Xbox Live coming to PCs

[John Altenmueller]

Once again, Microsoft is pushing forward their domination by applying the successful techniques in the gaming industry to the PC world. What is it this time? Xbox Live. Microsoft has announced that they plan to make this service available for PCs, too.

This is exciting news, for several reasons. Microsoft's Xbox Live has proven quite successful over the years, and was one of the core reasons why the original Xbox remained popular over the years. So if it's popular in the console world, won't it be a hit with the PCs?

But this is a lot more than a quality online gaming service. I see here the beginning of the bridge between the console world and the PC gaming world. Microsoft has been doing lots to make this happen.

They've started out by making communications between the Xbox 360 and Windows easier. You can stream music, and all sorts of other things. Microsoft is trying to turn the Xbox 360 into an entertainment hub.

But now with Xbox Live on PCs, users who can't or don't want to buy an Xbox 360 can use a PC and still play with their buddies who do happen to own one. The lines between a game console and a gaming rig are beginning to blur, and I expect we'll soon get full versions of Vista running on the Xbox 360.

I'm also hoping that we'll see more games that run on both console and PC, which is done by making a more transparent DirectX interface for the developers between PC and Xbox. Microsoft realizes that they can profit from an in-between market, me included, who game at times, but simply do not want to fork out the money to buy a dedicated gaming machine.

So I congratulate Microsoft on a big step forward, and I hope to see more like it. (Heck, I might even consider buying the service once Vista stabilizes!)

[Chaky]

That seams futile, since PC releases are usually released last.

For example, Call of Duty 3 is not yet released for PCs. PS3 and Xbox releases are here since February (I think), but PC gamers will have to wait couple of months more. And I know that it is not for technical reasons, for Xbox is PC-based console. It is purely for commercial reasons (read: lack of piracy protection).

[TheNNS]

Vista will NEVER run under the 360, unless MS wants to spend millions moving it to the PowerPC platform. Xbox live for PC should be free. I'd hate to pay for it just so I can play against xbox users, it's just stupid. Just because it was succesful in the xbox, doesn't mean it'll be the same for PC, for the reason that to be able to play games online, you don't need to pay for a special service, you just need an internet connection. And who says it'll be available only in Vista? It would be a stupid move if it was available also in XP.