MS's Online Gaming Service [May 09, 2006, 7:04 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Microsoft Announces Online Gaming Service announces plans for a gaming
service that will offer cross-platform support for Windows Vista, Xbox Live, as
well as cell phones:
LOS ANGELES - Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a new cross-platform gaming service that integrates games played on cell phones, Xbox 360 consoles and the upcoming Windows Vista operating system.
The "Live Anywhere" service will be available as part of Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation PC operating system. The consumer version is scheduled for release early next year.
"It means that you have one online community," Bill Gates said in a news conference. "This platform can really unleash developers to do amazing new things."
The system would extend the company's existing Xbox Live service for the Xbox 360 console into millions of Internet-enabled PCs and cellular phones. No pricing information on the new service was announced.
"The vision here is each platform plays its own role. We really think we're in a unique position," Gates said. "Microsoft is probably the only company that can pull this off."
In a demonstration, an Xbox 360 gamer using Live Anywhere was able to send an invitation to a friend on a PC. After the PC user agreed, the two connected for a cross-platform online gun battle.
In another example, a race car's stats were modified on a cellular phone, its appearance was edited in a paint program on the PC and then it was raced on a track on the Xbox 360.
Let's try and steer away from the whole Console vs PC thing for now; we all have our preferences for myriad reasons.
I figure the service may start out free, but once/if the service gains a stranglehold on the market, they'll charge whatever they like and we won't have a choice by that time. It will be slow and insiduous. Sort of like how we used to have all of those free d/l sites, but they were all snapped up by the bigger players, and now the remaining d/l sites have some sort of fee structure.
Mods as we know it will cease to exist. Oblivion is the first step in this direction and we will see more of these type of tactics to sell extra content.
I figure the service may start out free, but once/if the service gains a stranglehold on the market, they'll charge whatever they like and we won't have a choice by that time. It will be slow and insiduous. Sort of like how we used to have all of those free d/l sites, but they were all snapped up by the bigger players, and now the remaining d/l sites have some sort of fee structure.
Mods as we know it will cease to exist. Oblivion is the first step in this direction and we will see more of these type of tactics to sell extra content.
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