Thanks for the tip. I deleted the config file and tried running the game again, but that didn't fly either. I just got the same error message. I found the debug.err file in that directory too, and it says the following:
DebugMessage: Version 1.10.052 last updated on: 12-24-2010 11:06
DebugMessage: Entering WinMain
DebugMessage: ******* Starting Game Shell *******
DebugMessage: DirectX version: 9.0
DebugMessage: exiting.
Which is nuts! I know I have the latest version of DirectX installed! o_0 I can run other DirectX 9 -and- 10 games without a problem...