It took a week longer than it should have (1, 2), but my new computer has arrived.

I delayed this purchase for more than a year because I wanted a computer with Windows Vista pre-installed. I didn't want to effectively pay for Windows twice. (And having a new operating system pre-installed on a new computer helps the new computer "feel" new.) And while major computer makers have been offering free Windows Vista upgrades for newly-purchased Windows XP computers since late last year, I didn't want to spend time installing a new operating system--especially so soon after getting a new computer.

Last year, about a week after Dreamfall was released, I bought a copy of the Windows version. I knew it wouldn't run on my old (then current) computer, but it was on sale, and I didn't expect to see it selling for a price so low again for some time. This purchase was an investment in the future.

Now I have a computer powerful enough to run Dreamfall, but that powerful-enough computer refuses to run Dreamfall. Double-clicking on the Dreamfall icon leads to the following error message:

dreamfall.exe - Unable to Locate Component

This application has failed to start because d3dx9-27.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix the problem.

After this, Windows Vista informs me that "Dreamfall game has stopped working" and asks if I want to "Check online for a solution and close the program" or just "Close the program."

Windows Vista finds no solution online, and removing and re-installing Dreamfall changes nothing.

I sent a "Support Ticket" to North American publisher Aspyr regarding this issue. Hopefully a solution is forthcoming.

Dreamfall isn't the only game that has trouble running on my new computer. Grim Fandango loses all audio after visiting its main menu. Sanitarium crashes to the desktop with an error message immediately after it launches--at least, unlike Dreamfall, it launches. And Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon causes my computer to display a perpetual "Working in Background" mouse pointer after double-clicking on its installer--the installer doesn't start, and I have to unplug my computer to get out of this.

Oh, and the ability to adjust how non-native resolutions and aspect ratios are displayed seems to be missing from the NVIDIA drivers for Windows Vista, so games intended to run at 640 by 480 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio) are scaled and stretched to full screen (read: look terrible) on my 1920 by 1200 (16:10) monitor.

I didn't need more reasons to remind myself why I tend to stick to console games.