The Future of PC Games, According to Microsoft

Geaty writes "Gamespot has an article up about Microsoft's big PC plans. Topics covered include why DirectX 9 will be the last DX for a while, the increased game support in Longhorn, and a 'standard' PC controller. Looks to this ignorant reader like Microsoft is trying to tackle the games market (again?), cornering matchmaking and patching. The controller issue seems like an attempt to bring to the PC platform some of the uniformity that consoles have."

Comments

Activation Key

[D4Vr4nt]

I wonder if you'll need to use an Activation key for their new controllers? :P

But seriously, why would PC's need a standard gaming controller?? I can't see the keyboard mouse combo going anywhere anytime soon..

Re:Activation Key

[jkcity]

some games are just easier to play on a game pad, and in my opionion is less strain on the hands, don't know if thats the same for everyoen though.

You can also sit further back from the screen, I know you could do this with remote keyboards or mice, or one's with long cables, but for the most part its impracticle.

Re:Activation Key

[lewp]

No, it's not just you.

FPS games (which get the majority of my time) almost require a keyboard and mouse to play properly. While games such as Goldeneye may be perfectly playable on a console for most people, purists like myself want to vomit at the lack of control. Likewise, the additional buttons on the keyboard and pointing precision of the mouse make them a much better choice for RPG and RTS games.

On the other hand, sports, fighting, and driving games are better suited to console controllers. This is especially true in that these sort of games are often best experienced with a buddy or two playing next to you. Sharing a keyboard with your opponent is just no fun, as players of earlier PC sports games will be glad to tell you.

A platform with both options is well on its way to the perfect game machine. A PC with a standardized control pad is rather close to an Xbox. Funny, that. Good move on Microsoft's part.

Re:Activation Key

[ATMAvatar]

But seriously, why would PC's need a standard gaming controller?? I can't see the keyboard mouse combo going anywhere anytime soon..

Considering Microsoft's console entry, XBox, the hardware it runs on, and the fact it runs windows... this could be a push to finally turn computers into a total entertainment solution. As it stands now, you can play PC games, watch movies, check email, etc, etc, etc... and it's not that much of a stretch to turn your PC into a console as well, should they standardize controllers. The XBox is already essentially a wintel machine, so coming out with software that added console functionality couldn't be terribly hard.

The video game industry is huge, and I could very easily see Microsoft trying to push windows into the console industry as well. Why would you ever want to buy a console again, if playing the games was as simple as buying a $30 controller and some $30-50 games for a computer you already have?

I already play tons of old emulated games on my PC with a game controller. Personally, I would be quite happy if I could just grab console games and play them without having to drop another $200-300 on console hardware.

Of course, this is all conjecture, so take it cum grano salis.

Re:Activation Key

[Pxtl]

While I agree with you that a gamepad is nice for multiple players on one machine - but I can count the number of games that both support USB and multiplayer on one machine on one hand. Meaning that, right now, the PC is piss poor for console games, and the PC already has a good architecture for gamepads and games - Atomic Bomberman is a dream with 8 players and a good USB hub ($10 gamepads and a good USB hub are all you need).

That being said, the problem is Microsoft. Directplay stupidly names the axes and assumes how they are meant to be used. Really, the axes should be unlabelled and rebound at the users discretion. The whole glory of PC hardware is that it embraces new standards as it needs. The SpaceOrb would never exist on a console (they tried, it didn't work).

Personally, I don't want PC standardized pads - it would encourage PC game developers to slack-off on configurability of the controls the way they do on consoles (like UT for Dreamcast console has NO standard Turok style setting - its 4 available setups are all unplayable if you want the alt-fire and jump available).

The fact is that PC's dont come with gamepads, and so gamepads will never be standard. That creates the reciprocal relationship that gamepad-oriented games (fighting games, platformers) do not catch on on PC's.

