They won't retire it, because if they do, game developers use openGL and have no reason not to release their games on Linux and OSX. Combine that with the fact that Steam is now available on Linux as well, and people will no longer have a reason to get Windows, other than just being used to it. That's a good thing, but it's unlikely to happen.
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[citation][nom]ashesofempires04[/nom]XNA was probably discontinued because Microsoft doesn't want developers building a game with a 6+ year old API set that is entirely out of date compared to the company's modern graphics API. XNA framework is based around a custom version of DX 9, which just doesn't support a lot of the stuff modern graphics cards can do. Everyone wins if developers get an SDK that allows them to take advantage of DX11 functions.The real worry is that by killing off XNA without replacing it with something newer, MS may accidentally kill off indy-game development for their platform. XNA allowed small-time developers to build for the 360 without having to ask MS for a development kit.As for DX development being dead beyond graphics, i'm not surprised. There hasn't been any real innovation in the sound space since companies thoroughly mastered the art of 5.1 sound.[/citation]
I thought directsound3D and openAL are/were cool; with the right sound card, you could put on standard headphones and hear 3D surround sound beyond what 5.1 speakers could do, including audio coming from above or below. OpenAL is still a vestigial part of some games (like Borderlends 2, though you have to dig for it a bit) because it is part of some game engines, but console dominance has eroded sound development to take advantage of existing 3D surround APIs. Of course, that would change almost immediately if a console included support for one of these technologies, as the growing headphone community and popularity of gaming headsets have poised 3D surround to be a significant competitive advantage that the target market could take advantage of (even more easily than a 5.1 speaker setup).
I thought directsound3D and openAL are/were cool; with the right sound card, you could put on standard headphones and hear 3D surround sound beyond what 5.1 speakers could do, including audio coming from above or below. OpenAL is still a vestigial part of some games (like Borderlends 2, though you have to dig for it a bit) because it is part of some game engines, but console dominance has eroded sound development to take advantage of existing 3D surround APIs. Of course, that would change almost immediately if a console included support for one of these technologies, as the growing headphone community and popularity of gaming headsets have poised 3D surround to be a significant competitive advantage that the target market could take advantage of (even more easily than a 5.1 speaker setup).
Blessedman
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Hmmm I wonder if there is a cross platform alternative that is open to developers and supported almost universally... Come developers show your OpenGL muscles! Like Id used to.
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