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.
and how long before a PC dev has to pay MS for each sold copy (just like console games), and how long before MS makes DX not-free unless you participate in GFW.Exactly. Even though the PC is an open platform in the sense that third-party development tools and libraries can be used, Microsoft can leverage its control over the OS to make using those third-party tools and libraries difficult if not impossible. Microsoft already does this with its DirectX SDK's by only supporting its own languages and compilers. By tying DirectX 10 to Vista Microsoft has ensured that developers and consumers must use Vista to get the benefits of DirectX 10 and by bundling the game browser and Live service into Vista and into its SDK's, Microsoft has made it the default method of incorporating that functionaily into games for Vista.
Sure developers could forgo paying Microsoft to have their games certified for Windows and appear in the game browser, but what commercial game developer is going to want its games to not show up there when its competitors' games do.
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2025 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2025 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 16 July 2025, 00:54.