Top ten things that are wrong with Games for Windows - Live
Submitted by rapture on Wed, 05/30/2007 - 9:09am.
Introduction: I’m an engineer by day - hardcore gamer by night. I’ve played games “professionally” and won thousands of dollars doing it. I’ve beta tested for XBOX Live and Games for Windows – Live. I own an XBOX 360 and a high performance PC. I am currently playing both Games for Windows – Live titles – Shadowrun and HALO 2 along with the HALO 3 beta and Shadowrun for XBOX 360. Please take a moment to read my list of 10 problems that I (and probably you) will have with Games for Windows – Live. Note that I’m not trying to bash Microsoft or console users. I’m a console user. I’m an XBOX Live user. I run several gaming websites supporting certain Microsoft games. I’m an admitted Microsoft fanboy. However, this list is to bring certain issues to light and will hopefully help Live on the PC be a better experience for all users.
Top ten things that are wrong with Games for Windows - Live
10. Quiet launch.
It didn't launch on May 8th as originally planned. When did/does/will it launch? It launches when the first Games for Windows - Live launches. If you went to any major retailer in the past few weeks, you might have bought Halo 2 for Windows Vista (with partial nudity) which would allow you to connect to GFW - Live. However, since Halo 2 (PC) is having trouble (with the nudity and since has been delayed), Shadowrun will be the first official Games for Windows - Live title on May 29th. Actually, we were told that Shadowrun hits the shelves on the 29th. Microsoft is now saying that it will be available on the “week of the 29th”. So confusing! But why does didn’t it launch on May 8th even with the delay of HALO 2 (PC)? That's my next point.
9. It doesn't work from your desktop.
Games for Windows - Live does not run as an application on your desktop. You must run it from inside a game – a GFW – Live enabled game. Shadowrun and HALO 2 are the only ways you can connect to GFW - Live. Vista has been marketed a gaming platform by Microsoft. They’ve even added a neat “Games” folder and special settings that make gaming a bit easier. Why not integrate GFW – Live with the newly added gaming features in Vista? Not being able to use GFW – Live from the desktop will kill the deal for many new Live users. After all, they are used to using FREE applications from the desktop that do what Live does.
This reminds me of the old days of XBOX Live when you had to be inside of a game to make full use of its features. So effectively an online gaming service designed to connect gamers requires them to buy software (the games) to use it. GFW - Live won't work for you without buying software (a GFW - Live enabled game). Sorry if you've already bought a Gold subscription and not a GFW – Live title. Sorry if you are used to running Xfire or Gamespy Arcade from your desktop.
The current version of XBOX Live runs perfectly just after boot up of your XBOX 360 (and original XBOX). I think Games for Windows – Live should also. After all, it runs on a computer. A computer.
XBOX Live is the killer app for XBOX 360. Which gets me to my next point.
8. XBOX Live users have it so much better.
It’s not the same experience. People communicate via webcams, voice messages, text messages, and Windows Messenger without having to be inside of a game to do it. They download movies. They rent movies. They download demos and patches. They can even buy games. Not to mention that is has one slick user-interface.
Games for Windows - Live doesn't offer the same experience. Even the user interface is plain. You can't add custom themes. There are no “blades”. You can't connect to a marketplace to download or rent movies or TV shows. You can't download demos or buy arcade games. Basically, you can only join up to games and send communications to other players from within a GFW – Live game. I won't go into how the interface has XBOX 360 controller buttons sprinkled all over it. But my point is that Games for Windows – Live is missing some major features that we’ve grown accustomed to with XBOX Live.
7. And it’s missing the little things too.
The latest version of XBOX Live is kicking butt. They are doing something right over there. It's the attention to little details that make the experience polished and refined. GFW - Live isn't polished. Not only are they missing the big features, but they are missing the little features.
Example: When you get an achievement in an XBOX 360 title, a little bubble pops up telling you the point value of the achievement and the title of the achievement. This feature doesn't exist in GFW - Live. Microsoft says that research shows that as soon as someone gets an achievement very often go immediately to the guide to see what that achievement was. PC users get left out in this case.
Example: You can’t play music from inside the Live interface. Yeah, you can run Winamp, iTunes, or Windows Media Player in the background if you want to play music, but I could also run Xfire, Trillian, Team Speak, and the Gamespy Arcade in the background of my video game. All of those are FREE services that I could use. Some PC gamers are going to be paying $50 per year for a service that has less features than they get for free.
