Update: Xbox One E3 Demos May Have Been On Windows 7

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Aren't most or all games being shown at E3 running on PC's?
I always thought that was standard practice as it would be easier to control what happens.

Generally the PC would bare a passing resemblance to the console in question and even then it would be running the console OS on top.

However not only is the PC architecture completely different (and allot more powerful), but they are using the Windows 7 OS.

So not only are Microsoft leaving themselves open to accusations that games they were running at E3 will not look as good on the actual console ala Aliens: Colonial Marines or that the console is underpowered/unreliable, but they are also indirectly telling us that Windows 7 is the superior OS and that they don't trust Windows 8 to handle running next gen games.

Which is rather unfortunate because the Next-Box is running a variant of Windows 8.

The rapid-fire announcements form Sony and various devs, including the indie dev Jonathan Blow stating that the Sony games shown were running on Dev kits (essentially a mockup of the console) is more salt in Micosofts wounds.

 

[deadish]

Everyone hating on MS when Sony does the same shit.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-every-game-company-gets-wrong-about-gamers/ number 4.

Even if Sony hasn't done in this e3 they did it before.

They also launched a console for $600. We going to hold that against them to the end of time?

They have pulled their socks up. More than willing to give them another chance. Especially when their competitor calls us "backward" and tells us to "deal with it".

 

[Vie]

This is... ..delicious.

It works on so many levels. I mean, we have seen PC's being used to demo stuff at trade shows before - no big whoop there. But it's the details that make it so... ..wonderful.

The fact that the graphics card is a lot more powerful might, I suppose, be down to the games not being fully polished yet and needing a little extra umph to run smoothly at the moment. But if that's the case then.. ...well, I think we'll see a lot of unpolished or delayed releases - so I don't think that's a credible reason. More likely MS wanted to wow us with the visuals, so simply outright lied about the graphics we'll be getting from the console.

But the best part has to be seeing the Windows 7 desktop. If we needed further proof that the abomination that is 8 is failing, seeing MS using their older (and in some important ways slower) OS for a business critical purpose. Windows 8: Even Microsoft don't want it.

 

[RA92]

Looks like MS are closet PC gamers.

 

[SpAc3man]

Generally the PC would bare a passing resemblance to the console in question and even then it would be running the console OS on top.

However not only is the PC architecture completely different (and allot more powerful), but they are using the Windows 7 OS.

So not only are Microsoft leaving themselves open to accusations that games they were running at E3 will not look as good on the actual console ala Aliens: Colonial Marines or that the console is underpowered/unreliable, but they are also indirectly telling us that Windows 7 is the superior OS and that they don't trust Windows 8 to handle running next gen games.

Which is rather unfortunate because the Next-Box is running a variant of Windows 8.

The rapid-fire announcements form Sony and various devs, including the indie dev Jonathan Blow stating that the Sony games shown were running on Dev kits (essentially a mockup of the console) is more salt in Micosofts wounds.

The demo games are running on a much higher abstraction level than what will be implemented on the console itself. There will be a software layer between the game and the GPU that mitigates any hardware differences. The CPU is the same instruction set architecture as the console so that doesn't pose any problems. Because of the software layer they need more powerful machines than the actual console due to loss in efficiency.

They are using Win7 because these machines are obviously using the Xbone SDK to run the games. The SDK was developed to run on Win7 as it was made available to developers when Win8 was still in development. Also Win7 is inherently more stable than Win8 due to being more established. Why take risks by using a new OS that your SDK wasn't originally developed for and is potentially less stable? Especially at an event like E3.

They don't use actual consoles as they are still in development. It would be suicide to demonstrate on unfinished consoles.

Lastly the Xbone will not be running any variant of Win8. It will be using its own OS that implements a stripped down version of the Windows kernel.

Also:

Spoiler: A lot.

 

[mKeRix]

For the record, Sony has officially come out and assured us that all PS4 demos shown at E3 were running on actual PS4 dev kits. [http://www.cinemablend.com/games/PS4-Games-E3-Ran-PS4-Dev-Hardware-High-End-PCs-56752.html]

Regardless of the whole device fiasco (which is nothing new in the industry anyways) and can't even really be proven until there's some official statement to it, does assuring mean anything in this business nowadays?
I mean, they could have run a lot of the presentations on a PC as well, just like the XBones presentations may have run on the console or a PC. Sony already showed us prerendered gameplay, so why would we suddenly trust them so much and actually just ignore what the internet hates Microsoft for? There are things that they do (nearly) exactly the same, but nobody cares suddenly.
Anyways, right now the consoles aren't finished or out yet, only the end product you actually get to buy matters.

If you had followed the link, you would see that Sony's statement is backed up by multiple developers, including prominent indie dev Jonathan Blow.

Well, in the presentation everyone was also talking about how the game is running on the One or at least in-engine already, so that somewhat backs up MS a bit as well.
Thing is, companies have been doing this for years, it's not really news. Dev kits could be considered just PCs with comparable specs. Mentioning it now just seems like another of these stories used to jump on the internet Anti-Microsoft bandwagon.
Although, I don't want to criticize you. I've seen this posted on other sites and I'm happy that the Escapist Magazine collects news for people to read. I generally enjoy this site, you can't account for the internet's madness - so just roll on.

