It had to happen sooner or later. Futuremark is finally going to be producing its own games. This is hardly a surprise. In fact, it's more surprising that it has taken so long. Futuremark's new Games Studio plans to combine 'highest quality game play' with 'blow-your-socks-off visuals'. But can it really make a difference in what is now a very competitive games market?

Peeling back the Onion

Founded in 1997, Futuremark has been producing cutting-edge games engines ever since it released 3DMark99. This was the first really serious benchmarking tool for Direct3D, when it still wasn't certain this would be the de facto standard for PC gaming.

Indeed, 3DMark has always been ahead of the market. After all, if a new benchmark is to remain a relevant test of 3D performance for a year or two, it needs to access the features of games and hardware which haven't become mainstream yet.

For example, 3DMark99 tested fixed function vertex transform and lighting, and led the way with multi-texturing. 3DMark2000 added hardware-accelerated transform and lighting before any game took advantage of it. 3DMark2001 debuted shaders, with extensive use of Vertex Shader 1.1 and the first use of Pixel Shader 1.1 in its last test routine.

Although 3DMark03 stuck mostly with Shader Model 1.1, it contained the first use of Shader Model 2, again in the last test. And so on, until we get to 3DMark Vantage, due later this year. Although this will stick with DirectX 10, Vantage will exclusively require Windows Vista - a bold move considering how many gamers are sticking with XP for now.

Looks aren't everything

So Futuremark already has a clear strength in getting to grips with the latest DirectX technologies. You would expect its Games Studio to produce titles showcasing what each new generation of the API can do, just as is already the case with 3DMark.

But leading the way with visuals is not all there is to a successful game. Just look at the failure of Crysis and contrast that to the success of the Wii. Crysis may look great, but the hardware required to achieve this feat has actually been a disadvantage.

In contrast, the Wii is hardly a cutting-edge console in terms of graphics performance. In many ways it's a generation behind the Xbox360 and PlayStation 3. Nevertheless, Nintendo had the runaway hit of the Christmas period. Why? Because its console design successfully pinpointed a family gaming market, which doesn't care so much about the visuals looking more like movies.

Another classic example is the Lego Star Wars game franchise. Not exactly the most visually amazing series in the world, but the most amazing fun. Its balance of problem solving, nostalgia and humour has made it one of the most successful games ever on any platform.

To be a hit game developer, Futuremark's Games Studio needs not only to produce titles which look great - they need to play great too. It's obvious from the company's benchmarks that they know how to do the first of these. Just look at the recently released screenshots of the new 3DMark Vantage.

But whether they can actually produce games which are fun to play is another matter. For that, each title will need an enticing premise, a good plot, pacing so that it's neither too hard nor too easy... all things which have very little to do with mastery of DirectX technology.