Microsoft Confirms DirectX 11.2 is a Windows 8.1, Xbox One Exclusive

All those AAA Steambox Titles say... <crickets> <crickets> <crickets>
 
Steambox isn't even out yet, so anything regarding it is a mute point.
It will be exciting to see once it is released though.
 
Sounds like they bringing pack the Vista marketing tools. How to force gamers to buy the next Windows version?

Bring out an exclusive new D3D feature ala Crysis!

They didn't need this for 7 since it was selling fine but since 8 has stalled (same with Vista) they are up to their old tricks.

Luckily OpenGL has been able to do this for years (and on XP too) just look at Rage.
 
Dr. Righteous said:
More reason to adopt linux.
Click to expand...

Right, because Linux has DX 11.2 and good gaming support. Anyway, back to reality...

Not really surprised or concerned by this. Any "techie" surprised by this move still has a lot to learn, since this should have been expected. It has happened with every new OS Microsoft is released and it will continue to happen so long as DX continues to evolve and PC gaming exists.

I'm still running Windows 7 on my gaming machine. I have Win 8 available through my TechNet subscription. I prefer 7 for my desktop, but moving to 8 isn't really that big of a deal. Once games I want to play start utilizing it and if it actually brings some benefits, I'll go through the hassle of reinstalling my OS with Win 8.1
 
993772_528025590597257_962796106_n.jpg
 
Yet DX9 games are still being released 10 years later. Thank you MS for keeping us in the generic lazy zone for a decade. Oh boy I better upgrade my OS to see a bunch of games that won't even make a difference with DX11.2 I can't wait for Nvidia and AMD to fully embrace OpenGL
 
Most people don't know the difference between DX11 and DX11.1. I doubt they will known the difference or give a shit about DX11.2.

I already tried out Win8 and it is not for me. I'll be skipping Win8.1 for Windows 9 or whatever they call it. My $15 licence for Win8 is on my laptop.
 
SpongeBob said:
.....I can't wait for Nvidia and AMD to fully embrace OpenGL
Click to expand...

They already do. Its called the "Professional" line of cards. They cost 3-6x as much just to provide you with "Super Stable Professional driver support"!

Without lube FTW! (apparently!) At least AMD's "pro" cards are a bit cheaper then NVs.
 
Oh no!!! I'm sure that list of DirectX 11.2 games is going to be massive.

Eat a dick MS.
 
My uneducated attempt at deciphering the new DX11.2 features, with an assumption that MS is only adding features to make Xbone programming easier:

HLSL shader linking - use multiple partial shaders together as one final shader (I read this as make 10 different partials, that can be combined in different combos, thus saving some space/work)
Inbox HLSL compiler (The compiler of above)
GPU overlay support (Show ads and GUI over top games without loss of quality)
DirectX tiled resources (the memory thing everyone talks about, ie: xbone support)
Direct3D low-latency presentation API (something they had to add to fix AMD's frametime issues that were discovered by TR, which would have been multiplied by the tiled method above)
DXGI Trim API and map default buffer (reduce the memory footprint of a suspended app, I assume in xbone for their live gui + kinect spying )
Frame buffer scaling (works as it sounds)
Multithreading with SurfaceImageSource
Interactive Microsoft DirectX composition of XAML visual elements
Direct2D batching with SurfaceImageSource
(The last 3 all sound like methods to multithread/speed up updating non-primary visual elements so that if they were pulled up at any time, the user isn't waiting for them to be updated on request...ie: keeping xbox live UI or ads updated)
 
TheGamerZ said:
Right, because giving up quality gaming completely is the answer.
Click to expand...

Undoubtedly it is an evolution slow in the making but it is coming.
I would grant you if you looked at a linux distro from 5 years ago it was a mess.
And it back then hardware support was a big issue.
Now unless you are running some weird knock-off hardware, support for hardware is NOT an issues unless you are talking about 3D gaming performance. The OEM drivers for linux are -good- but the implementation is not always there.
Since they are closed source they are NOT included in the distribution you install. You get a open source driver that is usually adequate on 2D but poor on 3D.
There are some distro that INCLUDE the closed source drivers.
Scroll down and look at the game benches. PCLINUXOS 2013 runs on the AMD catalyst driver. It smokes the open source running OpenGL.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=16_way_linux&num=4

Is it just me or does it seem all things are falling into place for LINUX GAMING?
It is a win-win for developers and gamers. The LOSER is MicroSoft.
 
xb-one: DX 11.2
Win 8.2: DX 11.2
so, xbox games should be easily ported to PC and vice versa?
 
ljbade said:
Luckily OpenGL has been able to do this for years (and on XP too) just look at Rage.
Click to expand...
Look at Battlefield 3. Both use virtual texturing (one more than the other). BF3 is a DirectX title.

