Gears of War Ultimate Edition Suddenly Available on PC

[shrekfan246]

The 8300 and 9300 line of octacore AMD processors are pretty good, though. You wouldn't necessarily have had to go with one of their APUs. But I understand what you were saying before. I was under the impression you were saying you couldn't pair an AMD GPU with an Intel CPU.

And realistically, the top-of-the-line i7's do benchmark higher for single core performance.

Ah, yeah, I could do that for desktops but it was just too expensive for the power that I ideally wanted to have. I knew I'd have to settle for "pretty good" in the GPU segment anyway, I didn't want to also compromise on the CPU. I have a first-gen i7 at the moment, the thought of jumping to a sixth-gen one was far too tantalizing for me to pass up.

(Were it me though, I would have dropped just a little more dosh so I could nab the 390. It benchmarks a lot better than the 380's.)

Unfortunately, in my current situation that wasn't really an option either way. As it stands I spent literally all of my money bar $10 on the PC.

The sad thing is, their push for more exclusive control via Live and the Store is being masked behind their promises of "wanting to embrace PC gaming and unite all gamers in what they love." Even sadder, people are buying into it.

Hard to trust Microsoft when they claim to be embracing the culture of PC gaming by forcing a walled garden platform on us.

Yeah, I was skeptical of their "embracing PC" rhetoric the moment they started tossing it out there. If this is what they have to show for it so far, I'm not impressed.

They still have the chance to win me over by releasing Halo 1-3 + Reach on PC, though.

 

[Janichsan]

In contrast to most other DD game stores? Most others don't openly disclose their inner dealings either.

Actually, pretty much every other major digital distribution platform is very open with their terms: we know precisely what revenue share for instance Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, or GOG demand, what conditions they have if you want to use their platform and what exclusivity demands they have (usually none). We know nothing like this for Steam.

 

[votemarvel]

The Steam monopoly idea comes from that so many people have the mentality of "if it's not on Steam then I'm not buying it." I know people like that in real life.

One of my friends loves Mass Effect 1 and 2 but refuses to play Mass Effect 3 because it is not on Steam. Steam to him is the only option.

There seems to be more and more people with this train of thought all the time.

That's not Steam's fault and there isn't really anything they can (or indeed should) do about it.

I mean, I've seen that mentality every now and then myself, but that has nothing to do with how Valve runs the platform. They haven't (as far as I'm aware) run out other companies that have tried doing what they do.

It's not a Valve thing but rather they have somehow engendered such loyalty that folk won't even consider going elsewhere for their games.

I just don't get how. Valve are hardly consumer champions. I could understand such loyalty to GoG, where prices are about the same as on Steam and they'll add regional price difference to your account (if it is higher) as credit to be used for future purchases. All with no DRM requirement.

Because you can run Mass Effect 3 through Steam and maintain all the features that it provides.

Not really. You can get your friends list, but that's true regardless of whether you're launching them game through Steam or not. You don't get any of the other integrated features.

As an example, the Steam Overlay doesn't always work with non-Steam games. Especially if, say, you launch a game through Origin. Origin's overlay overrides Steam's.

The Steam overlay works and the screenshot function too, even if you use Origin. I've shown my friend this.

You either add Origin to Steam, launch that and then ME3, which enables the Steam overlay, screenshots etc. Or you can 'fix' ME3 so that it doesn't require Origin and add it directly to Steam, with again the same features as before.

Doesn't matter to him though. He can't buy it from Steam and that's all that matters. Some people take loyalty to businesses too far.

 

[Vigormortis]

Actually, pretty much every other major digital distribution platform is very open with their terms: we know precisely what revenue share for instance Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, or GOG demand, what conditions they have if you want to use their platform and what exclusivity demands they have (usually none). We know nothing like this for Steam.

Do we? I guess I concede the point, then.

Can you show me a list of those terms? Specifically for the game DD platforms like GOG, Origin, etc? I'd greatly appreciate it. I've been curious for some time. Plus, I might have something to host up on GOG in the near future, so knowing what to expect before hand would be nice.

The Steam overlay works and the screenshot function too, even if you use Origin. I've shown my friend this.

You either add Origin to Steam, launch that and then ME3, which enables the Steam overlay, screenshots etc. Or you can 'fix' ME3 so that it doesn't require Origin and add it directly to Steam, with again the same features as before.

