The quotations that I've read had nothing to do with the functionality of the Windows 8 platform. This is just sensationalism aimed at Microsoft in a sideways attack. Believe me when I say this that I hate Microsoft after Vista. Still if I'm going to read about how Windows 8 is going to be a catastrophe, it really should be about the OS, not some game companies inability to do good marketing and maintain profit levels.
Metro is core to the OS though. As soon as you open Windows 8, you will see a store icon. This will become the first place Windows users go to in order to buy apps.
This is going to force developers to play along or risk losing lots of sales to competitors. They could obviously increase their prices but it's not really going to work too well because everyone is taking percentages.
If a game sells for $50 and the split between developer and publisher is 40:60, they get $20:$30 per sale. After Microsoft takes their cut, it goes to $14:$21. They need to raise the game price to $70 to make the same money and people just aren't going to buy at that price.
Of course the idea is that they get more sales through the store anyway and I don't think it will affect Blizzard as much as Valve but Blizzard has their own digital store too. This is effectively Microsoft's way of killing Steam and Origin and every other store.
Apple is moving down this path too with Mountain Lion having options to only install apps from the App Store and it's clear to see why. Even the Mac App Store has had 100 million downloads with average pricing around $25. This is with a user base of 60 million or so. For Microsoft, the user base will be 200 million or more next year as most new machines will ship with Windows 8.
Add the XBox platform into the mix and Microsoft has the ability to seriously affect all retailers (Amazon, Gamestop, BestBuy...). If they run Windows 8 on the next XBox, they might not even bother with physical distribution:
With movies and music, they could become a serious threat to all sellers of digital goods. That's why they will want the Metro UI front and centre - it guides people to Bing, IE and Microsoft's Store.
I highly doubt MS would only allow software to be installed on PCs from their online app store. Although it would almost be poetic justice to all the anti-Apple people that call Apple a walled garden.
Since Microsoft and Google have seen Apple's growth and success with their model, it's been obvious to me that they both want to copy Apple or continue to provide middling to non-existant returns in this economy. There are no "big thinkers" at either company that can execute strategically, so... steal from Apple again.
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
Game developers have one of the most bizarre track records regarding predictions.
That being said, at least for Valve on a historical standpoint, they've been virtually unphased.
Past Microsoft Attempts to kill Steam:
Games For Windows/GFWLive: Complete failure. Rarely used, Loathed by the majority.
Windows Games on Demand: Even larger Failure than GFWL. Was closed down and merged into the Xbox site.
Maybe Microsoft might get some decent hits with the 8 Marketplace. But If it's hoping for piece of Steams market, given Microsofts existing policies, many developers, especially indies easily Choose Steam over them.
I felt the way you did until I got a LogiTech Touchpad (similar to Apple's Magic Touchpad). Now it's almost as good as having a touch screen.
Keep in mind, both of these companies refuse to participate in Apple's App store, so I suspect the real reason these guys are pissed off is because they realize their business model is going to change... like it or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
Eh. Functionally, Windows 8 is fine, and even has some nice new features versus 7. It's also been very stable right from the get go, so no complaints there. Metro is the real issue here, and MS needs to realize that what is probably good for a touch interface is cumbersome shit with a mouse and keyboard. I understand they are going for cross platform parity and functionality, much like Apple with their Mountain Lion and iOS 6, but I have the sneaking suspicion that Service Pack 1 will allow users to ditch Metro in favor of the classic Start Button layout they are familiar and comfortable with.
I won't be upgrading this cycle, because 7 is doing great for me right now, and the new functionality of 8 isn't worth even the reduced price to upgrade.
All this being said, however, I'd hardly call 8 a potential catastrophe. It might not be a record breaker like 7, but it's far from the complete disaster hat was Me. Apple survived Lion, MS survived Vista, and so it will Windows 8.
Wow, that's quite a prediction. Practically overnight some 40+% of the computer operating system market is going to shift to Linux so they can play Blizzard and Valve games!