This is a means of improving the efficiency of virtual texturing, as traditional Direct3D resource creation is simply too slow.
 
People who develop games for PC will just include DirectX 9. No big deal. Just Microsoft being their usual asshole selves and the rest of the world just doing what they want.
 
ljbade said:
Sounds like they bringing pack the Vista marketing tools. How to force gamers to buy the next Windows version?


They didn't need this for 7 since it was selling fine but since 8 has stalled (same with Vista) they are up to their old tricks.
Click to expand...

A corporation taking steps to sell their product?

WHAT KIND OF CRAZY CAPITALIST NONSENSE IT THAT?!?!?! :eek:

Why do you guys allow this kind of thing to piss you off? It's not like it's unexpected.
 
Red Falcon said:
Actually, switching to Linux is like like having a jet pack, and abandoning cars (Microsoft) and having to use their proprietary DX API (roads).
Cya, bitches! :D

Rocketeer.jpg
Click to expand...

Your ass is burning and you can't play any video games.
 
cptnjarhead said:
xb-one: DX 11.2
Win 8.2: DX 11.2
so, xbox games should be easily ported to PC and vice versa?
Click to expand...

No, because look at the comments here.

MS is trying to get people to move to 8.1, but based on the comments here, a good number of hardcore gamers won't be moving to 8.1... so developers won't develop for 8.1... so developers won't use directX11.2 for PC, so what you suggest won't happen.

This didn't work when Vista was exclusive to the latest DirectX and it won't work when Windows 8 is exclusive to the latest DirectX. The only way to get widespread adoption is to allow the latest DirectX on all similar core platforms (VIsta and Win7 and Win8.1)
 
nusse said:
I love comments like this because they are compeletely devoid of any factualy basis.
Click to expand...

If you insist on being factually proven wrong, we can make a list of AAA titles available for Linux and compare them with Windows. By the sound of your replies you seem to be under the impression you'd win this contest... Shall we play?
 
Concillian said:
No, because look at the comments here.

MS is trying to get people to move to 8.1, but based on the comments here, a good number of hardcore gamers won't be moving to 8.1... so developers won't develop for 8.1... so developers won't use directX11.2 for PC, so what you suggest won't happen.

This didn't work when Vista was exclusive to the latest DirectX and it won't work when Windows 8 is exclusive to the latest DirectX. The only way to get widespread adoption is to allow the latest DirectX on all similar core platforms (VIsta and Win7 and Win8.1)
Click to expand...

Probably one of the very few intelligent replies in this thread.

Microsoft simply CANNOT expect widespread adoption if you are only catering to a small market of the PC gaming community. The majority of PC gamers are still on Windows XP and Windows 7.

Exclusivity is not going to work here. Microsoft cannot expect developers to build games using DirectX 11.2 when only a very small percentage of the market will take advantage of it. The only ones it'll benefit the most are those on the Xbox One console. It's not profitable to PC developers to make exclusive features that only Windows 8.1 users will use and only Xbox One console owners.

This is one of the many reasons why PC developers are still using DirectX 9 as the base graphics API in their games. The games can still run on systems from Windows XP and up. That gives them a larger market and more money. It also eases development when porting to and from the Xbox 360 console. At the same time, it has stagnated the market and prevented the widespread adoption of new features in the newer versions of the DirectX API.

Microsoft is not helping furthering the adoption either by locking newer features of DirectX to specific platforms (Xbox One) and operating systems (Windows 8.1).

This is where OpenGL has its advantage.

I can pop in any OpenGL 4.3-compatible video card into a Windows XP machine AND it will be able to play any game using OpenGL 4.3 features. I can do this all the way up to Windows 8 and to Linux-based distros.

I cannot do this with DirectX 10 and 11 cards as features for those DirectX versions are locked to systems on Vista and higher. If I am a gamer on Windows XP refusing to budge to 7 or 8, then I'll be stuck on DirectX 9 (unless I use the hacked up versions of DirectX 10 for XP).

Forcing users to Windows 8.1 is not going to work here unless they manage to manhandle PC developers to ONLY use DirectX 11.2 in newer PC games and Xbox One games. And, forcing users didn't work very well when Microsoft came up with their own ideas/versions of Javascript and HTML standards back during the IE6 days. It didn't work then, it's not going to work now.
 
Concillian said:
No, because look at the comments here.

MS is trying to get people to move to 8.1, but based on the comments here, a good number of hardcore gamers won't be moving to 8.1... so developers won't develop for 8.1... so developers won't use directX11.2 for PC, so what you suggest won't happen.