I would think that being on the PC platform, GFW – Live would open the doors to some amazing features that aren’t possible (or at least practical) on the XBOX 360. I think it’s almost unfair that the XBOX Live users have the better experience.
6. The feel of www.gamesforwindows.com.
The online home of Games for Windows just doesn't have the "it" factor. XBOX.com has a good "feel" to it. But, the Games for Windows homepage seems corporate and plain, like the GFW - Live user interface. Bottomline: there’s nothing on that site that hooks me into coming back to it. Oh, and the page has the "inhaling console" shape in the background. Come on. This isn’t a service for the console.
XBOX.com is the hub of XBOX Live. Gamers can go there and find game-specific forums. They can meet other gamers and exchange information. They can send private messages. GamesForWindows.com isn’t much of a hub. There’s very little utility there.
Hardcare PC gamers: If you want interaction with your subscription that you could be paying good money for, you'll have to do the unthinkable and go to XBOX.com and find the love. It's there. Waiting for you. Embrace it and your Live experience will get slightly better.
5. The content on www.gamesforwindows.com.
That URL is supposed to be the online home for GFW, yet it's full of misinformation or no information. The two launch GFW - Live launch titles I mentioned earlier? HALO 2 and Shadowrun both have missing information on their page. Most importantly, as of this writing they don't even have release dates listed. They haven't for weeks at a time. (Note: HALO 2 briefly had a release date listed on the page but it was removed after the first delay of the game and was only up for a short amount of time).
What's also important to PC gamers? System requirements. Yet, those games don't have recommended system requirements. Shadowrun doesn't have recommended or minimum system requirements details. At least HALO 2 does have minimum requirements details.
"Coming Soon." That phrase is sprinkled throughout the site. It's usually listed under the game trailers (which both GFW - Live launch titles already have) or the demo section (we know Shadowrun will have a demo and have seen verbiage in other places that there will be a HALO 2 demo). Content and information is available on the web – even from other Microsoft properties – yet gamesforwindows.com doesn’t offer that information.
Besides that, the site has broken links.
Example: Go the the main page and go to their games catalog. Ok. 12 games on Page 1. Let's see what's on Page 2 and 3. Doh! You can't. The links don't work.
Example: Although it's fixed now, a link on the Shadowrun page used to take me to a page about Alan Wake (which didn't contain much information either).
4. Can't connect to Windows Messenger.
This an excellent example of how two of Microsoft’s products (both developed on the same platform) aren’t playing well with each other. Yeah we can send messages to our messenger contacts from outside of GFW - Live, but what if we wanted to chat inside of Live like our XBOX brethren can do? Even though GFW - Live is on a platform that natively supports a keyboard, you can't connect to Windows Messenger to communicate with your contacts. Recall that Microsoft just released an add-on peripheral for XBOX 360 users to be able to type faster. They promoted the device as something that will enhance the Windows Messenger experience. It was important enough for Microsoft to release an add-on peripheral for the XBOX 360, yet it wasn't important enough to fit into GFW – Live – a service on the PC.
By the way, Windows Messenger is one of the most popular instant messaging applications outside of the US.
3. Limited buddy list capacity.
Would MySpace or Facebook be popular social networking platforms if they limited the number of friends you could have? I would guess not. If Live is about social gaming, why don't we get more space on our friends list? We are paying $50 a year for the service after all.
Who has 100 gaming contacts? Not most people, I would guess. But my list is full. Over 80 of my friends signed onto Live in the last 24 hours. I know every single gamer on my list and accept no random friend requests. A large chunk of my list is of people I've met in real-life. Shadowrun and HALO 2 (PC) are now coming out. I'm not going to have much room to add newfound friends to my list. I’ll have to cull some longtime friends from my list now.
2. It's Vista only for now. No XP.
Sorry rest of the world. Since you need to be in a game to run GFW - Live, you won't be using GFW - Live on Windows XP. That's because the major launch titles, Shadowrun and HALO 2 are exclusive to Windows Vista. (Note that Shadowrun is cross-platform and will be available for XBOX 360 also).
Funny thing, though. You can't use the "Game Advisor" which is a main link promoted on almost every webpage on the Games for Windows website. It gives you an error message if you are using Vista: "Windows XP Game Advisor requires the use of the Windows 98/ME/2000/XP operating system and the Internet Explorer 6 browser."
I’m confused. Do you or do you not want me to run Vista?