Good luck with that business plan, Pardo.
It may be a case of having no choice. If Win8 is so bad games can't play reliably the they will need alternatives. In the end I wouldn't be surprised to find one or more game company team up to produce a Linux distro just for games.
I'm left with the impression that these comments are the result of real technical issues with Win8. If the OS can't even manage to get through Bsllmers dog and pony show that isn't very encouraging.
I know this might be shocking but has anyone at Appleinsider considered interviewing these leaders to see why they are offering up these thoughts? You know in the old days it was called reporting.
Someone correct me If I'm wrong, but I think This is how it was mentioned: Wasn't the Windows 8 store supposed to be a "locked down" platform for the Metro apps only(security reasons)? To my memory, I recall Desktop Applications being able to be advertised on the store, but it was specified that Only metro apps would be subject to the approval processes and such, whereas the X86 version pretty much remains as it has always been allowing standard independent installs.
Again, I may have remembered it wrong, so feel free to correct if so.
All this being said, however, I'd hardly call 8 a potential catastrophe. It might not be a record breaker like 7, but it's far from the complete disaster hat was Me. Apple survived Lion, MS survived Vista, and so it will Windows 8.
What kind of a bullshit statement is that Cash907? "Apple survived Lion?" Lol, really? When I last checked Lion was a huge success... not hardly comparable to Vista or the soon to be catastrophe that will be Windblows 8.
What is the point of this article other then to snark on Microsoft? This is an Apple-centric news site. Leave the subtle commentary to someone else. Almost as bad a Daring Fireball spending all day shitting on Amazon's Q2 earnings and comparing it to Apple as if it is some sort of fair comparison
I greatly enjoy Apple products, but the back-patting on some of these sites offering Apple coverage is just getting oppressive and completely off topic as to make them useless.
Two whiners seeing their distribution platforms possibly taking a critical hit, upping the ante by pretending that Linux would be somewhat of a fallback solution: good luck with that.
@ Jexus You are right, so far it was mentioned as such: locked down metro apps/games and advertisement possible for the popular/premium desktop software. I have no idea why they wouldn't also propose for sale the latter, they will maybe do so for software targeting windows 8 and up with specific guidelines, etc, we will see...
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
Same here. Corporations do not upgrade OS unless there is a tangible value attached to it. Consumers try to keep up with the Jones, IT departments with limited budgets are not interested in the latest fad, because they cannot afford to be,
Yeah, what isn't clear from either of these statements is exactly what is it about Windows 8 that's such a disaster? I mean maybe Metro sucks, but what's that got to do with gaming..?
From what I can see, nothing in particular will change from Blizzard and Valve's points of view...
What am I missing here?
I think they are afraid that Windows Store will steal their customers. People will start buying programms and games directly from Windows Store.
I'm in the same boat as you. Why is Windows 8 a "catastrophe" and "not awesome" for Valve and Blizzard? There have been multiple software storefronts online for years and people have figured out how to get their games. Metro shouldn't affect the user's access or interface with the games themselves. Is there some sort of driver issue? Major file structure change? Permissions or access change? Programming language change? License to develop cost?
What information is not being presented that makes Win8 so terrible? Otherwise, this isn't news, it's just trolls trolling Win8 before it's out.
The "catastrophe" would be the 30% slice that MS would take from the W8 RT MarketPlace sales.
I agree with you completely. I've always thought, as have most people in the industry, that MS should just ditch Metro all together for Win8. Opposite is true for WinRT. Why the freak can you get to the Win 8 desktop in RT? That's just stupid. They can have similar underpinnings, but they are two different platforms that cannot be shoved down everyone's throat. It's a mess.
BTW - Lion wasn't a mess, quite stable actually and not that much different than ML. I don't hear any body still b!tching about the natural/unnatural scrolling anymore. People just like to b!tch about something. They don't like change. Change is good, as long as it's executed well and for good reason. But MS's efforts is just change for change's sake.
