Windows Store Won't Sell Adult-Rated Games

[Sexy Devil]

*deleted*

 

[direkiller]

Assuming the Win7-based desktop environment will always be there in Win8+ is beyond naive. It's akin to MS DOS in Windows 3.0. Eventually it will be phased out. Then software like Steam will not be permitted on Windows systems because it's a third-party store.

At that point the Sherman Anti trust act kicks them square in the balls.
This was a battle alredy fought over Internet explore. and Microsoft lost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft
What makes you think Washington(the state) would not force this issue?

 

[Andrew_C]

Wrong. Windows RT is the ARM build of Windows 8.

Apart from the artificial limitation to TIKFAM (The Interface Formerly Known As Metro) apps there is technically no difference between Win 8 and Win RT. And while IOS is based on bits of OSX these days they have as much in common as Android and Slackware do.

MS would certainly prefer WinRT to be used on tablets, but there are x86-based tablets coming out that will run the full version of Win 8 and an OEM could slap WinRT on one of the various designs for ARM desktops that are floating about.

Yeah... How in the hell does that make me wrong?

WinRT is for tablets: Fact.
WinRT is locked to the Store: Fact.
Win8 is not locked to the Store: Fact.


Of course anything with an x86 chip (such as Intel's medfield) has the option of using the "full" Win8, but WinRT is designed for tablets. Yes it's for ARM; Win RT was formerly known as Windows On ARM or WOA. What part of that invalidates what I said??

WinRT is the "stripped" version of Win8 without a desktop environment and it is locked exclusively to running apps from the Windows Store. Fact [footnote]

-"[...]WOA does not support running, emulating, or porting existing x86/64 desktop apps. [...] Consumers obtain all software, including device drivers, through the Windows Store and Microsoft Update or Windows Update."

-"While not the topic of this post, we do want to assure you that, when a consumer buys a WOA PC, it will be clearly labeled and branded so as to avoid potential confusion with Windows 8 on x86/64. The PC will come with the OS preinstalled, and all drivers and supporting software. WOA will not be available as a software-only distribution, so you never have to worry about which DVD to install and if it will work on a particular PC.

WOA PCs will be serviced only through Windows or Microsoft Update, and consumer apps will only come from the Windows Store, so you never have to worry if a program will run because you are not downloading or installing from a DVD outside of the store experience. A WOA PC will feel like a consumer electronics device in terms of how it is used and managed. For example, as previously detailed, the new refresh and reset functionality will be available, and for WOA this provides the equivalent of a "clean install" or imaging."

Also, I don't care how much code iOS and OS X share, iOS is Apple's OS for ARM, locked to running apps from the App Store. The comparison is more than valid.

I have to respectfully disagree. TIKFAM is built on the same on Win32 foundations that everything else in Windows is built on. Just because user applications are not allowed to directly access them on WinRT doesn't meant they are not there. I imagine that if Win8/winRT takes off, hacking WinRT (and Visual Studio) so it can directly run Win32 apps complied for ARM will be the first port of call.

Also i was saying that IOS and OSX share very little code now, little more than Android does with a typical and rather conservative Linux distro. Whereas Win8 and WinRT are the same codebase. WinRT is just locked down further.

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

So they're saying they can't be bothered promoting parental controls better as an alternative? It just feels like not many are aware or know how to use them efficiently and helps to cox those interested.

Maybe they should try that at least.

 

[octafish]

Since you can still install Steam and Origin on a Win8 computer, this story isn't worth the web space it's taking up.

Plus Desura and Green Man Gaming, and GamersGate and GOG don't even require a client.

Having actually installed a Metro Bypass and a Start Button/Menu app I can say Windows 8 will NOT be shit, once you fix it yourself. Look to MS to fix this in a Service Pack when they realise the Soundforge Start Button App is the most popular piece of software installed on their new OS.

 

[thiosk]

so unless you're interested in purchasing some questionable titles from the late 90s [http://www.mobygames.com/attribute/sheet/attributeId,94/offset,0/so,0a/], you should have nothing to worry about.

Fairy Nights by publisher Milky House sounds... interesting.

Also, Time Stripper!!!!!

 

[thesilentman]

I still don't understand how MS managed to make the most successful console this generation with this kind of idiocy.

Simple, they hate PC users with a passion[footnote]They really hate us geeks but they apparently seem to be very enterprise friendly.[/footnote] and they think that Apple's view on what iPhone users use their phone for is an accurate view on how people use a computer.

