Computers N Stuff » Games for Windows Live

A Distant Last – Games for Windows: LIVE too offer titles ‘On Demand’

Andrew Bryant — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:37:10 +0000

Fresh from the success of the upgrades to Xbox Live, Microsoft have decided to give the red-headed stepchild that is Games for Windows a bit of attention (if not TLC).

No, it’s not integrating Facebook and Twitter into the interface – that would be pointless… Rather it’s now entering into the *ahem* Digital Distribution market.

Whether this now means we finally get a decent persistent client that allows such simple things as managing friends lists outside of games, we don’t know.

What we do know is the guff in the press release after the cut…

On December 15, Games for
… Read More...

Is Imitation the greatest form of Flattery?: GFW:L copies Steam

Andrew Bryant — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:11:19 +0000

Don’t worry, Microsoft hasn’t bought Valve (*phew*). Rather, Microsoft have used the GDC to announce a shedload of functional changes to their red-headed stepchild of a PC games platform. Basically aping what others have been offering for a while now, hit the jump to find out just what can be had on other services!

LONDON – 24 March 2009 – Windows gaming took center stage today in San Francisco at the annual Game Developers Conference, as Microsoft announced new features coming to the Games for Windows – LIVE online gaming service and community:

• Anti-piracy Solution: Zero-day piracy protection and
… Read More...

‘Make DLC, not DRM’ – DoW 2 Interview

Andrew Bryant — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:41:05 +0000

Strategy Informer have posted an interview with Relic’s Jonny Ebbert, lead designer on Dawn of War II.

Whilst mostly just covering the same groundwork about the game that others have before (The move from base-building to a more squad-focused game, Tyranids etc.), there are two interesting quotes that stand out from the rest.

Read the full article here or read more for some analysis…

Strategy Informer: You must get a lot of fan feedback then. What were the main criticisms levelled at the first game by the fans?

Jonny Ebbert: (Pause) Our support of the game wasn’t up to snuff.
… Read More...

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only (Dawn of) War (2)!

Andrew Bryant — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:03:53 +0000

THQ have released a chunk of Dawn of War 2 footage with heavy focus on the multi-player mode (since it features base building, as opposed to the squad-focus of the single player campaign).

Many a ‘splode happens, courtesy of the Company of Heroes engine and it’s closet artillery-mass-destruction fetish.

Leap the hurdle for a ganders.

GTA IV PC Arrives with bonus technical issues – Steam issuing refunds

Andrew Bryant — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:58:41 +0000

GTA IV finally hit Microsoft’s other gaming platform the other day.

I use the term hit literally, since the landing was more of a crash as technical problems, connection woes, performance issues & missing textures are blighting a large number of users.

Hit the jump for analysis, amongst other tit-bits…

Problems with the game installation, Rockstar Social Club app just failing to work, Games for Windows failing to update properly (apparantly solvable by either downloading the recent stand-alone version or updating it in another game, such as Fallout 3) and numerous performance issues are blighting the game, with … Read More...

Games for Windows : Live Mk 2

Andrew Bryant — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:00:43 +0000

As the Xbox 360 NXE release approaches and following the stark back-pedal on the GfW : Live Gold Subscription fee back in July, Microsoft has entered phase 2 in it’s revision of Games for Windows : Live by rejigging the interface, which should be available now for LIVE-enabled games.

Designed around the sensible concept of ‘most of our users have a mouse’ rather than the ‘match the buttons to the Xbox 360 controller’ interface of old, the new interface features a much more logical layout taylored around mouse navigation with more information available on screen at any one time.

This, … Read More...

Games for Windows Live now free

Barry Hodgson — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:18:07 +0000

Microsoft today announced that Games For Windows Live (used in Games such as Gears of War PC, Halo 2 PC and Shadowrun PC) is now totally free, meaning you don’t have to pay to acquire multiplayer achievements or use matchmaking or cross platform play.

Microsoft also announced that there will be a GFW Marketplace, similar to the XBOX Live Marketplace offering demos, trailers and more. It will launch later this year.

Microsoft also announced that Dawn of War 2 and Battlestations: Pacific have joined the Games for Windows Live family.

The big question now is, why do 360 owners have … Read More...