Oh Lion was a nightmare for me, but lets not confuse mess with disaster. Lion was a mess in the same way Vista was, in my mind. Vista dropped legacy driver support, Lion dropped legacy app support. You lost quite a bit with both "upgrades," but what did you gain exactly? Natural scrolling and icloud functionality that was rolled out to 10.6 shortly thereafter, thus negating any real reason to upgrade anyway? I ended up ditching Lion because it broke the backup functionality of my NAS box, which I couldn't live without because of the nature of my work, so I rolled back to SL, much like I ditched Vista for XP on my desktop.
The best way I can explain it to my friends who aren't deep into software is "Vista/Lion were the promise, 7/ML were the fulfillment."
It took Blizzard about 15 years to release Diablo 3: a game which has proven so unpopular and disappointing among the otherwise devoted Blizzard community that hardcore fanboys have already stopped playing the game (just check out the battle.net forums for a glimpse of the carnage). They have now followed this up by announcing a new World of Warcraft expansion about pandas.
Frankly, i'm not trusting blizzard's judgment on anything right now.
It took Blizzard about 15 years to release Diablo 3: a game which has proven so unpopular and disappointing among the otherwise devoted Blizzard community that hardcore fanboys have already stopped playing the game (just check out the battle.net forums for a glimpse of the carnage). They have now followed this up by announcing a new World of Warcraft expansion about pandas.
Frankly, i'm not trusting blizzard's judgment on anything right now.
AFTER playing it for 500+ hours. Yeah, real catastrophe. /s Also you're Nearly a year late to the Pandaren expansion announcement. The only announcement recently was the street date. The expansion announcement was 10.21.11 at the last BlizzCon.
Also, was there some extra tweeting by Pardo not linked up in this article? B/c I'm not seeing that 40% of people going to Linux that people are throwing around in some comments. Or was that something Gabe said that Pardo didn't comment on one bit?
Comments
Metro is core to the OS though. As soon as you open Windows 8, you will see a store icon. This will become the first place Windows users go to in order to buy apps.
This is going to force developers to play along or risk losing lots of sales to competitors. They could obviously increase their prices but it's not really going to work too well because everyone is taking percentages.
If a game sells for $50 and the split between developer and publisher is 40:60, they get $20:$30 per sale. After Microsoft takes their cut, it goes to $14:$21. They need to raise the game price to $70 to make the same money and people just aren't going to buy at that price.
Of course the idea is that they get more sales through the store anyway and I don't think it will affect Blizzard as much as Valve but Blizzard has their own digital store too. This is effectively Microsoft's way of killing Steam and Origin and every other store.
Apple is moving down this path too with Mountain Lion having options to only install apps from the App Store and it's clear to see why. Even the Mac App Store has had 100 million downloads with average pricing around $25. This is with a user base of 60 million or so. For Microsoft, the user base will be 200 million or more next year as most new machines will ship with Windows 8.
Add the XBox platform into the mix and Microsoft has the ability to seriously affect all retailers (Amazon, Gamestop, BestBuy...). If they run Windows 8 on the next XBox, they might not even bother with physical distribution:
http://www.techspot.com/news/47737-source-claims-xbox-720-will-ship-without-optical-drive.html
With movies and music, they could become a serious threat to all sellers of digital goods. That's why they will want the Metro UI front and centre - it guides people to Bing, IE and Microsoft's Store.
A 6 years [2001-2007] of ONE OS -- XP versus
5 YEARS [2007-2012] OF FOUR OSes -- XP/Vista/Windows7/Windows8 ....
You figure it out.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverpraxis
I highly doubt MS would only allow software to be installed on PCs from their online app store. Although it would almost be poetic justice to all the anti-Apple people that call Apple a walled garden.
