No Windows XP Support for Just Cause 2

Hope you PC gamers out there haven’t been having too much fun watching all the spectacular trailers for Just Cause 2, because it’s DirectX 10 only, which means it won’t run under Windows XP.

Just Cause 2 is a sandbox action game in which plot is almost entirely irrelevant compared to the insanely awesome stunts the player can perform with the aid of a parachute, a grappling hook and a silly, highly interactive world. One pre-release video shows the player lifting a sports car with a helicopter and dropping it on an enemy’s head, while the most recent features a game of chicken between a fire truck and an airliner.

Tons of fun, for sure; just don’t expect to join in if you’re a PC gamer who’s still hacking away with Windows XP. Just Cause 2 is DX10-only, which means you’ll need at least Vista or Windows 7 to play. The specs:

Minimum:

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Windows XP is unsupported)
• Processor: Dual-core CPU with SSE3 (Athlon 64 X2 4200 / Pentium D 3GHz)
• Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 Series / ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro with 256MB memory or equivalent DX10 card with 256MB memory
• Memory: 2GB RAM
• DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 10
• Hard Drive: 10GB of free drive space
• Optical Drive: DVD-ROM drive
• Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible sound card
• Internet Connection: Internet connection required for product activation
• Input: Keyboard and mouse (Microsoft Xbox 360 controller optional)

Recommended:

• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7 (Windows XP is unsupported)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.6GHz or AMD Phenom X3 2.4GHz
• Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GTS 250 Series with 512MB / ATI Radeon HD 5750 Series with 512MB or equivalent DX10 card with 512MB memory
• Memory: 3GB
• DirectX: Microsoft DirectX 10.1 with Vista SP1
• Hard Drive: 10GB of free drive space
• Optical Drive: DVD-ROM drive
• Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible Dolby Digital 5.1 sound card
• Internet Connection: Internet connection required for product activation
• Input: Keyboard and mouse (Xbox 360 controller optional)

Of course, Windows XP is two generations old, so what’s the big deal about not supporting it? Only this: According to the January 2010 Steam survey, Windows XP is still far and away the most popular version of Microsoft’s operating system, with almost 44 percent of Steam users running it. That’s a huge portion of the PC market to ignore. On the other hand, that’s a huge portion of what will easily be the tiniest portion of the game’s overall market, so Eidos and Squeenix probably aren’t losing much sleep over it.

Just Cause 2 comes out on March 23 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun