Windows Live Gets Games on Demand
On December 15, PC gamers can purchase and download digital versions of Games for Windows titles within the PC Live client.
Microsoft revealed today that Games for Windows-Live will "evolve" on December 15 and offer a portal for accessing and downloading Live-enabled PC titles... thanks to Games on Demand. This should help boost the otherwise lackluster appeal of the GFW-Live client, currently providing only a few demos, videos, and downloadable content. Heck, the PC Live client doesn't even allow PC gamers to chat with XBL members on the Xbox 360 console (go figure).
But at least now gamers can actually purchase and download hot titles from the Games for Windows library. In addition, using a Steam type of DRM, consumers can uninstall and re-download the purchased games anytime, anywhere they want as long as they have an active Live account. What's surprising is that Microsoft hasn't implemented this feature already. Better late than never, we suppose.
"With Games on Demand, we didn’t just want to create a cut-and-paste version of existing digital distribution services," said Mike Ybarra, general manager of LIVE Engagement Services. "We challenged ourselves to deliver an integrated platform that takes full advantage of the unique capabilities offered by the LIVE service. Our goal has always been to create a seamless online gaming experience for the Windows community, and Games on Demand is a great step toward that end."
Only a handful of titles will be available on December 15, including Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla, and Battlestations: Pacific. Microsoft also said that there will be exclusive Live-enabled versions of World of Goo and Osmos as well. All games can be purchased by credit card or Microsoft Points.
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I had to Google World of Goo and Osmos. Never even heard of them before.
This is gay. What if some games go exclusive and only come out on live and others can only be released on steam. Then I will have to have both programs running to chat with gaming friends and stuff.
Sorry Microsoft, I love windows 7 and all, but I'm only gonna run STEAM on it, unless persuaded with some hefty price cuts.
I hate STEAM (is really buggy on my system and too many updates) and I'd hate Windows live. I love left for dead 2 though :-)
I would suggest its my system AND STEAM that are buggy ;-)
For those who only want steam running, sorry but by games like Dawn of war 2 and Batman Arkham asylum from steam and you'll have to have Game For Windows Live to run at the same time. I have just installed Batman from steam and it seems you need GFW Live to be able to save your game!
Any evolution to GFW Live would be welcomed as it is a real pain in the ... in its current form. It usually lock itself and the game you try to start for minutes while trying to load your game profile.
I meant "buy games" not "by games" ...
I hate STEAM (is really buggy on my system and too many updates) and I'd hate Windows live. I love left for dead 2 though :-)
Since when getting too many updates a problem? And are you still trying to game with your P4?
Too many updates are a problem because I want to be able to choose when to install them. When I get time to play, I don't want to wait for updates first.
And I have a 4800 & 4850 gpu which although showing it's age, will still play most games maxed out.
I was just stating my opinion and experience, I'm aware that many people don't have a problem with STEAM and I know it has advantages (cheaper games, getting content quicker etc), just said I'm not a fan.
MS and their dysfunctional step child GFWL can kiss my arse just because MS sucks. Steam is a pain too, you buy a game, Left 4 Dead on a disk and it takes over an hour to install and I am not going to even mention the lengthy process installing the Orange Box from a disk. No more Steam games for me either.
I have steam and it's great.
Too many updates are a problem because I want to be able to choose when to install them. When I get time to play, I don't want to wait for updates first.And I have a 4800 & 4850 gpu which although showing it's age, will still play most games maxed out. I was just stating my opinion and experience, I'm aware that many people don't have a problem with STEAM and I know it has advantages (cheaper games, getting content quicker etc), just said I'm not a fan.
You can turn off automatic updates. Once you do so, you can update the game whenever you want - right click on the icon and select "update" or whatever.
Also, GFWL is fail, yes, however, with MS's bullying tactics, they have the cash reserve to put a serious hurt on the rest of the Digital Download industry. They have the capability (someone mentioned Dawn of War) to make their way THE ONLY WAY, and that's what's going to suck.
Essentially, this announcement is like saying, "MS sees that you like downloading games, so we're going to try our hardest to ruin it for you". It's a shame, because I'm one of the few that like Vista. But this does NOT bode well - even though I normally think competition is good for the consumer, I can only see this as dividing the market and making Digital Distribution a potentially troublesome market.
What's going to stop MS from paying companies to not put their games on Steam?
steam is way better than GFWL. GFWL ruined the fallout3 experience for me. I played fallout3 before it had GFWL, and now I can't use my old character on the expansions because GFWL requires you to save in a special, stupid Windows way. Why do they purport that these systems will make things easier when in fact they are terribly cumbersome?
You can turn off automatic updates. Once you do so, you can update the game whenever you want - right click on the icon and select "update" or whatever.
Oops, my ignorance shines through :-) I'm not keen on the GFWL idea either, but I see it being integrated into/harmonized with xbox live eventually (so you could play consoles vs pcs seamlessly) and I think that would be a huge blow to STEAM (and maybe to Sony in the long run). Would be good for me though as my friends that game do so on the xbox and I only have a pc and have no intentions of buying an xbox.
steam is way better than GFWL. GFWL ruined the fallout3 experience for me. I played fallout3 before it had GFWL, and now I can't use my old character on the expansions because GFWL requires you to save in a special, stupid Windows way. Why do they purport that these systems will make things easier when in fact they are terribly cumbersome?
GFWL created a new folder in your normal Fallout3 save folder, under your GFWL ID. You just need to take the save folder, and move it under the folder named after your ID. It should still all be within the Fallout3 save folder.
I was pissed after that update too.
Oops, my ignorance shines through :-) I'm not keen on the GFWL idea either, but I see it being integrated into/harmonized with xbox live eventually (so you could play consoles vs pcs seamlessly) and I think that would be a huge blow to STEAM (and maybe to Sony in the long run). Would be good for me though as my friends that game do so on the xbox and I only have a pc and have no intentions of buying an xbox.
That would be neat, to do backwards compatible crossover between the consoles and PC. I just don't want to lose Steam as an interface. After dealing with systems like XFire, Steam is very seamless w/rt: game management, a chat client, and a sales portal. The chat in GFWL sucks, the matchmaking is poor, the messaging system is decades behind 1995 AIM (exaggeration). As long as they don't interfere with Steam and the other players, i.e. as long as they don't bully the market, everything should be fine. However, past business practices just don't leave me with a lot of hope.
^^ I think the MS strategy is like the Borgs - assimilation or destruction are the only acceptable options for their opponents....
Yes, Steam has issues. Continually updating is an issue, because often you have to restart Steam. Sometimes it would be better if Valve actually did some QA, or at least packaged some updates together. It's also stupid that they install a base Steam then you have to update from scratch.
Also, you can't download a game and play at the same time? Utterly stupid. There are many issues with how long games can take to start up, and how much bandwidth they use to do so.
So no, Steam is not perfect.
But honestly, there are getting to be too many digital distribution services. *sigh*