Microsoft Brings LIVE Gaming to Windows Vista

[cooldude75ph]

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from Games for Windows Magazine Feb. 2007 issue:

Microsoft Brings LIVE Gaming to Windows Vista

Online games on Windows Vista will just get better and better

At the E3 gaming expo in May 2006, Bill Gates presented Microsoft’s vision of extending the games experience of the Xbox LIVE Gaming and Entertainment Network beyond the Xbox 360. After months of intense work, Microsoft is on the cusp of delivering the first component of this vision through the retail releases of Halo 2 for Windows Vista and Shadowrun. Up to now, PC gamers have navigated seemingly endless hoops to get online and enjoy social gaming through the Internet. While some games claim to support online features, functionality is not consistent across titles and the configuration process is anything but seamless. As if getting the game up and running weren’t cumbersome enough, when you add the challenges of hosting, connecting, and finding a satisfying game online, the process becomes even more timeconsuming.
And when you finally think you’ve figured it all out, you have to answer questions like:
• Which server do I join?
• Where are my friends playing?
• On which game/server can I find players with my same skill/preferences?
• Which extra software do I need to use for voice communication—and how do I convince my friends to also use it?

Compare this to playing a game on LIVE—it’s simple: Sign up, start the game, sign in, and start playing.
Xbox gamers have been enjoying this kind of ease of use for the past four years. The console experience of “it just works” without having to deal with setup has always been one of its greatest draws since the very first console let players plug it into their TV set and just hit an “on” switch. When Microsoft designed LIVE, they deeply integrated the online gaming experience with the console to ensure that it would “just work.”

Bringing LIVE gaming to Windows means that Windows gamers will soon enjoy the ease of use, feature set, and rich experiences enabled by the only integrated games and entertainment network.
LIVE has been providing feature-rich, easy connectivity to console gamers for years. Windows has long had an active, vibrant online gaming community. Very soon, members of this community will also be able to enjoy such benefits as:
• Easy to use

• Integrated Service—single identity, single profile, single bill
• Reliable—everything just works
• Easy-to-use interface optimized for Windows

• Find a better game

• Quickly/easily find friends and appropriate opponents
• Friends List, Achievements, Gamerscore, Rich Presence, Messaging
• Integrated in-game voice
• Secure servers, resulting in reduced cheating and griefing

• Social experience

• Voice chat
• Single Friends List across Windows and Xbox 360
• Single identity with Gamerscore and Achievements
• Cross-platform gaming between Xbox and Windows for supported games

It’s a universal service. What does that mean? That means that gamers will have a single Gamertag that exists across platforms. That means for those gamers who already play Xbox LIVE on Xbox 360, their persona, Gamerscore, and Friends List will be the same when they play a LIVE-enabled Windows game. This means they can even talk across platforms and games; for instance, you could be playing Halo 2 for Windows Vista online and not miss a game invite to play some co-op Gears of War on Xbox 360. LIVE gamers who are Gold-level members on Xbox will be Gold on Windows, and vice versa. It’s one service, bridging the gap between two platforms.

So what will LIVE on Windows look like? Those already familiar with Xbox LIVE on an Xbox 360 have a head start on understanding LIVE on Windows. From the LIVE guide screen on Windows gamers can send and receive text and voice messages to and from friends, see which friends are online, look at who they most recently played online, or have a private 1:1 chat with another member of the LIVE Gaming and Entertainment Network—regardless of whether they are on Windows Vista or Xbox 360.
In the first half of 2007, Windows gamers will be able to play online like never before, powered by the world’s first and only cross-platform online gaming and entertainment network, LIVE. Get ready to enjoy gaming the way it should be.

I wonder if this is going to entire PC Gamers to switch to Vista...

[cooldude75ph]

Microsoft is now accepting registrations for the Games for Windows Live beta. The service promises to allow PC gamers to enjoy the Live experience as well as connect with Xbox players everywhere (in games like Shadowrun, for example). Registration for the beta is fairly straight forward, especially if you've registered for a Microsoft beta before. Registrants will need a Widows Live ID and must fill out a survey to qualify. Participants will be notified of their acceptance within the coming weeks. Not only that, but all eligible participants will be entered to win some unannounced prizes. Not bad. Hit the "read" link for the registration page and detailed instructions. You'd better get moving, too. The registration period is only open for a limited time.

Anyone planning to sign up, or do you restrict your gaming habits to consoles only?

[obemon]

Got the email invitation a few days ago and look forward to give this a crack now that I'm running Vista on my home PC. I wonder though if they follow the Xbox 360's subcription format where a Silver account only allows you to login, download stuff, and talk to your friends.... while a Gold status (payment applies) allows you to play online.

[cooldude75ph]

Got the email invitation a few days ago and look forward to give this a crack now that I'm running Vista on my home PC. I wonder though if they follow the Xbox 360's subcription format where a Silver account only allows you to login, download stuff, and talk to your friends.... while a Gold status (payment applies) allows you to play online.

