Does windows 8 bring anything to PC Gamers?

[ZombieFan]

The Prophet has spoken.

Thank you

Some things to consider:
Valve is not interested in non-gamers, contrary to your belief.

Every non-gamer is a gamer waiting to happen. Nintendo uncovered this by expanding the market with the Wii.

Anyone who's tech-savvy will not upgrade to Windows 8 unless they plan on buying a new laptop next year.

Questionable, since there are users on this forum who have said they will upgrade. Even so, non tech-savvy people buy games as well?

You're speaking of Windows Store like it's already a success. So far it's a promise of bigger promises.

True.

Valve's games are all Steamworks, require Steam to install wherever you get them from, meaning that it's gonna be the platform of choice, regardless.

This might cause people to install Steam if Valve pumped out games all year round, but since their games are rare events nowadays, there isn't a reason to install it until the next big release (HL3?)

There's no reason why Steam wouldn't have its own Metro app.

True. But why install a third-party store when one is integrated into Windows?

Steam has been gaining customer base each year, pretty much doubling it on yearly basis in the past few years.

True. Which is why they are moving into new areas such as Linux. Windows 8 could take a large part of this growth away.

Microsoft is never going to allow the open distribution of indies the way that Steam does.

XBox Live is a massive Indie playground. Many indie games which are now on PC were originally released for XBL and ported over to the PC. If anything, XBL has encouranged indie growth by providing a single channel to allow indie devs to get to their customers. I can't see why Windows Store will be any different.

Transition to Windows 8 will be a funny process.

?

EA is surely going to push its own Origin platform the same way that Steam does.
Ubisoft is doing the same.

So? They will be in the same boat.

All in all, more and more publishers try their own thing, not so much for integrating with Windows Metro.

Why do you think this?

Windows 8 apologists make me laugh.

Nice to see your entertained by something

 

[randal]

Gabe. Shut up. Make Half Life 3.

Succinct, and sig worthy.

 

[iv-tecman]

Gabe. Shut up. Make Half Life 3.

+ 1

Also, lets not forget your views on PS3 to only then say Portal 2 will be shipped with a free Steam code if you buy the PS3 version...

Hmmm Ok Windows 8 might be rubbish, it might not be but we've got windows 7 to launch steam and play Half Life 3 if you can be bothered with Half Life anymore

 

[nin9abadga]

if I could ask a question, how is this different from what apple do with iTunes and all the apps and stuff? isn't this what they do?

 

[m4rk84]

Why don't you read what I say, rather than talking rubbish.

My second post, well before you entered this thread talking rubbish



Oh and 30% commission it won't be, big developers negotiate. Depending how much Microsoft wants them depends how much discount they get. It's only a set fee for small developers.

Ok so to get this straight your agreeing that the future could see the traditional desktop could die in W9/10/11 being completely replaced by the Metro store and you can't see a problem with that and it's over hyped rubbish?

 

[silversurfer]

Windows 8 works fine. Theres no need to use metro, I never leave the desktop.

Everything on steam works fine on win8, steam operates on xp, vista, win7 and this one exactly the same.

Im just saying for anyone who doesnt realise otherwise, win8 is just a menu change plus usual faffy new stuff of no big interest, maybe thats terrible but it works anyway

 

[Glaucus]

Ok so to get this straight your agreeing that the future could see the traditional desktop could die in W9/10/11 being completely replaced by the Metro store and you can't see a problem with that and it's over hyped rubbish?

Lol
Whats not to get.
Yes I can see it being replaced.
Yes I can see it being an issue in the future.
I still think its over hyped ****, read what he has said. He specifically references windows8.

So no its not currently an issue at all. He's talking hyperbol. Just like he has done many times before.
And if desktop disappears, computing is going to be vastly different to how we see it at the moment. We are going through a transition period. He needs to stop worrying about the future get on with it, and start planning for the tail tail signs of where we will be in the future.

 

[cwhitehead]

if I could ask a question, how is this different from what apple do with iTunes and all the apps and stuff? isn't this what they do?

Shhhh apple are geniuses

 

[dogmanstaruk]

I have downloaded the preview version, but I'm slightly concerned about the current state of drivers.

I know NV's latest betas are designed for 8 and 7 so that is cool. However I've not had any luck seeing if Intel have released specific drivers for the Z68 chipset. My mobo is a Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3P.

Apologies if I've been blind and missed something obvious online

 

[trickycurve]

you should at least buy a copy on release, otherwise you are going to cost yourself loads of money when you do upgrade. They are doing a special offer till jan. it really is a good OS.

The $15 pre-order deal you refer to only applies to consumers who have purchased a computer with Windows 7 already pre-installed. The majority of users who browse this sub-forum will have built their own PCs and installed a retail copy of Windows 7. None of the many articles I've looked at mention anything about this deal being applicable to custom built PCs.

 

[Glaucus]

The BBC in thier article has tried to answer that for you Martini

"

Valve are trying to develop a Linux version to avoid this.

except the bbc don't know what they are talking about.Gabe is being an idiot like normal, he keeps shouting his mouth off.

 

[Glaucus]

They've changed their models, there's no longer is a retail version of win8 to buy. By the looks of it.

