Topic: Yahoo News: PC to leapfrog standalone game consoles

[Pugnate]

Written by the Associated Press (Technology).

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070420/ap_on_hi_te/games_vista_s_visuals;_ylt=AiKL9xwfjRjDudgQO9v.O5rMWM0F

PC to leapfrog standalone game consoles

By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer Fri Apr 20, 2:09 PM ET

DALLAS - From the movie-like graphics in the action game "Gears of War" to the nearly photorealistic racer "MotorStorm," video games have come a long way since the bouncing blocks of "Pong."
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A new breed of visually striking games promises to light up computer screens with even sharper, more lifelike graphics than ever before. But unlike the popular "Gears of War" or "MotorStorm," the games won't be debuting on Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s PlayStation 3 or Microsoft Corp.'s
Xbox 360 consoles.

Instead, the PC is returning to the pinnacle of video game graphics — thanks to some under-the-hood tweaks in Microsoft's Vista operating system.

The technology behind these improved visuals, called DirectX 10, is the result of a collaboration among video game developers, graphics card makers and Microsoft. For years, they have been working to streamline and standardize the software used by Windows-based PCs to display graphics.

The latest improvements, many believe, far surpass even the very best of what the consoles are capable of. Case in point: the upcoming PC shooter "Crysis," where players take the role of a battle-savvy soldier who has to uncover the secrets behind an asteroid that has smashed into Earth.

Beams of light glimmer through a jungle overgrown with swaying palm trees, and the thick underbrush gets more detailed with a closer look. Gaze into the distance and you can see aquamarine waves crashing on a white sand beach. Zoom in on a soldier to see an emotive face with stubble, freckles and other subtle individual details.

DX10 requires a specialized graphics card and there are only a few games today that take advantage of its capabilities.

Though relatively few consumers have yet to upgrade to Vista, dozens of game makers who have been using DX10 believe the benefits of the technology will quickly lure hardcore gamers willing to spend money on the best systems, whatever the cost.

Game players who frequent the Warezabouts LAN Center in Forney, Texas, often ask owner JJ Tarno about Vista and DX10, but most seem to be waiting for more compatible games to come out before they make the switch from
Windows XP.

Tarno, 31, said he's looking forward to games like "Crysis" and has been impressed with the video clips he's already seen.

"If you want to play next-gen games you have to have a next-gen operating system," he said. "A game like 'Crysis' comes out and you just say, `How much is that game?' About $1,500 with new video card, RAM and processor."

Many game developers are excited at the technology's prospects.

"Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures," due in October, will put players into a persistent online fantasy world of barbarians and mythical monsters.

"What we tried to achieve with the graphics is something that we called 'magical realism,'" said Jorgen Tharaldsen, product director for Funcom, which is developing the game in Oslo, Norway. "With DX10 we can just add a lot more bells and whistles. We can start pushing graphics to the stage where it almost looks realistic."

Bill Roper, whose Flagship Studios is developing the action adventure game "Hellgate: London," said he wasn't concerned that not everyone has Vista or a DX10-capable graphics card yet.

"As with every new technology, the hardcore lead the way and the masses catch up," he said. "Not everyone that has an iPod or a DVD player went out and bought theirs on day one. As with previous operating system and hardware advances, the more products that support it and can show the tangible benefits of upgrading, the more widespread the adoption."

The DirectX standard dates back to the mid-1990s when upgrading add-on video cards on home computers was still a hobbyist's pursuit, something hardcore gamers did to extract the most performance from 3-D shooters like "Quake" or "Unreal."

Subsequent versions have added new features to speed up graphics and give game programmers more tools to simulate the movement and appearance of liquids and other complex objects.

As the demands from game makers (and players) have grown increasingly complex, so too have the capabilities of DirectX. The software lets programmers tell the 3-D computer chips in graphics cards whether to simulate a wisp of smoke or a mirror's reflection.

DX10 not only makes games look better, it also promises to improve performance by simplifying how the graphics cards process video information and display it on the screen.

"It means the realism will take a dramatic jump," says Roy Taylor, vice president of content for Nvidia Corp., which makes 3-D video chips for computers. "It's going to look dramatically more real."

Those effects have taken on a cinematic quality with DX10.