I don't see it as a problem with the gamepads. PC gamepad system is good and the USB+Directplay is an excellent and good enough standard (for MS boxen). The problem is the games. If MS wants to fix the problem, they need to publish some console-style multiplayer PC games. I've got 4 directplay compatible gamepads collecting dust because I've found 4 games that can handle them all, and one of them I made myself.

playing directly from cd

[Gryftir]

the man from Microsoft suggests that longhorn will give users the ability to play games directly from the cd, without installation. Which is great in theory, but what does that mean? Either your loading the whole game into RAM, *shudder* or it will include a program to automatically install when you run the game, and uninstall the program when you finish. At least that's what I think, if somebody can think up other possibilities, I'm all ears.

Jacob

Why a new 'standard' controller?

[Papineau]

All computers already have 'standard' controllers: they're called keyboard and mouse. Works like a charm in most game genres I prefer (FPS and RTS).

Gaming is the next frontier

[Camel Pilot]

At least in terms of generating new hardware and software sales. Right now a 3 year old machine runs most business and office type applications adequately and there is very little incentive to upgrade. Unlike the good old days when an upgrade was need approximately every 1.2 years just to run the newest spreadsheet which had features that you desperately needed.

Games on the hand are much more intensive and often hook into unique operating system facilities that provide an incentive to upgrade. Case in point I just bought my son a new jet sim game this week end and it would not run wn Win2000 but would on XP. It was dog slow and often froze on my ancient 450 K5 and 900 Mhz Duron. And had be tbinking of buying a new machine while I sat waiting to reboot the system every 30 minutes.

Keyboard and mouse fail it

[yerricde]

I can't see the keyboard mouse combo going anywhere anytime soon..

Try playing Street Fighter II with a keyboard and mouse. Watch me whip you with a PS1 controller connected to the PC through an EMS USB2 adapter.

Try connecting more than one keyboard and mouse to one computer. One computer per player is much too expensive.

Re:Keyboard and mouse fail it

[jsse]

Try playing Street Fighter II with a keyboard and mouse. Watch me whip you with a PS1 controller connected to the PC through an EMS USB2 adapter.

That's not fair, even a grade school kid knows a standard keyboard can deal more damage than a standard PS1 controller. Not to mention the extra punching effect dealt by that 101 keys. Oh and that removable, throwable ball in the mouse is also an unfair advantage over your opponent.

Of course, he might stand a chance if he use a non-standard joystick type controller, but only when the stick is being stuck into the right place on your opponent.

Re:Keyboard and mouse fail it

[Some Dumbass...]

Oh and that removable, throwable ball in the mouse is also an unfair advantage over your opponent.

Just think of it as a "special move" :)

Re:Keyboard and mouse fail it

[KilerCris]

The big problem with controllers is that most of them are designed to be thumb-oriented, with recent controllers featuring triggers to use your index finger as well. The big advantage of using a keyboard for most game is that you can use ALL your fingers. This enables you much, much more speed and greater control over your character's movement and other actions. When I'm playing Halo on my Xbox I always curl my right index finger to the top of the controller, where all the buttons are, and use my middle finger to shoot. Is this really necessary? If I were playing it on my PC w/ a keyboard I would have fingers ready to do every major action in an instant. ...and there isn't even an arguement against a mouse's superiority for aiming in an FPS. Considering that in the entire history of consoles there have been what? 2? 3? successful FPSs, and IMHO this is only because of the frustration involved with aiming in an FPS with a joystick.

Re:Keyboard and mouse fail it

[quantaman]

Oh and that removable, throwable ball in the mouse is also an unfair advantage over your opponent.

Yet another reason why I bought a track ball :)

MS doesn't want DX on the PC to outshine the Xbox

[Leknor]

Microsoft doesn't want DirectX on the PC to get too far ahead of the Xbox. They don't want developers and people to realize in 2 years the Xbox is a 3 year old PC equilivant of what their grandmother is using.