 

[|Thomas|]

What a fantastic way to promote the upcoming release of the linux client .

 

[feedtheram]

Ok so to get this straight your agreeing that the future could see the traditional desktop could die in W9/10/11 being completely replaced by the Metro store and you can't see a problem with that and it's over hyped rubbish?

I can't see this making sense for MS. It would alienate so many developers who might jump to other platforms.

MS long term strategy needs to be to ensure Windows maintains high market share. While W7 has been a big help in that they are more under threat than ever before in this market with Apple growing in popularity and Google starting to sniff around. Add that many casual users will probably opt for a tablet rather than a new laptop when they next upgrade MS need a presence in this market.

W8 is all about breaking the tablet market. The best way to get users comfortable with W8 tablets is to make them familiar with the interface.

Why would they stop you downloading directly from the internet? Just because the desktop doesn't exist does not mean you have to buy everything from the metro store.

 

[Random Guy]

One slight flaw in that.
If the user never knew what steam was in the first place, they are not a customer and will not cause valve to lose money, it may stop their rapid growth though. I will always be keeping steam, and buy games through it. I have a lot of games in my account.

At the moment I am not seeing any reason to buy any games through a Windows 8 Store especially when I have so much invested in Steam. Mind you, if the Indies and triple-A Publishers start using the Store, I can see the major threat this is to Steam. Still, given the choice between the two, I know who I would go with.

 

[trickycurve]

They've changed their models, there's no longer is a retail version of win8 to buy. By the looks of it.

Sucks if true, but that isn't really what I was getting at.

You were saying people -- or rather the people of this sub-forum -- should pre-order Windows 8 because you can get an upgrade copy for $15, but according to several articles I've looked at, that upgrade copy is only applicable to consumers who have purchased a computer with Windows 7 pre-installed* (e.g., your typical Acer, Dell, HP, etc machine bought from Purple Planet™). For the majority of people on this forum, that offer is null because they have built their own PCs and installed the OS themselves.


*The articles I've looked at don't specifically mention anything about custom built PCs, so it could just be they've been worded poorly or simply haven't mentioned it because your every day PC users won't have built their own machines (so they're trying to reach out to the wider audience). I think this needs clarification because otherwise Microsoft are missing a trick (i.e., lower sales as a result).

 

[Glaucus]

I think your talking about the upgrade to new machines. It's certainly not what I've read. We'll have to wait and see I guess for the full details. But there almost certainly will be a pre order offer for everyone and if there is you would be pretty mad not to get it. There's a huge host of improvements and if you don't like metro, it's very easy to just stay in the desktop.

 

[RDM]

Still, given the choice between the two, I know who I would go with.

The cheapest?

 

[stooeh]

I'm sure plenty of people went from XP to Windows 7 skipping Vista so I don't see why that won't happen with Windows 8.

I have no spare license for my backup PC so it is currently running Linux and Windows 8 (consumer preview). I don't particularly like it so I won't be upgrading my main PC, though if I could get a full copy for 15 quid I'd more than likely get it for the backup.

 

[Mr Krugga]

Every non-gamer is a gamer waiting to happen. Nintendo uncovered this by expanding the market with the Wii.

That's not exactly true, games have no universal appeal, especially PC games. If anything, Windows Store will become an alternative to playing Minesweeper during launch break.

Questionable, since there are users on this forum who have said they will upgrade. Even so, non tech-savvy people buy games as well?

Most people are easily influenced by the more knowledgeable folks.

This might cause people to install Steam if Valve pumped out games all year round, but since their games are rare events nowadays, there isn't a reason to install it until the next big release (HL3?)

There are dozens of titles released under Steamworks every year, with over a 100 available at the moment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Steam_games

True. But why install a third-party store when one is integrated into Windows?

Because, Windows 8 will be just a small market for publishers at first. Otherwise more publishers would already pledge to using its Store.

True. Which is why they are moving into new areas such as Linux. Windows 8 could take a large part of this growth away.

We don't know how many primary Windows 8 users there will be. We'll find out with Linux soon enough.

XBox Live is a massive Indie playground. Many indie games which are now on PC were originally released for XBL and ported over to the PC. If anything, XBL has encouranged indie growth by providing a single channel to allow indie devs to get to their customers. I can't see why Windows Store will be any different.

Perhaps you're right, we shall see. So far the indie devs are very happy with the service that Steam provides. If Microsoft somehow manages to be open and easy to deal with, it might become significant at some point. So far, I don't see that happening, since most people won't be moving to Windows 8 any time soon for various reasons, so the market is much smaller than for Steam only games.

?

Most people don't know how ridiculous the Metro interface is to operate by someone with little to no knowledge.

So? They will be in the same boat.

They're the big publishers deciding on the business model. My guess - they will have little to no use with Windows Store. Meaning that it won't be an alternative, simply a platform for some Microsoft + other obscure games.

Why do you think this?

Because that's what's happening at the moment. After all publishers are all about profits. The largest ones on PC (which is the platform we're discussing) are moving towards their own distribution services to make even more money (in theory). With the 30% commission on Windows Store, I don't think it's a viable alternative.

Nice to see your entertained by something [/QUOTE]