Is Microsoft Really Committed to PC?

Microsoft is only committed to themselves.heretrix

lol true but who isent these days

Microsoft is only committed to themselves.heretrix

to PC? Yes. To PCgaming? Hell no. You would have to be completely retarded to believe MS on how commited they are to PCgaming

Let's be frank here: the closing of ACES marks the end of MS involvment with PCgaming.

Since Xbox was announced we've often heard Microsoft reps assuring us PC gamers that they are still committed fully to PC gaming.? Let's see what MS has done with their PC gaming division in the last few years.

• Moved FASA franchises (Battletech, CrimsonSkies and Shadowrun) to Xbox, when they flopped there MS closed down FASA studios and sold the IPs. Not to mention that they didn't extend the relationships with independent PC developers who worked on those franchises in their PC forms (especially Zipper is a good example, they went in to Playstation 2 where they created the popular SOCOM franchise and eventually got bought by Sony)
  
  Moved Links and Midtown Madness to Xbox, they flopped there, so Access Software was sold to 2K
  
  Let go of Digital Anvil teams who worked on PC Conquest: Frontier Wars and Loose Cannon. The remaining team was switched to Xbox to work on BruteForce, it flopped, MS as always closed them down.
  
  Got rid of Ashersons Call franchise by selling it back to Turbine
  
  Let Big Hug Games go (despite owning part of it), the company was bought by THQ
  
  Canceled the MMORPG Mythica
  
  Canceled MS Train Simulator 2 (it's developed KUJU eventually restarted the project and released it as Rail Simulator through Electronic Arts)
  
  Got rid of Marvel Online MMORPG, the devs went to Take2 where it became Champions Online
  
  First switched Ensemble (their most successful PC dev and one that specialized in games that do not work all that well on consoles) to 360 to make Halo Wars and then when the game was almost done they announced the studio will be closed down when the game ships.
  
  Zoo Tycoon IP is no longer in MS portfolio as the developer Blue Fang has switched publishers to THQ
  
  They bought PC-centric Lionhead Studios and from that moment there's just sound of crickets when asking about any upcoming PC projects they have.
  
  Even some ports of console games MS published (namely Jade Empire and Mass Effect) weren't published by Microsoft
  
  

Basically since MS announced their newly restored commitment to PC gaming they've systematically been wiping it out, switching whatever they could to Xbox and whatever they couldn't switch they've closed down, sold or just let go.

I find it hilarious that currently Sony is PCgaming powerhouse compared to Microsoft

to PC? Yes. To PCgaming? Hell no. You would have to be completely retarded to believe MS on how commited they are to PCgaming

Let's be frank here: the closing of ACES marks the end of MS involvment with PCgaming.

Since Xbox was announced we've often heard Microsoft reps assuring us PC gamers that they are still committed fully to PC gaming.? Let's see what MS has done with their PC gaming division in the last few years.

• Moved FASA franchises (Battletech, CrimsonSkies and Shadowrun) to Xbox, when they flopped there MS closed down FASA studios and sold the IPs. Not to mention that they didn't extend the relationships with independent PC developers who worked on those franchises in their PC forms (especially Zipper is a good example, they went in to Playstation 2 where they created the popular SOCOM franchise and eventually got bought by Sony)
  
  Moved Links and Midtown Madness to Xbox, they flopped there, so Access Software was sold to 2K
  
  Let go of Digital Anvil teams who worked on PC Conquest: Frontier Wars and Loose Cannon. The remaining team was switched to Xbox to work on BruteForce, it flopped, MS as always closed them down.
  
  Got rid of Ashersons Call franchise by selling it back to Turbine
  
  Let Big Hug Games go (despite owning part of it), the company was bought by THQ
  
  Canceled the MMORPG Mythica
  
  Canceled MS Train Simulator 2 (it's developed KUJU eventually restarted the project and released it as Rail Simulator through Electronic Arts)
  
  Got rid of Marvel Online MMORPG, the devs went to Take2 where it became Champions Online
  
  First switched Ensemble (their most successful PC dev and one that specialized in games that do not work all that well on consoles) to 360 to make Halo Wars and then when the game was almost done they announced the studio will be closed down when the game ships.
  
  Zoo Tycoon IP is no longer in MS portfolio as the developer Blue Fang has switched publishers to THQ
  
  They bought PC-centric Lionhead Studios and from that moment there's just sound of crickets when asking about any upcoming PC projects they have.
  
  Even some ports of console games MS published (namely Jade Empire and Mass Effect) weren't published by Microsoft
  

Basically since MS announced their newly restored commitment to PC gaming they've systematically been wiping it out, switching whatever they could to Xbox and whatever they couldn't switch they've closed down, sold or just let go.

I find it hilarious that currently Sony is PCgaming powerhouse compared to Microsoft

AdrianWerner

[QUOTE="skrat_01"] They didnt commit themselves to PC gaming from 2001 until a half arsed attempt recently - and its clear they have lost touch with the platform, while devs like Valve have become one with it.lowe0

It doesn't take much to know that they completely snubbed the platform for the Xbox - and pushed for PC gamers to switch to the system; be it with marketing and IPs; as well as dropping the vast majority of PC games support and development.

