the pc at e3

The PC at E3 has been dissapointing. Other than Crysis, which is truly stunning, we are mostly seeing same-old same-old. Microsoft is pushing it hard, though, but it seems like most companies realize its just not the moneymaker it used to be. A lot of these games are headed to consoles too, and we're at a point where the marginally better experiences doesn't necessarilly justify the vastly more expensive price tag. It reminds me of arcades starting to decline once more convenient consoles could duplicate the experience 90%. Except now with online consoles could duplicate the experience 98%. As such there are a lot of solid looking games on PC, but are also on 360 - Alan Wake, Prey, Huxley, the list is long.

But here are the highlights:

DX9 vs. DX10
People like myself and Dragonmaster Dyne have been saying not to spend too much money on DX9 videocards because DX10 is going to radically change the game. Here is some proof of that:

DX9:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...id=19339&stc=1

DX10:
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/board/a...id=19340&stc=1

Huge difference. All videocards as of today are unable to work in DX10, and will never be able to. It's a fundamental revamping of the design. But there seems to be little on the horizon that will take advantage of it, and even less going forward.

Live Anywhere:
Live for Windows has been badly needed for years. Xfire is, let's face it, a kludge, GameSpy Arcade is dog shit and the ingame searches suck (fuck you Battlefield). Being able to use your gamertag, and hopefully play XBLA games (UNO) on the PC can give a serious shot in the arm to PC gaming. Cross platform gaming can finally be a reality.

Highlights of E3 2006 for PC:

Crysis - this game just looks stunning, and Crytek is very talented. Should be phenomenal. Game of show IMO. It will have DX10 enhancements.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4...32409xo.th.jpg

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos - this looks hot. Like a modern Myth with the Warhammer license.
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/6...6031004.th.jpg

Civ 4: Warlords - one of the best games ever gets an expansion. Firaxis is usually ace with expansions.
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/3...ordsscr.th.jpg


hellgate: London - perceived by some to be the savior of PC gaming, it has been getting mostly "meh" previews. It really doesn't look that hot, but hopefully something comes of it. I put it here because its getting a lot of hype, or was at least.
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/1...8012696.th.jpg

Spore - the game that could very well be the savior of PC gaming still looks okay, but its still more concept than reality as of now. Good to see its still being worked on and apparently is very important to EA's mastar plan.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/858...96845ie.th.jpg

World of Warcraft Expansion: well, as long as Blizzard is around I guess PC gaming is here to stay.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/834...gcrusa1.th.jpg

MS also has big plans with Halo 2 for PC, seeing as its a Vista launch title I believe, and should have lots of good stuff for DX10, Live Anywhere, etc. But no pictures have been released.

There are a lot of decent looking MMOs, like LOTR, Warhammer, Project Wiki, but you can only play one of them at a time really so I dont know why these companies keep funding them.

Holy shit, the difference between DX9 and DX10 is pretty impressive. That's easily the best looking water I've ever seen.

It seems like yesterday when Id Software was saying that rendering a single candle flame in real-time would bring even the strongest PC to its knees (back when Quake 1 was released).

The number of simultaneous PC/360 games does seem to be really increasing. Even my most wanted PC game, Bioshock, may arrive on console first. Speaking of Bioshock, here are some E3 impressions- http://pc.ign.com/articles/707/707583p1.html IGN had a long and informative interview with Levine last week about the game. That AI ecology stuff sounds really cool. This isn't just going to be System Shock underwater.

I was hoping Junction Point Studios(Spector's new company) would show something at E3 but I'm not surprised they didn't.

Even with all the games being released on console I expect the PC to still maintain enough stuff to make it viable for me. I do enjoy a lot of niche stuff like adventure games and I prefer the mouse/keyboard for for certain genres.

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion rocks my face off on PC right now, and I am going to enjoy Half-life 2: Episode 1 just as much.

When are DX10 cards actually coming out?

With this talk of live on PC, I imagine we will have to pay a fee in order to play on those servers, but the real worry comes from games that are live "exclusive". That would be a game killer for me.

I was giving a thought to upgrading my system to support PCIexpress, but now I'll be waiting for DX10 to hit. Good stuff man.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Burky

When are DX10 cards actually coming out?

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No confirmed date, but Vista is dropping in January, so I would guess October or November.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

No confirmed date, but Vista is dropping in January, so I would guess October or November.

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I wonder how the security features of vista are gonna hold up. Last thing I'd expect is having protective barricades over most of my good programs with DRM's and all that crap.

When you speak of Vista gaming, and Halo 2 being a Vista launch title, is that implying that it won't play in windows XP? They way people are phrasing things makes it sound like new games (at least some) are going to be Vista exclusive. I don't recall that happening when XP came out. Even now aren't most games win 95/ME compatible?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stormy

When you speak of Vista gaming, and Halo 2 being a Vista launch title, is that implying that it won't play in windows XP? They way people are phrasing things makes it sound like new games (at least some) are going to be Vista exclusive. I don't recall that happening when XP came out. Even now aren't most games win 95/ME compatible?

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Yea, actually Halo 2 is a Vista-exclusive title, believe it or not.

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/news...?searchid=9272

Brand new strategy for MS.

I would be surprised if you could get any modern game working in Windows 95, do you have any websites or proof of it? I am genuinely curious. WoW accepts ME or 98, but Oblivion is XP only according to the box.

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That water broke my brain. That's insane. Is there video of that anywhere yet?

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I dont think so. Chances are its pretty slow. That stuff is running on a DX10 software renderer.