I no longer feel pressurised to go DX10

maybe at the high end - but ive just read a review of the 8500gt
conclusion 7300gt is faster (although only a tiny bit)

 

So what's new?

 

You play raving rabbids with a GAMEPAD?! Yi gods man, you should be using a wiimote! The game was practically designed for it. Oh, not to mention that raving rabbids on pc starforced to hell.

Anyhow, it's not a big deal to me if a game requires the xbox 360 control pad to play well now for two reasons:
1. Microsoft's push to make Vista a gaming platform on par with consoles includes leverging as much as they can from Xbox, including the gamepad. The 360 control pad is essentially the official control pad of Vista.

2. It's done well. The 360 control pad's native support in new games is a godsend to older pc games, where even games with actual control pad support were still hell to set up, and it never worked quite as well as a real console game.

It's XP being good enough, consoles being not only a legitimate alternative to pretty much all pc gaming but actually being better in most cases, and that the things that make pc gaming unique (good graphics, mouse and keyboard support, pervasive online multiplayer) do not need a new OS, and are even somewhat hampered by it. (slower game performance in vista, preference for dumbed down console style games, xbox live, pretty much the pc is becoming an expensive xbox)

And for people not using their PCs for gaming, I'd argue Ubuntu is good enough for 98% of non-gaming PC users.

Vista will take over though, it's just a matter of time. Whether or not Vista is a healthy, self-sufficient gaming platform that does more than just run console ports in hi res, who knows.

BTW, Vista really is a PITA. I just recently upgraded my device drivers on it, and now it can't boot because of some problem with the RAID controller. Ubuntu works sublimely though, I haven't bothered doing a system restore yet just because I have no reason too (except I wanna finish playing vampire: bloodlines! stupid ati linux drivers not running it fast enough in wine)

 

Aero!!!

 

Heh, well, playing it with a X360 controller was 270 euros cheaper.

Oh and I agree with the two reasons you mentioned. There have been other control pads for PCs before obviously but MS did their homework here and I've yet to find a compatibility problem.

As for DX10 pressure, meh. I think people are forgetting their history. DX9 cards came out in mid-2002 but we only got "true" DX9 games in mid-2004 (TR, FarCry, HL2).

 

Some games were *meant* to be played with a gamepad, no matter what platform they are played on. I use my trusty saitek P880 for some games that scream for it (for instance Dynasty Warriors Hyper PC). I couldn't imagine playing a fighter without a game pad. That seems like trying to play an RTS or a FPS *with* a game pad. It is probably okay once you get used to it, but I'm not sure.

 

At the same time, DX9 games even at the early stage looks so much better compare to consoles. DX10 games, however, is only on par or slightly better than consoles, excluding Wii.

Not everyone plays FPS btw, and I am literally the last one to get a 3D graphics card.

 

We have barely seen any DX10 PC games yet but of those that we have I think there is a reasonable jump over console graphics. Just look at CoH and WIC in DX10, I certainly don't see any console RTS's that match those. CoJ is debatable (I personally think it looks amazing but many don't). Lost Planet is a decent improvement over the console version and the first major DX10 game is Crysis.

I don't recall 2003 PC gaming being in a better position.

 

But when the first DX9 games came out they were being compared to (at best) DX7 level hardware. Now the first DX10 games are being compared to DX9+ level hardware.

 

Don't forget Flip3D

In all seriousness though - UIs don't sell hardware, unless you're Apple.

 

Sweet.......ordered..

 

The 7300GT is faster than the 8500GT? Hmmm, I wouldn't have expected that.

 

This might be a slight oversimplification, but yeah. That's the problem with this gen -- Sure, if you've got the cash for a pair of 8800GTXs, by all means, buy away and brag to everyone here about it. But for the rest of this is basically a run out the clock situation. The next generation (or half-generation) cannot come soon enough!

 

In fact, even Microsoft admitted lack-luster retail sales- much lower than expected. They even had to combine the first two-months sales figures in their initial press releases to compare with XP's first month.

Also, several sources have mirrored the Vista launch being substantially lesser than the XP launch:
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/vista_launch_falters_at_retail.html

I think it's ridiculous that any tech-savvy and objective individual would blur the line between DX10 and Vista. The bonding is only something that Microsoft has created and an innocent victim in the fray!

While DX10 does push PC gaming to the next level, Vista's problems/shortcoming/issues may not be an acceptable price to pay.

But again, I mainly attribute Vista's problems and lack of adoption moreso to XP's strength and quality, with an added dash of lack of trust of consumers to new products. The more "extremist" folks (the smallest percentage, which I happen to fall into) wont adopt due to the unacceptable amount of "Big Brother" in their WGA changes and driver signing policy/DRM policy intermingling.

 

Will Crysis be affected by this? The game is coming in September.