Uniformity

[Plix]

Software uniformity is hardly the greatest of the PC game-maker's concerns as hardware configurations are far more diverse. It would seem, however, that the new ATI and nVidia offerings are bringing graphics closer and closer to photo-realistic quality and hopefully once such a quality is reached and the majority of casual gamers have the necessary hardware the focus of PC games will shift back towards the gameplay, storyline, and complexity that simply cannot be matched by console games.

assuming the above occurs, one must also realize that consoles are killing themselves in some aspects. one of the best aspects of early consoles such as the atari 2600 and nintendo was the ease of use - simply pop in a cart and play, no hardware, software, or OS issues. now take a look at the X-Box and PS2 (gamecube doesn't fit the paradigm but also is not as popular and arguably targeted at a much younger audience over all): they have hard-drives, increasingly complex RISC OSs, and are constructed at least partially of modified PC parts. with new features promised such as patches available over the internet and hardware expansions the consoles are turning themselves into nothing more than mini-PCs, and personally I'd rather spend a few hundred more dollars and buy myself a decent desktop PC.

How to use PS1 and N64 controllers with PC

[yerricde]

I just thought on how cool it would be to play quake with the nintendo 64 controller.

Want cool? Buy it now.

I personally prefer using PS1 controllers with the EMS USB2 adapter.

The basic premise is not all that bad

[CTD]

Ignore the Microsoft connection and look at what they are basically pitching: An operating system designed with a set of standards that will make it easy for developers to design games. Right down to the controller.

The only drawback I can find is that it's a "super console plus!" situation. I'm a gamer, and I'm fine with that.

I've often speculated that a distribution of Linux should be made that is specifically geared toward gaming. Coordinate hardware support with the major vendors so their product works with ease, and build the OS specifically to deliver fast processing for gaming. Anything that has nothing to do with playing games is cut out of it.

Keep it free. Let game distributors bundle it with the games they sell. If the OS was good enough to deliver DoomIII on the day of retail, and you were able to tie down some major title support, it could work. Suddenly every gamer out there is running a Linux distribution to play their games. Suddenly every major developer is developing games just for Linux. Why? Because the OS functions well as a gaming OS (by design), and because it's free so everyone can have it.

In effect, you create a Linux standard for gaming, that can run top quality games, and is free.

Many of us have Windows because the best games work on it. Games are designed to work on Windows because most of us have Windows. Circular, but true.

If Doom III, GTA IV, and EverQuest 2 all came out for Mac and Mac alone, I'd be typing this on a blue keyboard right now. If they all came from Linux, I'd be typing this in a Mozilla window.

Mind you, I'd try this myself, but I can't code myself out of a 486 and have to feed my kids so I can't go urchin and skip on the rest of my life. :)

Re:The basic premise is not all that bad

[dghcasp]

build the OS specifically to deliver fast processing for gaming. Anything that has nothing to do with playing games is cut out of it.

# GameOS 1.0

# Real games don't need no steenking hw
# abstraction, scheduler or VM - Write to
# hardware directly, foo!

.orig=$ffffa0a4 # Main h/w boot pointer
jbsr.l GameStart;
hacf;

Re:MS doesn't want DX on the PC to outshine the Xb

[atlasheavy]

meanwhile, people were still developing Playstation 1 games long past the time when it was _obvious_ that the Playstation 1 was the three year old PC equivalent of what their grandmother is using. Remember: consoles are special because they represent an unmoving target for game developers. Game developers optimize the hell out of console games, which they simply cannot do with PC games given the wide variety of available hardware (not to mention drivers, 3d lib support, operating systems, etc.) that the game could be running on. So, despite the fact that XBox is no longer (and has never been) a high-end PC, you will still see mind-blowingly complex games coming out for it because of this non-moving target fact. Same thing goes for the PS2, a 300MHz machine with some ridiculously small amount of RAM, and no hard drive.

A few interesting things here.

[TaranRampersad]

(1) Standalone CDs - With what I've read on Longhorn, this shouldn't be an issue - since the traditional file system will be replaced by a registry type database. However, for massively multimedia intensive games, there will be a physical need for installation - unless they mean DVD instead of CD.

(2) Standardization of a PC controller - this could be fun, because if they actually standardize, it would mean that people could build their own controllers... *if* they make it an Open Standard. History says no.

