Microsoft: "We've Lost Our Way" on PC Gaming

[The Enquirer]

It sounds great on the surface, but then I remember it's Microsoft and they're going to screw it up somewhere with some arbitrary software they "want" you to use. Want meaning "need" actually. I'll believe this news when it turns out to be as positive as they're making it sound.

 

[StreamerDarkly]

Wow. If Microsoft can't even manage to come up with a PR soundbite that sounds attractive to PC gamers, you can bet that whatever action they take is going to be infinitely worse. Get ready for Xbox Live 365 coming to a desktop near you.

OT: Read every single post. I like a good rant, and this thread delivers.

 

[SecondPrize]

Okay so... I wasn't the smartest person ever, and this became apparent to all when a hotmail address of mine started sending out penis enhancement spam. M$ put the irons on the account, but I could still get in and read stuff, i'd get a screen telling me to do something to correct the situation if I logged in but following the instructions led only to an infinite loop, fortunately there was a button that let me skip through to my inbox so I couldn't fix the problem but could at least read mail. Then the button to skip through disappeared. Any attempt to contact support required signing in, which just led to that infinite loop. My xbox live account is attached to that email adress, and as a new added bonus I couldn't sign into that either. That meant I couldn't play GWFL games like street fighter IV or Dark Souls online (or save in Dark Souls).
So yeah, Microsoft, you haven't been great. GFWL was just a thing that prevented me from playing the games I bought as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to have to fuck with an xbox live account to play PC games. I want the games to play when I i run the exe. That's all I want. I don't want Live hoops to jump through, I don't want GFWL hoops to jump through. I don't want any other hoops to jump through. I want to buy the games, press play and play. Okay? Good. Glad we talked.

 

[funnydude6556]

You mean like Games for windows? The service that now just gets in the way of playing games like Bioshock 2 and Fallout 3? If Microsoft wants to do PC Gamers a favor they should just avoid PC Gaming instead of creating another service that requires you to log into it that they'll ditch in the future meaning every game running on it is effectively broken.

 

[Strazdas]

DirectX is crossplatform too. it runs on Xbox and PC.

Xboxes are basically running a stripped down WIndows OS so that's not really cross platform. But for comparisson I'll give you that.

Now let's look at OGL

WIndows, Many Flavours of Linux, PS4 and Mac, Also Android.

I'm sorry but from a development perspective. OGL wins. It may lack tech and features but it has a larger user base. I can code once and have some reasonable assurance that it will work just as well on any of these systems with minimal re-engineering. A slight sacrifice in fidelity is a small price to pay. Also honestly... if your users can notice the drop in fidelity... you obviously have not don't a good job of designing your game.

PS4 OS is linux based, and MAC is a hybrid. Android is a virtualbox running in linux.

Yeah, OGL wins and everyone uses it, oh, wait, no, actually all the big developers use DirectX instead. Because these features are making theri lives much easier. Apperently developers dont think that price is so small after all.

 

[MonsterCrit]

DirectX is crossplatform too. it runs on Xbox and PC.

Xboxes are basically running a stripped down WIndows OS so that's not really cross platform. But for comparisson I'll give you that.

Now let's look at OGL

WIndows, Many Flavours of Linux, PS4 and Mac, Also Android.

I'm sorry but from a development perspective. OGL wins. It may lack tech and features but it has a larger user base. I can code once and have some reasonable assurance that it will work just as well on any of these systems with minimal re-engineering. A slight sacrifice in fidelity is a small price to pay. Also honestly... if your users can notice the drop in fidelity... you obviously have not don't a good job of designing your game.

PS4 OS is linux based, and MAC is a hybrid. Android is a virtualbox running in linux.

Yeah, OGL wins and everyone uses it, oh, wait, no, actually all the big developers use DirectX instead. Because these features are making theri lives much easier. Apperently developers dont think that price is so small after all.

All I'm saying is. I have a library of 200+ games. They all support OGL.

As for larger developers... well large companies aren't known for being agile and responsive to change in the environment. I mean come on. have you seen the games coming out of some of these larger developers. Sure you have because they're the same games the released last year and the year before that.

 

[Zipa]

DirectX is crossplatform too. it runs on Xbox and PC.

Xboxes are basically running a stripped down WIndows OS so that's not really cross platform. But for comparisson I'll give you that.

Now let's look at OGL

WIndows, Many Flavours of Linux, PS4 and Mac, Also Android.

I'm sorry but from a development perspective. OGL wins. It may lack tech and features but it has a larger user base. I can code once and have some reasonable assurance that it will work just as well on any of these systems with minimal re-engineering. A slight sacrifice in fidelity is a small price to pay. Also honestly... if your users can notice the drop in fidelity... you obviously have not don't a good job of designing your game.

PS4 OS is linux based, and MAC is a hybrid. Android is a virtualbox running in linux.

Yeah, OGL wins and everyone uses it, oh, wait, no, actually all the big developers use DirectX instead. Because these features are making theri lives much easier. Apperently developers dont think that price is so small after all.

All I'm saying is. I have a library of 200+ games. They all support OGL.

As for larger developers... well large companies aren't known for being agile and responsive to change in the environment. I mean come on. have you seen the games coming out of some of these larger developers. Sure you have because they're the same games the released last year and the year before that.

Well Vulkan might be the push that devs need to switch of DX/Microsoft dependency. Especially since it looks like Valve are going to be involved heavily.

 

[kyp275]

I'm pretty sure MS lost their way on PC gaming somewhere around the time when Discman was still a thing.

