It is a Metro app, written in WinRT which is compatible with Windows 8 and Windows RT machines.
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Microsoft forcing Windows 8 exclusivity for PC versions of MS published XBLA game
- Thread starter Ceebs
- Start date
It is a Metro app, written in WinRT which is compatible with Windows 8 and Windows RT machines.
I thought GFWL dies with Windows 8, no?
TouchMyBox
Member
Well, I guess it's re-branded and integrated now.
There won't be an installer. If you want this game on PC, you need to go through Microsoft's app store.
The only other way to get it will be piracy, and even then it's pretty uncertain that that'd even work on W7. I'm not down on the technical side of Metro, but my understanding is that it runs software differently from how desktop Windows does. I think it'd take more than a crack/patch by some industrious hacker to get this working on a "legacy" (as MS likes to call the desktop) interface.
snoopeasystreet
Member
C#, C++, HTML5/JS
snoopeasystreet
Member
No XNA though, right? You'd think they'd go with XNA and then they could develop the app for Windows 8 (as a non metro app), 360 and Windows Phone with minimal effort. I guess they're just working in a more standard version C# sharp in order to support metro.
I guess Microsoft put the requirement that they support Games for Windows Live, which doesn't support C++.
XNA is rumored disappear from Windows Phone going forward too, with Windows Phone 8 rumored to be going to WinRT. Wouldn't be surprised if it went bye bye for Xbox Next too.
plagiarize
Banned
they've added a whole bunch more power user shortcut keys that make most things quicker actually. love that Win+X shortcut!
snoopeasystreet
Member
Yeah. You'd have to assume they're transitioning to something else though. XNA is pretty great for getting things up and running quickly on multiple devices.
fluffydelusions
Member
You can use it with the same interface as Win 7 if you like.
Until you need to click the invisible Start button, then you get violently thrown into an awful UI. And that won't be there forever. It's called "legacy" for a reason: MS wants to be shot of it one day.
God, the Windows 8 whiners out here.
I've been on the consumer preview for a while now, and I love it. The Metro stuff is entirely in the Start Menu and for specific Metro styled apps. As a launcher for games and applications via tiles it's a far better alternative that the shithouse start menu. I could never fucking find anything in there, and this makes things so much easier. I can actually FIND my Microsoft Office apps without searching for a minute.
Now to me it's pretty clear what's happened here. 17-Bit Studios, like a lot of other developers out there, want to get in snug with Microsoft. Sometimes it can be a burden, but when things go their way as well as your way you're golden. Microsoft have always discussed this "three screen" initiative with Xbox, Mobile and PC, and if these guys can do that across all three with the minimal amount of fuss, all using Xbox Live, then good on them.
I wouldn't put it past them to make the game on Steam PC / Mac and for iPhone / Android at a later date, as they clearly can make it work for those systems, but it's going to take extra time post-launch. Being a C# game already connected within an Xbox Live framework, the Windows 8, Phone 7 and XBLA versions are the quickest to do with the minimal amount of extra work, and keeps Microsoft happy.
There are also a lot of other possibilities as well -- Steam might of actually said no to the game. Steam might have a reputation for being indie friendly, but why are neither Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, two of the biggest mobile games which HAVE PC versions available on Mac App Stores, Windows 8, PC retail or on their own site, not on Steam? Of all places, why not Steam?
I've been on the consumer preview for a while now, and I love it. The Metro stuff is entirely in the Start Menu and for specific Metro styled apps. As a launcher for games and applications via tiles it's a far better alternative that the shithouse start menu. I could never fucking find anything in there, and this makes things so much easier. I can actually FIND my Microsoft Office apps without searching for a minute.
Now to me it's pretty clear what's happened here. 17-Bit Studios, like a lot of other developers out there, want to get in snug with Microsoft. Sometimes it can be a burden, but when things go their way as well as your way you're golden. Microsoft have always discussed this "three screen" initiative with Xbox, Mobile and PC, and if these guys can do that across all three with the minimal amount of fuss, all using Xbox Live, then good on them.
I wouldn't put it past them to make the game on Steam PC / Mac and for iPhone / Android at a later date, as they clearly can make it work for those systems, but it's going to take extra time post-launch. Being a C# game already connected within an Xbox Live framework, the Windows 8, Phone 7 and XBLA versions are the quickest to do with the minimal amount of extra work, and keeps Microsoft happy.
There are also a lot of other possibilities as well -- Steam might of actually said no to the game. Steam might have a reputation for being indie friendly, but why are neither Angry Birds or Cut The Rope, two of the biggest mobile games which HAVE PC versions available on Mac App Stores, Windows 8, PC retail or on their own site, not on Steam? Of all places, why not Steam?
Your list misses out on Windows 2000 and Windows NT. And adding it in would mean that NT was good and 2000 wasn't. Which is wrong.