1. Limited or no third party developers are using GFW - Live.
This is the biggest problem that gamers (and perhaps Microsoft) will have with GFW – Live. It looks like Microsoft Game Studios is the only one using GFW – Live. Shadowrun and HALO 2 (PC) are both products of Microsoft Game Studios. Great, but where are the Valve's, the iD's, the Ubisoft’s? There are a lot of major PC games hitting the market soon (Quake Wars, Medal of Honor, Assassin’s Creed, and perhaps Unreal Tournament 3). How can GFW – Live make it when Valve’s Steam grows in popularity and major games like Starcraft II don’t have GFW – Live support. The hit games are out there. The hit services are out there. How is Microsoft going to win the PC gamer over? The current version of GFW – Live won’t do it. There’s only two Games for Windows – Live titles. Go to the gamesforwindows.com website and you won’t see any other GFW – Live titles mentioned. Will there be any more GFW – Live titles launched this year?
Those are my top 10 issues with Games for Windows – Live. (Please digg the article here or by clicking the button below). I think that most people that use GFW – Live will see them as at least small problems. Bottomlines:
- If you are coming from XBOX Live to Games for Windows - Live you may be severly disappointed with the lack of features in the PC version of Live. XBOX Live has it so much better.
- If you are not coming from XBOX Live but from traditional PC gaming, you may be severly disappointed that you are paying $50 per year for features that you can get for free with other applications. The only reason I see that one should use GFW - Live is to unlock achievements. But achievements aren't something that PC gamers are used to anyway.
I personally have more problems than these. Here is a major problem that I and a few others are having:
Games for Windows – Live reboots my modem. My modem (a Linksys WCG200 recommend by Comcast) reboots periodically when trying to connect or after connecting to GFW – Live. It took me two hours to download my XBOX Live profile to my computer. Why? Because my modem would reset over and over. This bug was reported during the GFW – Live beta. It happens in Bug Bash and HALO 2 (PC), both using GFW – Live. So, it only happens when GFW – Live is being used.
This is a problem for me because I have other devices and computers connected to the internet. My VOIP can’t go down. It needs to stay up. And it is always up, until I play a GFW – Live title. My wife’s wireless laptop and XBOX 360 also get kicked offline when playing GFW – Live titles.
This happens from multiple computers on the same network with GFW – Live titles.
Microsoft’s unofficial response: Call Linksys or Comcast to get the latest firmware for my modem.
My response: I’ve got the latest firmware. Your software is the only software that caused my modem to reboot. This has been confirmed to happen on different machines running GFW – Live titles. Yes, I’ve been Microsoft’s Knowledge base and manually installed an update to GFW – Live.
And it’s not just me. Other users have posted to forums about this problems. Additionally, my friends that come over to use GFW – Live experience the same problem on multiple computers.
2. It's XP only for now.
Sorry rest of the world. Since you need to be in a game to run GFW - Live, you won't be using GFW - Live on Windows XP. That's because the major launch titles, Shadowrun and HALO 2 are exclusive to Windows Vista. (Note that Shadowrun is cross-platform and will be available for XBOX 360 also).
Funny thing, though. You can't use the "Game Advisor" which is a main link promoted on almost every webpage on the Games for Windows website. It gives you an error message if you are using Vista: "Windows XP Game Advisor requires the use of the Windows 98/ME/2000/XP operating system and the Internet Explorer 6 browser."
I’m confused. Do you or do you not want me to run Vista?
I seriously think Games for Windows Live is a horrible idea. Unless they improve it substantially, it won't last long. It's like selling ice to Eskimoes, for Pete's sake.
I like the introduction, by the way. I wanna be just like you when I grow up, rapture. I'm already a Microsoft fanboy, so I've got that part done. Now I need to become a professional gamer and win six figures from it and get the kickass PC of my dreams.
It's not. There was a copy error in my writeup. Hopefully you figured it out by reading the rest. GFW - Live is Vista only because only Vista titles are using it. No XP titles means no GFW - Live on XP. Sorry for the confusion.
I like the introduction, by the way. I wanna be just like you when I grow up, rapture. I'm already a Microsoft fanboy, so I've got that part done. Now I need to become a professional gamer and win six figures from it and get the kickass PC of my dreams.
I just wanted to establish credibility for the new readers that will hopefully see this.
Earning the money I did wasn't worth it. I had fun while I did it, but I put a lot of time into it. Most people will earn more money mowing yards in the summer than they will trying to win video game competitions.
...and my comments about Mini-Me are vindicated.
There are exceptions to every rule. Rapture's use of the word "most" is accurate.
