HardOCP takes a further look at how DirectX 10 will impact the future of gaming, but is it going to be easy to get the full experience and will it be worth it?

What DirectX 10 has to offer us gamers is the potential for more unique objects in a game. This means increased realism, depth, and immersion when playing games. New features will also allow the possibility of new 3D effects seen in games. The fully programmable unified architecture can open up a whole slew of possibilities for GPUs allowing them to process other types of data besides just 3D rendering. The GPU really is becoming a general compute processor. We are seeing the GPU evolve right before our eyes, so take note of what is happening in the realm of gaming in the next few years. It is truly going to get more interesting than it is now.

ATI is working closely with Microsoft to make sure the DirectX 10 API and their GPU programmability is accessible to game developers. It is very close to all being in the hands of the game content developers now. Without the games taking advantage of all these great features the hardware is useless. Some of the gaming potential for DirectX 10 and a unified architecture include more unique objects, more materials, more unique vegetation/foliage, more shadows, more physics (water, collisions, cloth, hair, particles), more effects (lighting, volumetric effects), character animation and all of this scalable.

So what does all this mean for us? The potential for it all sounds great on paper. Since DirectX 10 is tied to Windows Vista, this means if you want to experience DirectX 10-powered 3D games you are going to need Windows Vista, a DirectX 10 video card, and a DirectX 10 game at the least. Windows XP users need not apply for DirectX 10. That said, given the advances with DirectX 9 gaming in the last year, we fully expect to see more of its potential realized as well for those of us "left behind."

Given the expensive and extensible upgrade path that will have to be traveled in order to support DirectX 10 gaming, we think there are going to have to be some tremendous gaming experiences for sale to get those beyond the early adopters to facilitate a move to DirectX 10 and the needed hardware. The transition to DirectX 10 is going to be interesting to say the least; and we are certainly curious about how it is going to be accepted by the gaming crowd. Windows XP can easily be seen as the best operating system Microsoft has ever produced and we think that PR promises of a usable 3D desktop is not going to be enough to motivate people to leave the XP operating system behind. Much like Ageia's PhysX, Windows Vista needs that elusive "killer app."