Oh, I forgot that everyone prefers to download standalone EXE installers from random sites and deal with installation prompts, CD-keys and random files scattered all over their hard drives. This why services like Steam, which make the process installing games boring and unfun, were complete failures.
The iOS platform would be so much more successful if you could download apps directly from random websites, each one with their own payment system.
The casual market at large has no idea Steam exists. In my anecdotal experience, some don't fully grasp the concept and those who do shy away from installing a program and signing up for a service exclusively for playing games. It's completely different from platforms like the Apple's app store, as example, which is already there by default.
What a lot of you dont seem to know is that Microsoft is also trying to lock exckusive deals with computer manufacturers where only windows OS can be installed on them. I know thats where my hate is coming from.
Your sarcasm is all over the place
Your sarcasm is all over the place
zephervack
Member
So, this means games like Braid and Limbo will never make it to Steam in the future right? like ever?
[citation needed]
or just ask Linus: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/06/microsoft-windows8-secure-boot/
Felix Lighter
Member
The rhetoric surrounding Windows 8 is so extreme. I'm in no particular hurry to upgrade from Windows 7 but with my limited time with Windows 8, I didn't find it so aggressively awful.
I've also seen a couple posters that are completely convinced that the desktop is secretly scheduled to be removed from future versions of Windows and I'm just curious what the evidence is for that. I'm not saying that it is out of the realm of possibilities but it seems like an overly extreme measure for Microsoft to take, especially when you consider their corporate customers. I'd have to see some compelling evidence to be convinced at this point.
I've also seen a couple posters that are completely convinced that the desktop is secretly scheduled to be removed from future versions of Windows and I'm just curious what the evidence is for that. I'm not saying that it is out of the realm of possibilities but it seems like an overly extreme measure for Microsoft to take, especially when you consider their corporate customers. I'd have to see some compelling evidence to be convinced at this point.
Photolysis
Banned
Just an extension of what's been going on for years. Microsoft managed to use their position to force Dell to stop offering machines with Linux on, at least. Might not be a hardware lock, but the effect is pretty similar.
Time to find a random app using the start menu in Windows 7: about 5 seconds.
Yeah, it definitely needs a brand new UI.
plagiarize
Banned
legitimate question. what do you 'need' to go into the start menu for?
Dell still sells machines with Linux on them. Do you believe in any other conspiracy theories?
http://arstechnica.com/business/201...tep-in-the-right-direction-for-linux-support/
http://arstechnica.com/information-...sell-ubuntu-pcs-at-retail-locations-in-china/
They were only ever removed from dell.com (for support reasons, according to Dell)
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
Seach, I use it all the time, I just hit the windows key with my pinky finger and start typing, it's very easy and non-intrusive, now I have to bring up the whole metro interface just to be able to search.
FUCK METRO, seriously, my pc isn't a tablet, I don't want nothing to do with metro ever.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
About the same, if not less, in Windows 8. Set it up well and the metro menu will be nigh on identical to the start menu for opening programs. The only issue is how unnecessary it is for a full screen interface to pop up when people are happy with the smaller start screen. That hardly makes the entire OS as bad as people are making out. 99.9% of the time is still spent in the desktop environment which is almost identical to Windows 7 aside from performance and a few key areas which are better in Windows 8.
If you truly, truly hate metro that much, there are workaround so that you never have to go into it. I almost never do. At which point your Windows 8 experience so closely resembles Windows 7 that the "worst OS ever" comments seem silly. Especially comparisons to Windows Vista which was bad because of worse performance and bad compatibility with programs/drivers. Windows 8 runs better than any Windows before it, in that regard.
You can do that in Windows 8 too.
i'm assuming he's focusing on consumer OS's
The one that has destroyed the video games market right?
Photolysis
Banned
I am well aware of that, especially on their netbooks. I am in fact, a Dell customer. The selection of machines you can get Linux pre-installed on now though is very limited.
Several years ago Linux was offered as an option on most Dell machines until Microsoft told them to stop offering it, or they'd increase the costs Dell had to pay for each OEM license. Given the thin profit margin on most Dell machines this was a fairly no-brainer decision.
There are all sorts of backroom deals like this going on, some of which are well documented.
Less time throwing around accusations of believing conspiracies, more time researching Microsoft's practices. The copious amounts of anti-competitive behaviour that's gone to the courts should be kind of a giveaway that there's something to it.
Osiris
I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
I don't think many are saying "worst OS ever" - I personally just think it's not for me (and obviously many others), offers nothing over Windows 7 I want, and would require several workarounds that I have no desire to mess about with to disable/reduce the use of Metro.
For me, the simple question is why bother? - so I won't, simple.
Windows 7 has been absolutely ROCK solid for me, offers great performance and works the way I like it, Nothing about 8 is worth the risk of losing that stability for me, I wouldn't even upgrade to Win 8 for free, let alone pay for it.
