Microsoft Pledges to Save PC Gaming, Again

[UnravThreads]

I don't actually care about GfWL. I like achievements. There, I said it. One of the few things I think GfWL has over Steam is that you don't have to load GfWL before a game that uses it, unlike Steam. But then again, Impulse is pretty much the same. I've never had problems with all 3 solutions, so I guess perhaps I'm missing something.

The problem with PC gaming is not "GfWL" or "Steam" or "SecuROM" - it's developers and publishers. We get a lot of series started or appearing on the PC (Fable, Gears of War, Halo, and yes, Microsoft seems to be the link there) or coming to the PC later without any decent support. Where's the patches for Saints Row 2 to fix half of the game breaking bugs, and where is its DLC? Racedriver GRID is the same too, where's the DLC for that for the PC?

To use a slightly high-profile release from the past few years, how about Alone in the Dark? Ignoring it was an arse game for a moment, it wasn't even ported properly. All the menu screens and UI elements were clearly tailored for the 360 controller, even down to the shape and colour of the "buttons".

Microsoft aren't "just" the reason PC gaming is supposedly dying. There's very few companies out there who seem to genuinely care about the PC, and to name a handful they're Bethesda, Valve, CDProjekt and Blizzard. UbiSoft screwed us over with their DRM, dtp Entertainment screw themselves and gamers over by not really marketing their games well... You could be here all day going on about it.

Is it just Microsoft's fault? No, but they could do themselves a favour and not screw PC gamers over. Even if they keep GfWL, they should commit themselves to finishing series off. Why bring GoW out on PC if you have no intention of publishing the sequel? Why bring Fable 1 out if there's no intention to bring Fable 2 out? But then again, why bring Fable 3 if we don't have Fable 2?

 

[Diligent]

I bet my friends and I would play Dawn of War 2 a lot more at LAN parties if we didn't have to try connecting though the almost magical bullshit that is GFWL.
Every single game from the past 10 years has a menu where you can see the LAN server and connect to it, but now with GFWL you get to:
1. bring up the GFWL submenu and tediously find the friends you want to invite.
2. wait until it decides to send the game invite, and bring up the GFWL menu with the home key.
3. accept the invitation to play, and hope that it doesn't launch you into some copy of the game where your friends are actually NPC's, and everybody is playing by themselves.

It's that easy!

Thanks Microsoft, but we don't need your "saving".

It's like Barney Gumble from The Simpsons running into the room dressed in a superman costume a few sizes too small, claiming to save you, and instead puking all over the place.

 

[Irridium]

Alright Microsoft, want to help?

Step one is to get rid of Games for Windows Live.

Games for Windows Live is hurting more than its helping.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Games for Windows Live is not the problem they could polish it more and make it easier to but DLC and such but the real problem is 50% of publishers do not like the PC.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

The largest game publisher Activision confirms that most of their profits come from games like WoW on PC. Microsoft were one of the first publishers to have a successful MMO when they published Asheron's Call but they dropped that sort of game like a grand piano along with all their other PC gaming efforts when they decided that the expensive xbox project was more exciting. 'Nuff said.

Microsoft love making major mistakes. To be fair at the time MMO's cost a lot and attracted mediocre subscriptions but that's no excuse for not grabbing a few games when the market took off.

I remember when Microsoft were telling us they planned to reinvigorate PC gaming as it was slowly stultifying in the desire to produce "genre games" that could guarantee huge sales
At the same expo they announced a games console. Following that they declared that all the announced Microsoft titles for the next couple of years were going to released only on their console.

Then they bought up several promising games makers forcing them to publish exclusively for XBox and made them make the games nicely fit into genres so the console types would understand what they were getting.

now they plan to "save PC gaming". Can't say I have much hope.

 

[Vault Citizen]

Why is the Fable 2 cover in the article? Is the picture there as an example of an Xbox game that wasn't ported to the pc or is it trying to hint a pc version (pretty unlikely I know), or is it just a picture error?

 

[Christopher Dudgeon]

Hay Mickysoft how about releasing Fable 2 first BEFORE Fable 3?

 

[banksy122]

I don't exactly see the problem with GfWL. Is it that you have to wait 5 seconds for it to connect? Is it that...idk any thing else that is bad about.
I would like it if somebody enlightened me on the problem with GfWL.

 

[craddoke]

Wait - was this an April 1st press release? Or perhaps a Groundhog day announcement? Maybe they'll roll out the implementation of this new plan to coincide with the release of Duke Nukem.

 

[ucciolord1]

If GFWL and Fable III are in the same boat, then I don't want either one of them.

"If"? Microsoft + games = Games for Windows Shit.. I mean, Live.

The only game with GFWL I bought was Batman last summer. Didn't like it. The DRM, not the game. Game was awesome.

I had to dump months worth of save files 'cause of GFWL on that game, and now it doesn't run properly.
They had to ruin one of the best games of last year, didn't they?
GFWL almost makes EA's DRM look good.

 

[Jared]

If its anything like GFWL then its going to be an epic fail once more...as long as they dont improve it by adding more DRM, that already makes PC gaming a pain at times...

 

[mjc0961]

Sorry, but unless they can force publishers to stop with the awful DRM schemes, they won't be saving PC gaming, at least for me.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

now they plan to "save PC gaming". Can't say I have much hope.

At least this is slightly better than believing that a port of an old console game like Halo 2 is enough to promote gaming on a new version of windows and show off new directx features. But I would still almost count it as PC gamers being treated to scraps from the table as it still obviously going to be a console port.

 

[Blind Sight]

Best way to improve the PC gaming market? Scrap the vast majority of programs like Windows Live, Ubisoft's new system, etc. I'd suggest keeping Steam because it's fairly well-done, but so many games run with at least one of these in the background (sometimes more) that it actually makes it quite a ***** to work out. I know I buy any game that comes with Windows Live on Xbox instead if possible.

 

[Saerain]

Kinect, since it now uses the hardware of the platform it is used on for many calculations, would perform a lot better on PCs than on the Xbox 360. Just putting that out there.

Sorry, but unless they can force publishers to stop with the awful DRM schemes, they won't be saving PC gaming, at least for me.

Come up with a preferable alternative for combating the piracy that has caused the decline, and I'm sure they'll be happy to do that for you, mjc0961.

 

[banksy122]

The fact it requires you to log in to save, the unavailability of it in several countries, the notoriously unstable servers, the lack of any benefits to the DRM (a la Steam), and the instability it causes on several videogames that have it.

Thank you for telling me. I haven't had a problem with any of the things you said, so that is why I didn't understand.

Maybe with what MS said is directed at fixing GfWL, improving its effectiveness and implementation in games. I have hope that MS do fix it, like they fixed their OS with making 7, which is excellent for gaming. Their improvements with their OS towards gaming could mean they are really actually trying to help. Or it could just be me hoping they come round

 

[jamesworkshop]

I don't exactly see the problem with GfWL. Is it that you have to wait 5 seconds for it to connect? Is it that...idk any thing else that is bad about.
I would like it if somebody enlightened me on the problem with GfWL.

Major problems

The software isn't particularly stable even by microsofts standards

The game line up doesn't have even a month worth of content available even after 3 years it has like 6 games

At inception required a full price Xbox Live Gold membership to play Halo 2 and shadowrun online