Guess what? It needs DirectX9 :P
Well I just went for the first game that didn't have it on the Box. :o>Next game would be: DOOM 3 which doesn't really *need* it (although it does force you to install it anyway).
In any case, nobody is argueing that DX9 is not a problem for anyone wanting to develop AAA titles with 100+ teammembers. Because games of that magnitude is generally shipped on CD/DVD and including a 30 odd megabyte redistributable is not going to make a big difference.
But if you need a 30 meg download to play a 3 meg game, developed by one man running an independant software company, producing small enjoyable games for a more casual audience (the fastest growing one, incidently) you're not playing on the same field. Hell, you're not even in the same stadium.
next to any commercial game release the last 18 months needs at least DX 9.0 (the new one need DX9c).
Well they don't actually *need* it (as-in it being a pre-requisite), but Microsoft are aggressively pushing DX9 (as they do everything else) so it's not like most developers have a choice.