Cross-platform Games

[punky]

Originally Posted by NEONKNIGHT

Interesting first impressions from Eurogamer on Shadowrun:



You can read the full article here:- http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=73695

I'm not suprised the controller users were owning the mouse users if they had "aim assistance"

[Uncle Peter]

The "Live for Windows Vista" pricing structure has been announced at GDC:

Gold Package: $49.99 per year, $7.99 per month or $19.99 for 3 months.

If you have subscribed to Xbox Live Gold then you automatically get this subscription at no extra charge.

http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=8018

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

The "Live for Windows Vista" pricing structure has been announced at GDC:

Gold Package: $49.99 per year, $7.99 per month or $19.99 for 3 months.

If you have subscribed to Xbox Live Gold then you automatically get this subscription at no extra charge.

http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=8018

Good news for xbox360 owners : PC games are cheaper than console games generally. Not too sure that the vast majority of PC gamers will be enthralled with a subscription service though.

well I have no intention of paying anything

---------- Post added at 12:38 ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 ----------

Originally Posted by Gavin

I'm not suprised the controller users were owning the mouse users if they had "aim assistance"

exactlyI think this is something to miss

[videodj]

Originally Posted by Uncle Peter

The "Live for Windows Vista" pricing structure has been announced at GDC:

Gold Package: $49.99 per year, $7.99 per month or $19.99 for 3 months.

If you have subscribed to Xbox Live Gold then you automatically get this subscription at no extra charge.

http://gaming.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=8018

Not to unreasonable, but as I already xbox live, it won't cost me any extra.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Hmm.


Not so sure how well this will take off, then.


Us Xbox Live users pay 'cos we have to...no other way of playing online with the Xbox.

But surely PC gamers are used to playing online for free (excluding MMORPGs etc)... why pay a subscription to be able to play certain Vista games online when you can load up COD2 or whatever & play online for free.

[Uncle Peter]

I suppose it depends how developers embrace this system and how many make the decision to lock their content into this Xbox live style service. There's bound to be a backlash within the PC gaming community but if enough premium titles go down this path many gamers are bound to succumb even if they don't relish the idea of paying for something which was once available gratis. Publishers and developers potentially stand to benefit in the main as this provides an effective revenue generating platform in terms of offering premium downloadable content to a new audience where margins are shrinking as development of titles becomes more complex and costly.

In terms of the technology base: a very simplistic view of Xbox live is that it's a glorified lobby and matchmaking hub. Very few games are actually hosted on dedicated servers as P2P is the preferred method of player connectivity. I know this has bitten users in some countries where they have hard caps and over-use charges quite badly.

They cant do that cuz PC gamers simply wont buy the games that only can be played online through xbox live. Why should Microsoft try and take that away from pc gamers anyway? dont you xbox guys have enough friends to play with rather than try to ruin things for pc gamers??

[Uncle Peter]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

They cant do that cuz PC gamers simply wont buy the games that only can be played online through xbox live. Why should Microsoft try and take that away from pc gamers anyway? dont you xbox guys have enough friends to play with rather than try to ruin things for pc gamers??

Bill wants your money and developers/publishers are looking to find new ways of generating revenue. I suppose whether this system succeeds or fails depends largely on who Microsoft can get onside.

Personally I'm with you on this one m8 and would not like to have my PC games forcibly locked into this type of online infrastructure.

Games for Windows Live launches May 8th

http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2...-on-Vista.aspx

Good news PC Gamers! The award winning Xbox Live experience will be extended to Games for Windows fans on May 8, 2007 with the launch of Halo 2 for Windows Vista. In addition I have a few details of how ‘Games for Windows – LIVE’ will work for existing Xbox Live Gold and Silver members. Remember…itâ €™s one unified service, so current Xbox LIVE Gold members will automatically have access to Gold features on ‘Games for Windows â€� LIVE’ titles.

Here is how things will look on the Games for Windows side in terms of features:

Silver Membership Features
Single gamertag
Common gamer profile
Common gamerscore
Single player achievements
Private chat via text and voice
Common friends list and online presence
PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games

Gold Membership Features
All Silver membership features PLUS
Multiplayer matchmaking with friends
TrueSkill matchmaking
Multiplayer achievements
Cross-platform gameplay

---------- Post added at 13:15 ---------- Previous post was at 13:02 ----------

Press release here aswell :- http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archi...14/542900.aspx

(Cross platform play is for those gamers lucky enough to have a copy of Vista)

so how much is silver?

[keithwalton]

silver is free

That is the only price id be prepared to pay

[Uncle Peter]

I expect there will be an influx of people joining the party when Halo2 is released on PC. Seems that Microsoft are intent at this stage on using games and this cross platform framework to push Vista. Most enterprise clients will hold off until hardware refresh cycle and that's something that Bill can't force them to do.

Xbox Lives Major Nelson has posted "Games for Windows Live (or how I got my first Halo 2 Achievement)" You can read all about it here:- http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2...dows-live.aspx