...and my comments about Mini-Me are vindicated.
= bamahalo 2.0?
Rap,
Most of your technical complaints I think are spot-on. It sounds like what you really want is an Xbox emulator (or at least a dashboard emulator) for Windows. With some limitations, I've no doubt that's what MS will be moving towards, but as with any of their 1.x products, there are lots of missing features and rough spots. It exists mainly to push aside others working in the same space, like the free applications you mention (Xfire, etc).
At several points you compare those "free" applications to a $50 Gold account on Live. I'm not sure that's a fair comparison w/r/t GFW though. Correct me if I'm wrong, but unlike on the Xbox, you can play games like H2V online with a Silver account-- at least, that's how I read the description. I'm sure there are extras you get for going Gold, but I thought multiplayer online wasn't one of them.
Hey Narc...
But they are free apps. They don't cost me money and they work better than the service I'm paying for. I say it wouldn't be fair to compare an XBOX Live to those free apps. XBOX Live I pay for and has a better integral feature set. GfW-Live I pay for and has a much weaker feature set.
Yep, you can play online for free with a Silver account. You can't do much more than that.
O RLY?
some n00b posted this, I deleted it thinking it was breaking the page somehow, but it seems the page wasn't showing up normally for my resolution.
Here's the link since it was actually somewhat relevant. Looks like a game community layer that's in development.
www.playxpert.com
I would not be surprised if MS is intentionally gimping GFW Live, after all, the 360 is a major push for them right now, why would they release a competitor? The primary reasons Live on Windows exists right now is a push for Vista, and so people can play with 360 users.
Also, this is a brand new platform for Windows. Give it some time! It WILL get better. It only has 2 supported games for it, you cant expect it to be anywhere near as complete as Xbox Live, which supports hundreds of titles by now. Even you admitted that Xbox live was not that complete when it was first launched.
That said, I really hope they get it up to speed with XBL. They would easily dominate the online gaming sphere (Ok, so they already do...), and the ability to bring all the Marketplace content to a PC would be a major boon to the young downloadable video market (especially considering a xbox is the perfect platform as a media center extender).
Speaking of the content on the games for windows site, click on the bioshock link under "top 5 games". "Recommned requirements"
http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/Games/Pages/Bioshock.aspx
Colin has the best point here. Praising XBLive on the 360 while damning GFW Live is like asking why a five year old can't drive a car as well as a 40 year old. MS had a similar console platform in the original Xbox in order to work out the Live kinks, and perfected it in the 360.
The PC is a broader platform that doesn't have the luxury of being able to do one thing and one thing only; the Dashboard for the 360 IS the entire UI, so they had to put a lot of effort into it. While I agree entirely with #s 10 and 9, the other items really do require patience and a lot of healthy feedback before GFW Live can coalesce into something worthwhile.
Unfortunately those ten things wrong with Games for Windows Live are then things wrong with Games for Windows Live.
I think Rapture was bang on with his observations.
you are absolutely right. now that Vista is out, Microsoft just had amnesia and only knows Vista. It would be helpful if GFW- Live was for XP, but since it sucks, I wouldn't be moved. Atleast Halo 2 for XP would make me happy, instead of having to pay $250-something and then pay another $40-$50 for Halo 2 (The $40-$50 I can live with, but the $250-ish, no.)
i seriously think that the Xbox live is way better. Although I don't have it yet, I know that it will be great. Shockingly great.
I think the saddest thing is that Microsoft is unable to leverage the experience it gained in developing the Xbox universe. Let's not make excuses for Games for Windows, when the ground has been plowed by people who work in the same freaking corporation! Why can't Microsoft learn from its own prior efforts? MFW seems to be a deliberate exclusion of independent software developers, who have contributed much to the popularity of Windows. In other words, it's typical Redmond shortsightedness at work. Microsoft now wants to own games on Windows, like they've tried to own search (MSN search), digital music players (Zune), free email (Hotmail), and a thousand other distracting, miscellaneous goals by relying on the power of the brand to do so. Too many posters assume that the audience will wait around for version 2.x, or version 3.x. But why should they? How long do you voluntarily suffer for something when a better product is available? Does that kind of masochism even make sense? All in all, it's just sad.
Well done, and thank you for saying what has to be said.
How hard could it be to copy the XBox 360 Live interface to Vista? Hell, replace Windows Media Center with Live for Windows. Run Live, cool full screen interface, gamepad or mouse/keyboard driven.
