If it's not on Steam, I don't want it.
Games for Windows - Live
Concept »
Microsoft's PC branch of its Live service. Lends the same functionality as Xbox Live Gold to Games For Windows games including cross-platform compatibility for achievements, friends & messages, downloadable content, and in some cases, multiplayer.
Microsoft Bringing Games For Windows To The Web Next Month
Unless there are some steep discounts and you can re-download your games for free, Microsoft won't be getting my business.
" wut? This makes no sense. Steam IS a web-based system. The client is pretty much a Webkit based browser with a bunch of other useful stuff built in to make gaming BETTER - voice chat, text chat, groups, etc. Pretty much a specialized "browser". The DRM is going to be the only thing I care about. If there is a method for resale or if it's actually DRM-free I'll switch over. "The Steam store is merely a webpage but you're forced to using their client to play the games you buy. With this you would just buy it off the webpage, download the .exe, and play from your desktop without the use of anything else. They're going with the Good ol Games model as opposed to the steam model.
but I LIKE the Steam client. I just pre-purchased Black Ops and it is in my games library right now. I really don't want to save executables and game files to my downloads folder because it would get messy. Steam solves all that and makes it very easy to open up your games, or re-download games from your list of purchased games.
I love how people are claiming Microsoft is too late. It's not like the PC gaming scene is something rapidly changing like the smartphone race. It's pretty much been the same for the past 10 years, despite the transition to digital.
Anything they do to improve their service will help PC gaming as a whole
" The navigation bar at the top is EXACTLY like GoG. I'm pretty sure it's using the same font. "
same colors too, but that's probably all some boring web 2.0 standard.
I preferred it back in the 90's when all web sites had unique, if often hilariously ugly designs.
While i theory a god idea Steam will win because of long time happy clients, Able to get good deals first and cheap prices
If Microsoft really wants this to be successful, they'll have to take a page from Valve's marketing strategy and have some CRAZY sales over the holiday season.
In other words....HI WE'RE FROM MS AND WE WANT TO TELL YOU ABOUT OUR WONDERFUL PRODUCT CALLED SILVERLIGHT.
@Tuffgong:
More options = good thing - agreed
Potential console exclusives coming to the PC = yay - if that ever appens, MS have a long track record of ignoring the PC platform in favour of Xbox exclusives
Adding achievements to PC versions of games = double yay - there are already steam achievements, remember that MS have not said anything about achievements yet and it was their decisions in the past to do nothing with that on GFWL
Promoting more digital sales for both MS platforms = woo - agreed, hopefully it will also promote more Steam sales too
Hmm, suprising amount of people appear to be positive about this.
MS has tried (and failed) to take control of the pc gaming market before, with its ludicrous GFWL titles that asked you to pay to play multiplayer.
Do people not remember the past MS cockups?
This service will IMO not be as good as people think, look at all the ridicules xbox live pricing that goes on for starters, dont expect much different in the new pc store.
While i like gaining achievements, the whole GFWL DRM thing is utterly shocking, people having to beg MS for another activation key, only to be told "this is your last one"
Some people could not even get a key from support.
And the support seams sketchy at best, last time i checked, it was basically forum users dishing out the second hand support, loads of misinformation being thrown about.
I can use a 360 wired controller IN GFWL titles, cool!
I can plug a wired 360 headset into the controller, but the volume is toooo low, this is because "the headset is not supported" ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
More like the GFWL client is tripe.
It works fine in teamspeak with its adjustable sound sliders.
The GFW forums were full of this kind of stuff last time i checked (over a year ago though)
When MS turned off support for all the old xbox games and people could no longer access any dlc, it made me change my spending habbits quite a bit, it is now pretty rare that i purchase DLC from the live marketplace, and i hold the same reservations about the current and new PC marketplace.
I really dont mind the steam client at all, in fact i have 74 games (yet i have never paid full price for any of them :p ) :) it appears to be a pretty sweet setup and i always check it for deals, i just can not see myself wanting to split my games collection over 2 different setups.
Especially when the new kid on the block has such a "gash" stigma attached to it.
" Better late then never...Right? "In this case,no. Impulse,in a lot of ways a better service than Steam, hasn't managed to beat Steam. Why? Because Steam has been around for fucking ages!
I think Steam's dominance has more to do with Steamworks games and exclusive games like Civ 5, Fallout NV, Call of Duty Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2, Half-Life 2, TF2, etc etc. and an overall larger library than Impulse's. MW2 alone was probably a huge contributer to active Steam users last year." @Chibi_Kaji said:
" Better late then never...Right? "In this case,no. Impulse,in a lot of ways a better service than Steam, hasn't managed to beat Steam. Why? Because Steam has been around for fucking ages! "
I think GFWM will have a chance if they have a few heavy hitters like Fable 3 and some nice frequent deals like Steam.
" This is a little too late.. I don't see people abandoning Steam to use this, instead. "I don't think you have to abandon it. I might use this for Microsoft-published games that wouldn't show up on Steam anyway. Hell, I paid for games through EA's shitty digital service where they charged you an extra six bucks just to be able to download again in six months. This sounds like it could at least be better than that.
No thanks, i am not a fan of digital download, i prefer hard copies.
If it's a game that can ONLY be obtained via digital download i would consider it, most likely i would just play it at a friends because im not a fan of the DD medium and i wish it would die in a fire, like 3D.
I'd rather use Google Chrome than wait around for their desktop client to load each marketplace item. It's not like I don't like the metro theme, I just hate waiting.
I give them credit for sticking with GFW. but Steam is so far ahead in the PC game market I can't see anyone touching them soon. Their catalog is just too limited.
