A look at the new Games for Windows - Live interface. So long controller based design.

Since installing the update, my USB 360 controller is hosed. The button mappings are screwed up in all programs including joy.cpl in the Vista Control Panel and in games like Shadowrun and Halo 2 (PC). Additionally, I can't hear other gamers talking to me.

After troubleshooting this issue for 45 minutes, I'm going to look at installing DirectX all over again. I see new code was released 11/20. Maybe this will fix the issue.

That said, I'm having trouble just downloading the new DirectX software. After spending 5 minutes getting past the Genuine Windows Validation dialog, the DirectX installer isn't initializing. What a mess.

Microsoft doesn't care about PC gaming.

This is one of the reasons why I like console games. They just work. I'm not trying to start a console vs pc debate, but I believe we can all agree about that.

How are those RRoD's and matchmaking wait times working out for you? :)

Steam, Valve, and Blizzard games just work. Microsoft trying to turn PC gaming into a console experience doesn't work. It never has. GfWL is not PC gaming.

I'd rather invest some time into getting the system up and running so that I can have the superior experience versus the simplier experience. That's why I'm not giving up and am going to fix this problem.

Edit: probably should have included iD and Epic in there also.

They're making some significant steps towards improving it, such as allowing Silver members to have the same features as Gold and changing the interface, but they've still got an extremely long journey to the fiery pits of Mordor and back before it becomes respectable. It had promise and they could have done something with it, but they messed it up due to their severe lack of brains. They tried to consolize PC gaming and it was catastrophic, epic failure, compounded with the horrible Halo 2 port that was only a decimal of what it really should have been.

Also, when I try to click the pictures to get a larger image, it says I'm not authorized to view them. Sadface.

I'll check this out down the road, but I don't see myself using GFWL very much. I'd like to keep my Microsoft gaming off my elite pc. I don't know how you guys handle it, last night I was trying to play Halo 3 with my fiancee's brother... the waiting for a single game is r-tarded long! PC, takes a whole 5 seconds to jump into a game of TF2 or counterstrike or any other game for that matter.

Hmmmm I guess I'm fantasizing over EA according to my new profile picture. So hewt! Look at that rockstar! ^

Yeah, it takes a while to load a TF2 map. Not as long as loading an H3 map, but it takes a while - maybe 20 seconds. But you get some mad 16 v 16 action.

Many other games I can join up instantly...like the Valve stuff, Unreal, or H1.

H3 takes for ever to load, but we play it because it's widely adopted and as close to H1 as we're going to get. It's worth the wait. But, the long load times was one of my first gripes. It has to kill replayability of the game.

I'll go ahead and say it again: IMHO, Team Fortress 2 has the highest replay factor of any first person shooter game on any platform from any era. Can't wait to get our team up and running. Waiting on you Celery.

I don't know if I can agree with it having the highest replay factor of any first-person shooter (because I certainly haven't played all of them), but it's definitely got a high level. Btw, I'm lucky to get twenty seconds of loading time max on my less-than-mediocre rig.

Oh, and when you join a server in TF2 and play, how much longer does that playtime you spend in the room last compared to the several minutes or so you usually spend in a typical slayer game in match making for games like Halo 3?

Infinite! You have the ability to stay on that server and keep playing on the refreshed map or map cycle. When one map is complete it will start a fresh game on the next map in the cycle. On Halo 3 or any other Xbox Live game, you get the boot and have to find a new server after every game... el sucko

I'll agree that Team Fortress has a huge reply factor. I still play TF1 and soon to be gaming TF2 here in 3 days! Hellz Yah! I would say that counter-strike is still the greatest online first person shooter and is still going strong today.

I haven't been on TF2 much, so I'm sure the load times are a little faster than 5seconds like I said, but majority of the games I play online I can load up a quick server queue, jump on a server, and be playing in a few seconds unless they have a ton of .wav files to download or they are running some sort of mod to alter gameplay.

For those who have a PC and TF2, Ea and myself are going to start a small local team to get our frag on! Let us know if you want in. Hopefully we have enough to join one of the leagues.

CS is pr0.

By the way, they released a desktop client. It's crap though; it didn't work for me when I installed it, even after I downloaded a fix.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6f966188-1e50-41c3-a689-181edc57c0e0&DisplayLang=en

WTF Microsoft? I downloaded the client thinking I'd be able to manage my friends and messages. I install it and go to Vista's much hyped "Games" management area. The GfWL was nowhere to be found. Ah, they didn't put it in there. Ok.

So, I run the application. After what seemed like about 60 seconds of boot time, the app launched and there's really nothing special there. It's basically a scaled down version of the XBOX Marketplace, but only for GfWL titles. No friends list. No way to check messages.

It has no utility for me and I have no reason whatsoever to launch that application again.

The XBOX.com is better. The XBOX Marketplace is better. The in-game UI that I showed int he above article is lightyears better.

Another Microsoft mess up for PC gamers.