http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3157724
Short version: Cross play on xbox live between 360 and windows users will require a gold live account, even if you are playing on a computer.
Seems like a way to segregate pc users and consoles users, in spite of the ability to play together. Who would want to pay money just for the ability to play with people on xbox live? Pay to play with people who have a less able control scheme, and swear like sailors. Riiight.
Word to the wise: the invites for the Live beta went out a while ago for anyone who was already accepted into the Shadowrun beta for the PC side of things. If you haven't gotten them by now you probably aren't in it (although I don't think it's too late to sign up). Unsurprisingly it requires you to have a microphone on your PC.
Well, that's one way to sabotage the Games for Windows initiative.
Actually, I take it back. If you only need to pay to access the auto-aim 360 audience, I doubt many PC users will care (or pay).
Wait, with LIVE for Windows (for PC) . . . do you get all the same functionality of the 360's LIVE?
Integrated VOIP?
Invite people to games you are playing?
Friends lists?
All Games for Windows certified games support LIVE?
Invite people who are playing in games different than the one you are in?
Send text and voice messages?
Achievements?
I mean, is it exactly the same, just for PC? Because if it is, that is WELL worth the $4 a month. Well worth. How much would you pay to be able to coordinate games in PC as well as you do on the 360?
Now I would not pay twice. That is, I wouldn't pay $50 for my 360 and $50 for my PC. But if they are integrated for the same price, I say bring it on. They will only sell more 360s and PCs that way. But if it's tightly integrated, and they can get every big game to come out to support LIVE, I'd buy in. And if I didn't hav a 360, I'd spend $50 to get all the LIVe functionality that exists on the 360. But only if it was supported by everyone.
They last time I played a multiplayer PC game (Battlefield 2), it was a frickin' nightmare to coordinate.
LooK! Over there! A squirrel waterskiing!
Last edited by DennyA; 03-09-2007 at 10:36 PM.
Xfire does pretty much everything you've just mentioned. VOIP, buddy list with who is playing what game and on what server, being able to join or invite people to a server, inter-game messages, seeing your buddy list in game, ... and it's free. Just not many people use it for whatever reason. Look me up, I'm Kunikos on there (just realized I need to update my rig info).Originally Posted by ElGuapo
GameSpy has a copycat beta product that's missing the VOIP chat (among other things) called Comrade.
Last edited by Kunikos; 03-06-2007 at 11:19 AM.
I'm supposed to pay them $50 just so I can play console based shooters like Shadowrun with 360 players? Uhh yea...
I think Live for Windows will have a much bigger user base. Anyone who games on Xbox and PC will certainly be using it. It will also hopefully be more integrated in games and become more of a standard.
I'm guessing it'll only work with Games for Windows products that bother to support it (kinda like how most games ignore the DirectX way of using game pads or joysticks).
I hope MS provides resources to developers to try to get them to use the tools that Live for Windows supports. We will see.
You don't think MS will require it for GFW certification?
Very few developers support the DirectX provided game networking stuff called DirectPlay, so I'm not holding my breath.
Since the GFW stuff already out and coming out very soon probably doesn't have it, I don't think it is. Also, if GFW doesn't require you to have DX10 support in your game then definitely not (I'm not sure if it does or doesn't).
True, but Live for Windows seems like it would be significant enough for MS to require support for it once it is released. I guess it will be interesting to see how things play out.
I got one of those, but didnt get into the shadowrun beta, so I deleted it. WTF would I do with Live beta w/o the SR beta? Retarded.
Just about as much as you can do with Live Anywhere, I'm guessing. ;)
Here's another tidbit on Halo 2 Vista at FS.
-Julianalo 2 Vista will also be the first PC game to have achievements which is something that every Xbox 360 game already has. People who already have a paid for Xbox Live Gold membership for their Xbox 360 will not have to pay extra for Live for Windows Gold memberships; that fee will carry over to the PC service. And what do you get when you go to the Gold side? Well while you can play online multiplayer in the PC version for the free Silver membership, the Gold membership will let players use the Quick Match and Custom Match features for matchmaking (Silver members will get access to a GameSpy-like server browser). Silver members get access to achievements in single player while Gold members get achievements in both single and multiplayer modes. Players will also be able to set up dedicated servers for free as well and there will be full voice chat support as well.