 

[bravetoaster]

Of for Christ sake. It's Monday morning, can't the universe just give Microsoft a break for a few days? What did Microsoft do to you to bring you such delight in tripping it over and kicking them in the balls?

Oh, nothing. They're just trying to take away consumer rights and your constitutional right to privacy. Not a big deal. We should give them a break and feel sorry for them.

I get the sense that you're a bit blinded by outrage. Your constitutional right to privacy doesn't even enter the equation, here, and if you dislike Microsoft's product--especially before it's even been released--you can always just... not buy it.

Would someone mind explaining or linking to an explanation, though, of why nvidia vs AMD would matter in their rig?

Also, while I wouldn't doubt that MS would use Win7 for a desktop PC (as most people would--a tablet OS on a desktop or non-touch device is just obnoxious), are we sure that's not just the desktop of Win8 (albeit with a default Win7 wallpaper)?

 

[Irridium]

Power of the cloud, indeed.

 

[Monsterfurby]

I'm running out of snippy comments about Microsoft.

DEAR GOD are they stupid.

 

[Micah Weil]

Could the bad press get any worse for MS?

Has Major Nelson eaten a live kitten yet?

 

[neppakyo]

Oh dear. This makes me snicker like a teenage schoolgirl. They didn't have the decency to even use an AMD based system, had to use Win7, intel, and nvidia.

It shall be interesting to see what the xboners (xbone defenders) say to defend MS this time.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

that just says to me that there will be an emulator kicking about soon after release...

...xbone exclusives on my pc? of course i wouldnt do that. hahahahaha

Well, if you buy the disk then go right ahead. Although the games are going to be like 25 GB a piece but that didn't stop people from pirating Max Payne 3.

 

[Smooth Operator]

From what I understand no Microsoft Xbox one dev kit would be able to run on that hardware as they would be using AMD/Radeon tech. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

No software dev worth his salt makes shit hardware dependent, forcing all studios to replace their hardware for AMD would just be asinine and another shot in Microsofts already mangled feet.

OT: The same report comes out every year so this is not really news, presentations are mostly done with completely separate builds on super high end PCs that can make things look far better then the end product.

 

[Mr. Q]

Oh, dear God....

I know its getting old attacking Microsoft and the Xbone, but they just make it so easy! XD

It's bad enough they had to run the demos on PCs but having to use Windows 7 is definitely telling you something about the reliability of Windows 8.

Definitely will be keeping this in mind when I look for a new laptop.

 

[kael013]

Of for Christ sake. It's Monday morning, can't the universe just give Microsoft a break for a few days? What did Microsoft do to you to bring you such delight in tripping it over and kicking them in the balls?

First off, the universe did give MS a few days off - it's called the weekend. As for what MS has done? What they've done doesn't matter at this juncture; new console gen, new slate seems to be the rule. So the real issue is: what is MS [i/]going[/i] to do? Well...
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124711-Microsoft-Addresses-Xbox-One-Concerns>Semi-Always Online
-mandatory game downloads (at least I think so; they mentioned it early on and haven't contradicted it yet)
-anti-used games policies (see link for Always Online, second paragraph)
-<a HREF=http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/license>treating buying a game like renting a service
-spamming ads on LIVE gold accounts
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124272-Xbox-One-Wont-Support-SDTVs>not supporting SDTV
-seemingly not supporting anybody without broadband connection
-<a HREF=http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/connected>recommending a broadband connection of [i/]at least[/i] 1.5 Mb/s (See Networking Requirements, first bullet)
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124942-Xbox-One-Limited-To-21-Countries-At-Launch>limiting Xbone support to 21 countries
-telling consumers to "Deal with it" in response to complaints about the DRM
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124891-Microsoft-Exec-Offline-Gamers-Should-Stick-With-Xbox-360>telling consumers without the online capabilities required for the Xbone to buy a 360 - rather dismissively
-they talk about needing to <a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124970-Microsofts-Yusuf-Mehdi-We-Need-To-Educate-Consumers>"educate the consumer" so we understand what they're doing (this is PR-speak for "stop thinking for yourselves and blindly buy our stuff")
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124214-Xbox-One-Not-Backwards-Compatible>no backwards <a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124268-Microsoft-Exec-If-Youre-Backwards-Compatible-Youre-Really-Backwards>compatibility
-<a HREF=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124248-Xbox-One-Keeps-Indie-Self-Publishing-Off-Limits>they're being very indie unfriendly
... I think that's everything. So, wanna retract that last question?

OT: So MS lied to us about something else; does this really surprise anyone? Now the real question is - since the games were being played on a PC running an Xbone OS - does this mean that we won't have to wait forever for a emulator to be made?

 

[Zolrak 22]

Found this on cinemablend, http://i.imgur.com/ixRnGg0.png .
I see no reason why he'd lie but we'll see.

 

[luvd1]

I was talking to the universe. MS crimimal record runs longer then most people have been alive. I was being satirical.... Well more sarcastic really.

 

[ciasteczkowyp]

This information was published on friday or over the weekend, you're really slow to report this my dear magazine ;/
I think I'll stay with PC forever at this rate.