I assume you mean it's terrible and lackluster because of a lack of apps or games you want to buy and not because it's a series of searchable icons in a window.
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Phil Spencer: Why Scalebound, Crackdown 3 and Quantum Break won't be launching on PC
- Thread starter mocoworm
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I assume you mean it's terrible and lackluster because of a lack of apps or games you want to buy and not because it's a series of searchable icons in a window.
GhostTrick
Banned
I'd say both. I mean, it's not appealing to browse in that client. The thing is basically working like a smartphone application market. Compared to Steam, it's like 10 years old outdated. The communities, the options, the UI... all of these things that makes the experience better and more accessible.
Schweinehund
Member
Pretty much. My feeling on MS's dedication to the platform starts and ends with providing support for DirectX since they pushed PC gaming toward that API, anything beyond that is a sales pitch and they don't have an obligation, or at least no more than any other platform developer / owner.
I like Steam so it's hard to criticize the UI but I highly disagree with the notion that the UI of the app store on windows 10 or OSX is "10 years old or outdated." It does exactly what I'd expect a storefront to do. It's easy to browse, search, and buy something with a few clicks. We're off topic.
grandwizard
Member
People, the reason Microsoft is being held to a higher standard than say Nintendo or Sony is because they are Microsoft. They had a strong history in software development for the PC until the Xbox came along and focused all their attention there. Then spent the next decade giving platitudes about how much they care about PC gaming while shutting down PC studios like Ensemble and FASA and trying to charge PC gamers to play online. Not to mention the horrible attempt at control over the PC gaming space they called Games for Windows, which to this day is still hurting PC gaming and might be the worst thing that has ever happened to it.
If they want people to not laugh when they say they are committed to PC gaming they need to actually do things for PC gaming.
If they want people to not laugh when they say they are committed to PC gaming they need to actually do things for PC gaming.
Maintenance
Member
You must be delusional to think they would give those exclusives to the PC. They'll give F2P bones like Fable Legends and old (but remade) stuff like Gears 1.
If you fell for Phil saying that they would support the PC...I have a bridge to sell here.
If you fell for Phil saying that they would support the PC...I have a bridge to sell here.
For me it is more about what the service can contribute to making gaming fun / better / more intuitive. I am a bit more focused on Steam at the moment due to its features. BPM UI is great for TV use, Overlay is great for so many things mid game, Workshop makes mods simple to mess with, the community that I already like is there and my friends, SteamPlay is particularly important for me when bouncing between devices and places, In-Home Streaming works brilliantly etc.
So far all Microsoft have done is make an OS level DVR feature, when GPU and other vendors have more flexible variants that have been in use for a long time. Xbox Live isn't a big seller for me either, although it would be nice to keep in touch with some folks that are not on Steam. More importantly, they have to prove to me that there service will be well supported and trustworthy, and that will take a long time after GFWL. As slow and wonky as Steam has been with support issues over the years, issues of my own have been few and far between since 2007 - way better than my initial experience in 2004 at which point I left it alone
GhostTrick
Banned
I said Windows 10. Sure, it's good for an app store. Not for gaming though. It's not only the UI of the store itself, it's also that there's no way to manage anything gaming related for now.
no, because you're going backwards. DX10 was released when Windows Vista launched for example. I'm sure DX12 will be available on the next version of windows
I don't think Ori had full blown X1 sales numbers? Not sure if it hit multiplat on X1 (plat is 1 million, so multi would be 2 million). As for Ryse and DR3; I'm not sure that's true. The only sales number I could find was
https://mobile.twitter.com/aarongreenberg/status/423998958591946752
Which are NPD numbers for the month, physical sales only on X1, in Dec 2013. The games might have broken 3 million and 2.4 million respectively total on their consoles for the entire lifetimes (especially once you factor in crazy Black Friday sales and such).
The first part I'm not completely sure I understand, tbh. Windows is the dominant OS for reasons that basically have absolutely nothing to do with gaming. MS tried to make gaming "relevant" by launching a Steam competitor. It (rightfully) got its ass kicked. They did what every other company did with the walled garden software bit. They realized they had no chance. GFWL was just them going "me too!"; just like they went and bought Nokia and tried to do Windows Phones, and then they went and made the Surface RT to compete against the iPad. Didn't really work out in any of those cases (the actual Surface is a different story, admittedly).