"We can create a world that looks and feels more real and is more responsive," Roper said. "We have volumetric fluid smoke that responds to objects that pass through it. We have soft shadows that get softer with distance from the caster."

Of the few DX10 games currently available, including Microsoft's own "Flight Simulator X," differences between DX10 and its predecessor, DX9, are dramatic, with water and atmospheric effects that look more like an actual video recording than a computer approximation of reality.

Still, the slew of DX10-enabled games expected to be released by the Christmas holiday will be compatible with older versions of DirectX. They just won't look as good on DX9 PCs.

Of the 76 million video chips expected to be sold by the end of 2007, only about 16 million will be DX10 compatible, according to Dean McCarron, principle analyst at Mercury Research. Yet DX10 chips should account for about half of $2.2 billion graphics chip market this year, added McCarron, whose figures don't reflect the massive integrated graphics chip market.

While he expects the overall market to remain flat for the next five years, he said DX10 chips will grow to account for about $2 billion of the $2.2 billion industry by 2011.

For now, only Nvidia offers graphics cards that support DX10. Prices range from $600 for a high-end model — as much as a new PS3 console — to less than $100 for a less powerful card.

Rival ATI Technologies Inc., which was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for $5.6 billion last year, expects to launch its DX10-capable cards sometime in the second quarter.

Chris Donahue, group manager of Microsoft's Games for Windows unit, admits that DX10 is an example of the PC surpassing the consoles. The company's own Xbox 360, for example, uses a custom version of the older DX9 standard that can't be upgraded.

"Consoles are a snapshot of where the PC is at the time they were made," he said. "The consoles are a step that stays flat for five years. The PC is basically a 45 degree angle."

Still, the special effects that take a room of computers weeks to render for movies like "The Lord of the Rings" remains out of the reach of DX10, said Richard Huddy, a member of AMD's European developer relations team.

But PC graphics technology is closing in fast.

"The human brain is one of the most fussy systems when it comes to reality," he said. "When it comes to pure graphics rendering we certainly haven't cracked the problem to give a better, more convincing reality. We think we have the next 10 years before we catch up with reality."

Awww yea...

So far my magic underworld Vista is running beautifully. I am dual booting XP with the Ultimate edition, and it activated without a hitch (Despite being from the magic underworld store). I can download all updates, which I do, and I have it installed so I can do DX10 gaming when need be.

[Xessive]

Fonzy.

[Pugnate]

...What you say?

[scottws]

That "article" reads like a Windows Vista advetisement.

I've heard nothing good anout Vista and will be staying away a long time.

[Quemaqua]

Scott speaks for me as well.

[scottws]

You know, I was thinking...  Is it just me or does Microsoft seem to be promoting Vista much, much more heavily than any version of Windows that came before it?

I don't remember anywhere near this level of hype for XP, and in that case I think it might have deserved it.  I think MS realizes they have a lemon on their hands and is trying desperately to salvage their R&D costs.

[Cobra951]

Scott has spoken, twice.  What else can I say?  He covered the lot.

[Pugnate]

Yea even though I have both installed, there really isn't a 'huge' improvement in Vista. Sure it looks prettier and it is organized, but I wouldn't dream of paying money for it.

[Jedi]

You know, I was thinking...  Is it just me or does Microsoft seem to be promoting Vista much, much more heavily than any version of Windows that came before it?

I don't remember anywhere near this level of hype for XP, and in that case I think it might have deserved it.  I think MS realizes they have a lemon on their hands and is trying desperately to salvage their R&D costs.

Vista is MS' "biggest" release since 95 so it's to be expected that they'll talk it up a hell of a lot, and Vista - while not perfect - is far from being a lemon. Also do you really think MS needs to salvage their R&D costs... come on this is MS we're talking about!

Anyway, based just on the title of this thread - well duh. This happens all the time after a new generation of consoles are released - this isn't new.

[Pugnate]

My prediction is that by the time Cryisis comes around, most of us will be using Vista -- legally or illegally. I saw the same hullabaloo on the OW forums when the 360 was announced, yet the same people to protest the most were the first in line to buy it, so yea.

From what I've used of Vista, it is a visual upgrade and the whole experience is far more seamless. Downloading updates, installing drivers stability etc. Yet it is too expensive.

