Some EA Games Will Require A 64-Bit OS Starting Next Year
In a move that’s likely going to make some gamers mad, engine maker DICE has revealed that starting in 2013 some games running the Frostbite 2 engine will require a 64-bit operating system. While no games in particular have been announced as requiring a 64-bit OS, it’ll only be a matter of time before it’s discovered what games will need a 64-bit OS. I don’t know about you, but this kind of makes me a bit excited, and at the same time, a bit apprehensive.
64-bit processors have been around in PC’s since 2003, but in the 9 years since their mainstream debut they have yet to take a majority market share. Part of the reason for this trend has to do with the fact that while Windows XP has a 64-bit version, it was not made widely available, and the 32-bit version of XP was available for people’s new pre-built PC’s for many, many years, even after Vista was released. Even if those people later upgraded there systems to Windows 7, it’s likely that they upgraded to the 32-bit version to avoid any other hassles of losing information or other inconsistencies. While the trend is slowly starting to swing into the 64- bit OS’s favor, it’s apparently not going fast enough for DICE and EA.
And, in the end, it makes sense for EA and DICE to want 64-bit OS’s to become the norm. One of the main problems facing 32-bit OS’s is the fact that they can only support up to 4 GB’s of RAM, and game developers are constantly pushing the envelope of games. So far, it’s reached a plateau, and while games look spectacular right now, imagine how good they would look like if game developers could rely on enough people having 64-bit OS’s that they could up the recommended, or even required specifications for games to include more than 4 GB’s of RAM? There’s an entire gaming world out there unexplored, if only because of the vast number of dinosaurs stuck with an outdated OS. This is one trend that EA is pushing for that I actually support, if only because I already own a 64-bit system.
