Crazy Talk: Windows 8 May Play Xbox 360 Games
A month after Microsoft's Mike Delman revealed the company's "buy a game in one place and play it everywhere" plan at E3 2011, reports have surfaced that Windows 8 will allow gamers to play Xbox 360 game discs on their PCs.
As the title states, there's crazy talk circulating the webs claiming that Windows 8 will allow consumers to play Xbox 360 games on their PCs. We're not talking about streaming or purchasing digital versions and using a Microsoft-sanctioned emulator. No, this latest rumor claims that gamers will be able to actually play the game discs in a DVD drive powered by Windows 8.
The rumor arrives after recent reports indicated that Microsoft plans to reveal the next Xbox console at E3 2012 (along with Sony). The unannounced "720" will supposedly feature an IBM Cell processor and an AMD GPU, but so far nothing official has come out of the Redmond company. Even OnLive has admitted that it's currently in talks with the company to bring its streaming games service to the next-generation device.
On Monday, we saw that Microsoft finally integrated the Games for Windows website into Xbox.com. PC games are now located under the Games + Marketplace tab and listed just after the Xbox Downloads link. There Microsoft customers can purchase digital versions of popular PC games, add-ons, and even download game trailers and demos without having to download and install the standalone client. So far, the Games for Windows Marketplace software remains unchanged and can be downloaded directly from Xbox.com.
So where are we going with this? We already know that Microsoft plans to create one universal platform that's shared across the Xbox consoles, Windows Phone and Windows PC. But what we didn't expect was the possibility that Microsoft would endorse the use of Xbox 360 discs in PC-based DVD drives. But in a way, it makes sense: Microsoft is essentially bringing its exclusives to Windows customers who have no interest in purchasing the console, who typically use their PCs as a multimedia center and/or as a gaming rig.
The rumor goes on to indicate that in order to play these games online, Microsoft PC customers will be required to purchase a monthly fee just like their Xbox comrades. This backs up previous reports stemming from E3 2011 that Xbox Live will be integrated into Windows 8. "Live has been successful on the Windows Phone," said vice president of global marketing at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business group Mike Delman. "Live will be built into the PC. It will be the service where you get your entertainment. We were talking about it — you will not just see consoles and handhelds at this show next year, this show's going to morph into other devices."
He went on to say that Live will be the primary entertainment center for Windows Phone handhelds. "If we have that and the PCs to leverage, that will be a big Live base," he added. "It's our job to make 'buy a movie in one place and play it everywhere, buy a game in one place and play it everywhere.' Making things portable will be a big focus of ours."
Did you get that? Buy a game in one place and play it everywhere. That statement alone seems to validate the rumor that Xbox 360 games will be playable in Windows 8. But let's take the rumor one step further: what if Microsoft plans to copy Steam and allow gamers to register their Xbox 360 game discs to unlock a digital version that can be downloaded or streamed? If Microsoft piggy-backs OnLive's technology, even low-end laptops can play these console titles.
Looking back, maybe the rumor claiming that Xbox 360 discs can be played in Windows 8 isn't such crazy talk after all. Until Microsoft reveals more, let the speculation begin!
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Sounds pretty interesting. I hope they follow through with this. Having more options available to us for games is never a bad thing, IMO.
Wow maybe id actually buy an xbox game.
I just don't want an xbox.
This would be great if they extend this to "720" games as well. Being able to play the console exclusives on a PC would make microsoft more cash because it would increase games sales. They dont make much if anything selling a console so being able to sell more games without havng to sell more consoles would be great for them. I myself would like to be able to play games like Fornza and other x box only games without having to own a console. Being that 360 games are aging this is only barley on my radar unless it ends up to were the next gen games can be played on the PC.
Well, there are several things here that go woefully wrong.
First, they really need to give incentive to gamers who don't own a console. Are many people really going to pay more so they can play games with console players? (If that's really what they're trying to accomplish, but I think the input divides the two gaming formats...I don't think a controller will hold own against a mouse and keyboard). The only way I can see people wanting this service is if the game was exclusive to Xbox; if that's the case, the games better be cheaper. I certainly won't pay for Xbox Live AND a game, when I can play the same or similar games on Steam for no service cost at all.
Being able to register your Xbox discs on your PC is interesting, but it will destroy the used game market.
Also, if you include a picture of a girl playing games in an article, please be sure that the enlarged resolution is much larger than 400x300. 400x300 is not a large image.
I'm sorry, I'm still not paying Microsoft a monthly fee to use my own internet connection and hardware to play a game I legitimately purchased online. So yeah, Microsoft can do whatever they want to, I'm not buying an XBox Live subscription.
Now, that being said, I wouldn't necessarily mind being able to play some of the XBox exclusive titles on my PC, assuming I don't need the aforementioned paid XBox Live subscription.
"Microsoft PC customers will be required to purchase a monthly fee just like their Xbox comrades"
-this will not fly with PC gamers.
as for input... i assume ud still have to use an xbox controller either way (which sucks).
otherwise older games would need to be retro-fitted to accept keyboard as input and that just isn't going to happen.
I hope we would be able to join an xbox party from our pcsso we could talk, atm we can only send text messages.
Could it be when they mention windows 8 will be able to play Xbox 360 games they are planning to launch a cloud like service which will then be supported by windows 8.
All of us know its not easy emulating current gen consoles, which really seems to be the only way our PCs can play Xbox 360 games. Since emulation isnt easy, could a cloud gaming service be in the cards.
Ugh, this will just open an door to piracy, hacks & cheating which they will never be able to close.
"Microsoft PC customers will be required to purchase a monthly fee just like their Xbox comrades"-this will not fly with PC gamers.
Any gamer who enjoys their choice of game will pay a small fee. By the way, XBL never got hacked like PSN so the monthly fee is worth it imo.
If this is true then this might be the reason for me upgrade to windows 8. I can finally try this "halo series" and the other xbox360 exclusives, hopefully they support mice and keyboard control.
But the monthly fee sounds like Microsoft just trying to increase their xbox live numbers, I don't think PC gamers will want to pay monthly fees considering that we are used to free online play not including some mmorpgs. Maybe Microsoft are changing their business model and are making money of services rather than hardware.
Funny how people are claiming that "cloud services" are going mainstream when the ISP's in U.S. are starting to cap their customers connections and other countries already have caps.
Well, there are several things here that go woefully wrong.First, they really need to give incentive to gamers who don't own a console. Are many people really going to pay more so they can play games with console players? (If that's really what they're trying to accomplish, but I think the input divides the two gaming formats...I don't think a controller will hold own against a mouse and keyboard). The only way I can see people wanting this service is if the game was exclusive to Xbox; if that's the case, the games better be cheaper. I certainly won't pay for Xbox Live AND a game, when I can play the same or similar games on Steam for no service cost at all.Being able to register your Xbox discs on your PC is interesting, but it will destroy the used game market.Also, if you include a picture of a girl playing games in an article, please be sure that the enlarged resolution is much larger than 400x300. 400x300 is not a large image.
1 track mind FTL. Try playing a sports game with a mouse and keyboard, a controller is so much easier playing a game like NHL 11, NBA or NFL. Of course I'd like to take my console version of a game and use the pc without waiting for a port to PC as well. It works both ways, and having the ability to really unlock the games graphics with a pc is awesome. I would start buying more X Box titles if I could play them on my PC as well.
How are they going to do that?
Emulate xbox360hardware?
You want keyboard and mouse on xBox today? Check out the www.xim3.com
It would be nice to have one game on all platforms and they adjust to the quality of hardware just as many games do today. If you have beast machine, you set all the quality settings high. If you have a mediocre machine, you sent them mid-range. If you have a low end system you set them all low for performance.
It would also be nice to have XBL on the PC because personally I feel the advantage of XBL is the match making (in many games) and the ability to speak with users without a program like Ventrilo running is a huge plus.
For you nay sayers that don't want to play, doesnt XBL have a free version? If not, just consider it a cost of hardware. You have no problem upgrading to a new $300 video card to play a game, but you are going to moan over a $60 yearly fee or a $99 family plan?
"Microsoft PC customers will be required to purchase a monthly fee just like their Xbox comrades"-this will not fly with PC gamers.
The way I read this, is that if you want to play xbox on windows *only*, then you will still have to sign up for xbox live gold. If you are already a paying member of the xbox community, then you will not pay for a second membership, so I don't see Microsoft doing this. It would be better for them to instantly integrate their 40 million users, just so they can say they have 40 million users for advertising sales, rather than piss off their community by double charging them.
One thing I do fear though and it is the whole reason I quit playing PC games and went with the xBox with a KB/M setup: Cheating.
It takes a lot more to actually cheat on an xBox than it does on a PC. With PC's any one with a search engine can find and install a cheat that some smart dude wrote up and conveniently packaged in an EXE file for them to double-click and use. To cheat on an xBox you yourself have to be somewhat smarter and certainly more determined to accomplish the same and the consequences can be a whole lot more than just getting banned from a server.