"Epic Facepalm"

The amount of misleading press Windows 8 gets is absolutely fucking staggering... I know there's this tiny one-line acknowledgement in the second to last paragraph of how much this actually matters, but then why make an article about it???

I cannot believe how thoroughly confused everyone is by Windows RT...

I'll just say it once more in the hope a single person learns something:

[HEADING=2]Windows 8 does not force you to use the store; Windows RT does.

Windows RT is for tablets.

Example: Windows RT is to Windows 8 as iOS is to Mac OS X[/HEADING]

Congratulations, join the 'Windows 8 will not kill PC gaming yet' club along with me. The only issue I see with what you're saying is that iOS is based off of Mac OS X, not the whole OS on a phone. And Apple has been taking some very interesting decisions lately, making their OS more like their phones.

Serious question:
Is there currently any reason at all to even consider getting the new Windows 8 OS?

I mean come on, I haven't seen anything remotely interesting in Windows 8 - so should I change? I don't like the new style and the system doesn't seem to have anything I really need.

The switch from Windows XP to 7 was logical and necessary because of the advanced technologies (32bit to 64bit switch and some other stuff), but what does Win8 do for me as a user?

No. I ran Windows 8 in a VM (hooray for VirtualBox) and only see Windows 7 with some very, very weird design choices. The only advantage that Windows 8 has over 7 is that it's faster. But even the speed goes out of the equation when you consider the myriad Linux distributions out there optimized for speed AND user friendly at the same time (Lubuntu and Xubuntu[footnote]I'm currently writing this on a machine with Ubuntu and Xfce on it. Yay for speed.[/footnote] comes to mind).[footnote]I'm not going to advertise Linux as I'm just stating the facts. I still like Windows, just not 8.[/footnote] Not to mention that Windows 8 only beat Windows 7 on startup and shutdown times; they both are equal while you're using them.

So no, Win8 isn't that impressive speaking from a user standpoint. I may end up getting it to revive my really old computer and give it to my mom or someone else who isn't computer savvy, but for me, I'm happy with my Win7/Ubuntu dual boot for now.

Who in the flying fuck cares?

Microsoft. They care because they see Apple in their nightmares taunting them over their shitty phone OS.

Windows 8 is looking to be just another proof of the Windows release cycle of "Shit-Okay-Shit-Okay-Shit"

Not quite. It goes:

Windows 3.1-Good
Windows 95-Bad
Windows 98-Bad
Windows 98 SE-Good
Windows ME-Piece of shit
Windows 2000-Most stable OS at release
Windows XP-Shit at first...
Windows XP SP1-...Then the most stable after Win2000
Windows Vista-Really bad (not ME levels)
Windows Vista SP1-Passable (still pretty shit)
Windows 7-Excellent

Who in the hell even asked for a damn app store for Windows?

Microsoft. Once again, Microsoft is damn scared of Apple.

People will be perfectly capable of buying games the same way they used to, unless Microsoft chooses to ban all other methods of game acquisition, which seems a wee bit nlikely

People are panicking because they seem to be going in that direction. When and if this appears in Win9, that'll be the day when I throw out my computer and start living in the Dark Age of Technology.

OT you say? That was the OT. Specifically the last paragraph.

 

[drthmik]

WHY did I spend the time reading this?
I use a Mac!

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

WHY did I spend the time reading this?
I use a Mac!

To laugh at Microsoft's stupidity?

Edit: That's why I read articles like this.

 

[Megacherv]

GAH! All the Windows 8 ignorance is driving me mental! The Marketplace will be for 'app-style' games, because it's simply an app store, it's not a competitor to Steam or Origin or whatever.

GAH!

 

[CaptainKoala]

Since you can still install Steam and Origin on a Win8 computer, this story isn't worth the web space it's taking up.

/thread right there.

Seriously, anybody who thinks that a game not showing up on the Windows Store is going to have a profound effect on it's sales is delusional.

 

[munx13]

I guess MS just gave up on trying to compete with Steam.

 

[nodlimax]

GAH! All the Windows 8 ignorance is driving me mental! The Marketplace will be for 'app-style' games, because it's simply an app store, it's not a competitor to Steam or Origin or whatever.

GAH!

Did you read the comments at all? It's not only about the store.