[scottws]

Vista is MS' "biggest" release since 95 so it's to be expected that they'll talk it up a hell of a lot,

Is it?  I thought XP was.  You know... the whole multi-user environment and NT kernel thing.  Vista : XP :: ME : 98.

11 and Vista - while not perfect - is far from being a lemon.

All I hear about are problems.  Compatibility problems with both software and hardware.  The accept/deny dialog box popping up a hundred gajillion times.  The fact you are using like 400W to stare at your desktop.

[Cobra951]

My prediction is that by the time Cryisis comes around, most of us will be using Vista -- legally or illegally. I saw the same hullabaloo on the OW forums when the 360 was announced, yet the same people to protest the most were the first in line to buy it, so yea.

From what I've used of Vista, it is a visual upgrade and the whole experience is far more seamless. Downloading updates, installing drivers stability etc. Yet it is too expensive.

Expensive being the key.  To me, and I suspect most, both hardware and software updates are forced.  Trust me, it's not like my slow warmup to XP, after which I jumped over wholeheartedly.  What I have now can't handle the heavy demands.  Vista, if at all, is down the road, and on a later generation of hardware.

[Pugnate]

Well I have to tell you one thing. I went in to Vista expecting half my crap not to work, and I kid you not, everything installed perfectly (except my on board wifi software grr.)

On some driver installs it will let you know that these drivers haven't been approved, and if you want to install anyway. Anyway my sound card is a pretty old soundblaster and it installed perfectly.

But yea, it isn't like the upgrade XP was. XP was their finest home OS, using the very stable Win 2000 kernel it brought stability and made the blue screen of death something of the past. For me Win 95 was the biggest jump from 3.1 and then XP was the biggest jump after.

After you install Vista and turn on Aero you just stare at your screen in amazement. After that wears off you realize it is very intuitive, well organized, and superb in terms of finding you updates for anything you have. I also found my download speeds to be faster (for some reason) in Vista.

The only issue is that if I am going to legally purchase it, I will want the Ultimate Ed. which is $400. That needs to drop by 50% before I even consider a legal purchase.

My current copy of XP is from the magic underworld store, because my legal copy was activated far too many times... bah.

So I found a...err...software... for Vista that just stops the 30 day grace period from ticking. Dual booting is fine as well.

My biggest worry was that they would force us to put up with the Live feature for gaming. However while M$ games will force that feature, Epic, Valve and others have denied that their DX10 games will use that feature.

In the end, Vista Ultimate is rather nice, just not $400 nice. The OEM is half the price, but I don't want to be restricted since I change hardware often.

[Cobra951]

It's a very fancy lure, an attractive trap.  In another current thread, we're discussing the evils of Xbox Live, paying for multiplayer online gaming--and ironically, I'm one of the few defending the MS scheme.  But that's a console.  It's meant to be pasteurized, homogenized, and ruled from the top.  The PC is supposed to be anarchy, ruled by no one, wide open to whatever you choose to do with it.  Vista is a stepping stone in Microsoft's bid to make the PC just as closed and totalitarian as their console.

[MysterD]

Vista is MS' "biggest" release since 95 so it's to be expected that they'll talk it up a hell of a lot, and Vista - while not perfect - is far from being a lemon.

Agreed.

After Win XP being their best OS in probably forever, expectations for Vista were high -- whether they delivered or not.

Also do you really think MS needs to salvage their R&D costs... come on this is MS we're talking about!

Agreed.

M$ will make it all up. They are M$, after all.

Anyway, based just on the title of this thread - well duh. This happens all the time after a new generation of consoles are released - this isn't new.

Anytime there's something new, somebody will hop right on the bandwagon.

"Oh, look -- this [insert name of the latest console] is the best gaming system ever! PC's better watch out! PC Gaming will die!"

"Oh, look -- this [insert name of the newest Operation System] is going to help PC gaming blow the newest consoles right out of the water! PC Gaming is alive!"

This cycles ALWAYS occurs. And always will, as long as both continue to exist like they have been...

Truth is, PC gaming and console gaming WILL NOT die. As long as there's software makers willing to be making games for only the PC, or only the consoles, or for BOTH platforms, nothing is going to change.