Now you will always be gold on games for windows

original post: PCWorld

You know that absence-of-any-news-whatsoever sound (kind of like a tree falling in the woods) that's dogged Microsoft's $50 Games for Windows Live online multiplayer service for PCs? The service much-ballyhooed by Microsoft back in May 2007 with the PC debut of Halo 2, but which pretty much fell off the radar after perquisites like "You mean I have to pay for multiplayer services that used to cost nada?"

Well now it's free. As in no more $50 Gold-tier subscription fee if you're not already an Xbox 360 Gold member. As in no more quibbling about pay-for multiplayer matchmaking, achievements, and cross-platform gameplay.

As in: Bravo, Microsoft.

Let's break that down in case you're not a member, or a member but not entirely clear about the former differences between the service tiers.

Here's what you used to get for free with a "silver" membership:

- Single gamertag
- Common gamer profile
- Common gamerscore
- Single player achievements
- Private chat via text and voice
- Common friends list and online presence
- PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games

Here's what you now get for free, and which previously cost $50 a year with a "gold" membership:

- All Silver membership features
- Multiplayer matchmaking with friends
- TrueSkill matchmaking
- Multiplayer achievements
- Cross-platform gameplay

What else? According to Microsoft, the Games for Windows Live interface should be imminently getting a makeover to no longer resemble a screen-scrapy console hand-me-down. Instead, it'll look like...well, something custom-tailored for a keyboard-'n-mouse PC.

Thank goodness, says me. I've had it up to here trying to navigate console-like interfaces on my PC symptomatic of quick and dirty ports, of having to use a keyboard and mouse to click around button-driven dialogue boxes and swallow spatially snarled layouts designed to look fabulous on an NTSC or PAL TV, but which feel cramped and kludgy on a typically high-res PC monitor.

It sure sounds like Microsoft's finally wising up.

Now we'll just have to see if that wisdom extends bilaterally to the Xbox 360, where dropping the $50 annual "Gold" membership fee would be logical, competitive, and in the absence of a permanent console price drop, timely.