Adrians's post speaks volumes in that regard. Hell I was gaming during the entire period on my PC; and before and after - its not something that is simply forgotten.

So what? Redesign the API for Vista - then have a horribly half arsed attempt at getting PC gamers to upgrade to the OS with mediocre software, incentives, as well as an insulting Games for Windows Live system. Because you know PC gamers want a 2 1/2 year old Halo 2, and a crappy service that does everything that other apps do - only worse, and instead interfere with games rather than making things easier.

If that is not half arsed, and out of touch I don't know what is.

nah they are to x360.. pc? prove it.. latest fail windows vistaHellboard

[QUOTE="Hellboard"]nah they are to x360.. pc? prove it.. latest fail windows vistamitu123

[QUOTE="mitu123"][QUOTE="Hellboard"]nah they are to x360.. pc? prove it.. latest fail windows vistaHellboard

[QUOTE="Hellboard"][QUOTE="mitu123"] I agree, Vista is full of fail.mitu123

The real question is who cares? Besides age of empires series microsoft didnt offer anything else in pc gamingadamosmaki

[QUOTE="adamosmaki"]The real question is who cares? Besides age of empires series microsoft didnt offer anything else in pc gamingAdrianWerner

dungeon Siege was only published by microsoft, it wasn't developed by an internal studio

[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"][QUOTE="adamosmaki"]The real question is who cares? Besides age of empires series microsoft didnt offer anything else in pc gamingst1ka

dungeon Siege was only published by microsoft, it wasn't developed by an internal studio

[QUOTE="lowe0"][QUOTE="skrat_01"] They didnt commit themselves to PC gaming from 2001 until a half arsed attempt recently - and its clear they have lost touch with the platform, while devs like Valve have become one with it.skrat_01

It doesn't take much to know that they completely snubbed the platform for the Xbox - and pushed for PC gamers to switch to the system; be it with marketing and IPs; as well as dropping the vast majority of PC games support and development.

Adrians's post speaks volumes in that regard. Hell I was gaming during the entire period on my PC; and before and after - its not something that is simply forgotten.

So what? Redesign the API for Vista - then have a horribly half arsed attempt at getting PC gamers to upgrade to the OS with mediocre software, incentives, as well as an insulting Games for Windows Live system. Because you know PC gamers want a 2 1/2 year old Halo 2, and a crappy service that does everything that other apps do - only worse, and instead interfere with games rather than making things easier.

If that is not half arsed, and out of touch I don't know what is.

[QUOTE="adamosmaki"]The real question is who cares? Besides age of empires series microsoft didnt offer anything else in pc gamingAdrianWerner

Microsoft's pullout from the PC gaming market may benefit the independent gaming vendors and publishers i.e. less competition. Apple on the other hand is promoting its baseline MacBooks (with Geforce 9400 IGP) as a casual mobile gaming platform. Refer to linkronvalencia

[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"][QUOTE="adamosmaki"]The real question is who cares? Besides age of empires series microsoft didnt offer anything else in pc gamingronvalencia

Close Combat was the absolute leader in real-time wargaming. It wasn't until many years later when Combat Mission debuted that it got any kind of competition

Freelancer was a great game and is still widely played by fans and supported by mods. Comparing it to X series is just plain silly, they have completely diffrent focus and target audience. I do agree Darkstar is better, but without Freelancer there would be no Darkstar in the first place, because while Darkstar was great, it was one huge Freelancer rip-offf

Links wasn't "blown away" by TigerWoods. Console TigerWoods have always been pure trash. Only PC entries in the series were diffrent and went for simulation style. Except that Links was the best golf sims for over a decade and TW becamed a great sim and surpassed Links only when Links was alread dead and that was mostly because Headgate (the company that was making PC TigerWoods) was formed by people who created Links in the first place

Dungeon Siege wasn't blown away by NWN, they were very diffrent, NWN was a normal RPG, while DungeonSiege was a Diablo clone and a very good one, not a premier game, but still a very good on by any normal standarts

Allegiance- Sins has blown it away? Not only it's completely ridiculous because Allegiance camed out 8 YEARS before Sins, but it also shows you have never played the damn game in the first place. Exactly what do they have in common besides the setting? Allegiance is a multiplayer centered space-sim with RTS-like commander ordering other players. It was the first working (and still is the best) mix of RTS and action gameplay. I don't see how Sins, a 4X strategy game is anything like it :]

Well Microsoft makes a profit from every xbox game sold so I can see why they don't support pc gaming as much as they used to. After all they have made an investment into the xbox platform and want to see a return on that investment in the form of royalties.

But they are still a hundred times better than apple when it comes to supporting pc gaming and since directx is still far ahead of opengl your options are limited.

But they are still a hundred times better than apple when it comes to supporting pc gaming and since directx is still far ahead of opengl your options are limited.

dc337

>

^ I've it before, Microsoft has been the worst enemy of PC gaming since 2001.

The destruction PC franchises and PC game companies, the DX10/Vista mess, the delayed PC version, the crappy ports all of this MS is responsable in one way or another.