Tony Sivori wrote:
>
> Not just Mac users.
>
> "Bribing bloggers the Microsoft way"
>
> http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4598924090.html
I was at Meltdown '97, where all the game vendors get together with the
IHVs and hash out their bugs. It all takes place at Microsoft. I
attended because DEC was doing 3D graphics if not games, we were in
town, the conference was only like $300/person, and we could sniff
around to see what other IHVs were up to. I spent the vast majority of
the conference playing Dungeon Keeper, and telling other people that I
had absolutely no pressing reason to be there.
Microsoft took us all out to a fancy restaurant for dinner. 20 people
ate, and they paid a $1200 tab that included alcohol. Working on
OpenGL drivers as I was, it became very clear how Microsoft peddled
influence. When someone tosses that much food and drink in your belly,
at a minimum, you're not going to treat them like the Evil Empire.
You're actually going to listen to them when they tell you something
about their DirectX development, regardless of what your professional
opinion ends up being. And of course that's at a minimum, holding to
my skepticism about Microsoft as a company. The potential to outright
buy game developers with such gifts is obvious.
Microsoft hasn't done a damn thing for me since then. I still use
Windows 2000 and would be happy to avoid XP, Vista, and XBox2
altogether. 3 years ago, I made a decision not to live in fear of
DirectX or any other Microsoft treadmill, and I'm sticking to my guns.
I'll only do it if someone's paying me a lot of money to do it, on my
terms. Investment on my part? Zero, nada, zip.
Microsoft and DEC were allies back in the day, and they rewarded us by
pulling the rug out from under OpenGL, announced at that same
conference. Well, they said one thing to everyone in the room, about
how OpenGL would continue in this-or-that capacity, but as allies we
knew the real scoop and that they were lying. And anyone with half a
brain could read between the lines and draw the correct conclusions,
insider information or not. We weren't naive about our relationship
with Microsoft: we had seen them get cozy with other groups at DEC, so
that they could yank the rug out from under them later. That's a big
part of how Microsoft retains control over other companies. They shoot
other companies down because they can.
Cheers,
Brandon Van Every
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