(3) With DirectX 9 stalled and 64 bit processors due out shortly, I wonder if the hooks for utilizing the 64 bit instruction set for the new Intel are already there - or if Microsoft is handing AMD a nice swing at a juicy ball.

(4) Centralization of game patch updates is interesting in that it means that game manufacturers may become inspired to put out shoddy first releases so that people need to go through the Update server to get the fixes that make things work... and if they didn't buy the title... Well, think about it.

(5) "adding sophisticated matchmaking into Microsoft Messenger and parental controls over which users can play certain games" adds to point 4, but also demonstrates that they are also doing something naughty that the DoJ had something to say about.

In all... Just more Microsoft. No really *good* news.

Perhaps they plan to tie the PC into the next XBOX

[cbreaker]

It seems to me that from reading this article they may be planning on compatibility between Loghorn and Xbox2.

Standard Controller, possibility of running games from CD, centralized game management. Since the Xbox is basically a PC, and the games are basically Windows games using DirectX, this isn't a stretch of the imagination.

Buy one game, and run it on your Xbox2 or your PC. Play online with people running Xbox2's and you can use your PC, or vice versa. With a standard PC "gamepad" it would be the same type of controls.

I don't think this would be a terrible idea, but it sure would push game developers more to a "windows only" choice of platforms, which isn't really great. I'm still hoping for more games on Linux.

It's all about choice, baby.

[Txiasaeia]

For me, the whole purpose of comp gaming is a wide variety in accessories. If I want to play a game using a mouse, then I can do it. If I want to use the keyboard, then I can do it. If I want to use my Belkin Nostromo and a Logitech Cordless Optical mouse, then I can do it.

I don't want to be forced to use a single console for a game, on a standarised system, playing games that can't be modded (Palladium), written using proprietary medium formats (DVD+/-), and using a single, specific OS. The computer is the Nascar of electronic gaming; in my opinion, consoles are just "street legals."

Re:MOUSE damnit, MOUSE!!

[twiztidlojik]

What you want is a Nostromo n50 Speedpad.

This thing is positively orgasmic. Four toggleable modes for every control. Ten keys. A D-pad. A wheel. Completely configurable. Any set of keys. For example, my D-pad does jump+forward, jump+back, etc etc, one key mode does movement, another mode does orders (while holding down the previous key pressed), yet another mode does taunts, and still another mode does acknowledgements.

Hot damn. I love this thing. A Speedpad positively screams "awesome" when you bring it to a lan party. I nearly pissed myself when I saw it at the Belkin booth at MacWorld New York.

They can have my wheel and pedal set. . .

[kfg]

When they pry it from my cold dead fingers, and toes.

Same goes for my flight stick.

The PC is *not* a console. That's kinda the point. It's a *general purpose* machine which one can adapt as one likes. Hell, they've even had to supply wheel and pedal sets for consoles now. Using anything else for seriously playing driving sims doesn't even make sense.

I like adaptation, of the machine to me. Not the other way around, and I've never seen no "game pad" in a Fokker DR1.

KFG

A few points

[Anonymous Coward]

A) How can you patch a game that isn't installed? Seriously, this doesn't seem possible.

B) Microsoft wants to certify certain hardware for Windows, and now Microsoft wants to create PCs built to a certain specification... does this strangely sound like Microsoft telling a lot of hardware vendors that they will either have to make clones of other pieces of hardware (and face the patent and copyright police) or to stop producing for the PC?

C) Microsoft, with its' Microsoft Messenger Matchmaker, is going to severly harm or kill match making software such as GameSpy. All your patches will come through something very similar to Windows Update and most everything will be in a Microsoft sounding "My Games" area. This company wasn't split because the US Govt. thought that they were not a monopoly?

D) One controller, for all games... doesn't this sound like Microsoft needing to give permission to people like Logitech if they want to invent something new (like, force feedback back before it was invented)?

One last thing, with you needing to go through all of these Microsoft services, running all of this Microsoft signed equiptment, and alike... I fear that privacy will be hard to enforce, at best...

Also, try to tell all the Overclockers and other insane computer people buying the latest hardware to speed up their machine that it won't be possible to do that anymore, instead they will need to go for a package deal and run at Microsoft specs... will this elite group of hardcore shoppers (willing to spend tons of money) stick around for these new terms? Somehow, I don't think so.

Restrict Markets Again

[jpt.d]

Look at a few of the games lately, WC3 shipped with both mac and win versions on the same cd, SC4 is coming out for the mac, Moo3 just shipped with portability IN MIND, and mac is coming quite soon now). This is a bit of a trend that is becoming more common. What I think is that Microsoft wants to stop this sort of thing or make it extremely difficult. While it would be natural for that, Microsoft might have an ace up its sleeve trying to make something very tempting to use.

Re:Then buy me a second PC

[rainwalker]

Does the Half-Life engine support more than one keyboard or more than one mouse on one machine? Does it support split-screen?

This brings up an excellent point. I would have to say that there is nothing more obnoxious in the console world than split screen gaming. I mean, who the hell wants to play a FPS game when you can see everything your opponents are doing? I have 6 computers in the house, at least 3 of which make decent game machines, and I would never, ever want to play Half-Life in split screen mode on one of them. One of them is just for lending to visitors. A half-way decent game machine is as cheap as $400, and is a normal computer for the rest of the family at other times.

I don't pay much attention to consoles, but it looks like they are just starting to get the multiplayer features that PC's have had since forever. The idea of a 16-player FPS game involving 16 different machines is a novelty in the console arena, yet every day I play games with twice to fifty times that number of people in them.

On a side note, concerning controllers, what a joke. I keep hoping that Microsoft will release a FPS that is multiplayer across platforms so I can beat the pants off of some kid playing with his thumbs. I can pick a flagrunner out of the air with a headshot at 2000m in Tribes/Tribes2, I'd like to see someone do that with a thumbpad.

Anyway, enough ranting, back to the games :)

Computer Systems Standard Names Stuff

[mlk]

Exists, I have a
UT/Q3-class computer.
where as MrChris (a friend of mine, with more monney than sense) has a "Doom III"-class computer, the bastard, and my brother (with my hand-me-down) has a Halflife-class computer, and my firewall is a Doom-class computer.

.NET and matchmaking

[Moochman]

Great! Now I'll be able to use my Passport .NET account for matchmaking services! I can't wait for Microsoft to begin providing such wonderful subscription services, can you? I'm salivating just thinking of the day when I can pay Microsoft a monthly rate to fulfill all of my gaming, word processing, e-mail and internet needs.

My Kung Fu is superior

[Charcharodon]

Sorry violent WASD is to slow and cuts off a whole column of keys. Move it to the right one and use ESDF then you've got three extra keys for weapon hot keys or A & G for left and right lean functions. (It also still works on the natural key boards that split at the G key) Or get really wacky and make it YGHJ if you just absoluting insist on programing every key bind in BattleField 1842 to be reachable by the left hand. If you want a controller to go with your mouse a friend of mine uses MicroSofts battlefield commander or what ever that wierd C&C controller they came up with is called. He had an easy time programing and then using all the easy to reach buttons and it was much faster than a joystick which tend to be set up for right handers anyway.

Go ahead, pull the other leg.

[A_Non_Moose]

Microsoft will update its Sidewinder line

Considering how well my Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro works in Win2k (hint: can't use the hat switch and fire at the same time in MS OS's > 2k}.

I knew I should have stuck with the Logitec Wingman, but the hat switch on that thing kept getting broken {and Descent 2 multiplayer wasn't helping either}.

Oh, and you know why the 3D pro doesn't work properly in 2k...Microsoft won't update the drivers. {I've heard the win98 software will make it work, but no scripted events. Have not tried it, yet}.

IMO, before Microsoft attempts to make universal games and controllers, they should try to make their own hardware work with their software.

{grrr}