Rumor: Windows 8 Will Play Xbox 360 Games

[Princess Rose]

You're not missing much with the Fable games, so you can put that to rest right now.

I know they're kind of silly, but I sort of think they were made for gamers like me. I love doing random side-crap that only adds to my character for the sake of my character.

I get where Peter M... however you spell it is coming from. Fable is the kind of game I could fuck around in for hours, just for fun. ^^

It really is the only franchise that I'm sad about missing as a PS3 user.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

That would be great! No real reason it shouldn't do that, except Microsofts hardware sales.

 

[RepeatAfterMe]

Nice idea, but I'm not budging from 7. Especially not with that horrid phone desktop they've got going on there. Probably interchangable but I doubt a new OS this soon will be worth the price they'll ask for it.

It's about time someone said it. I hate this layout. It's different. As a "Geek" I'm entitled to hate change, and for a damn good reason. Honestly this just looks like the Devolution of Windows.

 

[darksakul]

I strongly doubt it as Higher ups at Microsoft have no love for the Xbox 360.
They do not like the Xbox 360 as it is the least most profitable division of Microsoft.
Microsoft sold more copies of Office 2010 Pro in a month than Halo Reach in a year.

With Halo Reach sold for $60 when it was new, Office still sells for $400.
The Xbox 360 cost MS 1.3 Billion to replace defective units at launch. That is less that both their US and EU anti-trust suits put together, and MS was prepared for the anti-trust suits.

Only reason M$ keeping Xbox around is for market presence in a industry that isn't known for huge profit margins.

I still wondering why Steve Balm CEO of MS didn't cut their losses and scrap there whole gaming division.

 

[Roboto]

You mean I can finally play Halo 3 and see how the trilogy ends? Most joyous of days

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Honestly this just looks like the Devolution of Windows.

Every time I read something new about Windows 8 it feels like Microsoft is saying to me "Going on, take the plunge... Install Linux."

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

See I have nothing against choice and all but am I the only one who prefers consoles to PCs based on the simple fact that I'd rather lounge in front of my big screen on a cozy couch with a controller rather than sitting hunched at a desk with a screen a foot away from my face, worrying that my crappy despite being 1 yr oldcomputer has the proper specs to run the new game I bought. I was hoping with all this iPad/tablet and cloud computing goodness breaking out that we'd be finding ways to move away from the in home cubicle. I hope this isn't the start of a step backwards.

 

[Woeps]

Well this sounds great (if they don't charge you too much for the service of course)

But now the real question is: "Will i be able to run windows 8 on my xbox360?"
If so then it would be just another pc

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I don't care, I'm not buying an OS with that God-awful interface.

 

[devotedsniper]

Hmmm i'd be happy if it had this feature, the only thing im not sold on is the new GUI looking like the windows phone, unless i still get my traditional style desktop too. If the rumors are true and it comes out 2012, i will probably beta test it and then get my free copys off my university and store them ready for my new rig.

 

[Super Toast]

On one hand, I really wanna play GoW2 and Halo 3 without having to invest in a 360. On the other hand, I really like Windows 7...

 

[zingobingo4]

I'm not sure how (other than actually putting all the hardware for a 360 inside every Windows 8 computer)they are going to be sure that each PC has the system reqs for all 360 games that are, and will be.

 

[Haravikk]

This seems highly unlikely; the XBox 360 uses PowerPC processors whereas Windows runs on x86 (Intel/AMD), so some kind of messy emulation would still be required. This seems like it'd be prone to bugs and performance issues.

It's more likely it may be something more Steam-like, in that XBox 360 games developers may be able to release x86 compiled versions of their games that Windows 8 would be able to run, essentially removing the need to develop regular Windows ports of their titles, at least if it can offer the same standard of support, automatic updates, DLC, etc.

I don't see why they'd make the compatibility Games for Windows only though, it'd be better to merge the two networks and promote better awareness, such that XBox 360 players can avoid games with Windows players if they wish; for example on first person shooters where the many Windows players could end up with an advantage due to the more accurate aiming of a mouse.

 

[Exile714]

I think a lot of you are overly optimistic about this possible feature. Sounds to me like it's just Xbox Arcade on PC, and here's why:

The Windows PC market is very different from the avid gamer market. How many Joe-Consumer types buy high powered PC's? Why not take a trip to Best Buy (or the European/Australian equivalent) and take a look at their inventory. What do you see? Netbooks, underpowered laptops, a scattering of mid-range desktops and... AIO's.

What is an AIO? Oh, only the future of consumer-PC's. AIO stands for "All in One," meaning there is no tower and the computer is housed in the monitor case. Have you looked at the specs for AIO's? They're non-customizable, and equivalent to mid/low end laptops in terms of power. Most don't even have dedicated graphics cards, just light, integrated cards.

But look at Windows 8. It's touch based, isn't it? How many of you have touch sensitive monitors (and for that matter who wants fingerprints on their monitor anyway)?

Where are there touch-based monitors? On almost every AIO. THIS is the market that Windows 8 is targeting, and that means that low-power PC's are here to stay.

I highly doubt that Microsoft will waste resources on something that will only work for high end PC users when the market share for those users is so small. How many millions use low-end PC's? How many millions more will invest in an AIO or low end laptop? How many thousands have PC's powerful enough to play Xbox360 games?

It's all about the numbers people, and PC gamers just don't have them.