Microsoft Officially Launches Games for Windows Line

September 18, 2006 11:43 AM

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Microsoft today announced that it has officially begun its unified Games for Windows program at the retail level with the release of two titles, Traveller's Tales' LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, and Relic Entertainment's Company of Heroes. All games participating in Games for Windows will feature a distinctive branding bar similar to those used on console game boxes. Games for Windows titles are required to meet a number of criteria, including widescreen support, various reliability standards, 64-bit Windows support, Xbox 360 controller support for games with gamepad control options, streamlined game installation, the ability to be launched from within Windows Media Center, as well as Windows Vista-specific features such as compatibility with the upcoming operating system's integrated Games Explorer.

In addition to the release of these first two games, September will also see 7500 retail stores across the United States begin to display Games for Windows branding. Ziff Davis will also launch its Official Games for Windows magazine, a rebranding of its long running publication Computer Gaming World. See our Games for Windows overview for more about the company's initiatives.

Chris Remo

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pyrogen

 reply
September 18, 2006 11:46 AM

Anything that helps spread widescreen support among PC games is a good thing.
- trevis
  
   reply
  September 18, 2006 12:36 PM
  
  srsly
  
  I may actually get one now. I cant STAND *ANYTHING* streatched.
  - Bingo
    
     reply
    September 18, 2006 1:11 PM
    
    I hear you... anything streatched is horrifying.
- daggah
  
   reply
  September 18, 2006 1:13 PM
  
  I was going to come in and say the *exact* same thing. :)
  
  (Dell 2407WFP owner.)
- odin318
  
   reply
  September 18, 2006 1:24 PM
  
  holy fucking shit. maybe EA can get with the program now. I am SO glad Microsoft is pushing this.
  - Beady
    
     reply
    September 18, 2006 2:14 PM
    
    EA dont even support 1280x1024 (LCD) out of the box when their entire QA auite is using LCD monitors, what chance does widescreen have?.
- Schnapple
  
   reply
  September 18, 2006 1:30 PM
  
  Dumb question - I hear some FPS devs not wanting to support widescreen since it "gives players an unfair advantage" since you can see more.
  
  And, well... don't they have a point? I mean they don't want gamers with a different display type to have more peripheral vision.
  
  Am I missing something?
  - SilverSnake
    
     reply
    September 18, 2006 1:32 PM
    
    They could either make widescreen players see less up and down and not more sideways (or a combination, some more sideways and a little less up and down) or allow full screen users to play at the same Field of View (will be a bit skewed, but good for those that's competitive) and/or with black bars like with movies.
    
    Several solutions available to shut up the competitive crowd, the casual gamers don't give a shit.
    - daggah
      
       reply
      September 18, 2006 1:39 PM
      
      Or the competitive crowd could just get widescreen...
      - MH Knights
        
         reply
        September 18, 2006 1:46 PM
        
        Spend more money, that will fix it!
        
        Beady
        
         reply
        September 18, 2006 2:03 PM
        
        I dont remember seeing developers not supporting people with cable modems, versus dial-up.
        
        daggah
        
         reply
        September 18, 2006 2:20 PM
        
        if they really think they're losing to people because their opponent is using widescreen monitors and not because they actually suck...then they're probably "competitive" enough that they've already spent a ton of money on their addiction habit
    - trevis
      
       reply
      September 18, 2006 3:20 PM
      
      They could just make aspect ratio a server setting and then black bar it to fit which ever display the client is running.
      - crummynz
        
         reply
        September 18, 2006 3:53 PM
        
        That's... thats a pretty damn good idea.
  - odin318
    
     reply
    September 18, 2006 2:55 PM
    
    widescreen gamers dont have any more of an advantage then players with quad-SLI, 5.1, etc. Counter Strike has full support for widescreen, i dont hear alot of players bitching about it. Widescreen is the present and the future. I wont by BF2142 because Dice will not implement proper widescreen support.
    - armybob
      
       reply
      September 18, 2006 3:01 PM
      
      ya the DICE not supporting it because "it's an advantage" is such crap. You can turn off so many detail settings to see players easier or you could have some super crazy fast PC rig running the game at twice the resolution and twice the framerate of your opponent. Those visual differences are more of an advantage then 16:10 or 16:9 support imo.
      
      Like you said, widescreen is in the present and the future and thankfully we have companies like Valve and MS standardizing it for PC games.
      
      <3 my 2407
      - [deleted] 498475715
        
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        September 18, 2006 6:05 PM
        
        [deleted]
  - [deleted] 498475715
    
     reply
    September 18, 2006 6:04 PM
    
    [deleted]
- code-e255
  
   reply
  September 18, 2006 3:02 PM
  
  TRU DAT! Gogo widescreen support! /rude @ EA/Dice!