Microsoft, once again, promises to focus more on PC.

[JeanLuc761]

In news that shouldn't surprise anyone, Microsoft has announced that they intend to double down on PC gaming and to "bring some of the rigor thought and success we've had on console to bare in the PC space."

I have to say, I'm getting more than a little tired of these announcements, mostly because they hold so much unfulfilled promise. I've been gaming on PC for the last 16 years and after seeing what Microsoft has done over the last five years or so, I have very little faith in them to actually do what they say. This is, what, the fourth announcement in the last few years that they intend to focus on PC once more? And yet:
- We still don't have Halo 3, ODST or Reach on PC.
- We aren't getting Gears of War 2 or 3 on PC
- Alan Wake, a game that was long proclaimed to be a powerhouse on PC, suddenly shifts focus and becomes an Xbox 360 exclusive (for reasoning that completely smacked of BS)
- Fallout New Vegas is getting Xbox 360 exclusive DLC, while PC is left out in the cold.

And those are just some examples. I don't know about you folks, but I honestly don't care about what Microsoft says they're going to do anymore. Nor will I care until they actually start showing some results.

Source - Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5672254/microsoft-we-are-doubling-down-on-pc-games]

 

[Signa]

Agreed on all points. MS used to make some wickedly cool games (Freelancer) but now their focus is all Xbox and Halo.

 

[Irridium]

You forgot Fable 3.

"We're going to focus on the PC. And we'll use Fable 3 as proof!"

*Fable 3 on the PC has been delayed*

...

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Well if you are tired of listening to their announcements you can just ignore them...

I'd like to see them do better, but it seems they're testing the water a bit right now.
GFWL is going through revamps all the time, and honestly I love the games they're bringing out.

But they do need support... and they amount of people who refuse to try Microsoft because of Steam means they lose money and any real will to make more.

Though I'd love to see them return to a state of superiority.

 

[Zhukov]

I am a little puzzled as to why they bother with these announcements.

 

[JeanLuc761]

Well if you are tired of listening to their announcements you can just ignore them...

I'd like to see them do better, but it seems they're testing the water a bit right now.
GFWL is going through revamps all the time, and honestly I love the games they're bringing out.

But they do need support... and they amount of people who refuse to try Microsoft because of Steam means they lose money and any real will to make more.

Though I'd love to see them return to a state of superiority.

I love the concept of GFWL (achievement integration as well as Xbox friends? Sign me up!), however the execution this far has done nothing to dissuade me from using Steam, which has proven itself to be a far more reliable and superior service.

I would love to see GFWL succeed, but Microsoft is getting into the game far too late to have a chance. What they NEED to do is to stop taking exclusives away from PC, or starting a series and never finishing it (see: Gears of War and Halo)

 

[Woodsey]

They're just doing the rounds again; GfWL was supposed to be their last attempt at "helping/saving" PC gaming, and we all know how that's gone.

They don't understand the market. PC gamers aren't the same as console gamers, so the idea that MS should try and push services - or even games - that are console orientated with no tailoring to the platform is ridiculous.

 

[hawkeye52]

well sort of glad that we dont have halo and gow on the pc since they are good console games (i suppose) but not really looking for that sort of stuff on the pc.

alan wake should have been on pc if advertised so otherwise they have done false advertisement and fallout new vegas should have content for pc since most of its user base will most likely be on pc. also microsoft didnt make or publish new vegas as far as i know so they cant be blamed for that.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

MS just needs to drop the 360 exclusivity bullshit.

Alan Wake on PC, Fable 2 on PC, and all their other 360 exclusives could be on PC.

Just call them "Microsoft Exclusives".

And add a PC version for all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles. And the indie marketplace, too.

 

[JeanLuc761]

MS just needs to drop the 360 exclusivity bullshit.

Alan Wake on PC, Fable 2 on PC, and all their other 360 exclusives could be on PC.

OHH!

And add a PC version for all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles. And the indie marketplace, too.

This really is the major problem here. Microsoft seems to be under the impression that adding Xbox 360 games to PC would somehow hurt them.

