Why the absence of DirectX 10 on the XBOX360 won't matter |
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Just a while ago, ATi revealed that the XBOX360 won't be getting DirectX 10, or rather, it cannot run DirectX 10. Uneducated folks might see this as a bad point. Fanboys of other systems might use this as a point to bash the 360 and at first glance, it might scare off people. Thoughts like "It's not futureproof" might come in the minds of most customers. Well, how about we tell you that the absence of DirectX 10 won't make any darn difference to the games.
Firstly, let's find out what DirectX is...Introduced by Microsoft around the release of Windows 95, it is a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which make game development faster and easier for developers. To understand what that means, you have to know how games are made. The first step while making any game is coding/using an engine. Think of it like the chassis of a car, the actual skeleton, on top of which other objects are attached. So when you hear someone say that the game is using the Doom3 engine, what he means is that the core of the game which loads and interfaces everything is from the game Doom3.
This game engine talks with the different components in your PC/Console like the graphics card, sound card, or any other hardware for that matter. Now get one thing straight: coding to interface with hardware like graphics cards is serious business. The code is very complex and often is coded in ASM or Assembler to reduce processing time. And not all the graphics cards are the same. You have about 6-7 cards in any generation from the two major manufacturers, nVIDIA and ATi. And coding for each and every card is next to suicide.
So what do you do? Well, as a game developer, you can't do anything. But as the maker of the graphics cards, or the operating system, you can follow/set some guidelines which have to be followed by everyone else so that it becomes easier for game developers. So when Microsoft releases a new version of DirectX, they lay down a set of rules which the graphics card manufacturers (nVIDIA and ATi) have to follow if they want to make their cards compatible.
Here, DirectX is the code which will have to communicate with the graphics cards to show everything on screen. So now you would realise that DirectX will communicate with the graphics hardware. So, all that's left to do for the game developers is to integrate DirectX into their engine, and code the engine so that it uses the DirectX functions to communicate with the hardware. Perfect harmony, isn't it?
Now that's the "scene" for PC development. Switch over to the console department. No multiple graphics cards to support, only a fixed hardware platform to program for. Now remember what I said earlier about how it would be suicidal for PC game developers in the absence of DirectX, or any other set of APIs like OpenGL. On the other hand, for console games, you don't have to program for 10 different graphics cards. Consider that fact and half of the usefulness of DirectX 10 would be useless here.
Secondly, unlike PC games, the console game developers get development kits. These kits detail each and every function of all the hardware. It's not suicidal anymore to write your own engine which communicates directly with the hardware. It might take long and would be difficult, but it's definitely an option. Even then, Microsoft has implemented DirectX 9 so that game developers can use the graphics functions without actually writing code to interface with the hardware. What Microsoft have done for the 360 is remove all the code for different hardware and put in code only corresponding to the XBOX360's hardware.
Now that's the main reason why the absence of DirectX 10 won't make a difference. Game developers can always make their own APIs to interface with the hardware. Some companies even sell middleware, a combination of APIs and a game engine. One example would be Epic games who sell middleware. And look what the announcement says, "The Xbox360 has unique features including memory export that can enable DX10-class functionality such as stream-out. From what we're hearing, Crysis will support DX9 with some sort of use for DX10 features. It's likely that those DX10 visuals can be replicated on the Xbox360, but it can't be properly called DX10." All makes sense, doesn't it?
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Comments [refresh]
Very informative article, I enjoyed it. :)
i think when people are worried that becuase of the lack of dx10 support the console wont be "future proof" they are less concerned over the fact that programers are going to have to be writing code for the specific console, and are more concerned dthat the 360 cant handle the shinny new graphics of dx10.
just update your pc and settle with a wii thats all you need since the 360 is just a hybrid ie phantom. didnt mention sony cause they are still smoking
haha suck crap 360 fanboys!! Pitty you guys bought a "current" gen console. hahaha
PS3 FTW!!!!
oh and btw 1st post baby!!!
You are correct in everything you say in the article, (from what i can tell). However, you also leave a few points out. While these points don't blow a hole through your argument, they certainly are valid.
For example, cross-console games. We all know how these turn out. Have you ever looked at the "Splinter Cell" franchise? Sure, most (if not all) of the series was released on all consoles (and PC), yet the Playstation 2 and Gamecube versions were not only stripped of graphical enhancements, but were also stripped of gameplay features.
Xbox: http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2005/news/07/13/scct_screen002.jpg
Gamecube: http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2005/093/reviews/924557_20050404_screen002.jpg
Which looks better? Hell, according to Gamespot at least, the Xbox version of the game was around 2/10 points better then the Gamecube version.
