Grade-A games for Vista users

You’ve likely heard the hype surrounding the newest and greatest in Microsoft operating… You’ve likely heard the hype surrounding the newest and greatest in Microsoft operating systems. Microsoft Windows Vista promises quite a bit, including better hardware support for most PCs, more reliable service for running applications and more secure interactions when surfing the Internet. Of course, these facts aren’t overly interesting for most of us.

What we’d really like to know is, can Vista play some fun, exciting games? Although Vista isn’t radically different in its structure from Windows XP, not all programs from Windows XP are compatible with Vista. The operating system will not even run on all computers.

Microsoft has been announcing (quite loudly) a line of brand-new games for Vista, which it claims will extend the gaming power of Microsoft Windows. Specifically, games like “Microsoft Flight Simulator X,” a computer version of the popular Xbox game “Halo 2” and an interesting game called “Alan Wake” have been developed specifically for Vista, hopefully taking advantage of Windows’ superior graphics.

Before you focus on the games, however, it’s important to realize why Microsoft is creating such hype about Vista as a gaming platform. Included in Vista is a new version of Microsoft’s graphics library, DirectX.

The new version, 10, is slated as a marked improvement of its predecessor, 9, which is currently available for Windows XP. Microsoft states that the latest in its line of graphical tools includes a new edition of the DirectX “shader model,” a tool used to make objects in games and 3-D movies appear more realistic.

There is quite a lot of hype made for DirectX 10 by non-Microsoft gamers and programmers. Some have heralded Microsoft’s new version of its graphics library as a triumph, and have claimed that DirectX 10 is just another big step toward making computer games as attractive as the computer-generated movies that flabbergast audiences with realism.

So which of the soon-to-be-released games for Microsoft Windows Vista seem most interesting?

First and foremost, for those who are unwilling to buy Xboxes but loved the first “Halo” game for Microsoft Windows XP, “Halo 2” will be available for Vista. This sequel to the award-winning “Halo” game features advanced graphics and more realistic game play.

Its graphics have already been heralded as highly advanced and exceedingly attractive when played on the Xbox and Xbox 360. Microsoft will hopefully bring the same beauty and game play to the personal computer platform with the Windows Vista version.

Microsoft has already brought its newest in “Flight Simulator” games, “Microsoft Flight Simulator X” to the PC in Windows XP format. They are hoping to bring additional graphics and better performance to the game by porting it to DirectX 10 and Windows Vista.

Another game, called “Alan Wake,” is now available for the Xbox 360. It will soon be available for Vista users. Sporting excellent shading and advanced graphical techniques, “Alan Wake” will be a “Myst”-type strategy game with psychological “mind-bending” overtones. Unlike “Myst,” “Riven” and similar games, “Alan Wake” will allow users to navigate freely through a 3-D environment, interacting directly with objects in real-time – all in the comfort of their living rooms or offices.

Windows Vista will sport additional titles, many of them adapted from the Xbox 360. In fact, Microsoft has announced a new initiative to bring Xbox Live! to the Vista platform, allowing online role-playing games like “Hellgate: London” to shine fully.

Veteran players of Xbox and Xbox 360 may become quite comfortable switching their desktops to Vista because of the Xbox Live! feature. They may even have a reason to ignore the Xbox for a while and upgrade that old graphics card to a DirectX 10 card to be Vista capable.

For players of older Windows XP-capable games, do not fear.

Windows Vista does not mark the complete and total end of current gaming. Despite being of a slightly different architecture, Vista will support many of the classic Windows XP games. Games like “F.E.A.R.,” “Age of Empires,” “Battlefield 2,” “Battlefield 1942” and “Battlefield 2142” all will continue to function and be fully supported by computers running Windows Vista.

There is one unfortunate clause to Vista gaming, however. Many of the current graphics cards on the market are not DirectX 10 capable or compatible. Feeling the full effects of Microsoft Windows Vista and its new, hyped gaming abilities may require some not-so-cheap upgrades to existing computer hardware.

However, if you are a die-hard gamer or are simply anti-Xbox but wish to play some of those “admittedly fun” Xbox games, Vista seems to provide an attractive alternative.

The new game lineup seems promising, and if Microsoft lives up to even a fraction of its graphical hype, the new games will definitely be worth playing.