Since Microsoft and Google have seen Apple's growth and success with their model, it's been obvious to me that they both want to copy Apple or continue to provide middling to non-existant returns in this economy. There are no "big thinkers" at either company that can execute strategically, so... steal from Apple again.
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacTel
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
You have my deepest sympathies.
Game developers have one of the most bizarre track records regarding predictions.
That being said, at least for Valve on a historical standpoint, they've been virtually unphased.
Past Microsoft Attempts to kill Steam:
Games For Windows/GFWLive: Complete failure. Rarely used, Loathed by the majority.
Windows Games on Demand: Even larger Failure than GFWL. Was closed down and merged into the Xbox site.
Maybe Microsoft might get some decent hits with the 8 Marketplace. But If it's hoping for piece of Steams market, given Microsofts existing policies, many developers, especially indies easily Choose Steam over them.
This is an Apple centric website, people. An Apple centric web site.
Who cares about majorcrap?
I felt the way you did until I got a LogiTech Touchpad (similar to Apple's Magic Touchpad). Now it's almost as good as having a touch screen.
Keep in mind, both of these companies refuse to participate in Apple's App store, so I suspect the real reason these guys are pissed off is because they realize their business model is going to change... like it or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
Eh. Functionally, Windows 8 is fine, and even has some nice new features versus 7. It's also been very stable right from the get go, so no complaints there. Metro is the real issue here, and MS needs to realize that what is probably good for a touch interface is cumbersome shit with a mouse and keyboard. I understand they are going for cross platform parity and functionality, much like Apple with their Mountain Lion and iOS 6, but I have the sneaking suspicion that Service Pack 1 will allow users to ditch Metro in favor of the classic Start Button layout they are familiar and comfortable with.
I won't be upgrading this cycle, because 7 is doing great for me right now, and the new functionality of 8 isn't worth even the reduced price to upgrade.
All this being said, however, I'd hardly call 8 a potential catastrophe. It might not be a record breaker like 7, but it's far from the complete disaster hat was Me. Apple survived Lion, MS survived Vista, and so it will Windows 8.
It may be a case of having no choice. If Win8 is so bad games can't play reliably the they will need alternatives. In the end I wouldn't be surprised to find one or more game company team up to produce a Linux distro just for games.
I know this might be shocking but has anyone at Appleinsider considered interviewing these leaders to see why they are offering up these thoughts? You know in the old days it was called reporting.
Hmmmm, now that I think about it.
Someone correct me If I'm wrong, but I think This is how it was mentioned: Wasn't the Windows 8 store supposed to be a "locked down" platform for the Metro apps only(security reasons)? To my memory, I recall Desktop Applications being able to be advertised on the store, but it was specified that Only metro apps would be subject to the approval processes and such, whereas the X86 version pretty much remains as it has always been allowing standard independent installs.
Again, I may have remembered it wrong, so feel free to correct if so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cash907
All this being said, however, I'd hardly call 8 a potential catastrophe. It might not be a record breaker like 7, but it's far from the complete disaster hat was Me. Apple survived Lion, MS survived Vista, and so it will Windows 8.
What kind of a bullshit statement is that Cash907? "Apple survived Lion?" Lol, really? When I last checked Lion was a huge success... not hardly comparable to Vista or the soon to be catastrophe that will be Windblows 8.
What is the point of this article other then to snark on Microsoft? This is an Apple-centric news site. Leave the subtle commentary to someone else. Almost as bad a Daring Fireball spending all day shitting on Amazon's Q2 earnings and comparing it to Apple as if it is some sort of fair comparison
I greatly enjoy Apple products, but the back-patting on some of these sites offering Apple coverage is just getting oppressive and completely off topic as to make them useless.
@ Jexus
You are right, so far it was mentioned as such: locked down metro apps/games and advertisement possible for the popular/premium desktop software. I have no idea why they wouldn't also propose for sale the latter, they will maybe do so for software targeting windows 8 and up with specific guidelines, etc, we will see...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacTel
I'm looking to avoid Windows 8 as long as possible. If I'm issued a tablet with it installed then I'll have no choice. Otherwise it is Windows 7 for me for a long time to come at work.
