Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Hallway Giant — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:44:08 GMT

First? Kidding...thanks for the show Major!

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

mAdAk — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:44:08 GMT

I was hoping for a Major Nelson half time show. Guess it will have to be a post game.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Neoistheone2000 — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:15:01 GMT

I'm a shadow run beta tester I'll play!!!

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Billservo — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:15:19 GMT

Major, it appears you're not the only one looking for buildings to jump...

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1545619/20061113/index.jhtml

MP3 RSS still not fixed

Dan R — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:09:14 GMT

As others have said, the WMV feed is fine, but the MP3 version still hasn't been updated.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Tyger Cheex — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:02:56 GMT

I haven’t seen anyone mention the "cost" for this whole Games for Windows thing.

Are people expecting to have to pay to play their PC games online?

We (console gamers) currently pay £40 GBP for a year's subscription to play online on the 360 or Xbox. There has been much talk about how great it will be when PC gamers can go head-to-head with 360 gamers thanks to GFW, but are PC gamers going to have to pay the annual subscription to the "Live" service too?

The cost MUST be the same across the board, I don’t see how PC gamers can have the same "service" as console gamers for free when other people (5+ Million?) are paying $60/£40 a year for the same thing.

The price for "live" has got to drop to make it more appealing to the PC gamer, which means the price of the 360-based subscription needs to drop too. If the “games for windows” experience is going to be free... Xbox live needs to be free to!

PC games are generally much cheaper than the console version of the same title. If the live service is also cheaper on the PC, what will be the point of having Xbox live when you can get the same online experience for your games for free and with a lower initial cost for the game disks?

On a slightly related topic: WHY are PC games cheaper at retail? You'd think that it's more difficult to develop a game for PC. (Because of the vast hardware differences the developers have to consider.) On a console, you are developing for a fixed hardware spec with no major variables to consider! I just don’t get it!

*scratches head*

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Deap360 — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:42:42 GMT

Would it be possible, to have a feature where interviewies are announced before the show so that we could post questions to them, or any questions we have after the show.

When interviewing Rich Wickam i really wanted to know more about achievements.

will all games for windows support achievements, is it just the live ones or is it just if the developer wants to do it.

are you aiming to get all games published from here on out or just the toip or 1st party games

the reason i ask is that i love playing my xbox and i love gettng achievements more its doesnt make me better than anyone else its just some solid targets to work towards in games.

iu have been playing a lot of Trackmania on my PC and have just upgraded to vista. compatability is a pain but i finally got it working.

i really like this game and i know it would be better if built on XBLA as it is such a simple, modular engine that they keep building on top of. there new game Nations has a great system within it to earn and purchase add ons.

but i cant play this for more than 20 minutes because i miss not getting achievements

I hope this one day comes to the 360, i doubt it will but in a future incarnation whats the chance it will have a games for windows branding and come fully compatable with Vista, the controlers and have achievements.

does Microsoft have to be interested in a game for it to make its way to XBLA or GFW. or does the developer have to approach Microsoft?

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Firecrest — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:31:46 GMT

Great podcast as always, Major, but I don't particularly care about Games for Windows or Vista for that matter, other than the cross play between 360 and PC users.

Hm, I can't come up with a top ten commandments for achievements, so I'll suffice with a top five:

1.) NO ACHIEVEMENTS THAT COST MONEY - AND WE MEAN YOU, EA!!!

2.) No achievements that you obtain by simply playing through the game (King Kong).

3.) No more "RANK #1 IN THE WORLD/LEADERBOARD" achievements (I think GRAW and Quake 4 learned from this).

4.) No achievements that award over 100 points for anything other than beating the game.

5.) PUT SOME MORE CREATIVITY INTO MAKING ACHIEVEMENTS. DoA and Dead Rising are prime examples.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Kryptinite — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:03:39 GMT

I know it's probably already been said but Connect360 for the Mac allows you to stream your videos, music, and pictures to your Xbox 360. It's 20 bucks but it's lifetime upgrades. A must have for anyone with a Mac.

http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

NineSwords — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:14:34 GMT

afaik this is a xbox LIVE related blog and not an xbox blog.

an since xbox LIVE will become LIVE Anywhere its utterly understandable that there will be GfW content on this blog.

i only hope there will be a balance between those two platforms here.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

DevsterC — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:14:20 GMT

1) Thou shalt not consider purchasing content a gamerscore-boosting achievement.

2) Thou shalt not charge for features provided on other consoles for free.

3) Thou shalt not charge to unlock "on-disc" content.

4) Thou shalt not duplicate content in different packs (e.g. game logo gamerpics).

5) Thou shalt not make content exclusive for xbox live gold unless it is for a reasonably limited time.

6) Thou shalt use "ranked/leaderboard achievements" sparingly.

7) Thou shalt provide previews for themes and gamerpics.

8) Thou shalt release some form of XBLA content on a weekly basis.

9) Thou shalt revisit pricing on any XBLM content available for more than 2 fiscal quarters.

10) Thou shalt allow use of content moved from a dead xbox360 to its replacement, without requiring sign in to xbox live.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Monkey65 — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 09:56:12 GMT

Thou shalt not put the notification message over anything game-critical. Case in point - when a message pops up over part of the playing area in Lumines Live! Grrr.

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

MIK — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:27:06 GMT

Hey Major,

re: correcting the Achievement image in the "make your own achievement" generator--you're both right. When you unlock an achievement, the image in the circle actually alternates between the trophy and the Xbox 360 logo sphere (like the guide button).

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

createacat1 — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 05:58:34 GMT

Why is itunes not downloading the podcast?

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Wootai — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 02:14:42 GMT

1: Thou Shall Not call 1 Item of added content a "Pack" be it a Gamerpic, or Silly hat

2: Thou Shall Make Items In Packs Downloadable individually if possible

3: Thou Shall Clearly Explain how the price structure of content works, even if it is necessary to compare it to the same game on another platform (PSP Lumines vs XBLA Lumines)

re: Show #210 The one about Games for Windows

Aktlys — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 02:02:08 GMT

Top 10 Achievement Commandments.

1. No achievements in Ranked Games. Unless they are ONLY for winning the match.

2. No leadboard achievements.

3. No achievements of the same kind of multiple kind.

4. You shall have 1000 points.

5. You have have no other points beside those, they are holy.

6. You shall have one and only one crazy insane achievements for barging rights.

7. There shall be humiliation achievements.

8. There shall be crossover achievements for co-op play.

9. There shall be 360 dashboard achievements.

10. There shall be achievement policies.