Microsoft praises Valve, vows 'renewed focus' on PC games

[Lightning]

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/03/24/microsoft-praises-valve-vows-renewed-focus-on-pc-games/
 
Well, the first step is to make the XBone controller PC compatible..
 
Also, stolen from neoGAF:

 

 

2005 - We care about PC gaming, Longhorn (Vista) to usher in modern PC gaming with "Tray and Play"
Vista launches with none of the stuff MS promised, Vista itself sucks the ass of a thousand camels.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/microsoft-talks-pc-gaming-longhorn-64-bit-and-xna-updates/1100-6120176/

2006 - MS: Don't Count PC Games Out
MS announces GFWL and how utterly amazing it will be, suckers everywhere rejoice in the eventual ass reaming they don't know is coming yet.
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/687/687828p1.html

2007 - MS continues PC push
MS launches GFWL...and it has a $50 a year fee, and they announce a whole slew of games to include Shadowrun with cross platform play and Gears of War 1! What are you paying for you ask? Jank ass software that crashes and has the most unintuitive updating system known to man. Load a game, game says you need update. Signs you out, downloads update, you jump back in...oh GFWL client has a update too! signs you out, downloads up date and you log back in...
http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-microsoft-continues-pc-gaming-push/

MS will shortly thereafter disband Ensemble because MS feels that they're (MS) moving in a different direction! But don't worry we tots <3 you PC gamers.

2008 - MS: PC gaming is A-okay
Yea we've looked at some money pie charts and can see that PC gaming brings in billions in revenue. Here is our open letter to how awesome PC gaming is and our promise to support it! We finally put some new titles up on GFWL! Oh and we got rid of the $50 a year fee for GFWL, see we're serious about PC gaming! If that's not a sign of commitment, I don't know what is!
http://www.edge-online.com/news/microsoft-pc-gaming-ok/

2008 - MS: PC gaming is not dead!
Look at this event we're throwing for PC gaming, you think we'd throw this if we didn't truly care about it?! Look at these games that will be on GFWL. We <3 PC gaming. You want fixes for GFWL issues? We'll look into that.
http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/686531/microsoft-pc-gaming-is-not-dead/


2008 - MS bolsters PC gaming with all new Games for Windows Live!
Hey gaiz remember those GFWL client issues you were having...well we didn't fix those per say but....here is the same s*** in a slightly newer skin! PROGRESS
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2008/11/microsoft-bolsters-pc-gaming-with-new-games-for-windows-live/

2009 - MS: PC gaming still a priority for us!
Okay gaiz look, this time we're serious about our upcoming push in PC gaming. It's so vital to us at MS that we give the PC our love and support!
http://www.edge-online.com/news/microsoft-pc-gaming-still-priority/

2010 - MS: "We're doubling down on PC gaming
By doubling down we mean we're keeping this s**tastic GFWL client around because! We might even throw an update at it to fix the problem of game saves being randomly deleted or rendered worthless...maybe.
http://kotaku.com/5672254/microsoft-we-are-doubling-down-on-pc-games

2010 - MS Launches Games for Windows Marketplace
Hey gaiz, we're making GFWL even better because it's now called Games for Windows Marketplace. Everything is brand new and easy to use, anonymous journalists have even said it's better than Steam. We had 3 interns and a janitor work on this, so you know we're committed!
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/gaming/microsoft-launches-new-games-for-windows-marketplace-908492

2010 - MS: Windows 8 is going to relaunch gaming!
Hey gaiz, MS again. With Windows 8 we're totally going to put our full weight behind PC gaming just like we promised back in 2006! Pls be excite.
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/gaming/computing/pc/microsoft-wants-windows-8-to-relaunch-pc-gaming-917416

2012 - MS: We won't ditch GFWL!
We're committed to PC gaming and we absolutely think GFWL is the best play to get PC games and play with others. Our client is awesome....ly bloated and deletes s** randomly, but that's really one of the charms of PC gaming that we captured! It's a balanced experience! Hope you rike!
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-18-microsoft-wont-ditch-games-for-windows-live-for-pc-xbox-live

2013 - MS to discontinue GFWL
Hey gaiz new manager here, so like a bunch of your games might stop working come 2014...but that's okay! We expect there to be transitions as we build out new investments, but we remain committed to bringing first party gaming services and games to Windows for years to come. We will share more details in the future!
http://www.develop-online.net/news/microsoft-to-discontinue-games-for-windows-live/0115650

2013 - MS promises core first party games coming to PC
We're so committed we swear!
http://www.shacknews.com/article/81897/microsoft-promises-more-core-games-coming-to-pc-than-past

[greenroost1445]

yea we'll see on how long this lasts

[NInety]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddd they just saw Linux as a threat so now they do something about it.

