Game Stash: Microsoft’s Missed Opportunity Pages PREV 1 2 3 | |
Big difference there is that the PC is an open platform and MS has a lot of people watching them, ready to jump on their nuts at the first sniff of them using their OS dominance to restrict trade on the platform. Console manufacturers get away with what they do because consoles are closed platforms and they own the whole show. Microsoft would not be stupid enough to give companies like EA and Acti/Blizz such an excellent openning to sue the living christ out of them. | |
What I said was:
Source: http://kotaku.com/244045/games-for-windows-+-live-gold-to-cost-50 So it wasn't just cross-platform play they were initially charging for. And the fact of the matter is that they didn't so much make that feature free as drop it like a hot potato... 'round bout the time they realized they couldn't charge for it. Well, that and realized that mouse players were likely to eat 360-controller gamers for breakfast in First Person Shooters.
That Valve itself hasn't made many new games, I'll grant you. But their download service has made thousands of games accessable, including scores from small independent publishers. The Source engine has been used in several others, including indie darling Zeno Clash. And their support for their existant titles has continued in earnest, which is more than can be said for, say, Shadowrun. Or Halo, come to that. I don't think Microsoft is inherently and in every way evil. But as far as games and the games community goes, they're far from an effective benefactor and advocate. | |
First off: Is it the moustache that gives you your powers of adroit recognition? Secondly: I am not 100% sure it is all Microsoft's fault. A lot sure, but part of it is the variable nature of PC hardware I think. Take my Rig, 6 GB ram, big old HDD, 2.6 ghz quadcore processor, and a decent videocard. Take my closest friend who has a computer that is a BEAST. The take another of my closet friends and his computer basically struggles with much more than Internet Explorer, because he cannot afford to upgrade. I know it is a bit of a cop out, but it is still a problem. Blame Micro$oft - sure. They should be pilloried for the unadulterated CRAP they called VISTA, before we even bother with videogames. | |
this wasn't about whether PC games were hard to install or what not, Hopeless Bastard [at least his handle is apt] catergorically labeled console gamers lazy because....well I'm not sure why exactly, I guess because they're not PC gamers. He sees accessibility as a negative, evidently not realizing that profits gaming companies generate from the casual gaming market help pay for the development of games for AAA titles aimed at 'core' gamers. That is why I took exception to his post, unfortunatly he chose to omit or deface the posts that expose the flaws in his views. You need to see the full posts to make an informed judgement on his opinions, as he was too insecure to leave the quotes as they were posted. | |
I just don't see how people equate GFWL and Steam. Yes, in essence, they do fulfil the same basic requirements, but Steam does more, and in my opinion, does it a lot better. Steam is far from perfect, but it does have some good, solid features that I use on a regular basis. GFWL.... doesn't. To me GFWL feels like a DRM auth system with an online achievement system tacked on. Steam feels like a game-management interface, with some extra nifty features. Other thing I don't get is people counting exclusives. Imo, I think PC is less prone to exclusives, due to PC players don't seem to care if a game is exclusive, and there isn't really extra money in going PC exclusive. If a game is exclusive to PC, the only reasons should be either the dev couldn't afford to go cross-platform or the game just isn't suited to consoles. | |
People tend to use the pseudonym "Micro$oft" because they really couldn't care less about anything other than money. Their hardon for the Xbox is obvious, their support for Windows/GFWL is almost non-existent. They slam controlling mechanisms in everywhere they go and then launch frivolous law-suits at people who infringe on their right to control everything ever. Apple, at least, act evil. Micro$oft just act spoilt. | |
And to reward the developers that made these fine games, well they shut them down, but I'm sure MS still cares about us. | |
Microsoft is big. When someone from MS says they're commited to Windows games, it's not MS saying it. It's a few people, some employees who very well may be struggling to actually get some games out. But they're fighting the Xbox divisions, they're fighting other distributors who don't care about the PC anymore, they're fighting Steam, pirates, non-interest from users... And either way. WHAT would they release anyway? Fable 3? THEY DO. Halo? Who the fuck would want to play Halo on the PC? The first game was nice on the PC, okay, but PC gamers aren't interested in too-short, dumbed down console shooters. Mafia II is coming for the PC only because it has a very strong PC heritage and even I, a huge fan of the original, am not buying the sequel because it's dumbed down so much. The only thing which can save PC gaming are PC EXCLUSIVES. And not just indie stuff, but actual AAA games. But apart from Blizzard, noone will ever risk a PC exclusive ever again. And maybe not even Blizzard. Seriously, MS isn't the one to blame for this. | |
Of course they were shut down. Noone would buy their games anymore. The market is on the consoles because people play on the consoles. Why is MS the bad guy in this? If people don't pay for the Simulator but instead get a console and a dozen of games for it, well, that is the market. An often idiotic market, but a market. | |
No I agree that MS is wise not to deal with us comp users, we're picky bastards. But the post above me argued that MS DOES still care about comp users, which you seem to agree with. | |
Believe it or not, the country was in a recession. They had to close down some studios to save money. They had to lay off employees for the first time in history. Anyway, recently, there were job posting at Microsoft for those interested in making a flight sim game. They specifically refereed to it as Flight Sim LIVE. As for Age of Empires, it is one of the most iconic PC games ever. Most of the developers from Ensemble went to form a new studio called "Robot Entertainment". Microsoft and Robot are working on another project for the PC, and possibly the 360 as well. Plus, when Robot first started, Microsoft was the first ones to give them a job, that job was maintaining Halo Wars and Age of Empires 3. | |
MS is focusing on the Xbox 360 because it owns that platform. Although it provides the OS for the vast majority of PCs out there, it certainly can't control the gaming aspect as strongly as it can on the Xbox 360. Closed platforms have their risks, but the past few console generations appear to have been exceedingly good at generating revenue (maybe not profit, but MS doesn't need profit at this point, since it receives huges amounts of money from other sources and investing in the Xbox 360 now may see the Xbox 720 as a huge profit driver later). The fact is that for PC gaming, MS gets paid through virtue of the OS. Now, if they ever need to work more on GFW, it's there, but they get money from Steamworks' output as sure as if it was their own. Also, there is the prevailing view that PC gaming is pretty stagnant compared to consoles and that the future of PC gaming is MMOs and social gaming. If you believe that, why invest in PC gaming when better alternatives exist? | |
I have one question for Microsoft on this subject. Where is a new Crimson Skies game? Either of the board, tabletop, pc, or 360 variety. And that stupid Clix or whatever game doesn't count. That is all | |
Bumping this thread in light of Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight being officially announced. Both are coming exclusively to Games for Windows LIVE. | |
Thank you so much for writing this! My frustration over the lack of coverage of exactly this topic has been intense and I am grateful to see someone address this so well. Seeing PC gaming completely blown off by Microsoft so they can plow everything in to the Xbox has been a slow motion train wreck and painful for those of us who love PC gaming. The fact it is completely short sighted and unnecessary hasn't helped either. And GFWL has been an abomination and an abject failure. I was tempted to get a water hose and flush it from my tower. | |
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Just posting to say how much I dig the "primordial DOS soup" expression :D