off.
;-)
What utter bollocks they spout, they say things in the most abstract broad strokes of wow, you can only imagine what it will be like, without longhorn, games will not advance, etc
Who the hell has heard of that site anyway? How can you tell the difference between a 'blog' style site for the sake of a site, and an independant, community focussed site nowwadays?
The ability to put any message anywhere is quite scarey, and Microsoft are doing a good job with all their blogs, which no doubt they will patent and say they invented.
Microsoft are no so much embracing open source, but trying to mimick the actions of an open and adoptive community, those that even fostered such wordfucks like blogging.
So Microsoft are going to great lengths to immitate the spirit of the open and share community, but they just suck.
You know, it wouldn't be that hard for Microsoft to win back a lot of people. Oh yeah it would, I forgot, you can't buy it back, you have to make a change to your core values.
You know, the whole penny arcade 'gabe does xbox' was even more astounding on slashdot.
I cannot believe slashdotters bought into xbox. Anyway, I guess its because the only console I ever had was a CD32
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
With HDTV soon to become the dominant TV platform the "advantage" of gaming PC's (graphic-wise at least) will dissapear
Console makers are just stupid, that is the reason why they have yet to completely oust PCs (not to say PCs have not taken a beating). The death blow for PCs will be when someone realizes that the reason why most PC gamers continue to use PCs is because of a $10 dollar piece of equipment. The only reason why I still have PC for gaming is because of the mouse. Consoles have a TERRIBLE input device. Granted, you can specially tailor games for it so that it is less painful, but face it, when it comes to fast and/or precise movements, the mouse thoroughly trounces the control pad.
Seriously, I would give up my PC in a heartbeat for a console if they could just offer an non-shitty input device. I AM a gamer. The idea of a machine dedicated to gaming is music to my ears. Now, they just need to spend less time working on making better graphics and frigging find a half way decent input device.
There is a simple test I am going to use that will help me decide when to buy a next gen console. The day a console player can play a PC player online in a FPS and not get brutally raped will be the day I switch. As it is, console makers wisely keep their online services separate from PCs. If they were to ever let the two meet online, I imagine console players would quickly realize what a shitty input device they are using as they go completely manhandled. The thought of a console player even attempting to compete with a PC player in a FPS is laughable at best.
Screw graphics, screw big name titles, just give me a decent input device standard with the console and I am sold.
Your "inevitable merger between consoles and gaming PC's" will not happen. Have you played a good RTS or MMORPG on a console? Would you like to type linux commands using the cursor and onscreen keyboard?
Until I see consoles shipped with keyboards and mice, or PCs shipped with a dualshock controller, I doubt there will be a merger between consoles and PCs.
With so many ppl on
Various platforms have had mice for a while now...SNES and DC come to mind. Neither made that much of a splash or received much support, but nor have they come out of the box (which is similar to why 4 player gaming is such a small niche on PS2, but more of a mainstay on Xbox and GC; PS2's 4 player ability needs something that doesn't come with the base unit)
But you have an ergonomics problem. Controllers can be used while leaning back in a comfy chair. A mouse, you need to be a desk or stooped over your coffee table. I don't agree that it's lack of mice that have stopped consoles from putting the final nails in PC gaming's coffin.
It's a hard sell. Explaining why there's a mouse in the box would be almost a marketing nightmare...unless it came with a keyboard, and then you're talking about pushing an entirely different marketting strategy anyway.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
$1500 for a new gaming PC
$400 for a new concole
Some people do math...
Consoles have a TERRIBLE input device. For some games. Not for others. For FPS, yes, wasd+mouse is a beatiful thing. FPS's are intense, immersive games, and gain a lot toward immersion buy being deskbound. But consoles aren't about super-immersive, lonely play. It's about sitting around the TV with your buddies. No desks. I find most gamepad games just more fun. WASD+mouse, you are THERE. Gamepad+couch you are having fun. Plus, Mice are a semi-absolute device. I like the feel of an analog aiming system that drifts back to a home state.
The closest you'll probably get to mainstream console use is a trackball being integrated into controllers. Though I bet you'll hear many more people complain about that idea than you will about the missing mouse problem. Though I bet once people actually try it, for driving games and FPS's, there's probably no comparison.
I hate to tell you this, but "marketing" isn't going away anytime soon...