Windows 10 is a move away from that. They are perfectly happy with people using Steam. Because the more people that use Steam, the less likely they go into iOS or Android. Even Valve's own attempts to go against Windows with Steambox has been getting its ass kicked up and down. Microsoft's new "love for Steam" isn't because they've seen the error of their ways. It is because Valve isn't a competitor to them. Microsoft is worried about Apple. Microsoft is worried about Google. Steam being its own walled garden in PC gaming gives them a natural counter to Apple and Google in the PC gaming market. MS has gone from the "trying to compete with Google and Apple on hardware" to the "make sure Google and Apple don't use their hardware inroads to move in on Windows". Because that's where the money is.
That was me; and I mistook "not on PC" as "console" - 60% of Minecraft is not PC / Mac / etc - it's about equalish amounts of Console, PC, and Mobile. (Mobile is a bit bigger than the other two). Still pretty remarkable seeing as Minecraft was primarily a PC game that was ported a while after the fact - PC version was in 2009 with a "full" release in 2011, Xbox 360 version was in May 2012, iOS / Android was around the same time as the "full" release.
I wouldn't doubt. I have yet to see a NDP monthly chart of a multi-platform game where PC sold more than the consoles.
And you probably never will because retail PC is all but dead in NA. It's not indicative of anything meaningful.
The Sarcastic Dude
Banned
IKR.
At the same time who cares if they put it on PCs.
Revolutionary
Member
You can't fool me, Spencer! I saw Halo 5 being played on a PC in Mission Impossible 5!
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Probably because PC gamers who choose to buy the latest big multiplatform releases are likely to do so via a cheaper online deal, as opposed to full price retail release.
And on PC it makes more sense to wait as those sales tend to pop up quickly.
Isnt NPD physical sales? Even still, we're talking about minecraft. Plus it was on pc for a couple of years prior to console.
I believe so. Part of why PC Games sales are so nebulous is because I believe Steam sales are not counted. That's why we can have giant arguments like this - because PC games don't carry regularly reported hard stats unless the developer hits a milestone / issues a press release. For non publicly traded developers; we generally never see the data.
Steam sales are probably the best tracked of any one platform through SteamSpy. Nintendo is maybe the exception given the large percentage of sales their in-house games make up on their platforms.
It's not like NPD is out there releasing console sales numbers to the general public any longer, and very few publishers release more than their milestones for any platform.
ThaiGrocer
Member
I see it as MS knowing that PC is profitable to them when it's less open to other sellers. xbone is already their ideal fully controlled environment. So look forward to 'maybe' and 'we are committed' lines like last time without any substantial results. They'll continue to make excuses to only put a majority of their resources into their walled garden.
Basically, it's the same conflict-of-interest BS promise for PC since they started slipping into the console business.
Basically, it's the same conflict-of-interest BS promise for PC since they started slipping into the console business.
dgrdsv
Member
Some of us are still waiting for those Halo 3 and Gears trilogy PC releases. Says a lot more about how MS is supporting PC gaming than any words from whoever. Hell, how about bringing those that already are on PC to any DD platform at first? Then we can listen to what they're saying.
I suspected that's why Phil kept Forza 6, Scalebound, Crackdown, QB, and Recore exclusive. He's probably also having to make tradeoffs in terms of getting games like Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 made or working on new stuff.
Now that it's a little more clear that the new stuff getting started will likely be cross-buy I wish they would start talking about their sales strategy. Are they only Windows Store? Will they be on Steam at all, maybe with hooks into Live?
Now that it's a little more clear that the new stuff getting started will likely be cross-buy I wish they would start talking about their sales strategy. Are they only Windows Store? Will they be on Steam at all, maybe with hooks into Live?
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
Much of the reason why people care is because a) MS is also pushing DirectX; b) MS is also pushing the Windows 10 store; c) MS is repeatedly apologizing for past treatment of Steam. If MS, like Sony, had never been in the PC gaming market, there'd be a lot less pressure on them now.
Still waiting for this.