[beebskadoo]

Best thing that Microsoft ever did for PC gaming was kill Games For Windows Live.

 

 

#ThanksMicrosoft

[miyabwah]

No hinting at what they will do, but I hope they will be finally willing to port their exclusives to PC.

But I think they could never do that considering how in love with money they currently are.

Doesn't mean their mindset won't change, but I just doubt it.

[beebskadoo]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddd they just saw Linux as a threat so now they do something about it.

No....Linux is not a threat to Microsoft in the home PC market.

 

As much as I wish it would be it's simply not at this point in time.

[beebskadoo]

No hinting at what they will do, but I hope they will be finally willing to port their exclusives to PC.

But I think they could never do that considering how in love with money they currently are.

Doesn't mean their mindset won't change, but I just doubt it.

Like how every single console game that is demo'd is done on a PC...

The work is already done so why not just release it!

[Benjamin G]

Oh bullshit Microsoft you havent done anything good for PC gaming since the Sidewinder X6

[RelentlessAF]

No....Linux is not a threat to Microsoft in the home PC market.

 

As much as I wish it would be it's simply not at this point in time.

If Adobe made it's products available on Linux natively as well as games coming over (what SteamOS is doing for Linux) it definitely will be.

[miyabwah]

Like how every single console game that is demo'd is done on a PC...

The work is already done so why not just release it!

They want people to buy their consoles just for exclusives and realize how the console has other games too, and start buying games for it. More money = Happy Microsoft.

[beebskadoo]

If Adobe made it's products available on Linux natively as well as games coming over (what SteamOS is doing for Linux) it definitely will be.

What makes you say that?

[beebskadoo]

They want people to buy their consoles just for exclusives and realize how the console has other games too, and start buying games for it. More money = Happy Microsoft.

I know that but it's just idiotic that they don't release exclusives for PC.

I mean look at Titanfall. It was an XBoxOne 'exclusive' even though it wasn't...

[RelentlessAF]

What makes you say that?

Linux has more capabilities and is easier to understand plus it's free. The only thing holding it back is that most programs that are used by PC users are not supported on Linux natively and have to be run through Wine in most cases. That being Adobe programs like Phostoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. The other end of would be games, which SteamOS will bring games to Linux, as Valve has stated that they have quite a few devs jumping on board and Nvidia is working with them to take advantage of OpenGL. Which from their extensive testing has been shown to net more performance than DirectX. So if games and professional application migrate over to Linux it could easily become more popular than Windows or Mac with it's unlocked potential and ease of use.

[beebskadoo]

Linux has more capabilities and is easier to understand plus it's free. The only thing holding it back is that most programs that are used by PC users are not supported on Linux natively and have to be run through Wine in most cases. That being Adobe programs like Phostoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects. The other end of would be games, which SteamOS will bring games to Linux, as Valve has stated that they have quite a few devs jumping on board and Nvidia is working with them to take advantage of OpenGL. Which from their extensive testing has been shown to net more performance than DirectX. So if games and professional application migrate over to Linux it could easily become more popular than Windows or Mac with it's unlocked potential and ease of use.

Ease of use is an issue. Generally Windows is easier to use than Linux (speaking from experience)

Even if Adobe did make it's products available on Linux, you still wouldn't likely see pro-sumers make the switch.

[RelentlessAF]

Ease of use is an issue. Generally Windows is easier to use than Linux (speaking from experience)

Even if Adobe did make it's products available on Linux, you still wouldn't likely see pro-sumers make the switch.

It really depends on the person, I found Ubuntu, which is the specific distro I use, to be much more user friendly than Windows was when I first began using it. Also I think it'd be over time, most likely when a new OS came out and Microsoft expected you to switch to say Windows 9. Rather than pay $100 for a new OS with a stupid Metro UI I'm sure they'd spring for the free Linux distro that they can personally customize to their liking(or leave standard). 

[Beskamir]

It really depends on the person, I found Ubuntu, which is the specific distro I use, to be much more user friendly than Windows was when I first began using it. Also I think it'd be over time, most likely when a new OS came out and Microsoft expected you to switch to say Windows 9. Rather than pay $100 for a new OS with a stupid Metro UI I'm sure they'd spring for the free Linux distro that they can personally customize to their liking(or leave standard). 

Most people would only switch to Linux after gamers and techies would start advertising Linux to them which seems like it will happen once games and most important programs are working on Linux. Which is why Microsoft might want to start looking like a good guy to windows gamers and techies...