Same here. Corporations do not upgrade OS unless there is a tangible value attached to it. Consumers try to keep up with the Jones, IT departments with limited budgets are not interested in the latest fad, because they cannot afford to be,
Yeah, what isn't clear from either of these statements is exactly what is it about Windows 8 that's such a disaster? I mean maybe Metro sucks, but what's that got to do with gaming..?
From what I can see, nothing in particular will change from Blizzard and Valve's points of view...
What am I missing here?
I think they are afraid that Windows Store will steal their customers. People will start buying programms and games directly from Windows Store.Quote:
Originally Posted by silverpraxis
I'm in the same boat as you. Why is Windows 8 a "catastrophe" and "not awesome" for Valve and Blizzard? There have been multiple software storefronts online for years and people have figured out how to get their games. Metro shouldn't affect the user's access or interface with the games themselves. Is there some sort of driver issue? Major file structure change? Permissions or access change? Programming language change? License to develop cost?
What information is not being presented that makes Win8 so terrible? Otherwise, this isn't news, it's just trolls trolling Win8 before it's out.
The "catastrophe" would be the 30% slice that MS would take from the W8 RT MarketPlace sales.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkerst
I agree with you completely. I've always thought, as have most people in the industry, that MS should just ditch Metro all together for Win8. Opposite is true for WinRT. Why the freak can you get to the Win 8 desktop in RT? That's just stupid. They can have similar underpinnings, but they are two different platforms that cannot be shoved down everyone's throat. It's a mess.
BTW - Lion wasn't a mess, quite stable actually and not that much different than ML. I don't hear any body still b!tching about the natural/unnatural scrolling anymore. People just like to b!tch about something. They don't like change. Change is good, as long as it's executed well and for good reason. But MS's efforts is just change for change's sake.
Oh Lion was a nightmare for me, but lets not confuse mess with disaster. Lion was a mess in the same way Vista was, in my mind. Vista dropped legacy driver support, Lion dropped legacy app support. You lost quite a bit with both "upgrades," but what did you gain exactly? Natural scrolling and icloud functionality that was rolled out to 10.6 shortly thereafter, thus negating any real reason to upgrade anyway? I ended up ditching Lion because it broke the backup functionality of my NAS box, which I couldn't live without because of the nature of my work, so I rolled back to SL, much like I ditched Vista for XP on my desktop.
The best way I can explain it to my friends who aren't deep into software is "Vista/Lion were the promise, 7/ML were the fulfillment."
It took Blizzard about 15 years to release Diablo 3: a game which has proven so unpopular and disappointing among the otherwise devoted Blizzard community that hardcore fanboys have already stopped playing the game (just check out the battle.net forums for a glimpse of the carnage). They have now followed this up by announcing a new World of Warcraft expansion about pandas.
Frankly, i'm not trusting blizzard's judgment on anything right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Parvin
It took Blizzard about 15 years to release Diablo 3: a game which has proven so unpopular and disappointing among the otherwise devoted Blizzard community that hardcore fanboys have already stopped playing the game (just check out the battle.net forums for a glimpse of the carnage). They have now followed this up by announcing a new World of Warcraft expansion about pandas.
Frankly, i'm not trusting blizzard's judgment on anything right now.
AFTER playing it for 500+ hours. Yeah, real catastrophe. /s Also you're Nearly a year late to the Pandaren expansion announcement. The only announcement recently was the street date. The expansion announcement was 10.21.11 at the last BlizzCon.
Also, was there some extra tweeting by Pardo not linked up in this article? B/c I'm not seeing that 40% of people going to Linux that people are throwing around in some comments. Or was that something Gabe said that Pardo didn't comment on one bit?