Spartan_X Posted August 27, 2006 Share Posted August 27, 2006 (edited) This article is about a year old, but since we'd been having some discussions going on about DirectX this is a better time to post this info... :happy: :yes: Frontside August 2005 ? Vol.5 Issue 8 Page(s) 14 in print issuei>DirectX 10th Anniversary b> The Saint by Alex St. John Alex St. John was one of the founding creators of Microsoft?s DirectX technology. He is the subject of the book ?Renegades Of The Empire? about the creation of DirectX and Chromeffects, an early effort by Microsoft to create a multimedia browser. Today Alex is President and CEO of WildTangent Inc., a technology company devoted to delivering CD-ROM quality entertainment content over the Web. eb. This September is the 10th anniversary of DirectX. Myself and two friends, Craig Eisler and Eric Engstrom, conceived the notion that Microsoft should create a game SDK for the forthcoming Windows 95 OS. We wrote a document called ?Taking Fun Seriously,? proposing our strategy for making the Windows OS a leading game platform. The proposal was politely rejected, so naturally we did it anyway with resources we begged, borrowed, or stole from other groups. We originally conceived of DirectX as a stealth strategy to help PCs dominate the living room and displace ubiquitous consoles from Sony, Sega, and Nintendo. Naturally the project was code-named ?The Manhattan Project,? and we chose the radiation symbol as our logo. In early December 1994, a handful of the PC game industries? leading developers convened at Microsoft campus to participate in the design review for what would become DirectX 1.0. Attending developers were issued glow-in-the-dark, neon ?Manhattan Project? T-shirts. Xbox Logo Ten years after the start of the ?Manhattan Project,? Microsoft is poised to drop its next-generation game console on the world, and I have to wonder if anybody at Sony and Nintendo is getting that sinking feeling that Netscape must have experienced when it woke up one day undeniably confronted by the possibility that Microsoft had come from behind with a better browser and a better strategy and snatched the rug out from under it. When Microsoft named the Xbox360, I suspect it meant ?Xbox Full Circle,? as in, this product is the conclusion to a 10-year plan for Microsoft to dominate the living room via games. Xbox 360 Logo When first I heard from former colleagues at Microsoft about the plans to launch a DirectX console, I have to admit that I was highly skeptical that Microsoft could pull off such an ambitious effort. The media like to point out that the Xbox couldn?t beat the Sony PS2, but nobody mentions what a near miraculous feat it was for Microsoft to beat Nintendo and place second against the deeply entrenched PS2. For its first try, Microsoft punched a hell of a hole in the console business. Microsoft has a long history of learning fast from its mistakes and it had plenty of time to learn from Xbox-1 (which I?ll talk more about in a future column). This time around, Microsoft is taking the lead in the market by launching first, declaring the battlefield to be all about online gaming support (in which it has a dominating lead), and working hard to attract leading console game publishers instead of trying to compete with all of them from Microsoft Game Studios. It?s a powerful strategy and a worthy 10th anniversary present for DirectX. (The logos?a coincidence? I think not.). News source: Computer Power User Edited August 27, 2006 by Spartan_X Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PL_ Veteran Posted August 28, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 28, 2006 The now infamous DirectX radiation symbol had been morphed into an ?X? with a neon background, for the sake of political correctness. Very interesting...now I understand the name Xbox! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lol911 Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Obviously a very much biased article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnast Posted August 28, 2006 Share Posted August 28, 2006 Obviously a very much biased article. :huh: I think you replied to the wrong topic. Anyway, good read. DirectXbox would've been the worst name! :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokeripa Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Obviously a very much biased article. :huh: I think you replied to the wrong topic. Yea, did you even read the topic? Lol! Interesting though, thanks Spartan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Teej Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Woah, great insight! The Idea that XBOX 360 almost means XBOX Full Circle, indicating Microsoft is going to dominate the home gaming market is pretty eerie, almost scary, like one of those tornados that's gonna hit your house and there's nothing that you can do about it. Thanks for the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Veteran Posted August 29, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 29, 2006 Microsoft has long awaited the chance to enter the living room and dominate it. They tried years ago with their Ultimate TV (think Tivo, except earlier), which some said was ahead of it's time, but never took off. Next they tried MSN TV, which was all but a flop. Now they're trying with Media Center PCs, which have met with moderate success. But the gaming industry is huge now, and they want to BE the gaming industry, much like they are the PC platform industry. Microsoft's "two pillars", the PC and the living room... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mordkanin Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 Woah, great insight! The Idea that XBOX 360 almost means XBOX Full Circle, indicating Microsoft is going to dominate the home gaming market is pretty eerie, almost scary, like one of those tornados that's gonna hit your house and there's nothing that you can do about it. Thanks for the post. Doesn't bother me. Media Center is an amazing piece of software. I for one welcome our new Media Center overloads. All hail the great and glorious ehshell.exe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PL_ Veteran Posted August 29, 2006 Veteran Share Posted August 29, 2006 Doesn't bother me. Media Center is an amazing piece of software. I for one welcome our new Media Center overloads. All hail the great and glorious ehshell.exe! :rofl: Problem is, Media Center is very rigid (in terms of customization and codecs), and it feels like a glorified WMP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trong Posted August 29, 2006 Share Posted August 29, 2006 :rofl: Problem is, Media Center EXTENDERS are very rigid (in terms of customization and codecs), and it feels like a glorified WMP. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts