Can Vista save PC gaming?

[DevilUknow]

I'm not a graphic designer, a software developer or a movie editor. The primary reasoning for me to upgrade my system is for games.

This has been true for about 10 years now and once again my system is starting to feel the burn.

About the most graphically advanced game I can run is Prey.

I'm an old Total Annihilation fan, so I am dying to play Supreme Commander, and Crysis looks hawt, but I'm starting to feel like PC gaming as a whole right now does not justify the $2000 I'd be spending to upgrade.

The games are few and far between (everything worth playing has either been delayed until next year or also released on Xbox 360) and home consoles and even hand held consoles are getting so many great titles right now that there is almost no need for PC gaming.

I've heard that Vista is supposed to create 90 million games ready PCs by the end of next year, which is a market nearly the size of the PS2 market. This could revitalize PC game development and harold a new age of PC gaming... or it might not.

Can Vista save PC gaming, or should I save my money and just play XBox 360 and DS games?

[Babrbarossa]

I suppose eventually we will see all of our media going through one unit. We will be watching our movies, doing our work, checking emails, and playing games all through one machine (to a much greater extent than we are now). Multiple monitors in various rooms will be receiving signals wirelessly so one person can be working on statistics in one room while someone is watching a high-definition movie in another room from the same unit. Cable and sattelite tv will be replaced by internet-type content providers and all shows will be watched on demand. Even telephone will become a pc based service.

Computers have always been multi-purpose and much of these technologoes are currently available on pcs, while not yet mainstream, but more and more we see consoles that can perform a variety of multimedia tasks. However, with the release of playstation 2 and xbox 360 fairly recently, we aren't going to see any more major console advances for some years to come. Since people are looking for multitasking units, but have highly varied multimedia needs, the customizeable nature of the pc will make it more popular as the divide between the monitor and the tv continue to blur.

hm-- didn't mean wax poetic

[mo' power]

Looks like we'll be able to tap into XBOX live soon with microsoft's games for windows. Does anyone plan on picking up a 360 controller ...oops, I meant multi functional gaming peripheral for their PC? It was just a matter of time for a multi platform arena to appear. Hmmmm...PC gamers and Xbox fans in the same sandbox? That will be something to see. I can see the headlines now. "mouse" VS "the beast with opposable thumbs" But then again, there are game titles for console only and some for pc only. At least for the immediate future. There are actually console fans that think that crysis is being released on console in the immediate future. Boy, are they in for a big disappointment!:rtfm:

[b1lk1]

Too bad they forgot to add EAX compatibility for Vista and that no video card makers have released a decent driver. In the short term Vista has proven it is not game ready. I sure hope M$ gets off their ass and gets it fixed up quick.

[sswilson]

If DX10 does actually take off it stands to improve PC gaming from a hardware POV.

Hardware certification for previous versions of DX allowed vid card manufacturers to opt-out of some parts of the spec and still get certified. (This is why Nvidia cards will not do HDR + AA and ATI cards got away for so long without Shader vers 3).

DX10 certification is an all or nothing prospect.