The PC – once the gold standard for videogaming enthusiasts – has fallen from grace. As each successive console generation provides gamers with options that are more affordable and (most importantly) provide a simpler, pick-up-and-play experience, game developers are encountering fewer reasons to support the beleaguered PC platform.
Tack on piracy woes, public misconceptions about the real costs behind gaming PCs, and arcane system requirements that befuddle even experienced enthusiasts, and it's no wonder so many gamers and developers have set sail for console-centric shores.
So when a blockbuster title like Grand Theft Auto IV makes the transition from the living room to the desktop, PC gaming fans and detractors alike can't help but take notice, particularly when the game is being launched exclusively under Microsoft's Games for Windows platform.
When the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV arrives Nov. 18, it will bring enhanced visuals, an improved multiplayer experience and all the baggage attached to the troubled Games for Windows platform. If successful, the game could breathe new life into the Games for Windows initiative, giving PC gaming the shot in the arm it so richly deserves. The consequence of failure, however, is yet another nail in the coffin of public opinion about PC games.
It's been two years since Microsoft launched Games for Windows, the company's attempt at replicating the success of its critically acclaimed Xbox Live service on the PC. Games for Windows Live offered matchmaking, cross-platform play with Microsoft's Xbox 360, quite a few exclusive games and a single identity (the "gamertag") for establishing an individual's presence across console and PC titles and for tabulating their achievements.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Windows Live was, and is, nowhere near as influential as promised. The system was designed with Windows Vista in mind, and the operating system still hasn't secured a foothold in the market. Cross-platform play failed to pan out, with the few games actually supporting it showed the jarring difference in precision between the 360's gamepad and the PC's mouse and keyboard. And the interface failed to match Xbox Live's seamless experience, instead being derided as clunky and unattractive.
To make matters worse, Microsoft originally tacked on a fee for the Windows Live online service. Console gamers might be fine with paying a yearly membership fee for Xbox Live's Gold membership, but PC gamers, accustomed to free online matchmaking since the days of dialup modems, balked at the idea. Microsoft ultimately abandoned the fee, but with services like Steam already offering digital distribution, matchmaking, achievements and gamer profiles in a polished format, the public remained largely unmoved.
And yet, despite all these failings, Microsoft is in a unique position: PC gaming is synonymous with Windows, and will be for the foreseeable future.
On Microsoft Games' Gamerscore Blog, the Grand Theft Auto IV announcement was coupled with news that Microsoft would be improving the Windows Live service, adding an independent client with an improved interface and a marketplace for Xbox-style microtransactions.
But ultimately, the goal of the Windows Live service shouldn't be to replace well-established digital distribution services: Microsoft needs to focus on streamlining the PC gaming process for the masses, bringing the experience a step or two closer to the ease of use console gamers have enjoyed for years.
Consider the chief problem that many detractors have with the PC gaming experience: system requirements.
Grab the box of most any PC game, and you'll be presented with an arcane chart of model numbers and processor speeds, minimum and recommended requirements that only serve to confuse.
Games launched under the Games for Windows banner are required to adhere to Vista's system of marking everything with a Windows Experience Rating. This could be a boon: Instead of a list of requirements, a gamer would be presented with a number between 1 and 5.9, which could be easily compared with their system's rating. They'd know, at a glance, whether their machine could handle the game in question.
Games for Windows also requires support for the Xbox 360's gamepad (when applicable), so console gamers will have a familiar alternative to a mouse and keyboard, wide-screen monitor support in all titles and dramatically simplified installations and patching. Perhaps not as painless as dropping a disc into a console, but still a vast improvement.
The success of the Games for Windows platform will ultimately depend on how (if at all) these improvements are implemented by game developers, and how smooth Microsoft allows the process to be. Grand Theft Auto IV will in turn serve as a barometer that shows how well Microsoft has leveraged its control over the PC gaming platform.
While many who hoped to take advantage of expanded multiplayer options in Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC might bemoan the lack of its availability on Steam or as a standalone title, the Windows Live rollout puts Microsoft in a strong position to bring new gamers into the fold by making access to a phenomenal title that much easier.
For better or worse, with exclusive control over a blockbuster title, the ball is now in Microsoft's court.
A Niko Bellic Birthday [Gamerscore Blog]
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