 

[Wolfram23]

The good news about Fallout NV is that there's a mod community. Fallout 3 had some awesome mods including all new quest lines and NPCs.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

MS just needs to drop the 360 exclusivity bullshit.

Alan Wake on PC, Fable 2 on PC, and all their other 360 exclusives could be on PC.

OHH!

And add a PC version for all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles. And the indie marketplace, too.

This really is the major problem here. Microsoft seems to be under the impression that adding Xbox 360 games to PC would somehow hurt them.

It's like they are afraid of extra money from PC sales.

My laptop can't run much, but I'd gladly buy PC version of XBLA games. Hell, I bought Braid twice.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I love the concept of GFWL (achievement integration as well as Xbox friends? Sign me up!), however the execution this far has done nothing to dissuade me from using Steam, which has proven itself to be a far more reliable and superior service.

I would love to see GFWL succeed, but Microsoft is getting into the game far too late to have a chance. What they NEED to do is to stop taking exclusives away from PC, or starting a series and never finishing it (see: Gears of War and Halo)

Microsofts story is indeed one full of bad decisions and unfortunate occurrences.

I had a bad experience with Steam from day one yet have had a great experience with GFWL. SO I'm already sold on Microsofts attempt at the PC DRM platform.

I'm not sure about what series they took away from the PC. I saw Alan Wake mentioned earlier in the thread but I wasn't following the development of that so I'm not sure what happened.

I do know that Epic are currently pissed at the PC... not sure why, but I'd say the fact they said they wanted to focus on consoles hasn't helped the Gears of War series kick off on PC.

Halo... I'm not sure what they're doing here. Halo 1 and 2 got ported as we know, but there have been no signs of any later Halo games.
I would assume that since the PC has all the pre-360 Halos that they drafted up a new contract with Bungie. Since the 360 came out that was when Microsoft started focusing mainly on consoles...

So the lack of post-360 Halo ports is probably down to contracts/apathy. Maybe they still will now that 343 is taking over, I'm sure they want to do a lot more with Halo.

Either way I'm looking forward to Age of Empires online.

 

[JeanLuc761]

It's like they are afraid of extra money from PC sales.

My laptop can't run much, but I'd gladly buy PC version of XBLA games. Hell, I bought Braid twice.

And I would gladly re-buy Gears of War 2 and the rest of the Halo series if they put them on PC.

 

[Buizel91]

MS just needs to drop the 360 exclusivity bullshit.

Alan Wake on PC, Fable 2 on PC, and all their other 360 exclusives could be on PC.

Just call them "Microsoft Exclusives".

And add a PC version for all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles. And the indie marketplace, too.

I'd like that, I'm pretty sure it will happen one day, Microsoft always want more money, and that would be a sensible option.

Although the Arcade titles Probably won't see the light of day on PC...well most.

 

[Noobstick]

Uh-uh. They can come back to me once they've managed to make GFWL not suck.
Oh yeah, and it'd be nice if they dropped the concole exclusives and at least tried to port their games right.

What I mean is, talk is cheap and they've done very little so far to deserve my trust. Until then I'll continue to steer well clear of any game they got their hands on. I got burned once by DoW2 and I'm not about to do it again.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

You forgot Fable 3.

"We're going to focus on the PC. And we'll use Fable 3 as proof!"

*Fable 3 on the PC has been delayed*

...

i still dont know if thats a bad thing..HOPEFULLY it means they are making it more oriented to the pc and making it a great game with mod support.

but we will have to see.

 

[Danzaivar]

MS just needs to drop the 360 exclusivity bullshit.

Alan Wake on PC, Fable 2 on PC, and all their other 360 exclusives could be on PC.

OHH!

And add a PC version for all of the Xbox Live Arcade titles. And the indie marketplace, too.

But at that point, why bother with a 360? Games are cheaper for PC and everything!

 

[shadow skill]

People forget that they still need to make the Xbox 360 attractive in terms of the library of games available. Putting everything on PC takes away from that.