Now, EA games have had a reputation of making fairly great ports of their games to all consoles. Most games are fairly similar in look, feel, and gameplay. This is where your argument stands true - it STILL a possibility that games like these will be released. However, many companies don't have enough money, time, or employees to release the game on the so many consoles, and STILL have them all look good. Last time I checked, you don't just take a PC version of the title, throw it through a "PC to Xbox" converter and burn it to a disc, (though, i wish you could).
In the end, this next "Console War" will be as partizan as ever. Companies that were barely able to do decent cross-platform ports may simply stick to the "exclusivity" rule due to the mere COST, and even when they won't each console will have to have their own version. If each console DOESN'T, then the most powerful of the 3 will have to be tuned down so that least powerful could still play it. I call shenanigans.
I may be dead wrong, but I'll leave it up to the developers to prove that to me, not some other analyst with an agenda.
Haha, 1st post eh, nice to see you can count....good 'ol PS3 Fanboys.....and once again PS3 will not be able to do DX1 let alone 10, so suck on it....
have fun with your current gen console. hahah
how does it feel to be lied to by MS about 360 being dx10 compliant and now they are saying it isn't. hahah
PS3 is the true next gen. yeh baby yeh!!!
2nd post baby!!
Yeah well let me bust your bubble again....
http://www.beyond3d.com/articles/xenos/index.php?p=10
The Xenos actually supports a function MEMEXPORT that won't even be available in DX10 anyways....newbs are so funny when they don't understand sh*t....i'm guessing you never even read the article ? DX10 is mainly for PC developers who have to program with 10+ different types of cards in mind....the Xenos has so many card specific functions, and the fact that there is only one card, that it would be amost stupid for devs to use DX anyways, they should be buidling their own custom API.....anyways, that link goes to page 10, but for anyone who wants to know pretty much everything about the xenos, goto the 1 page, it's a good read....
Edited by staff for racist comments. Enjoy the 1 week ban, kid.
it still doesnt support all of the dx10 features and the new sequence of processing that dx10 does.
Good to actually see a decent, homemade article around here.
it seems like every time something is wrong with the ps3 people just bash and bash. but when its the xbox 360, they are quick to take up for the system. when sony used the tilt action people said that they copied off nintendo. but when microsoft takes the eyetoy, people are like "wow what a cool feature". now I would bet my college money that if this artical was about ps3. everybody would say it sucks because it doesnt use direct x. and you need it to make good games. anyway ps3 bashing is getting old, just let the system come.
First of all, there ya go cows!!! Couldnt say it better myself!
Second, yo QJ YOU MUST MAKE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS. I LOVED IT! THER ARE LOTS OF FANS WHO LOVE VIDEOGAMES OS MUCH THAT WOULD BE NICE TO HEAR ARTICLES ABOUT PROGRAMMING, CODING, SOFTWARE AND THINGS LIKE THAT WE JUST DONT KNOW ANYTHING OF.
SO KEEP MAKING THESE KIND OF ARTICLES. IT`S REALLY INTERESTING HOW YOU FIRST STARTED WITH A FACT THAT THE SONY FANBOYS WILL USE TO FLAME X360 USERS, THEN EXPLAIN A LITTLE BACKGROUND ABOUT IT THAT I UNDERSTOOD AND THEN MAKE A GOOD AND LOGICAL CONCLUSION!!!!
KEEP EM COMING!!!
NEED A SUGGESTION!!!!
WHAT`S A FRICKING DEV KIT!!! IVE SEEN THESE PHOTOS OF PS3 DEV KIT AND IT IS HUGE.......... BUT WHAT IS IT!? WHAT IS IT USED FOR!?
ANYWAY THANKS QJ!!!!!!
I don't see why any of this matters
lol another reason why we call it the xbox 180 (1.5)
who cares. get a life u losers lol.
SUCK A BIG MEAN ***** PS3 FANBOYS!!!
PS3 WILL PHAIL YOULL SEE.
It seems that even after this article people don't seem to understand what DX10 actually is. Image this; you are the captain of a ship and you only speak english, your engine crew speaks every language BUT english (you have picked them up in all corners of the world). You need a translator inbetween to get the ship to move, because it is impossible to learn all these different languages (and your crew haven't got the slightest intention to learn english). This is the PC world, and the translator is called DX10.
Now to the console world. Same situation, except you now have a crew you picked in one port and they all speak English. The is no need whatsoever for the translator (DX10), and he can be sent home.
Now there is the translators' union (Misinformed fanboys in this case) that insists that the ship needs a translator to function properly and that any ship without it is useless (or 'current/last gen' in console terms). We know better better than that (don't we?) and let them boil in their own ignorance while we enjoy the ONLY next-gen console currently on the market...