[Gaming] Games for Windows Live warnings

[Frank]

So here I was, about 10 seconds from pre-purchasing Dark Souls on PC when I remember, hey Frank, you vowed to always check the requirements. Lo and behold this sleazy shit:

Additional: Online play requires software installation of and log-in to Games For Windows - LIVE



You lost yourselves a sale sirs.

 

[Ravenpoe]

So far it's looking like a not so good port, anyway.

 

[Covar]

Fun thing I learned during the summer sale when I picked up SSFIV:AE, Microsoft broke GFWL in Windows 8. There's an updated version that works, but it's apparently only bundled with Microsoft Flight.

 

[bhamv3]

Fun thing I learned during the summer sale when I picked up SSFIV:AE, Microsoft broke GFWL in Windows 8. There's an updated version that works, but it's apparently only bundled with Microsoft Flight.

So, regardless of whether this is a fundamental problem with GFWL or Windows 8, MICROSOFT FAIL .

 

[Bowielee]

On the one hand, I want to say that Windows 8 isn't in retail release yet, so complaining about compatability on a pre-release is dumb....

On the other hand, It's a microsoft program working on a microsoft platform, so it should bloody well work.

 

[Covar]

It would if Microsoft would just issue the patch on more than one game. You basically have to download the GFWLSetup used by Microsoft Flight and install that on your system. Why it's not a global update is beyond me.

I'll considering it a lose for Games for Windows Live when the Windows team doesn't even want to support it properly.

 

[PatrThom]

You basically have to download the GFWLSetup used by Microsoft Flight and install that on your system.

Microsoft cancels Flight, lays off all the staff.

So much for that idea. I'm guessing at this rate it's turning into Microsoft says if you want to play games go buy a 720. Oh well, at least they're not rootkitting* us like Ubisoft.

--Patrick
*Ubi says it's a bug, not a rootkit.

 

[Bowielee]

Honestly, I'm sure the update will be global at some point, but they probably aren't that concerned about it seeing as it only affects win 8 users, not win 7 users.

 

[Frank]

Microsoft cancels Flight, lays off all the staff.

So much for that idea. I'm guessing at this rate it's turning into Microsoft says if you want to play games go buy a 720. Oh well, at least they're not rootkitting* us like Ubisoft.

--Patrick
*Ubi says it's a bug, not a rootkit.

That infuriates me so much. I've loved the Flight series for....well, forever it feels like. They fucked up so badly with the new "FREE" to play version and then, when the brilliantly corporate idea to offer almost no content for outrageous DLC prices (almost none of the planes actually had cockpit views....unfuckingbelievable) and it fails spectacularly, they just up and close the studio.

Fuck you Microsoft. Fuck you so hard.[DOUBLEPOST=1343716153][/DOUBLEPOST]Man, with all the studio closings, growing pains and awful anti-consumer nonsense this generation of gaming has to be the worst. The hobby of video gaming has never been bigger and I guess that's good but at what cost?

 

[Covar]

Microsoft cancels Flight, lays off all the staff.

So much for that idea. I'm guessing at this rate it's turning into Microsoft says if you want to play games go buy a 720. Oh well, at least they're not rootkitting* us like Ubisoft.

Lol, that's fantastic. At least the installer is online on it's own now, just not available from Microsoft. I'd be worried if GFWL ever worked smoothly.

 

[GasBandit]

Fuck you Microsoft. Fuck you so hard.

As a member since the end of the mechwarrior franchise, let me just say, welcome to the club.

 

[Frank]

So Double Fine's Trenched or Iron Brigade now is available on PC. I was excited at this. Immediate purchase....then I noticed it's published by Microsoft Game Studios.

Requirements: Games For Windows Live Account.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Necronic]

What's the problem with a Games for Windows Live account? I'm pretty sure I've used one for a game before.

 

[Covar]

What's the problem with a Games for Windows Live account? I'm pretty sure I've used one for a game before.

If you have to ask that question you probably haven't.

it's a fine service, if you like constant pointless upgrades, hate people using your xbox while you game on the pc, and just plain out dislike save files.

 

[Bubble181]

If you have to ask that question you probably haven't.

it's a fine service, if you like constant pointless upgrades, hate people using your xbox while you game on the pc, and just plain out dislike save files.

Not to mention not being able to play games you bought, not being able to pay them for a game because their site is so borked, and more of that fun stuff.

 

[Necronic]

Honestly I can't remember when I used it, just pretty sure I did. All I remember was logging on, bu it must have been a while ago. It does seem kind of dumb to use dual DRM though. If its using steam there's no reason to use gfwl

 

[SpecialKO]

I "used" it for Dawn of War 2, by which I mean I let it login a couple times, then never used it again.

 

[Necronic]

THAT was the game. I knew I've used it before.

 

[GasBandit]

I suffered its depredations for the sake of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

 

[Terrik]

So have I and.....I don't get what the big deal is. Am I missing something?

 

[GasBandit]

So have I and.....I don't get what the big deal is. Am I missing something?

Oh, when it works, it's barely noticeable. But sometimes it doesn't. And then you can't play your game. Or maybe you can play but can't save. Not even custom controls. I'm looking at you, Street Fighter 4. And it has to update all the time. And seems to me that update fails as often as it succeeds. And nobody at Microsoft has any fucks to give.

 

[Jay]

The worst are the saves...

I Remember playing... Resident evil 5? With a friend... It lost an entire evening of gaming... We didn't even have the heart to continue playing the game anymore... It wasn't even that good... Just that the coop zombie experience was fun.

