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Microsoft to Focus on PC gaming.

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  • SuperFranky
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    SuperFranky polycounter lvl 10
    They say it every year.
  • Hristo Rusanov
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    Hristo Rusanov polycounter lvl 7
    I hope its not Games for Windows live 2.0.

    Btw they can start with Halo 4 port for PC.I wouldnt mind that.
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    Deju Vu. I must have heard the same speech year after year. I'll believe it when I see it.

    As long as the Xbox is around, there never gonna treat PC gaming seriously.

    There just getting scared now with the Steam Boxes coming and taking not just customers from Direct X, but from Windows as well if SteamOS takes off.
  • iniside
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    iniside polycounter lvl 6
    Who cares ?
    And more over, who believe that ?
  • AlexCatMasterSupreme
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    AlexCatMasterSupreme interpolator
    You guys make me sad, what if.:c
  • Anchang-Style
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    Anchang-Style polycounter lvl 7
    Wonder if the Forza DX12 Demo was a "Teaser"? ...probably not...
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    Wonder if the Forza DX12 Demo was a "Teaser"? ...probably not...

    Well it looks like they already had the PC version up before the intro of DX12, because the pre-release shots of Forza look much better than the Forza they released.

    I can see them pulling another Halo 2 for PC here. Forza released for PC, but requires DX12, which in turn also requires Windows 8.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    They say it every year.

    They say it every year.... and then a couple of months later do something the exact opposite of PC-centric.

    Like killing off GFWL next month and letting developers scramble to fix their years-old games so that people who bought them can actually play them.
  • AlexCatMasterSupreme
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    AlexCatMasterSupreme interpolator
    >games for windows live

    Killing that off is a good thing.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    I've never understood the hate for GFWL. I own many games that required GFWL including Gears of War 1 which was supposedly "one of the worst" and I have never encountered a single issue with it. The closest thing to a problem I noticed was the fact that after an update to GFWL, the UI started getting incredibly slow whenever you opened it (only for Gears of War 1 I think) but even then it wasn't really a big deal.

    It seems like most of the hate for the service comes from people who say that everything other than Steam is shit. The same goes for Origin and UPlay, why the hate? I like Steam as much as the next guy, but I'd rather not have software monopolies exist, and Steam has it's own set of problems.

    Microsoft has excellent customer service and over the years they have given me a variety of different things for free for simply having a limited amount of trouble with their software. They gave me a free copy of Windows 8 Professional, a free copy of Halo 2 for PC, and when they accidentally billed me for 2 years of xbox live, they gave me a full refund, plus 6 free months of xbox live, plus $25 in microsoft points to buy a free game.

    EA also has excellent customer service, I remember buying Battlefield 3 at launch and was unable to download the game due to the servers being overloaded or something, so the representative apologized and gave me a free EA published game of my choice to make up for the long wait (he was also a Battlefield fan.)

    With Steam support, I get shafted every single time lol.

    Anyway, Microsoft hinted at a service that will replace GFWL a few months back and I'm quite excited for it actually. Microsoft coming back to help PC gamers will also likely mean that we will see some previous console exclusives, become available on the PC. I've got my fingers crossed for a Gears of War 2 PC and a Halo 3 PC.

    Of course given the fact that a lot of the core members of the GoW team seemed to have left Epic, and the fact that Bungie no longer makes Halo games, I'm sure we'll see something else, if anything :(
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    GFWL is shit for a number of reasons, but my main gripes for me, was the way it handled patches, you had to start the game, sign in, download the update, quit, run the installer, relaunch, sign back in, download the next patch, rinse and repeat if the game add multiple patches that weren't "full" patches.

    Also the invite options were crap at best, can only invite from certain areas of the game.

    The game takes CD-Keys even if when you entered a wrong username/password then decides to tell you you username/password was incorrect.

    It was constantly signing me out in a few games, may as well not have had a "Sign me in Automatically" function.

    I could go on! and on! and on!

    I certainly don't wanna see another GFWL 2.0 from them, why they abandon that in a few years and risk having more of my games library not working.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Not only do I not believe them, but I'm convinced that they've thoroughly missed this particular boat. Microsoft had every opportunity to re-assert themselves as the dominant force in the PC space for more than a decade. Instead they chased after the XBox console brand. At this point, they have little chance of surmounting the platform-agnostic lead that the hyper-efficient Valve has established.

    The digital-distribution landscape is one of constant change and adaptation. Microsoft is a monolithic dinosaur of a company, and is ill-suited for rapid change. Valve has been built from the ground up to be able to react and iterate rapidly to it's user-base. Microsoft's mis-management of their obvious PC-gaming advantage left the door open for a smaller company to waltz in and take over. Now it's too late for them to turn things around.

    Direct X 12 won't be here until the end of 2015, and it won't be available on any platform that Microsoft doesn't control. Too little, too late.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    With GTA IV it was Steam + GFWL + Rockstar Games Social Club. Any extra layer of DRM or account logins after Steam is annoying, unless the game itself needs online accounts.
  • roosterMAP
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    roosterMAP polycounter lvl 12
    I don't believe them. Microsoft has done a really good job to alienating the PC market.

    I would love to see Halo or Gears on PC, but I know its never gonna happen. Microsoft would much rather see us just switch to the xbox... which I would do, if they had a mouse and keyboard for it.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    I'll admit the UI wasn't great (although once you enter your key and sign in for the first time it ceases to become an issue since it just automatically signs in.)

    All of the GFWL games I've played have been so low in population to the point where it didn't really matter if you could invite somebody or not since there were always only 4-5 lobbies to join if you manually searched for a match. The exception being GoWPC back around its launch where there were hundreds, if not thousands of people playing at once.