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
On the other hand, consoles are supposed to be easier to use than PCs. They're supposed to be different from PC's. Having a giant controller with a trackball and 104-key keyboard sticking out of it is going to scare mothers and grandfathers!
http://www.nofrag.com/2005/jun/30/18062/#c
On the top level, I can see how many developers and gamers would think DirectX has been a help to gaming...but in the large scope of things it hasn't. It has made Windows gaming on IBM/Intel architecture better, but nothing else. If people had put even half the same effort into using real standards that work on multiple platforms we might be seeing much more interesting and innovative games now. If developers would take the time to learn to use OpenGL and SDL instead of DirectX we wouldn't have to worry about MS lock-in...but they just keep taking the easy, but short-sigted way out.
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
HA! You'll still need a PC to copy all those rental games....
Try a USB to PS2 controller adaptor.
I got myself one of these Less than 15 bucks, works like a champ.
PC gaming has never been better, best of both worlds.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own.
This controller is also supposed to be a default for DirectX 10 I believe it was though it might be properly supported in 9.0c. This could mean more games are programmed that support controllers better. Unlike what you have now days. I could see gaming PC from Dell and Gateway shipping with these standard MS controllers for gaming on. Who knows what the future will bring.
You can also save money on shipping from Hongkong and hit Radioshack and pickup one of the adapters there for $20. Worked great in FFXI when I used to play it.
I'm going to have to disagree and say that this is terrible news for PC gamers. By producing games for both PC and XBOX instead of the PC exclusively we will end up with such wonderful games as Deus Ex: Invisible War or Republic "Who needs a gun that shoots where I point it anyway" Commando.
The laws of probability forbid it!
Interestingly, my girlfriend prefers to play The Sims on the PS2 precisely because she hates the mouse interface, and she can lean back in her chair with the wireless controller without precise aim. She said something like "I'm chained to my desk all day at work, clicking on little buttons like George Jetson, the last thing I want is a game to be like that" (ok, I made up the George Jetson part).
Not everyone plays FPS's, and some who played FPS's before (like myself) are bored to death of them.
The PS2 can take an ordinary USB mouse and keyboard. Of course hardly anything uses them.
I am no longer wasting my time with slashdot
Mod your xbox and you'll find an INSANE amount of community software... I'd expect this trend to continue through to the 360 as well.
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
I work in television and multimedia. You won't believe the amount of resources we have to purchase and/or build out to keep content in digital form. And I'm talking standard definition television. HDTV is a frickin' nightmare I hope to never deal with. Storage solutions for us are moving towards petabytes.
It won't take an Intel/Microsoft monopoly to drive hardware sales. Believe me.
Interestingly enough, I work as a computer lab assistant at a local college. After spending a few months here, I have learned that 1. MS Office is not intuitive 2. Many people have difficulties operating a mouse at "high efficiencies."
What I mean is that many people can't move it very quickly, and that lots of people can't even move it in a straight line easily (such as when navigating that start menu with narrow bars to get to submenus with).
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Open Source Sysadmin
Trackballs don't have that problem.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
Good point. I like trackballs a lot...I wish it was a standard option for laptops, I think even small ones are easier to use than touchpads and the little nipple joysticks.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
You get no argument from me that a mouse is entirely impractical for anything other then a desktop. That isn't really my point though. My point is that the input they have now sucks. I can live without a mouse, I just want something that is at least comperable.
What is this magical interface device you can use while sitting at your couch yet still retain great control? Eh, if I knew the answer I would already be rich.
"There are many things about console gaming that we can apply to make the Windows game experience better. Install is one area where we're working with game developers and publishers to simplify the overly-complex install process--do you really need to answer all those questions and click on all those buttons to play the game?"
Because it's so damn hard to click next four times!
Christ, not everybody that plays video games needs it to be f***ing Mario Party 9 for the PC!
How about this for innovation, allow me to boot/load into a streamlined mode whereby I can unload all that windows bloat much like I used to do with booting into DOS.
Unless:
1. They a play a lot of PS2 FPS's
2. They play online games (most have keyboard support)
3. They have a Linux kit.
Actually I have played a good MMORPG on a console, I have a PS2, equipped with USB ports.
So you type your Linux commands with your keyboard.
They don't need to be shipped when you can just buy any USB keyboard/mouse and it works.
Don't need any mods/shareware, because there are more games than anyone can possibly play. You also don't have to wait 5 years for a sequel to a hit game a la Half-Life, so there's no real "I don't have anything to play so I'll just mod this old game."
So the features that in PC games get added in a mod or expansion pack, are either included in the original game or in the sequel released the next year.
I'm also of the opinion that the homebrew community enables developer laziness.