Video: The Horrible Future for Windows Gaming
Looks like Microsoft is bringing the same casual interface to Games for Windows - Live that's currently used on the Xbox 360 console (NXE).
There's a possible dark cloud looming on the horizon, a cloud full of despair and hopelessness that is beginning to circulate across the PC gaming community. Its name is the "Windows Gaming Experience," and it may be heading to Games for Windows – Live in the near future.
While the PC side of Microsoft's LIVE network is in dire need of a major overhaul to even come close to what Xbox 360 gamers already experience, the proposed change is not quite what we expected.
The looming dread stems from a leaked Microsoft Windows Gaming eXperience (WGE) internal video pasted below. If the three-plus minute clip is indeed real, Microsoft is bringing the exact same watered-down casual experience that infiltrated the Xbox 360 back in November 2008: aka the New Xbox Experience. Although the new interface brought major improvements to the Xbox 360, the overall casual appearance "dumbed down" the console, made it more "general" than "hardcore," essentially mimicking Nintendo and its Mii setup on the Wii console.
Now it seems the same casual interface is heading to the Games for Windows – Live client. In the video pasted below, Microsoft opens up the demo with Farmville and then switches over to an American Idol contest hosted by the "Idol Moms Group." The video then transitions into Avatar customizations, displaying a message that the Avatar "represents my style, attitude, and character. I can see and personalize my Avatar on the web, my PC, or while playing a game."
This of course means gamers will have the ability to purchase clothes from Microsoft's virtual Avatar shop using Microsoft points, just like Xbox 360 gamers. At the moment, PC gamers can only purchase games and DLC within the client.
The leaked video progresses into another aspect of the new interface: Bing. Apparently the search engine will be incorporated into the client, allowing the user to search for "Bejeweled" and see that 2674 people are currently playing the popular casual game. The user can then search for something similar that's already been rated by friends, and then select it to play.
The actual core gamers aren't represented in the demo until the very end in the portion called "transaction." The core gamer is shown to be slacking off at work and receives a desktop notification from a friend currently playing Battlefield 2. To help out, the "working" gamer purchases a better weapon and sends it to the player who in turn shows his gratitude by insulting us all by misspelling "pwn3d." That in itself is a perfect example of the looming dark cloud rising in the horizon for Windows-based PC gamers.
Ultimately the leaked Microsoft video was broken down into four main components: Social, Identity, Search and Transaction. "The future of PC gaming is upon us," Microsoft claims in the video. "The question is, who will lead and who will follow? Are you ready to change the world? We are."
Welcome to the new (cartoony) Windows Gaming eXperience. Release date? Hopefully never in this form.
seriously pc isn't a console and will never cater to the same crowd. think of something better. some awesome desktop kinect integration, minority report style? i wouldn't mind a casual game or two that lets me flail my arms around... while im sitting down of course, i think it would be fun to play whilst inebriated
...for steam.
Bad PR Microsoft, Bad.
Beware, I think there is a troll about.
AOEonline is a Games for Window Live only game. Quite a departure from the first three AOE titles. Definitely targets at younger, up and coming crowd. The market has saturated serious gamers. Now devlopers are trying to attract everyone else. I like the idea of your personal avatar being the actual in-game character.
Now is this good for the PC? I don't think so. Steam does a great job replicating the same functionality with their client, sans avatars. The PC market is a much different environment from the console one. Just give us a fast and intuitive interface, and we'll love it.
remember the first ui for the 360? i loved that because everything was easy to find, you had to have serious mental problems to not be abler to find things, and every update has gotten progressively worse. you know what its like to have someone 10 years yonger than you have to show you how to start a damn game and where demos are located because you just give up? sense the most recent update i went to ps3 exclusively, because i wont put up with that crap any more.
if this crap ever takes off and "hardcore" is a dead term, ill just put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger.