Games for Windows Marketplace - Steam getting some competition

[Samwise]

Microsoft doesn't want to be in the games business but is building API's which are free to utilize because they want to control the standards of the games business because... profit.

Microsoft still makes money selling copies of Windows, and support for DirectX on non-Windows platform tends to suck.  Does that help?   

[UnSub]

People vastly overestimate how effective MS is when it throws money at a problem. Didn't work with phones, didn't work with Zune, didn't work with tablets, didn't work with set-top web tv, didn't work with Xbox in Japan, didn't work with Silverlight, didn't work with XAML, didn't work with Live Search.

The idea that hey, they'll just spend enough and then be a serious competitor is not borne out by history.

It depends on the level of focus MS puts into the initiative. Plus they probably won't get it right the first try.

MS tries its hands in lots of different areas just to see what will happen - they've got the money to do so. If they are actually serious about something, they'll give it a second shot.

Of course, if they were really serious, they'd probably just buy Valve. All that badwill gamers have towards MS would pretty much evaporate if there was the announcement "Half-Life 3 - Only on GFWL!".

This GFWL may be some sort of strategic move with an eye on what Apple might be doing in the area of game apps, but I haven't spent any time looking into that.

[JWIV]

Just a note - Age of Empires III is up today for 0.10$   Yes,  ten cents.

[tgr]

$0.10 and there's still "This software uses digital rights management software (“DRM”). DRM may limit the number of times you are permitted to install this software on a computer and/or the number of computers to which you may install the software. To function properly, DRM downloads certain data and files to your computer, which may or may not be uninstalled when you uninstall the software"

[dusematic]

I pulled the trigger at ten cents.

[Kageru]

Certainly didn't take them long to start trying to buy market share.

Though one advantage is their system doesn't seem to support region zoning. So CoD4 is 29.99 on GFWL and 49.99 on steam:Australia.

[waffel]

Just a note, you ARE able to see your serial key in GFWL for AoE3. So, it would seem possible to get that key, torrent the game somewhere else, and use the key with the torrent to bypass the bullshit DRM and GFWL bloatware.

[caladein]

Just a note, you ARE able to see your serial key in GFWL for AoE3. So, it would seem possible to get that key, torrent the game somewhere else, and use the key with the torrent to bypass the bullshit DRM and GFWL bloatware.

Oddly enough, my download finally finished a bit ago and I've got...


After doing a quick search, they've apparently run out of keys.

Due to the overwhelming success of the Age of Empires III sale, we have temporarily run out of keys to unlock the game. You can still buy the game at this amazing price and you will get/see a key in the next week.  When new keys are added to the system you will be auto-assigned a key, there is no need to call support or take any other action from your end.  We will post here on the forums when the keys are available and the next time you click 'View Game Keys' for the game you should be assigned one.

Thank you for your patience and we hope you enjoy the game.

Pretty all around.

Edit: Spoiler tagged picture for size.

[DLRiley]

The more, the merrier. Let's see who can drive their prices the lowest and capture market share.

We are talking about Microsoft right  

I wouldn't see this as a push into the PC market, due to the fact that window lives sucks balls, but a moving away from the brick and mortar by establishing the backbone necessary for online distribution for their console games.

[tgr]

How the fuck can they run out of fucking keys?

Seriously.

[caladein]

How the fuck can they run out of fucking keys?

Seriously.

It has happened a few times on Steam with big sales, but it is pretty strange here as the publisher is also Microsoft.  I'd be a bit like Valve putting TF2 out at a huge discount, again, and running out of keys.

As for the console stuff, they've already had their Games on Demand store for 360 games out for over a year now.

[Baldrake]

Um, you realise microsoft writes development tools, that GFWL is the infrastructure for playing online and that XNA is their multiplatform (eg. windows and xbox) game development framework?

AAA games are not written with XNA; it's too slow (interpreted C#). And even XNA games have platform-specific code - XNA games have to be written with PC-compatibility in mind at the beginning, or someone has at least some porting work to do.

[dusematic]

OK so I'll just pipe in and note that Games For Windows is the shittiest content delivery system since homing pigeons.  I've already had multiple CTD's and one complete system shutdown.  Not to mention the service has been down multiple times that I've tried to login, but it doesn't tell you that and instead says that it's a username/pw problem so you end up spending 20 minutes trying to make sure your login info is correct. 

The download is painfully slow, and I've already had to download it twice because the first one was botched.  Plus, as mentioned, I don't have a serial key, so no telling when I'll be able to play assuming the 2nd download works. 

I hav e a sneaking suspicion the $0.10 price was a way to beta test their system and make people pay a nominal fee to do so.

[NiX]

The upside to all of that being you can use the key on a downloaded copy of the game, which is a legit thing to do. Also, some GFWL keys work on multiple games.

[dusematic]

The upside to all of that being you can use the key on a downloaded copy of the game, which is a legit thing to do. Also, some GFWL keys work on multiple games.

Yea, might have done that if they hadn't ran out of keys.

[Thrawn]

This is not competition with Steam.

Everything they've done with PC delivery has been trash.

(Edit: I should add, if they abandon everything they've done previously with GFW/L and completely integrate the experience into windows, add saves to the cloud (perfectly, for every game, can compete with Steam on pricing, community support [etc.] and don't make it eye-stabbingly ugly - then, and only then, will it approach being competition. Though I bet the indie support will still be godawful).

Ah, that would be so insanely nice.  Just re-install Arcanum or something and pick up with the same saved games and settings I was using a year ago before I reformated etc.. no matter what system I'm installing on.  Or go from PC to laptop with the same saved games seemlessly.  I've never played NWN past the second act just because of that basicly. 

[Wasted]

I paid 10c to find out for myself that GFWL is piece of shit and won't be going back until I hear about huge improvements.  Even the fact that it doesn't seem the store is region fucked for Aussies (the website is) doesn't thrill me because being Microsoft I know that wont last too long.

[caladein]

Keys should be available now, at least mine was.

[Phred]

To be honest I always assumed they would have been quite happy with PC gaming dying (I'm sure they get a bigger cut from selling X-box's and licensed games). In which case this represents them realising that valve has either rescued PC gaming or proved there was still a market out there.

DirectX and HLSL would indicate otherwise.

I'd say that has more to do with not wanting OpenGL (from which they borrowed a lot of the foundation for DirectX) becoming the foundation library for windows games. Even worse because OpenGL was multi-platform. Microsoft is smart enough to know controlling the standards is cash in the bank.

Ya and back then OpenGL was getting huge backing from developers (more than just Carmack). Probably scared the bejesus out of Microsoft.

[NiX]

Deus Ex: GOTY for $0.99 or 80 MS Points

Man, if they keep this up, I might actually clear out this odd number of MS points I have.