This didn't work when Vista was exclusive to the latest DirectX and it won't work when Windows 8 is exclusive to the latest DirectX. The only way to get widespread adoption is to allow the latest DirectX on all similar core platforms (VIsta and Win7 and Win8.1)
Click to expand...

i wouldn't put to much faith in most of the comments here (mine especially :D ).
Most of the comments (of late) seem to be filled with sarcasm and whining.
It only makes sense for MS to push the latest DX on their latest OS. Its up to the developers for cross platform games, i was just making a statement/question about games being ported. basically, MS has made porting back and forth much easier, but it will remain to be seen if the developers choose to do so. Most snub the PC game market, but i think MS and AMD are working to bridge the gap.
 
Why are they doing this again? They did this with Vista, and it did not work. It only sits there and screams, "We know 8 sucks, so we are going to pull every card in the deck to force you to buy it."
Sad. Dumb, really.
It will only catch the non-informed. It will only annoy the game designers (who are already annoyed at Micro$oft wanting to force everyone of them to sell through Marketplace, so Micro$oft can get a cut of their money.) and annoy the [H]ardcore gamers.
 
octoberasian said:
Probably one of the very few intelligent replies in this thread.

Microsoft simply CANNOT expect widespread adoption if you are only catering to a small market of the PC gaming community. The majority of PC gamers are still on Windows XP and Windows 7.

Exclusivity is not going to work here. Microsoft cannot expect developers to build games using DirectX 11.2 when only a very small percentage of the market will take advantage of it. The only ones it'll benefit the most are those on the Xbox One console. It's not profitable to PC developers to make exclusive features that only Windows 8.1 users will use and only Xbox One console owners.

This is one of the many reasons why PC developers are still using DirectX 9 as the base graphics API in their games. The games can still run on systems from Windows XP and up. That gives them a larger market and more money. It also eases development when porting to and from the Xbox 360 console. At the same time, it has stagnated the market and prevented the widespread adoption of new features in the newer versions of the DirectX API.

Microsoft is not helping furthering the adoption either by locking newer features of DirectX to specific platforms (Xbox One) and operating systems (Windows 8.1).

This is where OpenGL has its advantage.

I can pop in any OpenGL 4.3-compatible video card into a Windows XP machine AND it will be able to play any game using OpenGL 4.3 features. I can do this all the way up to Windows 8 and to Linux-based distros.

I cannot do this with DirectX 10 and 11 cards as features for those DirectX versions are locked to systems on Vista and higher. If I am a gamer on Windows XP refusing to budge to 7 or 8, then I'll be stuck on DirectX 9 (unless I use the hacked up versions of DirectX 10 for XP).

Forcing users to Windows 8.1 is not going to work here unless they manage to manhandle PC developers to ONLY use DirectX 11.2 in newer PC games and Xbox One games. And, forcing users didn't work very well when Microsoft came up with their own ideas/versions of Javascript and HTML standards back during the IE6 days. It didn't work then, it's not going to work now.
Click to expand...

no one is forcing anything. MS is creating an attractive platform for developers. why would you go backwards. The 360 is still being supported and developed for. they just did a deal with time warner for the xbox and a slew of new titles. Vista didnt have an ecosystem like win 8.2 will have. i havent upgraded in years, because i havent had a reason to, but with DX11.2 and hUMA, i will actually open up my wallet.
 
cptnjarhead said:
no one is forcing anything. MS is creating an attractive platform for developers. why would you go backwards. The 360 is still being supported and developed for. they just did a deal with time warner for the xbox and a slew of new titles. Vista didnt have an ecosystem like win 8.2 will have. i havent upgraded in years, because i havent had a reason to, but with DX11.2 and hUMA, i will actually open up my wallet.
Click to expand...

Sure there are people that will upgrade for new features, but there are many more that will not. Either because they don't know it or just don't care.

I think the point made is that MS tried this already and on at least PC, game adoption of their Vista only directx was very slow. Sure there was some PC friendly titles that pushed a bit on [H]Gamers features but did so to keep their die hard fans happy not their primary customer.

Now the fact that the Xbox1 will support the new directx features makes the move a little more worth while, there still is the question of PS4... Yet still they are alienating Win7 gamers, which are probably just as entrenched as XP gamers back in the Vista days.

So will designers custom design directx for 8.1 and XB only and leave the other platforms with less features or will they scrape those features entirely focusing on gameplay for all platforms at once... I guess we will find out in a year or so.
 
dandirk said:
Sure there are people that will upgrade for new features, but there are many more that will not. Either because they don't know it or just don't care.

I think the point made is that MS tried this already and on at least PC, game adoption of their Vista only directx was very slow. Sure there was some PC friendly titles that pushed a bit on [H]Gamers features but did so to keep their die hard fans happy not their primary customer.

Now the fact that the Xbox1 will support the new directx features makes the move a little more worth while, there still is the question of PS4... Yet still they are alienating Win7 gamers, which are probably just as entrenched as XP gamers back in the Vista days.

