Vista-Exclusive DX-10 Bad For PC Gaming?
According to Gabe Newell of Valve Software in this Heise interview, Microsoft's attempt to force gamers to upgrade to the latest version of its operating system may not have been a good thing for PC gaming. It's fragmented the market, and adoption amongst gamers has been noticeably low.

It's quite possible that the adoption rate is so low because Microsoft and the other console manufacturers have succeeded so well in getting the most hardcore (and early-adopter) gamers converted over to consoles. And now Microsoft has a chicken-and-egg problem: Gamers will migrate to Vista when there's a "killer app" that they must have which will force them to make the costly upgrade for questionable benefits. But right now, unless Microsoft bribes them with actual cash or a major free marketing push, no developer or publisher (outside of Microsoft themselves) is willing to cut themselves off from the vast majority of their market for the sake of DirectX 10 support.

As one who has stubbornly held off on making the upgrade to Vista, I'm probably not one to disagree. Of course, it usually took a "killer app" (like support for new hardware) to make me migrate in the past... I think I've always held off until the first service patch fixes all the horrible nasty bugs and security holes first after Windows 95. My strategy has paid off --- I managed to avoid the Windows M.E. debacle altogether. But I do like the idea of the majority of Windows machines having .NET already installed...

In all likelihood, this problem will fade away within the next couple of years as the install base gradually increases. If adoption remains sluggish and Microsoft is very timely with Vista's successor, then we may just get to worry about a new set of problems.

Labels: Biz, Mainstream Games

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 11:57 PM (Permalink)