I don't understand the dislike for Steam and other download services, my DVD drive died in June and I didn't replace it until this month (despite the fact that the replacement drive was within arm's reach).
I tried to download the installer for Amnesia recently, but my internet connection was crap - I don't think it was Frictional Game's fault, lots of stuff wasn't working. I typed the registration code into Steam and downloaded it from them instead.
I always end up throwing game boxes out anyway, too much stuff.
It will be hard to beat Steam with this. I applaud Microsoft for trying to take on the digital distribution giant, and I think they are moving in the right direction with gaming, but its worth mentioning that Steam has many many flaws at this time including:
- A buggy offline mode. Unless offline mode is explicitly activated while you are online and have games activated, you will not be able to play your games. Plus if Steam decides a game needs to be updated, you cannot play ir regardless of your connection status.
- DRM. The idea that each game is tied to only one account, requires Steam and requires an internet connection to activate is worrying for some users.
- Resource intensive client. I can only think of one similar platform that is even laggier, and that is Xfire.
- DRM. Steam is quite restrictive at times. If Microsoft can reduce the amount of DRM bullshit they place in their downloads, I think more people could flock to GFW:L than Steam. If Microsoft go the opposite direction and add crap like copy protection rootkits or installation limits to their downloads, then GFW:L will fail hard.
- Availability of titles: If they have next to no titles available (i.e. like OnLive has at the moment) then I think people will flock to Steam more. If they do not have third party support, they will falter and Steam will remain on top, guaranteed. I believe it was Steve Ballmer who once said "DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS DEVELOPERS"
- Windows Genuine Advantage. Its annoying, and has been known to mark some people who bought their OS as criminals (either because they bought a copy of Windows which they didn't know was pirated or due to bugs in the system.) If they make WGA a mandatory requirement to download their client/use their service, I think it will put off a lot of people.
- International pricing: I think this is a very crucial consideration for Microsoft and third party developers. Steam (or rather third party developers who decide the game prices) have really fucked over international markets in terms of prices. When a game would cost more in € or $AU than it would in $US or £, then you know you are not getting a fair deal. I don't mean increased prices due to higher taxation on goods, I mean prices going even higher than that.
- Offline mode support.
- Possible cross-platform support. Unlikely as Microsoft are directly competing with the likes of Mac OSX, Linux, Solaris etc plus few PC games are developed for/to include a non-Windows market.
I can imagine a situation where they provide some functions wrapped in a DLL for each developer to authenticate online and provide voice chat and text chat capabilities. It wouldn't be running a client in the Steam sense with it's own window and everything, but it would be running some standard code for their online game platform. Have they said either way?
I guess I'm wondering about the DRM, and they haven't really said either way.
" Hmm, suprising amount of people appear to be positive about this. MS has tried (and failed) to take control of the pc gaming market before, with its ludicrous GFWL titles that asked you to pay to play multiplayer. Do people not remember the past MS cockups? This service will IMO not be as good as people think, look at all the ridicules xbox live pricing that goes on for starters, dont expect much different in the new pc store. While i like gaining achievements, the whole GFWL DRM thing is utterly shocking, people having to beg MS for another activation key, only to be told "this is your last one" Some people could not even get a key from support. And the support seams sketchy at best, last time i checked, it was basically forum users dishing out the second hand support, loads of misinformation being thrown about. I can use a 360 wired controller IN GFWL titles, cool! I can plug a wired 360 headset into the controller, but the volume is toooo low, this is because "the headset is not supported" ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? More like the GFWL client is tripe. It works fine in teamspeak with its adjustable sound sliders. The GFW forums were full of this kind of stuff last time i checked (over a year ago though) When MS turned off support for all the old xbox games and people could no longer access any dlc, it made me change my spending habbits quite a bit, it is now pretty rare that i purchase DLC from the live marketplace, and i hold the same reservations about the current and new PC marketplace. I really dont mind the steam client at all, in fact i have 74 games (yet i have never paid full price for any of them :p ) :) it appears to be a pretty sweet setup and i always check it for deals, i just can not see myself wanting to split my games collection over 2 different setups. Especially when the new kid on the block has such a "gash" stigma attached to it. "No.
I have absolutely zero interest in this. It's too late too the game and is sure to be too convoluted. Like Democracy, Steam is imperfect - but it's the best we have. Great deals, tons of publishers and developers, enormous and expanding catalog, lots of experience under their belt, cross-platform support, and a huge community.
I don't want five digital download service clients and interfaces running on my system all the time. I don't want more passwords and codes and accounts to remember. I don't want to have to remember which game is with which service so I know what to launch through at any given time. I don't want the surely more absurd DRM measures that will be taken (I can't wait for the first "you can download and install this game three times - ever" event through their digital service). Most of all, if it's anything like EA or UBI.... then... UGH. I just fucking hate those services. I can't remember which of 800 different accounts or whatever are tied to what, how to access them, what games I have with them. They are the most ridiculous, absurd, unfriendly pieces of shit, ever.
I just hope Microsoft doesn't forbid any of their properties from continuing to be listed with Steam. I'd rather buy the physical version than trust some shitty Microsoft service, if it came to that choice. Hell, they still haven't gotten their Console garbage sorted out, yet. I have four 360 consoles and I can only have all my licenses on ONE of them and I have to jump through fucking hoops to make sure that I can use my own content on my own consoles throughout my own house as I see fit -- and it's even worse to be able to let other people who live with me have access to that content that they have a right to use (supposedly, though their services interfere with it as much as possible).
The last thing I want is to see that experience spread to the world of PC gaming.
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