On Games for Windows [Dec 19, 2006, 11:24 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Games for Windows Vista how the new brand & OS will change PC gaming on Joystiq
offers an updated preview of the new Games for Windows initiative, attempting,
with limited success, to sort out what GFW represents besides a marketing
slogan. Based on a tour of the program by Marketing Director Kevin Unangst and
PR Manager Michael Wolf, they describe interoperability with Xbox 360 games via
"Live Anywhere," how PCs will get numerical ratings to gauge how well they can
play games, and what qualifies a game for the GFW logo. The conclusion they
draw, however, is that it is difficult to draw conclusions about all
this:
It's a risk. The Games for Windows strategy is on the verge of being schizophrenic. Can the cumbersome PC gaming experience really be simplified down to a console scheme? There are just too many freedoms and variations that exist in the PC universe to accurately interpret the PC as "the console that everybody already owns." It's not that simple. So is GFW a trick? Is Microsoft trying to lure back some of the consumers that were lost when Xbox was launched (an initiative that cannibalized PC gaming sales by design)?
The answer, like the Games For Windows vision, is not so clear. But there is most certainly the opportunity for Microsoft to create something very special. A cross-platform community where you and I can jump from Xbox to PC to our cell phones seamlessly. Anywhere.
ROFLMAO Some Dude.
Well said.
Maybe someday we won't hear people whining about how their game won't work because they didn't/can't update their drivers or expect to a play a bleeding edge game on a 16MB crapass built-in videocard...
If it makes developers actually release a game that is closer to bug free than they are now on the PC, I am all for it. We have come to expect at least half a dozen patches on a game before it is truly ready to play. They can't develop for EVERY conceivable combination of hardware so standardization can't hurt at this point.
On side note but close to this topic, do you know what one of the scariest things I have seen recently is? Now consoles are getting patches. Since they have a hard drive now it only make sense right? Well that is not a good sign that developers will NEED to strive for a totally bug free release anymore.
Well said.
Maybe someday we won't hear people whining about how their game won't work because they didn't/can't update their drivers or expect to a play a bleeding edge game on a 16MB crapass built-in videocard...
If it makes developers actually release a game that is closer to bug free than they are now on the PC, I am all for it. We have come to expect at least half a dozen patches on a game before it is truly ready to play. They can't develop for EVERY conceivable combination of hardware so standardization can't hurt at this point.
On side note but close to this topic, do you know what one of the scariest things I have seen recently is? Now consoles are getting patches. Since they have a hard drive now it only make sense right? Well that is not a good sign that developers will NEED to strive for a totally bug free release anymore.
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