It can work, but you can't really utilize both. And, in general, the Origin overlay overrides the Steam overlay when games are running through Origin.

Don't know why you're arguing this. I didn't say it 'never' works.

Doesn't matter to him though. He can't buy it from Steam and that's all that matters. Some people take loyalty to businesses too far.

Why is it "loyalty to a business" by default? Why can't it just be a preference in platform and community?

Why are you so determined to make it all into 'blind Valve fanboyism'?

 

[Vigormortis]

Ah, yeah, I could do that for desktops but it was just too expensive for the power that I ideally wanted to have. I knew I'd have to settle for "pretty good" in the GPU segment anyway, I didn't want to also compromise on the CPU. I have a first-gen i7 at the moment, the thought of jumping to a sixth-gen one was far too tantalizing for me to pass up.

Understandable.

Unfortunately, in my current situation that wasn't really an option either way. As it stands I spent literally all of my money bar $10 on the PC.

Ouch. Gonna be pinching pennies for a while, huh?

Yeah, I was skeptical of their "embracing PC" rhetoric the moment they started tossing it out there. If this is what they have to show for it so far, I'm not impressed.

They still have the chance to win me over by releasing Halo 1-3 + Reach on PC, though.

If they threw in Crackdown, Halo: Wars, the full Gears of War series, and ODST, they might curry some favor from me.

Maybe.

Possibly.

It's a toss up.

 

[votemarvel]

The Steam overlay works and the screenshot function too, even if you use Origin. I've shown my friend this.

You either add Origin to Steam, launch that and then ME3, which enables the Steam overlay, screenshots etc. Or you can 'fix' ME3 so that it doesn't require Origin and add it directly to Steam, with again the same features as before.

It can work, but you can't really utilize both. And, in general, the Origin overlay overrides the Steam overlay when games are running through Origin.

Don't know why you're arguing this. I didn't say it 'never' works.

Because I am referring to a specific game, not all games. I've been talking about Mass Effect 3 the entire time and how my friend refuses to play it because it's not on Steam.

Quite simple really.

Doesn't matter to him though. He can't buy it from Steam and that's all that matters. Some people take loyalty to businesses too far.

Why is it "loyalty to a business" by default? Why can't it just be a preference in platform and community?

Why are you so determined to make it all into 'blind Valve fanboyism'?

Because the platform in this case is the PC, Steam/Valve is the business. He's not refusing to game on the platform, he's insisting on buying only from one business.

There is no reason my friend could not play Mass Effect 3 within the community of Steam, none at all.

 

[Vigormortis]

Because I am referring to a specific game, not all games. I've been talking about Mass Effect 3 the entire time and how my friend refuses to play it because it's not on Steam.

Quite simple really.

And I was referring to the Overlay in general. Your counter argument made it sound as though I was saying the Overlay never worked. I said no such thing.

It was simple. Your comment made it complicated.

Because the platform in this case is the PC, Steam/Valve is the business. He's not refusing to game on the platform, he's insisting on buying only from one business.

There is no reason my friend could not play Mass Effect 3 within the community of Steam, none at all.

Perhaps he doesn't want to support EA's platform? Maybe he's had bad experiences with Origin?

I can't say. Either way, it's his choice.

Regardless, what does any of this have to do with the larger picture? Even if he refuses to buy the game, what effect does his choice have on the situation as a whole?

I keep hearing that an alarming number of people refuse to buy games unless those games are on Steam. I'll grant that I've seen some people say such things, but it appears that the vast majority of PC gamers don't hold that mentality.

Were it true, games that released solely on Origin, GOG, or independently wouldn't be financially viable. Yet, this hasn't been the case.

 

[Janichsan]

Can you show me a list of those terms? Specifically for the game DD platforms like GOG, Origin, etc? I'd greatly appreciate it. I've been curious for some time. Plus, I might have something to host up on GOG in the near future, so knowing what to expect before hand would be nice.

Sure: Here's the GOG submission page [https://www.gog.com/indie] with most of the conditions. I'm pretty sure I have also seen a more detailed official page that included the rest of the information (like the revenue share), but I can't find that in the few minutes times I have right now. These infos are publicly available elsewhere [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-20-gog-to-rival-steam-greenlight-with-new-indie-submission-service], too, though.