For me, the simple question is why bother? - so I won't, simple.
Windows 7 has been absolutely ROCK solid for me, offers great performance and works the way I like it, Nothing about 8 is worth the risk of losing that stability for me, I wouldn't even upgrade to Win 8 for free, let alone pay for it.
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
But it brings up full screen metro, it makes using search like your loading up a full screen app, search should be non-intrusive.
plagiarize
Banned
you can still search in explorer (win+e), although it requires a further click of the mouse, so no, you don't have to search in metro, but it costs one click more.
lowrider007
Licorice-flavoured booze?
That is far from intuitive, I use search a lot, multiple times a day.
Also that's an extra button press and a mouse click away.
But the Start Menu is only good if you actually go into it and and clean it up -- anf who the hell does that? Go into a regular computer of choice and you'll find a billion different folders holding a bunch of shit they don't need. Uninstallers, readme files, a folder for "EA games", "Electronic Arts" and "EA Sports" separately, it's craps it all up! Metro (and iOS) make things a breeze in comparison and simplifies the whole structure of programs.
plagiarize
Banned
you can also just pin explorer to your task bar and start it with a single click if you feel hitting win+e is particularly harder than just hitting the win key.
the new search works a lot faster, and is nicely integrated with lots of the apps. it's not unintuitive, or intrusive, but i'm not going to tell you you have to like the aesthetic of it.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
That's fair enough. I will say as better as the desktop experience is, lack of start menu aside, I wouldn't pay full price to upgrade. Windows 7 will more than suffice. But if I buy a device in future, I won't avoid Windows 8 ones.
I agree. That is my major problem with Metro; that it's functionally the same for me, and just as quick, but I don't need a full screen interface to pop up for many of the tasks I use a start menu for. It certainly doesn't slow down my computing experience so it's an annoyance more than anything. I got used to it after a couple of weeks though. It's not the be all and end all.
NT and 2000 were designed to be enterprise orientated operating systems, people here are talking about consumer orientated operating systems. See Windows 2003 and 2008 for other examples of enterprise orientated OSs.
plagiarize
Banned
uhm. those other examples don't exist.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
While I'm still evaluating the Release Preview, I don't think I can voluntarily update from Win7 to Win8. Apologists citing the Metro start screen as a superior alternative to the Start menu baffle me: it solved a problem that never existed.
If this gaming initiative were attached to the Windows 7 launch, which had far more positive buzz than Windows 8, I'd consider this a non-issue. Attaching it to Windows 8 though... I dunno. We'll see how these games behave on ARM tablets, which will definitely be the entry tablet point for the OS (not these expensive convertable bullshits).
If this gaming initiative were attached to the Windows 7 launch, which had far more positive buzz than Windows 8, I'd consider this a non-issue. Attaching it to Windows 8 though... I dunno. We'll see how these games behave on ARM tablets, which will definitely be the entry tablet point for the OS (not these expensive convertable bullshits).
What a joke. A developer trying to excuse this garbage citing difficulty in releasing a windows title. You don't need approval from anyone to release a windows game, you simply put it out. Well I hope the moneyhat was worth throwing all of his companies PC sales in the garbage.
dragonelite
Member
lol i just played with win8 on pc and it works quit good.
Go Right upper/lower corner --> is kinda like a start menu
To switch between Metro and Desktop is is upper and lower in Metro ui and to go to metro ui is in desktop lower left.
Works quit well if you ask me.
But this is a case of you need to change for the OS to work.
That like 5 sec feel intuitive(imo). Hacking back win7 ui takes longer.
Maybe i will configure it to start on desktop is the place i will be in 97% of the time.
lol also found the search function better then start menu consider me converted i was a big hater of win 8 because you know CS student and average mood in the class is Metro sucks
but for search just start typing. But then im getting used to using linux cd to my directory and using a logical file layout.
Go Right upper/lower corner --> is kinda like a start menu
To switch between Metro and Desktop is is upper and lower in Metro ui and to go to metro ui is in desktop lower left.
Works quit well if you ask me.
But this is a case of you need to change for the OS to work.
That like 5 sec feel intuitive(imo). Hacking back win7 ui takes longer.
Maybe i will configure it to start on desktop is the place i will be in 97% of the time.
lol also found the search function better then start menu consider me converted i was a big hater of win 8 because you know CS student and average mood in the class is Metro sucks
but for search just start typing. But then im getting used to using linux cd to my directory and using a logical file layout.
I only use the Win 7 search to launch non-pinned programs. I find it too slow for searching for files, so I use Everything instead. It's so much faster than the native search it's almost uncanny. It also instantly updates in real time, so if a file/folder matching your search is created/deleted, you see it in real time.
Kabuki Quantum Lover
Member
Won't happen. MS wants you to see Metro.