So will designers custom design directx for 8.1 and XB only and leave the other platforms with less features or will they scrape those features entirely focusing on gameplay for all platforms at once... I guess we will find out in a year or so.
Click to expand...

I hear you, i was the same way with when windows 95 came out. I didnt want to upgrade from 3.1, then after i finally broke down to 95, they came out with 98! and i was like... come on!!! this is BS. so finally i broke down and got 98, then came ME.. disaster, never bothered with that, then XP... i finally found a home with XP and held on for years, but i eventually came around to Vista. 64bit, no 4gig Ram limit and built in DX10...and then win 7 ultimate. basically, MS has been doing this same shit for 25 years :p
I have been there man. Some call it alienating, others call it moving forward.

I have been holding on to my old hardware for a while, but getting into the next cycle upfront is usually a good move and the next cycle is coming soon.
Im excited for the first time in a long time. For years all the advances in PC hardware have really only yielded better FPS and high res textures with some eye candy, but as many will confirm, the games have not really moved forward because of the the consoles, and now we are finally here. :cool:
 
Concillian said:
No, because look at the comments here.

MS is trying to get people to move to 8.1, but based on the comments here, a good number of hardcore gamers won't be moving to 8.1... so developers won't develop for 8.1... so developers won't use directX11.2 for PC, so what you suggest won't happen.

This didn't work when Vista was exclusive to the latest DirectX and it won't work when Windows 8 is exclusive to the latest DirectX. The only way to get widespread adoption is to allow the latest DirectX on all similar core platforms (VIsta and Win7 and Win8.1)
Click to expand...

The difference is the consoles at the time of Vista didnt support the latest DirectX this time the Xbox one will. So developers making games for both PC and xbox one will likely use the latest DirectX on both platforms. You think because a bunch of people hate Windows 8 they will go "oh lets just leave out xyz feature because a bunch of PC gamers whine about Windows 8". Yeah thats not going to happen.
 
Concillian said:
MS is trying to get people to move to 8.1, but based on the comments here, a good number of hardcore gamers won't be moving to 8.1... so developers won't develop for 8.1... so developers won't use directX11.2 for PC, so what you suggest won't happen.
Click to expand...
I'm sure MS wants more people to upgrade Windows versions, but that's not unique to 8.1.

What's becoming clear is that DX is evolving in a different way than before, other than the "fresh start" DX10 got: graphic driver API versions (WDDM 1.0 in Vista, WDDM 1.0/1.1 in Windows 7, and WDDM 1.1/1.2 in Windows) come with new sets of capabilities that incompatible with the prior version. It's hard to complain about that because it's like progress and that's a good thing.

This is not a 6 month, gotta update now strategy. The evolution of D3D and DXGI is something that points to the future direction of PC game development (most games won't use DX11.x until most OSs and cards can take advantage of it, a few high end game engines lead the curve). However, with a console running something close to regular PC hardware and having the same graphics API capabilities, it will definitely help with the PC getting a higher quantity of newer DX version games.

Using the steam hardware survey as a proxy of what a mix of gamers have, Windows 8 in gaming has an over-representation compared to general adoption (~5%):
Mar 2013: (a bit over) 10%
Apr 2013: 11.65%
May 2013: 12.72%

I dislike Window 8 on a desktop or regular laptop, but I don't buy into the whole angsty nerd thing that "nobody wants Windows 8, nobody is using Windows 8". It's just not true.
 
First world problems people.. Seriously it is crappy for them to do this. At least offer Windows 7 support as well.
 
Didn't Microsoft try to do this before when they released DX 10.1? Hardly anyone used it.
 
* WDDM/DXGI above in the () versions comment

/news comments are srs business, noedit4u
 
HvyMtl said:
Why are they doing this again? They did this with Vista, and it did not work. It only sits there and screams, "We know 8 sucks, so we are going to pull every card in the deck to force you to buy it."
Sad. Dumb, really.
It will only catch the non-informed. It will only annoy the game designers (who are already annoyed at Micro$oft wanting to force everyone of them to sell through Marketplace, so Micro$oft can get a cut of their money.) and annoy the [H]ardcore gamers.
Click to expand...
Splinters the PC market. Keeps publishers focused on the xbox.

The pulled Media Center from Windows 8 and later made it an add-on because they wanted their Xbox to be their media device. If they allow the PC gaming market to take on a life of its own and become a dominate interest for publishers again, it all falls apart.
 
jpm100 said:
The pulled Media Center from Windows 8 and later made it an add-on because they wanted their Xbox to be their media device.
Click to expand...

I love Media Center, it does have its hard core following but it's never been widely used, that's really the problem and it is focused on TV in a world where more and more people are cutting the cable TV cord and going to services like Netflix and Hulu. Great product but it's just aligned with the times unfortunately.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top