News Microsoft: "PC gaming is very important to us"

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/06/23/microsoft-pc-gaming-is-very-important-to-us/1

 

We can only hope the Game studios see it in the same way, which i doubt unfortunately. They can charge more for Console games than they can for PC, so they don't make as much money, shame.

Sam

 

Not necessarily true. Console games cost more because the console hardware manufacturers (Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo) charge a license fee per game which is why they cost more. Because the extra cost goes to the console manufacturers, the developers don't necessarily make more per game although I imagine that they probably sell more copies of console-based games compared to PC-based games.

I'm interested that MS seem to include Flash games in the list - does this mean they're going to try to get people developing games in Silverlight instead? I'd be interested to see what proportion of games are "real" (i.e. non-Flash, non-casual) games?

 

I believe it got to do with age. The generation (25 - 35) has grown up with pc's. The 'now' generation is growing up with consoles. My generation (35-45) is gown up with consoles (atari 2600 etc) and later in early 20's, with pc's.

I must say that I do not spend much time on games the last couple of years compared to when I was 20 to 30.

And maybe the quality of the games has something to do with it to. 10 years back the quality of pc games where much much better then any console. Now the console is just as pretty as a pc game.

 

The gaming community will take a lot more convincing then a "leaked" PR piece.

Mind you, it will be a small step in the right direction if GFW Fable 3 gets a simultaneous release with the Xbox version. I'll believe that when I see it, though.

 

Console games cost the same as PC games, its just that publishers need to pay an addition console tax to the console manufacturers, this is what accounts for the price difference between the platforms.

This is a good thing, as it stands almost all middleware game engines support at the least PC and XBOX 360 with some of the bigger engine like UE3, Gamebryo and CryEngine support the PS3 as well as other platforms. Cross platform development is becoming easy (tho the artists job isnt )

 

MS will show more intrest in PC gaming a year or two befor the next generation Xbox comes out. As the Xbox is basically a PC, they'll want to ensure there's plenty of good stuff to port for launch. Assuming the hardware will be a similar spec to PC's at teh time of launch. At the moment they have no real need for PC games as they're often too higher a spec to fully port.

 

"bollocks"

 

PC gaming had better be important to you! If it wasn't for gaming I'd be a linux user.

 

I think that MS is only looking at PC Gaming again now because Valve is trying to make Mac a popular gaming platform, and that may have an impact on MS, so MS I would imagine are going to be trying to encourage devs to use DX and try to encourage most developers to make Windows exclusives still... I just heard the other day that one of Ubisoft PC games is going to be available on Mac too (Driver: San Fransico)

 

Fable 3 is a "core PC game"? But it's on par with Sims 3!

So the rumours are true...PC gaming is dead...

 

Who do they think is buying this? If they believe this they would fix the pile of crap this games for windows live. They just want it both ways. It will be a long time before i believe MS value there PC gamers.

They started of well with windows seven then just let it slide.

 

YES FABLE IS BACK TO PC, WOOHOOOO

 

fix GFWL? I think that pile of s**t is beyond repair, they should just stop it all together.

 

Oh dear, its just like a football manager with a run of dodgy results getting the vote of confidence and full backing of the board, then they sack him two weeks later.

Damn, just when it looks like the runaway horse that is GPU performance increase every three months looks like its about to slow down, we find that games hit a peak graphical quality with (of all things) Crysis. Time to hit my back catalogue of games I haven't played yet.

 

These are fair points. MS depends on the ubiquity of their software you use in the office so you use it at home and vice a versa.

 

I'll say + 1/2 rather than plus 1.
Driver availability keeps me with Windows too.

 

Microsoft's clearly confused attitude towards PC gaming is probably a result of the accountants at the company struggling to to put a figure on how much PC gaming actually makes for Microsoft. And to be fair, its probably not that much in direct terms - if we're talking sales of operating systems, then those sales that can be primarily attributed to games playing is probably pretty tiny. I mean I'd have a PC regardless of whether I used it for games.

The benefits for microsoft are, it seems to me, to esoteric to be capturable on the all-important company balance sheets. They make no money from Direct X as far as I know, but the knowledge generated allowed them to develop the xbox and bring shiny featues like Aero to their core products. They probably sell as decent amount of gaming pheriphals, but compared to their software business the numbers are likely small.

The revenue that PC gaming does generate goes largely to producers and devs, and hardware manufacters. It keeps the PC market in good shape, but the benefits to microsoft are indirect eg gaming might drive a lot of improvement in CPUs, which allows MS to incorporate new features in their software to justify a new (profitable) release, but this role isn't going to be captured by the balance sheets.

Basically the key weakness of PC gaming is summed up by microsofts attitude towards it - no company has the financial dominance of the platform that would encourage them to promote it properly and enforce standards to make it more customer friendly, except perhaps nvidia and ati, but they're too busy squabbling between themselves.

On the plus side, this weakness is also PC gaming's greatest strength - freedom, to mod, to make indie games, to custom build etc. The danger is the younger generations never get a chance to appreciate these benefits because no company has a strong enough interest in telling them.

PS none of this lets MS off the hook for the utterly woeful GFWL. There is a case where they can make money directly through licensing, and yet the system is so hopeless and unpopular that producers are switching to Steam in their droves. GFWL has simply been a case of bad business.

 

Alan Wake who?

 

Oh good! So by saying this, I take it Microsoft will release the following games on PC:

Halo 3
Gears of War 2
Gears of War 3

I can't wait!