Microsoft merges Windows 8 with Xbox Live
Mental multiplayer
Microsoft has demonstrated how the forthcoming Windows 8 will communicate with the Xbox platform, in its first showing of how the company aims to bring "everything you know and love on Xbox 360 and Xbox Live to Windows."
Program manager Avi Ben-Menahem took to the stage at Build 2011 yesterday and talked up features such as cross platform functionality, cloud saving, achievements and multiplayer abilities.
Yep, Windows PCs, WinPho and Xbox 360 users will all be able to play against each other. Now we're talking.
The company has revealed plans to offer developers the chance to work on Xbox Live for Windows 8 as early as next week, free of charge.
For further details, have a ganders at the keynote from the Build conference. ®
COMMENTS
So does this mean...
That MS is eventually planning to introduce subscription plans to "take your Windows online" just like they're already doing for the XBox platform ? :-)
Being an PS3 user its one of the things I never managed to grasp; having to pay in order to play your games online. And if I install said games onto my PC I can simply play online for free. Makes perfect sense to me, after several beers that is ;-)
Just more ways to stuff up
There was some chatter on a YouTube retro gamer tag about this. I have to admit to joining in.
The lvie experience just puts too much in the hands of the game vendors. Look what happened to Sony; more than a month off-line and then they force their users to sign away their rights, to be able to continue using the service.
The Internet is suffering increasing infastructure grief with DNS problems, bandwidth throttling, contention ratios, lag, etc., etc. ... suspension of accounts for whatever, etc., etc. and ... I just look at it and think, "Why would I pay good money to wind up in this world of pain?"
... just give me an Atari 2600 and a copy of PacMan. I'll be happy. Or else a large room and I'll throw a LAN party ... at least if someone beats me at Quake then the object of my frustration is in the same room!!!
Depends on the game
Sure, you won't be playing WoW on a mobile phone; but it'd be fine for playing Scrabble with your nan while you're on the bus and she's at home.
Some are more equal than others
"Yep, Windows PCs, WinPho and Xbox 360 users will all be able to play against each other."
Been tried many times before, and always ended in whining and ragequits, because the PC players wind up pwning the l33t console players almost without exception.
I can only imagine the wailing from people trying to compete from a phone...
In short
A way of sending adverts to idiots signed up to their pay to play subscription service.
How long before Microsoft try and lock all games on Windows PC to use their pay to play advert pipe?