 

[bhamv3]

Yep, GfWL nuked my Bioshock 2 saves. Twice. Both near the end of the game.

 

[Bubble181]

I hate cloud saves in any case, but GFWL is what Steam could be, if it was built by first year students, not checked for bugs, and released into the wild; forever being debugged by one person, all alone, changed on a weekly basis and with no means of communication with their predecessors or those to come.

To be fair, if and when it works, it's not much worse than Steam (but no Offline mode that works) and maybe even better in some ways. If you're the type of person who thinks it's great that gaming computer and Xbox grow together and become one continuum (because we need more illiterate fucks in multiplayer chat who don't have a keyboard and think they're king), it's even got some good sides!

It still sucks, though. GTA IV was maybe the worst, with Steam, GFWL, and their own Rockband on line store/DRM thing whose name I've forgotten. Starting the game was such a chore (logging in four times?!) that I gave up on it. Neither Steam nor their own platform ever gor me in trouble. GFWL managed to crash the game 4 or 5 times, not allow me to save once, restart my pc in the middle of the game for an update, and try to take over part of my screen while playing...all in less than a week of playing.

 

[Ravenpoe]

To be fair, GFWL is what Steam -was- when it first launched. Buggy as hell, standing in the way of your games, and generally being a nuisance when games started to require it.

The major difference is that Valve put in a lot of work to fix their shit, whereas Microsoft hasn't any fucks to give.

 

[Jay]

I would have paid handsomely for Gta 4 but it's drm made me torrent it.

 

[Frank]

It's pretty much why Windows 8 is looking to be a disaster for PC gamers. Microsoft wants as much control over PC as they have on Xbox.

 

[Jay]

If ms thinks they had a hard time with vista... They'll be shit out of luck when windows 8 comes out. When the big guys n the gaming industry are claiming that windows 8 is a disaster... You better start worrying.

 

[Bubble181]

To be fair, GFWL is what Steam -was- when it first launched. Buggy as hell, standing in the way of your games, and generally being a nuisance when games started to require it.

The major difference is that Valve put in a lot of work to fix their shit, whereas Microsoft hasn't any fucks to give.

To be equally fair, I boycotted Steam for years because it was a near-unworkable, piece of shit DRM absurdity. I didn't cave for the low prices, I gave because of low prices plus an off line mode that works most of the time, plus a lot less bugs plus more consumer friendly thinking.

GFWL compared to Steam is like almost any other MMO v s WOW: you can be better than they are when they launched, but that's not enough. You have to be equal or better than what it is now to be at all sensible. GoG and Steam fulfill all my on line game buying needs - I have a few on Direct2Drive that I've lost (they were bought out and apparently you needed to log in within X weeks after the change to keep your account? Asshats) and errr, some on another site I can't even remember....Anyway - GOG doesn't have a program running in the back. Steam has one that works half-decently. GFWL has one that breaks the game more often than it helps. Blergh. Re-invent the service and do something with it, or get lost. Trying to copy what the market leader is doing, but just less and worse, has never, in the entire history of capitalism, been a good formula.[DOUBLEPOST=1345560355][/DOUBLEPOST]

If ms thinks they had a hard time with vista... They'll be shit out of luck when windows 8 comes out. When the big guys n the gaming industry are claiming that windows 8 is a disaster... You better start worrying.

Have you used it? The RC really was a crappy piece of crap. I mean, it looks like it'd be nice on a tablet and a phone (not counting bugs and whatever), but the whole presentation and dynamic of it just didn't work for me on a desktop. Do they honestly think everyone wants their pc to have a touch screen, and we'll all be glad to be able to throw our mice out of the window? Feck.

 

[Azurephoenix]

I'm not going to be upgrading to windows 8 for a very long time (aka skip windows 8 and go to the next version unless they seriously rethink things).

 

[Necronic]

If Windows 8 is as locked down as Mac software is, why wouldn't I just use a damned Mac?

 

[AshburnerX]

Windows 8 is better in some ways (it generally loads and works faster) but the actual design is abysmal and I am NOT giving Microsoft control over my gaming purchases. I trust Valve WAY more than Microsoft and that's because they've actually done shit to EARN that trust.

 

[mikerc]

I suffered its depredations for the sake of Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Asylum I always played in Offline Mode, of course that meant I couldn't log in to the online leaderboards for the challenge maps or download the free villain challenge map I had a code for inside my game box, but since it meant I had an option at the start of the game to tell GFWL to leave me the fuck alone I didn't care.

Of course games that came out more recently that use GFWL cripple offline mode by saying "Yeah you can still play offline, but don't expect to be able to do things like, oh, save your game."

What the Hell, Microsoft?

 

[GasBandit]

Arkham Asylum I always played in Offline Mode, of course that meant I couldn't log in to the online leaderboards for the challenge maps or download the free villain challenge map I had a code for inside my game box, but since it meant I had an option at the start of the game to tell GFWL to leave me the fuck alone I didn't care.

Of course games that came out more recently that use GFWL cripple offline mode by saying "Yeah you can still play offline, but don't expect to be able to do things like, oh, save your game."

What the Hell, Microsoft?

That's what I did too for B:AA, and that's what I say now, too. Goddamned GFWL.

 

[Frank]

Windows 8 is better in some ways (it generally loads and works faster) but the actual design is abysmal and I am NOT giving Microsoft control over my gaming purchases. I trust Valve WAY more than Microsoft and that's because they've actually done shit to EARN that trust.

So far, windows 8 is still a performance loss in games, if only slight. Like 99% of Windows 7 slight.