I like the way they designed Halo 2, when you click install the game copies the Halo 2 applcation and starts up while loading the rest of the game to your system. From the time you insert the CD and type in your key it takes 1-2 minutes to get to the opening screen. Great idea. Nothing worse than waiting for a game to install.
Unfortunately the opening screen is where the "fun" ends. Forcing the player to setup a Live for Windows account, and clunky interface.
I didn't want to setup an account, I just wanted to play a bit, and I was determined to get around setting up an account. I finally figured it out, but it took forever, and the fact that the game uses the new XNE environment means that everything looks like it was designed for an XBox 360 gamepad, (A) SELECT, (B) BACK, and press (>) START to continue is littered throughout the game.
A FPS on a PC doesn't really scream "Gamepad" to me. Doesn't help that there are 4 mouse sensitivity settings, and 3 seems too sluggish and 4 moves differently horizontally vs. vertically. Maybe if I had a widescreen monitor hooked up, but come on Microsoft, 3 years you had to work on the mouse controls for this game.
Also wanted to say NICE USE OF BOLD throughout the article.
You must get rid of those apostrophes. Never, ever use them when pluralizing something.
I liked the article overall.
Hey you guys just got linked on the front page of Penny Arcade
Awesome! Thanks for the heads up.
"Games for Windows – Live reboots my modem. My modem (a Linksys WCG200 recommend by Comcast) reboots periodically when trying to connect or after connecting to GFW – Live. It took me two hours to download my XBOX Live profile to my computer. Why? Because my modem would reset over and over. This bug was reported during the GFW – Live beta. It happens in Bug Bash and HALO 2 (PC), both using GFW – Live. So, it only happens when GFW – Live is being used."
I have the same problem when using BitTorrent or anything that causes you to start streaming "up" a decent amount.
Not that that's the problem for sure, but it may be. I find that my connection drops and i have to release/renew the IP on my modem. From the research i've done, it seems that many ISPs have a cap on your upstream communication, and if you exceed it (or continually reach a certain limit) your connection gets bumped.
I was fine for a while using BitTorrent, but after a few weeks i started getting bumped all the time. I've dropped my upload speed and haven't had that issue since.
Maybe GFW-L is streaming too much data up and your ISP thinks you're "acting as a server" and bumping you.
Just a thought anyways :-)
XT
There's also a new link on the front page of Kotaku. +1 for rap
I admit, when I bought HALO 2 FOR VISTA, I thought it was going to install some kind of Dashboard application that ran on top of Vista, the same way Media Center does, that would have the blades and work with the Vista "Games" folder. I thought I'd be able to check out my achievements and buddies at any time, not just from within Halo 2. I expected an experience more like the one I've got on my 360. I'm just chalking it up to the 1.0 blues, and that the GFW Dashboard is eventually going to evolve into more of a 360-like experience.
XT, it sounds to me like you have a Linksys WRT54G router. If that's the case, I recommend some third-party firmware such as DD-WRT, HyperWRT, or OpenWRT.
If that's not the case, I'd recommend using the official, rental modem. We had a Linksys modem, as well, and it didn't like our 10/1 connection.
I've read most of you guys say the GFW - Live platform needs some time to offer a better experience to PC gamers, but my question is: If GFW-Live needs more time, Why does MS released it so early? My thought is that they just want to make money and fast, and unfortunately I think I'm not wrong ($50 for a service that works for FREE with other apps for a lot of PC Games?).
I'm a console and PC gamer and I see Xbox LIVE is a great service that gives an awesome Online experience, and $50 is not expensive when you see what you get... On a console. On a PC is so different and cheaper (from $15 to $60 per game and you can play Online for free).
I'm buying soon a Xbox 360 and yes, with a Gold membership, but I definitely won't buy Windows Vista nor a GFW subscription, unless they offer us a better Online gaming experience.
Well hey-ho there ... considering you just picked out my exact router model, i think we may have a winner!! (or the next David Copperfield) I'll do a search on those firmwares and try 'em out - thanks for the tip!
I believe my points may still be valid, but I really, truly hope that you are completely right. It would make my life a LOT easier.
BTW, I know there's also some sort of speed/packet cap in Windows, but i don't think that would be messing with your modem which is why i didn't suggest it.
NEways - thanks a million, Will!
XT
If your buying a Gold membership on the 360, then you are also buying it for GFW. They are the same service. GFW is just a different method of accessing the LIVE service, albeit a very poor one in comparison to the 360.
I LOVE Penny-Arcade!