Would be nice to get some pc franchises coming back, and not just to bulk up their xbox line up, but I doubt it will happen. I thought we were gonna see something with AoE or the Rise of Nations ip since they picked that up, but instead pc gets Halo Wars 2 as their game that is made with pc in mind as well. Pretty disappointing imo.
All these promises, deliver already.
TheSpoiler
Member
Poodlestrike
Banned
Pathfinder
Member
Makes perfect sense that those games won't launch on PC. Their respective developments didn't start with the PC in mind. It doesn't mean they can't or won't be ported to PC in future, but Microsoft isn't just going to throw a wrench in the development process by forcing the devs to shoehorn in a PC version.
I swear, some of the posts in this thread are headshakers.
I swear, some of the posts in this thread are headshakers.
The people "bitching" don't want to and likely won't ever buy an Xbox One regardless of the number of "exclusives" being waved around. Microsoft are setting the precedent themselves, even going so far too push the matter as they push for adoption of Windows 10. Maybe you should complain that they are talking about this stuff
Why shouldn't they talk about it? They're releasing a new OS, a new DirectX, a new controller and dongle, numerous new games, etc?
If they ever stated that they would place every game on PC, then call that out sure (if you have any proof of them saying this, feel free to silence me right now). But them saying that they'll be heavily supporting that platform is exactly what they're doing... and in regards to games released, development tools, hardware etc, it could probably be argued that they're actually doing more than Valve is in regards to PC gaming right now, despite the lack of comparable success.
Since when does "committed to PC" = "bring our Xbox One staples to PC"?
When did they promise bringing Xbox staple franchises to PC?
Why wouldn't people buy the platform if they want its games? Don't people buy PlayStation 4s for its exclusives? Don't people buy PC's for its exclusives? Why not for Xbox One?
Poodlestrike
Banned
AoE or RoN is almost certainly still coming, though. That's probably what they've got Decisive Games working on.
flaxknuckles
Member
How the hell can that be argued, when Valve is releasing a new OS and PC/console, helping launch a new graphics api, a new controller that isn't just something that was already made for a console, and a new engine that will guarantee games made with it come to PC?
And don't you say streaming is how Microsoft is supporting PC better than Valve lol.
Because Valve doesn't have the platform already in place for the masses to migrate to. Vulkan won't take off unless SteamOS takes off, and that won't happen unless Microsoft botches Windows 10, which by the looks of things, isn't going to happen. I doubt the Steam controller will become the standard for PC gamers, and I have similar doubts for the Steam Machines, too. These are niche products. Windows is the exact opposite of niche.
flaxknuckles
Member
What does the success of the features and peripherals have to do with what I was responding to?
How can they do something for the PC gaming sphere if pretty much nobody will need to use those things?
It's like building a road for no one to use it because it's inconvenient.
Crayon
Member
Things valve is doing for pc gaming right now:
.Running and developing steam. Thats kind of a big one.
.Shipping a wireless controller that is 100% compatible with every pc game on any os.
.Somewhat single handedly erecting a market for linux compatible commercial games.
Those are three things i feel Valve is doing 'for' pc gaming right now. I mean, things that benefit me regardless of Valve's motivation. Ms is promising alot but i dont see them 'actually doing more than Valve in regards to pc gaming right now'.
flaxknuckles
Member
Man, no.
New OS? Check (Windows 10)
New Hardware? Check (Surface Pro, and Valve doesn't seem to actually make any of the Steamboxes)
New API? Check (DirectX 12)
New Controller? Check (I don't see how it being shared with a console matters here tbh)
I don't know what you're referring to in regards to new engine, maybe you could clue me in?
On top of directly matching most of what Valve main pushes have been (which actually having created stuff like DirectX, rather than just supporting it) they've also actually been releasing and funding games for the platform.... I think even limited to Steam, MS has published significantly more games than Valve has recently. That's without taking into consideration other side efforts for stuff like the Windows Store.
Okay. I just don't see how Valve's attempts are, while legitimate, fruitful. What is SteamOS and Vulkan going to achieve if everyone will be using Windows 10 and DirectX 12?
MikeE21286
Member
He's going to have to answer this question with every XB1 exclusive.
Halo 5 and Gears next....
Halo 5 and Gears next....
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