Windows 8 is a useless piece of software. No one needs it. MS can try again with Win9, but Win8 won't be successfull (except for the forced marketing through new PCs). Even from a business point of view Windows 8 is useless. Of the people I know only 1 really wants Windows 8. All the others want to keep using Windows 7 or WinXP (yes, there are even people still using XP)

 

[Monsterfurby]

Dude, Gates has been out of Microsoft's shoes for years. If you want to blame someone, blame Steve Ballmer. Gate is far too busy running poker tournaments and donating money for cancer and polio research to care.

Which is precisely why I said "Bill Gates would be turning in his grave - if he had one" - it's not that he is to blame but that those currently running the company he has built are prone to decisions that might just damage it more than they help.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Dude, Gates has been out of Microsoft's shoes for years. If you want to blame someone, blame Steve Ballmer. Gate is far too busy running poker tournaments and donating money for cancer and polio research to care.

Which is precisely why I said "Bill Gates would be turning in his grave - if he had one" - it's not that he is to blame but that those currently running the company he has built are prone to decisions that might just damage it more than they help.

Oh - well, my apologies, then. I must've misinterpreted you.

You're right, though. Seeing Microsoft turn into this protectionist, controlling and fearful... thing it's turning into scares me. It scares me as a console and PC gamer, and it scares me as an everyday user of productivity tools.

I mean, the nineties saw the birth of the "Microsoft is Evil!" trope, but honestly? I miss those days where the most crooked thing Redmond's guys did was break antitrust laws. Now, they're poised to turn copyright into a debilitating concept rather than a means to get the artists and developers paid, and they're holding back on content just to appease the impressionable masses who look at an M-rated game and think "Won't you please think of the CHILDREN?!"

The average gamer is in his thirties, now. I think it's fairly safe to assume that for some of us, the medium turning as a means to get our freak on is inevitable. Microsoft is only denying itself a decent market share for the sake of appeasing some of its right-wing supporters.

 

[RicoADF]

Did you read the comments at all? It's not only about the store.

Windows 8 is a useless piece of software. No one needs it. MS can try again with Win9, but Win8 won't be successfull (except for the forced marketing through new PCs). Even from a business point of view Windows 8 is useless. Of the people I know only 1 really wants Windows 8. All the others want to keep using Windows 7 or WinXP (yes, there are even people still using XP)

Have you used Windows 8 yourself yet?

EDIT: Typo

 

[nodlimax]

Havw you used Windows 8 yourself yet?

Why should I? I usually inform myself about software (What's new? What has been enhanced? and so on). Up until now I have seen one or two minor enhancements related to the task manager. The only thing that got me excited was that the hardware sound was supposed to be back. But this stuff isn't enough to make me pay 100? for this.

So you're asking me if I have used Win8. Have you used it? If yes, then tell what's so "awesome" about this OS compared to Win7 that I need to buy this?

I just want to state again that I only switched from WinXP to Win7 for practical reasons (see previous posts). I don't buy stuff just so I have new stuff. If there isn't a practical reason I won't buy (yeah I know that makes me a bad "consumer" - but i'd rather consider myself a thinking customer).

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Yes, because only children use computers. I understand wanting to put in parental protections that would allow parents to keep their kids from buying certain games. I do not understand taking games off the market because... why?

 

[Callate]

Ah, so Windows 8 bundles an online software marketplace competitor in with its operating system. Joy! (And possibly lawsuits.)

It's sort of perversely amusing to observe the increasing number of markets in which Microsoft's game plan seems to be not just to be an also-ran, but an also-also-ran. Games For Windows, Zune, tablets, cell phones...

 

[Megacherv]

Havw you used Windows 8 yourself yet?

Why should I? I usually inform myself about software (What's new? What has been enhanced? and so on). Up until now I have seen one or two minor enhancements related to the task manager. The only thing that got me excited was that the hardware sound was supposed to be back. But this stuff isn't enough to make me pay 100? for this.

So you're asking me if I have used Win8. Have you used it? If yes, then tell what's so "awesome" about this OS compared to Win7 that I need to buy this?

I just want to state again that I only switched from WinXP to Win7 for practical reasons (see previous posts). I don't buy stuff just so I have new stuff. If there isn't a practical reason I won't buy (yeah I know that makes me a bad "consumer" - but i'd rather consider myself a thinking customer).

Ahh, you see, I have, and still do. It's only a £25 upgrade, and it runs much better than Win7. There'll be a fair more programs becoming Metro apps because it's easier to get your program promoted and out to users.