    I see competition as being a good thing though, when companies are competing for our dollars then we end up getting nice new things, and from the sound of this announcement, the "new things" will be PC games that were previously console exclusives.

    As for GFWL getting destroyed and losing games in the process, I wouldn't really hold that against Microsoft considering the customer is the one who runs the company out of business, not the other way around.

    It just seems like a shitty UI is a small price to pay for getting to play some cool new games, especially those which were previously console exclusives since some of the best games of all time end up being console exclusives. It's not like somebody has to get rid of Steam to use GFWL, it's just another platform, kind of like switching between an Xbox 360 and a PS3 in your living room.

    This and this makes me cringe every time I see it, and I see it pretty damn frequently on the Steam forums. In the case of this game, you make a purchase on Steam, enter a CD key to bind the game into an EA account, then you can continue playing on Steam without ever having to deal with EA, Origin, etc. again. In fact, I actually tested it, but with that particular game you can just close the "enter CD key" screen and the game will still launch lol.

    I just don't get this mentality is all, don't people want more options? It's like anything that isn't "blessed" by Lord Gaben's saliva is automatically trash.

    EDIT: Oh, forgot the classic forum post where this guy that didn't even own the game was claiming that he couldn't launch the game on Steam because it required a CD Key authentication. Seems like the thread got deleted though.
  • WarrenM
    ZacD wrote: »
    With GTA IV it was Steam + GFWL + Rockstar Games Social Club. Any extra layer of DRM or account logins after Steam is annoying, unless the game itself needs online accounts.
    I'm looking at you, UPlay.
  • oXYnary
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    oXYnary polycounter lvl 18
    I hated gfwl because the saves were locked locally to your account on that PC. If I rebuilt the system or wanted to move to another computer, I would have to use a convoluted way to go into hidden directories to get th saves and move them, rename them, and then move to another hidden folder.


    Its one of the reasons I have never finished BatmanAA. Which if they are no shutting down the service, I may never get to. :(

    Will go and read the article, but is the focus on Windows Store games? I.E. Touchscreen types.

    As far as low level access of dx12. Honestly it will only be a game changer if opengl doesnt come up with an alternative.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    oXYnary wrote: »
    I hated gfwl because the saves were locked locally to your account on that PC. If I rebuilt the system or wanted to move to another computer, I would have to use a convoluted way to go into hidden directories to get th saves and move them, rename them, and then move to another hidden folder.


    Its one of the reasons I have never finished BatmanAA. Which if they are no shutting down the service, I may never get to. :(

    Will go and read the article, but is the focus on Windows Store games? I.E. Touchscreen types.

    As far as low level access of dx12. Honestly it will only be a game changer if opengl doesnt come up with an alternative.

    I believe Batman AA moved over to Steamworks in an update. It's definitely worth finishing if you like Batman, or other kinds of action games.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Yeah, a few companies have moved games to Steamworks, others have DRM-free patches now.

    Many will simply stop working though :/
  • Kraftwerk
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    Kraftwerk polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah will so happen TOTALLY believe them... but seriously it their fault PC development in general declined over the last years and it needs Valve and Steam OS, a new awakened OpenGL and Mantle to make them realize that one of the reasons they have their shitty monopoly are games.

    I hope Mantle, OpenGL and SteamOS/Linux will kick their asses of the planet so things can develop again, like when Firefox wiped the floor with the IE.
  • Mark Dygert
    Is this the 3rd or 4th time?

    I don't think they have the conviction to make it happen and more importantly I don't think they even know how to pull it off. I would love for them to prove me wrong but their track record and their profit motivation (sell console games) make it really hard for me to believe them.
  • Computron
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    Computron polycounter lvl 7
    Halo 3 on steam please.
  • Alphavader
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    Alphavader polycounter lvl 11
    Microsoft lost the war of xbox vs Playstation.
    With Windows 8 and maybe Directx 12 they focus more on pc.
    Iam open minded on that - let them be - would be
    very nice to see actually good things happen under microsoft
    contracts. There so many layoffs the past months -
    just good that they focus on new things and get some open
    positions.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Even though I don't think Microsoft will be able to make any serious inroads against Valve, I have no objection to them trying. As has been pointed out, competition is better for the industry. If Valve didn't have other companies nipping at their heels, just waiting to spring on any weakness they perceived, Valve would be much more tempted to abuse their current position. A little healthy competition from Microsoft will help to keep Valve lean and hungry, and that's ultimately better for the consumer and the industry at large.

    So while I have little faith that Microsoft will be able to reclaim the position in the PC gaming space they once enjoyed, I applaud them for the attempt. Let's all hope they make a decent go at it.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    I applaud them for the attempt.

    What attempt? The last 3-4 times they've said the same thing, they've actually systematically cut back their PC market stuff.
  • NegevPro
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    NegevPro polycounter lvl 4
    ambershee wrote: »
    What attempt? The last 3-4 times they've said the same thing, they've actually systematically cut back their PC market stuff.
    Well to be fair, things have changed since the last 3-4 times they've made a claim like this. The xbox has lost market dominance to the playstation and PC gaming has gotten much bigger in the last few years, to name a few changes.
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    But PC Gaming is dead! :P
  • weee
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    weee polycounter lvl 3
    although x360 is considered successful, they should have focused on PC platform long before that, warp out something like steam box, with their occupying living room strategy and backed with a API like Mantle, now they seem to want to go back, it is a long way around, but not really late, now some of us see console is a dying breed instead of PC and i think steam os might be a brilliant idea.
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