Games For Windows
While shopping this season you might have seen new “Games for Windows” displays with a select number of titles. The game boxes also are somewhat standardized, showing a console-style stripe on the top of the box sporting a “Games for Windows PC CD” (or DVD if it’s the DVD version) logo. One of the first games to get this designation is Lego Star Wars II (pictured).
I recently found out more about the Games for Windows initiative in the Holiday 2006 issue 156 of PC Gamer. An interview with the team at Microsoft responsible for it on page 29 filled in some interesting details.
The Games for Windows team has set up a number of rules game publishers have to follow with their software. If the publisher follows the rules, they get to use the standard box art and will get placement in the special displays. Let’s take a look at what those new standards mean not just for publishers, but for us gamers.
Gaming on the Windows operating systems might have been working pretty well for a number of years, but it never really got the respect it deserves as a major driver of Windows usage. This is all set to change with Windows Vista and Microsoft’s new Games For Windows initiative. Microsoft wants to help publishers compete with the consoles for gaming dollars by providing a more unified experience, giving end-users a set of expectations about the Windows games they see in the store the same way manufacturer-blessed console games are expected to adhere to certain quality standards.
When I first saw this initiative in action I immediately jumped to the conclusion that Microsoft was about to get the holy grail it had always wanted in the PC space — a royalty on every PC game sold for the platform. Of course Microsoft wouldn’t do this marketing and testing of titles for free, would they? I was astonished to find that no, Microsoft does not charge a royalty for inclusion in the Games for Windows program. (At least not yet.)
One other big plus for being included in the Games for Windows initiative will be a set of kiosks to let users try out game demos with a mouse, keyboard, or Xbox 360 gamepad. Just like the console manufacturers do.
So what do publishers have to do to their games to get into the club?
- Must support the Xbox 360 game pad.
- Must run on 64-bit systems, but don’t have to be 64-bit native.
- Must support widescreen resolutions.
- Must offer an “easy install” option.
- Must support parental controls.
- It must place an icon in the Windows Vista Games Explorer, if it is to be played on Vista.
The goal is to have 9,000 kiosks in stores by the time Windows Vista launches to retail in the spring of 2007. Add in a multi-million dollar print and online ad campaign to push the Games for Windows brand and you’ve got a serious incentive for games to get on board. Plus, let’s face it, Windows gaming needs some serious help.
Will this be good enough to save PC gaming from being further eroded by consoles, or is it doomed by the complexity and mix of components in a given PC?
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