I'm sure they eventually will but since they're still in beta, all beta testers will probably have gold rights.

[Spec-V]

O.T. For those who are very interested to upgrade both hardware & MS Vista, I would suggest to hold on for the next few months. Since its Tax Season here $$$$$ ....I was on the verge on Ordering a brand new spanking rig from Cyber Power, Thank god a Kababayan Rep on the phone inform me that - If you upgrade today; use XP O.S. not the Vista coz Video Card Giant Nivida has so many issues w/ their 8800 GTX Vid Card when running in Vista. No wonder AMD/ATI push back the release of their upcoming R600 Vid Card to May of 2007. Also Dells website dont offer Vista to their Hi-end XPS.

[cooldude75ph]

GDC 07: Microsoft Reveals Live For Windows Pricing

While Microsoft was quite quiet about Live for Windows Vista, today during a press event prior to the Game Developers Conference the company revealed to Game Informer Online the exact pricing structure for the service. Live for Windows Vista will actually be the same exact price for Vista as it is for the Xbox 360. Just like with the Xbox 360 there will be a free Silver package as well as a Gold package which retails for $49.99 for a year subscription, $7.99 for one month, and $19.99 for three months.

Good news for gamers who already have an Xbox Live Gold Membership – you’ve already subscribed. Your Live membership works on the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Live for Windows. Your gamer tag and achievements will be used across both Xbox and Vista PCs. Upcoming Vista games like Halo 2 and some exclusive Vista casual games will include achievements and will be able to add to your gamer score.

[obemon]

Hmmm so I guess my speculation was right all along. This will definitely be interesting though. PC gamers has always taken pride that playing online on a PC is aways free for them while Xbox console gamers have to pay for LiVE. Now the same service is invading the PC platform at the same cost. Will PC gamers budge in? Or will they ignore it and continue using services like Steam.

[cooldude75ph]

Will PC gamers budge in? Or will they ignore it and continue using services like Steam.

In my opinion, I think MS has a big hit with LIVE being cross-platform. The big question is that will Windows LIVE be available to XP users as well or will it be VISTA exclusive.

[kent666]

This is good news especially on the online market. And yeah, it would be best if it's available on winXP but I doubt it will be since they're trying to sell Vista.

[cooldude75ph]

Update:

Source: Microsoft's Live on PC: An Identity Crisis

Microsoft's Live on PC: An Identity Crisis
MS believes you'll pay for Live on PC. Why?
By Luke Smith, 03/13/2007

As previously reported (but not confirmed), Microsoft's Gold Live service on PC will cost $49.95 per year, and, as it is on Xbox 360, the Silver service will be free. However, unlike the Silver level on Xbox 360, the PC Silver feature set includes free online play.

Yet, in Halo 2 Vista, which ships May 8, players can only unlock multiplayer achievements with a Gold subscription. The reason behind this? It involves being consistent across PC and Xbox 360 platforms. On Xbox 360, players can only unlock multiplayer achievements if they can play with them -- and therefore have a Gold subscription -- so, in an effort to be consistent, Microsoft mandates that MP achievements (like those in Halo 2 Vista) be enabled by Gold accounts.

Additionally, achievements will be unified across the two platforms. If a player completes an achievement in the PC version of Shadowrun, that same achievement will be unlocked in the Xbox 360 version -- and appear on the achievement lists accessible via Xbox.com.

Players using Xbox Live Silver on the PC, though, will not have the ability to make friends-only invites to their games. What does that mean for custom gametypes? Will this render Halo 2 Vista's custom gametypes completely impotent, then?

The inability to arrange games with your friends seems like a tremendous inconsistency introduced by Microsoft. They've conceded that Live Silver should let gamers play with their friends on the PC, but at the same time, it would seem that they've gimped functionality in order to drive Gold subscriber numbers on the PC (keep in mind, if you have a Gold subscription on your Xbox 360, the two are one in the same, you have a Gold subscription on PC, as well).

Further, in an effort to create a unified platform for gaming -- one friend's list, one set of achievements, et cetera -- Microsoft has splintered the feature sets across two different platforms. Simply put, players can play for free (albeit gimped) on PC but they must pay to play on Xbox Live via Gold subscription.

Microsoft's attempts at offering a unifying product with Live on PC and Live on Xbox 360 have run the company into a rough spot. The vast differences between the platforms and user expectation (PC users expect to game for free, console gamers expect to pay) make it almost impossible to come up with a single strategy that doesn't involve taking a major revenue hit. With six million Live subscribers on Xbox Live (assuming a best case scenario of 100% of them being Gold accounts [which they are not]), Microsoft would be leaving $300M on the table each year. That's not revenue Microsoft Game Studios can afford to let go (the division has still only posted one profitable quarter). However, with mixed messaging in the feature set being offered to consumers, Microsoft needs to find some solution for the identity crisis facing their users -- alienating the 200M people playing games on PC certainly won't help further their Games for Windows branding nor will different platform-specific functionality grow the userbase on the Xbox 360.