Thanks por the info, then I have to rewrite: I won't get a Gold Service for a PC, I'd use it only with the Xbox 360.
Bob the Angry Flower's take:
http://www.angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif
http://www.angryflower.com/worlds.gif
http://www.angryflower.com/destro.html
So your saying that you would spend $50 on xbl and only use it for the xbox, when you get it for windows thrown in for free? That makes as much since as the halo 2 achievements (100 gp for beating it on normal difficulty, and 50 gp for heroic and legendary, and you have to beat every level of the game on that difficulty).
I don't know how you people put up with that OS, or that company. I think its time to abandon ship. Mutany!!!
Excellent article. I ran out to buy Halo 2 with the same expectations as many of the other posters. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed. I've seen my friends play their 360 using X-Live and frankly it made me jealous! Why would Microsoft even bother releasing GFW-Live if the darn thing isn't even capable of near-similar performance and content??? I feel robbed.
Maybe their goal was to get me to cough up dough for Vista so that I could play Halo 2, then after I realized that the 360 was a better platform, buy one of those too? Blah.
The more I read about this, the more I think GFW-Live was built for Xbox360 gamers with Xbox Live who want to game occasionally on their PC.
Of course, 360 gamers would be the only crowd with the least complaints ("I don't care if GFW-Live is missing features, I already get everything I need with Xbox Live anyway, and GFW-Live is like icing on the cake"). But if that was the case, they wouldn't release two games already out for the Xbox.
So what the eff??
Games for Windows Live doesn't really cater to the average PC gamer as it does to the Xbox gamer, which is why PC gamers are so upset about this.
Of course, 360 gamers would be the only crowd with the least complaints ("I don't care if GFW-Live is missing features, I already get everything I need with Xbox Live anyway, and GFW-Live is like icing on the cake"). But if that was the case, they wouldn't release two games already out for the Xbox.
Yeah I have, big whoop.
Why is something liek this even needed, like you HAVE to pay for it or you can't play halo 2 multiplayer online? thats retarded, i can't think of why else someone would want halo 2 on their computer anyways, I seriously can't think of another reason you'd want it on the computer other than multiplayer.
.
Agreed! i don't want vista T_T, i don't want to be forced to buy it to play new games, especially if i have to start subscriptions to play multplayer versions.
Microsoft claims that the whole 'games for windows' tag somehow simplifies purchasing games for the windows platform, when in reality all it does is completely confuse people - even people that actually know a bit about what they are talking about.
Basically, 'Games for Windows' means for 99% of gamers, a game that they can't play due to it being Vista-only.
There's a reason no 3rd party developers / publishers aren't using it - making a game profitable on the PC is difficult enough, let alone limiting your audience to Vista-users only. That would be like restricting a game to ONLY people that ONLY have a physics / ageia card or something - it makes absolutely no sense from a business perspective.
I don't know why they just don't let games be started through the Xbox Live for Windows Vista instead of having to click on the Start button to get to the Games Folder. It would save a few steps, but I guess that would be too easy.
This service is not really that bad guys. With Gears of War soon to come out for pc, who knows what can happen to this thing. And if you already have an xbox live account, GFW-Live is free. So don't trash on it until you know all of the details.
@kingham91: I know the details of Games for Windows - LIVE. I was a GfW-Live beta tester and have played the ONLY two games available for the service (Halo 2 and "God's gift to competitive shooters" Shadowrun) for hundreds of hours.
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currently playing: Civilization 4
collecting dust: XBOX 360 Elite console, Halo 3
currently supporting: The guy who's won the most straw polls - r3/\O¯|ution
GFW-Live was not made to take over the PC World nor was it made to be a huge money maker either. It was just another thing they released for those without Xboxs and friends or family with Xboxs could play together. Why don't third party use it? Because it takes alot more programming to get it done. Is $50 a year a little harsh of a price tag? For some yes but think about it on the broad spectrum you can use that same GamerTag for Xbox360 Xbox and GFW-Live, if it is to much for you then simply sign up for the free month over and over. Let's face it the whinning and crying over it is rediculous. The reason for the Xbox360 controller buttons are all over it is simple the games were designed for the 360 not for the PC, the PC was a last minute thing going oh hey more money. It comes down to this if you don't like it don't use it. Or just go out and buy a Xbox360. Don't complain about the cost either because if you are playing Halo 2 or Shadowrun especially you have to have a good computer and that costs money as well. If you don't like it don't use and play with your free stuff.
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