These are the terms for the Humble Store [https://support.humblebundle.com/hc/en-us/articles/202742080-Humble-Store-FAQ-For-Developers], Apple [https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/mac/], Microsoft [https://dev.windows.com/en-us/publish] (anything but concise?), and Amazon [https://developer.amazon.com/appsandservices/support/legal/da], .

Origin's link [http://www.ea.com/publishyourgame] to their terms unfortunately leads to a 404 page, and Ubisoft's Uplay doesn't seem offer any information on this. I have to add that these two are the only other two major game outlets besides Steam for which I think that I have never seen or read anything about their terms.

 

[Vigormortis]

Can you show me a list of those terms? Specifically for the game DD platforms like GOG, Origin, etc? I'd greatly appreciate it. I've been curious for some time. Plus, I might have something to host up on GOG in the near future, so knowing what to expect before hand would be nice.

Sure: Here's the GOG submission page [https://www.gog.com/indie] with most of the conditions. I'm pretty sure I have also seen a more detailed official page that included the rest of the information (like the revenue share), but I can't find that in the few minutes times I have right now. These infos are publicly available elsewhere [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-20-gog-to-rival-steam-greenlight-with-new-indie-submission-service], too, though.

These are the terms for the Humble Store [https://support.humblebundle.com/hc/en-us/articles/202742080-Humble-Store-FAQ-For-Developers], Apple [https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/mac/], Microsoft [https://dev.windows.com/en-us/publish] (anything but concise?), and Amazon [https://developer.amazon.com/appsandservices/support/legal/da], .

Origin's link [http://www.ea.com/publishyourgame] to their terms unfortunately leads to a 404 page, and Ubisoft's Uplay doesn't seem offer any information on this. I have to add that these two are the only other two major game outlets besides Steam for which I think that I have never seen or read anything about their terms.

Following the GOG link leads to a page, a page I was already aware of, similar to Steam's submission requirement information page. - https://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/FAQ.php (I was hoping you were going to provide more information than I'd already known, given how you implied there was much more to see.)

Moreover, the second GOG link was a Eurogamer article about their new indie game service, not an info page from CDProjekt. It offered almost no concrete information, save for saying the service offered a similar revenue split as Steam offers on it's titles.

As for the other links, they're a mix of vague (like the first two) to excruciatingly specific. So...I'm failing to see how this reinforces your previous point...

 

[Janichsan]

Moreover, the second GOG link was a Eurogamer article about their new indie game service, not an info page from CDProjekt. It offered almost no concrete information, save for saying the service offered a similar revenue split as Steam offers on it's titles.

You didn't notice that the Eurogamer article was referring to exactly the submission page linked before? You didn't notice that I explained why I linked the Eurogamer page? Here's the same info directly from the horse's mouth [https://www.gog.com/news/say_hello_to_gogcomindie], by the way.

As for the other links, they're a mix of vague (like the first two) to excruciatingly specific. So...I'm failing to see how this reinforces your previous point...

Seriously? You don't see the difference between other stores explaining all important details their terms openly (no matter how detailed) and Valve's page that explicitly states for instance "We don't discuss our revenue split publicly"?

I don't think I can help you then.

 

[Vigormortis]

You didn't notice that the Eurogamer article was referring to exactly the submission page linked before? You didn't notice that I explained why I linked the Eurogamer page? Here's the same info directly from the horse's mouth [https://www.gog.com/news/say_hello_to_gogcomindie], by the way.

Which, again, offers nothing the similar Steam submission page doesn't explain.

You still haven't addressed the discrepancy between what you're claiming and what actually is.

Seriously? You don't see the difference between other stores explaining all important details their terms openly (no matter how detailed) and Valve's page that explicitly states for instance "We don't discuss our revenue split publicly"?

I don't think I can help you then.

Did I say that? I don't think I did.

Mmm, nope. Reread my post and I didn't actually say that. In fact, to quote myself:

As for the other links, they're a mix of vague (like the first two) to excruciatingly specific.

I was aware of the specifics of the submission criteria for Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple. My point was that game services similar to Steam (i.e. GOG, Origin, etc) do NOT openly explain the specifics of their submission criteria. They offer the same degree of information as Steam does.

Regardless, this discussion has derailed the thread long enough.