I'd sign up solely for the purpose of kicking console kiddy ass with my mouse and keyboard in FPS's.
Will be nice to have Halo 2 on the PC, but I could give a damn about achievements. I never got the point of them on the 360, besides encouraging e-peen competition.
Yep
Yes. Though in the initial release of Live on Vista, you won't be "running" the GFW Live unless you're running a Live-enabled game. In other words, you can't be just tooling around the desktop running Firefox and Word and pull up the guide, get game invites, etc. That is coming, it just won't be there when it first launches.Invite people to games you are playing?
Of course. You have a "guide" that is very much like when you press the silver button on your 360.Friends lists?
No. Developers can get GFW logo/marketing certification without using the Vista Live as their multiplayer platform. They can roll their own online if they want. First, there would be too much developer/publisher pushback if they were required to use Live on the PC like that. Second, the GFW program is already up and running (there are a handful of GFW games on shelves already, like Company of Heroes, Lego Star Wars II, the Age of Empires 3 expansion, etc.) and of course the PC Live isn't there yet. Last but not least, Live on the PC is only for Vista, not for XP. So if they made the GFW logo require using Live, that would mean every GFW game would simply not work on XP (or at least, mulitplayer wouldn't).All Games for Windows certified games support LIVE?
Of course. And eventually when they de-couple the Guide/Live thing from actual Live-enabled games, you'll be able to send PC people game invites when they're not playing other games. In fact, I think that should be a feature right from the start, and I'm pissed that it's not.Invite people who are playing in games different than the one you are in?
Yes. I'm unsure if that will be in there on day one, though.Send text and voice messages?
I'm unsure if Live on the PC support requires achievements and vice versa. There are three announced Live-enabled PC games that I'm aware of - Halo 2 Vista, Shadowrun, and Uno. All will have achievements, and in the case of Shadowrun and Uno, share them with the 360 (you could unlock some on the PC and some on the 360). If a PC game has achievements, it's required to have one shared list between the PC and 360 versions.Achievements?
But I don't know if a PC-only game could support Live but NOT have achievements (why would anyone do that?) or if a game can have achievements and not support Live. I'm willing to bet no, on both counts.
Once they get it to where you can pull up the guide and do Live-stuff when not running a Live-enabled PC game, it will be the same, yes. Note that it doesn't mean all the other Xbox 360 dashboard stuff will be there, though, like the Video Marketplace.I mean, is it exactly the same, just for PC?
It's better in some ways. In Halo 2 Vista, for instance, there is the standard optimatch and party system you have in Halo 2 on the Xbox (no ranked games, just player matching by gametype and the party system). You need Live Gold for that. But if you only have Live Silver, you can still bring up a server browser and pick an individual server to join. That, along with dedicated servers, is new to the Vista Halo 2 and does not require Live Gold.
Yeah, screw that. Fortunately that's not the deal. It's one Live account, and if it's Gold, it's Gold.Now I would not pay twice. That is, I wouldn't pay $50 for my 360 and $50 for my PC.
I just learned more from that last post than I had from all of Microsoft's talking heads. Thanks Jason.
If you've ever tried to write code to use the DirectX way of using gamepads and joysticks, you'll know why.
Wait a second, so I get something, which is at least initially inferior to its console counterpart and have to pay the same?
-Julian
Well, the talking heads are where I got the info. I just consolidated it all, I guess. That, and I tend to ask the questions that I as a customer want to know. :P
Yeah I hear that's a mess (DirectInput), but I also hear that the Xbox way of accessing gamepads and wheels and stuff (XInput) is super easy and fast and just all-around great. XInput is supported on the PC and MS is pushing hard for devs to standardize on that. The standard "I am not a developer" caveat applies here...I just know people who say XInput is a million times better. I have a cursory knowledge of programming and looking at this, it seems pretty straightforward.
How is it inferior? I think it'll be as solid as it was on 360 at launch by the time it is actually active. Which is pretty solid.
Didn't they had the same problem with Direct3D until they threw it out and started over?
So thats what they did, they just took forever. :)
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