It sounded good until i got to the part about a monthly fee. No thanks.
As others already posted steam is free.
1 track mind FTL. Try playing a sports game with a mouse and keyboard, a controller is so much easier playing a game like NHL 11, NBA or NFL. Of course I'd like to take my console version of a game and use the pc without waiting for a port to PC as well. It works both ways, and having the ability to really unlock the games graphics with a pc is awesome. I would start buying more X Box titles if I could play them on my PC as well.
I doubt the graphics will be different from platform to platform, but it depends on too much speculation. Anyway, I was thinking from a standpoint of a gamer who didn't own a console - if sports games suck on the PC, why would a gamer own sports games without a console? A PC gamer with no console generally doesn't have interest in games that don't play well on his platform. There's some one-track mindedness
You have no problem upgrading to a new $300 video card to play a game, but you are going to moan over a $60 yearly fee or a $99 family plan?
Yes. If I buy a $300 graphics card, I get $300 of graphics horsepower I couldn't get before. If I pay $60 a year for a subscription fee for Xbox live...what do I get that I wouldn't get elsewhere for cheaper? Nothing.
My experience in matchmaking, though, is that it's incredibly obnoxious. I've only ever experienced it in MW2, when I played it, but I really detested sitting for 10 minutes at a time just waiting for a game to start.
I like the concept, but I see so many things that can go wrong with it..
Not all computers are created equally, unlike xboxes. They can't honestly expect this to be a smooth gaming experience for most cant they?
How do they get around HDD installs? Insufficient horsepower (CPU, GPU, etc.)??
If you have to pay for a subscription then do you have to be connected to the cloud as well?
That said, I like options and I hope this works, but I was shocked to read they are trying this.
We can argue until we are blue in the face on whether or not we think XBL is useful and worth the money. I think it is and thus pay $99 for 5 accounts a year. You stick with your free service because you find no value in XBL.
One thing is for certain though. If they implement it and it is required of you, then you will do it whether you like it or not. If you have a free option, then you can always go that route just as you do now so there is no reason to even argue about it.
That is just nonsense. Or are you saying microsoft will provide an emulator for the new OS? That doesn't sound very likely to happen, to be honest; or at least it wasn't done before in all those years. This makes me think the things are going to stay the same.
Letting aside some market and economical questions, it just doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't it be easier to release the games for both plataforms instead of building a theoretically possible emulator for a processor that has a incredibly complex architecture and features a large amount of vectorial processing power in another as minimalistic and heterogeneus as the x86? Sounds not very realistic IMO.
It's funny to see people talking as if the release of that capability were a fact, and disscussing the eternal PC vs console stuff.
Even the most complex JIT compilation techniques would involve a massive comsuption of computational resources, so much that I don't believe even the newer chips released would be able to offer.
Can I start looking forward to trying Forza Motorsport on my PC? Nice...
One thing is for certain though. If they implement it and it is required of you, then you will do it whether you like it or not. If you have a free option, then you can always go that route just as you do now so there is no reason to even argue about it.
I'm simply trying to point out the buying the service if you don't own a console is a waste of money, which is why I think PC gamers won't buy it. The whole point of this service is supposedly to get everyone on the same ship, which I don't think will work, and that's why.
It'd be a nice feature but I don't see it happening.
Main reason? Hardware. PCs are a world of heterogeneous hardware unlike consoles. Console game development has that mindset, on the other hand PC game development has to take several hardware configurations in mind.
Something else to add? Xbox live gold membership for a PC gamer is a no-go. Truckloads of games give them online functionality, ladders and what-not for NADA.
I think it'd be easier to have the XBL game library available for both Xbox and PC.
I still would love to be able to play my console games straight from my PC but I don't see it happening anytime soon.
sweet, pirating 360 games is already too easy, now it'll be cake.
so this means... every game would be console ported. the power of pc will be wasted.
and to ever1 complaining about xbl cost, it's 60$ a year. That's 5$ a month. If you have a decent internet connection, u pay 10x that. stop being so cheap.
Sounds cool....however, if the keyboard and mouse are map-able to Xbox FPS games, controller players will be in a world of hurt.
I'm just interested in the girl in that picture. It's a shame the resolution isn't higher.
Allso it would mean same guality games to Xbox and PC... ? Well, well and the different hardware. This sounds like emulator that cost 60$ in a year... I am so exited... not...
One possibility is an option to download (steam type?) version of Xbox game to PC... maybe, maybe...
Well, these are really somewhat crazy rumours endeed... well lets see when situation level down...