[Sky Daddy]

 A good halo 3 port and I'll forgive them.

[HaZardousLP]

It really depends on the person, I found Ubuntu, which is the specific distro I use, to be much more user friendly than Windows was when I first began using it. Also I think it'd be over time, most likely when a new OS came out and Microsoft expected you to switch to say Windows 9. Rather than pay $100 for a new OS with a stupid Metro UI I'm sure they'd spring for the free Linux distro that they can personally customize to their liking(or leave standard). 

 

I find Windows much easier to use... Granted I didn't use Ubuntu for long, but I didn't see a reason to. There is definitely no chance that Linux will overtake Windows even if Adobe and lots of game devs made Linux releases, Linux just isn't made for the consumer. 

 

Let's assume Adobe release their suite on Linux. A very small percentage of people who use computers actually use Photoshop, AE etc regularly and can warrant paying the subscription to Adobes Creative Cloud thing (Ignoring piracy, drives platforms but isn't CC harder/not possible to pirate?). You can be sure that these people aren't too concerned over paying for Windows every 3-5 years or so.

[TopWargamer]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddd they just saw Linux as a threat so now they do something about it.

Hey, whatever works. 

[TopWargamer]

 A good halo 3 port and I'll forgive them.

Yes. This needs to be a thing NOW. I spent waaaay too much time on Halo 3, and I'd gladly do it again on my PC. 

[Camul]

We (I) want all of the Halo, Gears of War and Fable games. Then, and only then, will you be forgiven.

[RelentlessAF]

I find Windows much easier to use... Granted I didn't use Ubuntu for long, but I didn't see a reason to. There is definitely no chance that Linux will overtake Windows even if Adobe and lots of game devs made Linux releases, Linux just isn't made for the consumer. 

 

Let's assume Adobe release their suite on Linux. A very small percentage of people who use computers actually use Photoshop, AE etc regularly and can warrant paying the subscription to Adobes Creative Cloud thing (Ignoring piracy, drives platforms but isn't CC harder/not possible to pirate?). You can be sure that these people aren't too concerned over paying for Windows every 3-5 years or so.

SteamOS however is designed for the consumer and will most likely be the flagship distro for Linux. With it's simplistic design and ease of use as well as the potential to let you do more a lot more people can make the switch. Non-techies will be the last to switch since they are pretty far out of the loop but Gamers are a large portion of the PC user market. At least we can hope at the very least SteamOS will put pressure on Microsoft to stop making Windows only geared towards the casual consumer and let people decide what they want from their OS.

[ShiverMePenguins]

I find Windows much easier to use... Granted I didn't use Ubuntu for long, but I didn't see a reason to. There is definitely no chance that Linux will overtake Windows even if Adobe and lots of game devs made Linux releases, Linux just isn't made for the consumer. 

 

Let's assume Adobe release their suite on Linux. A very small percentage of people who use computers actually use Photoshop, AE etc regularly and can warrant paying the subscription to Adobes Creative Cloud thing (Ignoring piracy, drives platforms but isn't CC harder/not possible to pirate?). You can be sure that these people aren't too concerned over paying for Windows every 3-5 years or so.

actually most debian based distro's are made for ease of use, minimalist platform (in terms of code), and streamlined system

 

Ubuntu is a prime example of this. The only reason why it isn't ready for the consumer market is a lack of heavy marketing in the early 90's. people don't think free is good because corporate society has taught them so. so hearing a free operating system made them wary off the bat.

 

with a few tweaks to ubuntu i could make it easier and more pleasant to use than anything you've ever experienced before, which is the beauty of linux.

[elkenrod]

Just what is it that people are expecting Microsoft to deliver on PC regarding games?

[Speedstack79]

actually most debian based distro's are made for ease of use, minimalist platform (in terms of code), and streamlined system

 

Ubuntu is a prime example of this. The only reason why it isn't ready for the consumer market is a lack of heavy marketing in the early 90's. people don't think free is good because corporate society has taught them so. so hearing a free operating system made them wary off the bat.

 

with a few tweaks to ubuntu i could make it easier and more pleasant to use than anything you've ever experienced before, which is the beauty of linux.

In ubuntu I had to look up how to install a GPU driver, it involved opening the terminal and typing in code. Ubuntu is a finished operating system for tech savvy people but I consider it to still be in beta for the consumers. However there may be other linux distros that do not involve terminals and stuff and those are the ones that consumers should get, I believe that is one of the reasons people actually use windows, it is just simple to use and install programs.