Don't think they'll ever find their way back.

 

[RobXSIQ]

Dear Microsoft
Yes, you have been, to the PC audience, akin to an abusive boyfriend.
But tell ya what
Sell your hololens at cost or loss in order to penetrate the market for all your fans and we can call it even.
Maybe even make a large number of groupies once again.

Signed
Gamers, developers, artists, businessmen, and pretty much everyone else.

 

[Strazdas]

PS4 OS is linux based, and MAC is a hybrid. Android is a virtualbox running in linux.

Yeah, OGL wins and everyone uses it, oh, wait, no, actually all the big developers use DirectX instead. Because these features are making theri lives much easier. Apperently developers dont think that price is so small after all.

All I'm saying is. I have a library of 200+ games. They all support OGL.

As for larger developers... well large companies aren't known for being agile and responsive to change in the environment. I mean come on. have you seen the games coming out of some of these larger developers. Sure you have because they're the same games the released last year and the year before that.[/quote]
There are 950 products on steam that are confirmed to work with Linux. That does not mean jack shit though because linux still isnt supported for games that 99% of gamers play. Do not mix you being an extreme case of liking OGL games with general audience.

You know why these companies release same games year after year? because the average gamer wants them, as evident by them having massive sale numbers.

 

[MonsterCrit]

PS4 OS is linux based, and MAC is a hybrid. Android is a virtualbox running in linux.

Yeah, OGL wins and everyone uses it, oh, wait, no, actually all the big developers use DirectX instead. Because these features are making theri lives much easier. Apperently developers dont think that price is so small after all.

All I'm saying is. I have a library of 200+ games. They all support OGL.

As for larger developers... well large companies aren't known for being agile and responsive to change in the environment. I mean come on. have you seen the games coming out of some of these larger developers. Sure you have because they're the same games the released last year and the year before that.

There are 950 products on steam that are confirmed to work with Linux. That does not mean jack shit though because linux still isnt supported for games that 99% of gamers play. Do not mix you being an extreme case of liking OGL games with general audience.

You know why these companies release same games year after year? because the average gamer wants them, as evident by them having massive sale numbers.[/quote]

950 games that run on linux natively. There are many many more that will run with WIndows Emulation. I also never said that All my games were Linux games.. merely that they supported OGL. So these are windows games.

Don't jump to far fetched conclusions.

 

[SquidSponge]

Words are cheap, actions will tell. I'm not holding my breath.

 

[rgrekejin]

Best of all, PC gamers can look forward to a future where they can interact with their console brethren seamlessly.

Ugh. I mean, we could, but why would we want to?

*ducks*

 

[FalloutJack]

Best of all, PC gamers can look forward to a future where they can interact with their console brethren seamlessly.

Ugh. I mean, we could, but why would we want to?

*ducks*

Come now, not everyone is so fixated on this damnedable, eternal war that they can't have a little fun. Even now, soldiers are beginning to lose heart. We cannot continue a fight which just piles up the bodies with no end, no end EVER in sight! Just look at the men! Look at the morale!

 

[Strazdas]

950 games that run on linux natively. There are many many more that will run with WIndows Emulation. I also never said that All my games were Linux games.. merely that they supported OGL. So these are windows games.

Don't jump to far fetched conclusions.

While i dont doubt that some work with WINE, my statement of 99% of games average user plays not being supported on linux still stands.

I never claimed that your games are all linux games. i used linux compatibility to ilustrate the point that altrough there is a high number of games that support it that does not mean much for average gaming public becuase its not their games that are supported and its very rare to find a person who is fully satisfied by playing only those games.

Meanwhile, almost any of those game run on DirectX as well so DirectX users are not missing out.

 

[KB13]

"They're customers of the Xbox Live service"

Uh no I'm not. I even removed the LIVE thing from my Fallout 3 game. When I transferred everything to a windows 8 computer I don't play the installed Solitaire and Mahjong because they force you to sign up for an X-box LIVE account. So no I am not a "customer of the Xbox Live service" nor do I wish to be one. You really don't want to do this Microsoft bad idea.

 

[TelHybrid]

Oh no. No no no. NO!

Microsoft, you stay the fuck away from PC gaming! Games for Windows Live sucked. I do not plan to, and absolutely refuse to pay for Xbox Live to play my PC games that I paid for online on my paid internet connection on my PC.

The further Microsoft stay away from PC gaming, the better. I don't care if they're offering PC ports of Halo, Forza, Fable or whatever else, it's not worth their pay wall crap. Seriously M$, keep doing what you do on Xbox, those guys playing on XBL right now love it. I don't want anything to do with it, that's why I game on PC.

This is the point where I'm so happy that Linux is getting more support. If something like GFWL or god forbid something worse comes along, I'm nope'ing out.

 

[Setrus]

junk

 

[deadish]

PC will never be a high priority as it will cannibalize Xbox revenue - that they badly need to shore up, the whole venture is in the red still to my knowledge, to appease investors.

No reason to work on PC to be honest. Unlike with the Xbox, they don't get a cut of game revenue.

IMHO this announcement is just to try to get us to buy Windows 10 and nothing more.

PS:

In addition, it's my pet theory that in the grand scheme of things, whatever work is done on the PC side is still to benefit the struggling Xbone - no doubt they will try to leverage Windows with a "look how easy it is to port between Windows and Xbone" angle; for now anyway, once easy portability has outlived it's usefulness, it back to leaving PC to rot.