Will Vista Just Make PC Gaming Worse?

I've tried to think positive on the whole Vista/Games For Windows thing. I still can't get around the notion that Microsoft is kicking PC games aside for the Xbox. Or if not aside, at least in the teeth. PC games can be complicated and troublesome beasts. Console games largely (although it seems to be changing for the worse) aren't. Gaming PC's are crazy expensive. Consoles are generally subsidized hardware.

It doesn't sound like Vista will be a step in the right direction:

Vista’s obstructive security architecture extends into the new Vista Game Explorer and parental control system. The Vista Game Explorer is a top level Start Menu link to a new specialized folder in Vista specifically designed for managing games. It is intended to be the analog to the My Pictures and My Music folders found in Windows XP. Instead of being a link to a standard folder that happens to contain games, Microsoft “added some value” to the Game Explorer by binding it to a new parental control system in Vista.

The problem starts with installing your game and Vista and registering it with the Game Explorer. Unlike the parental control system, the Game Explorer is extremely prominent to consumers who are likely to expect to find the games they install in Vista listed there after installation. Microsoft has supplied compatibility listings for legacy games which will automatically recognize and register them with the Game Explorer when they are installed.

-- Gamasutra - Opinion: 'Vista Casts A Pall On PC Gaming'

And that's Alex St. John. Works for WildTangent now. Used to work on, um, DirectX. It's a great op/ed piece with even more details, worth the full read.

P.S.: Angered game developers can find a home on a Macintosh. Easiest installation of software I've ever had on any operating system ... ever.



tagged: game, gaming