Effect of Vista on Gaming

[fletchoid]

I am concerned about the effect that Windows Vista is going to have on PC gaming. From the various reviews I have read, it seems that if I upgrade to Windows Vista, all my current games will have crappy performance. http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01/17/gameplay-only-gets-worse-with-vista/
This leaves me the choice of staying with XP so my current games are still playable, but then I can't play the newer games that require Vista.
Sure, the new made for Vista games are supposed to be really phenomenal, but if I have to shell out big bucks for a new operating system, and then a new graphics card (that can run DirectX10), I won't have any money left for the games. The continual need to upgrade hardware and software in PC gaming is one of the reasons some people prefer console games. If the Vista upgrade problems piss off a huge number of PC gamers, who then switch to console games, all of us PC gamers will suffer. No one is going to produce another Half Life2 or F.E.A.R. game if the number of potential customers is too small.

Does this worry anyone else?

 

[cafuddled]

Remind me, how many copies of Half Life (the first one) sold worldwide? I really don’t think that the PC market could ever get in to a position where games would not be viable to be produced on its platform.

As for Vista, well we shall see what the performance is like once the driver guys actually get round to finalising there drivers for the new operating system. As you might have read from that article the drivers on Vista work in a very different way than they do on XP.

 

[Zyxthior]

I'm not much concerned right now as new games won't be "Vista Only". Only two years ago (or so) did most game drop Windows 98 compatibility. It will be quite a while before XP is dropped because I think many game manufactures realize that not EVERYONE is going to run out and buy the new expensive O/S from MS.

As a long time PC gamer I stuck with Win98 for a couple years even after XP was released (although I'll have to admit after using XP I wish I had switched sooner). By the time games start *requiring* Vista those $600 GeForce 8800 cards will be in the bargin bin. (And no one will care about DX10 because Direct X10 will be out by then....).

And if you're die hard into getting Vista when it first comes out, the best alternative for you would to do a Multiboot scenario. Keep both XP and Vista on your machine. Want to play all your old XP games without a slowdown? Boot into XP. Want to use Vista? Boot into Vista. Win-win.

 

[fletchoid]

Good advice Zyxthior. A dual boot system sounds like a decent plan. I must have been having a technology inspired panic attack... I am OK now. However, when I look up at my software shelf, I see a pile of games that gave me a ton of fun, that I can't use because they are Win95/98, and don't work on XP, even in compatibility mode: Duke Nukem add ons like Duke in the Caribean, Duke it out in DC, Duke Nukem Nuclear Winter, the whole Command an Conquer series, etc. Sure, the newer games have better graphics, more elaborate game play, etc. but it is kind of fun to go back and revisit some of the golden oldies. I really miss the heavy metal background music in Red Alert II. Ahhh, the good old days....

I guess the only solution is to keep a few antique computers in the basement... right next to the Commodore 64, and the Colecovision. I think there might even be a Pong down there somewhere....

 

[Rapt]

Hopefully the system strain Vista puts on your rig will be mostly the visual candy that it is famous for so far, and it will quit processing it during gaming. Otherwise we're screwed! I, too am a fan of the old games....can't they just bundle like 20 or 30 of the GOOD ones together and sell them for 30 bucks? I mean, I don't want 30 versions of pong/tetris/dothiseasytaskoverandover like they have now, I want Dune 2, C&C, Tie-Fighter and all those that I played 10 years ago.

I also agree with the other guys, either have two boot options, or just stick with XP for the next year or so......DX9 will probably be supported in gaming for at least the next two years, as developers haven't even tapped all of the resources it offers yet, and DX10 will simply give better eye candy and functionality.

 

[RandMcnally]

It's all in the drivers boys and girls. Ati has got some good engineers on their side, they're just a debilitated company, and Nvidia doesn't look like it gives a shit about it's drivers, because their G80 wasn't an actual Directx10 card when it was released. I don't like Nvidia because they pull crap like that. Releasing a card so they can eat up some market an be first on the market when their drivers aren't finalized and they're may be problems with the design(High definition and HDR problems have been rumored).