Microsoft Reiterates its Support for PC Gaming

You couldn't be blamed for thinking that Microsoft has focused more on the Xbox 360 side of its gaming operations that it has on the PC side. Despite having launched the Games for Windows and GfW Live initiatives several years ago, it's been Valve's Steam service that has gained a tremendous amount of ground in the past few years. Microsoft Game Studios general manager Dave Luehmann has said that Microsoft needs "to step up" in becoming a leader in the PC space.

"There's been a fair bit of criticism aimed at Microsoft that we were spending a lot of our focus on console, and we need to be putting resources behind PC as well," Luehmann told MCV. "Other companies should look to Microsoft for leadership, but I'm not sure they do. It is our job to lead the way on PC. And in some ways we are doing that and in other ways we are not. So we need to step up."

Microsoft does have three big games coming down the pipe for PC, which is more than can be said for what it has released on PC in recent years. "We are putting some real investment and big IPs behind the Windows platform. We've spoken of the first three, Fable III, Age of Empires Online and Microsoft Flight. However we are not going to stop there."

He didn't go on to detail what else Microsoft is working on, as you would expect. Hopefully there are more substantial games on the way besides those three, and we won't have to go through another Microsoft-published PC-game drought.

Luehmann suggested, "I think it is the responsibility of first parties to push the business models in to new directions. We will test some ideas -- some will work and some won't."

Besides the three games we know are coming, what would you like to see from Microsoft on PC? Corporate VP Phil Spencer recently proclaimed that Microsoft would like to increase the rate of Halo releases, so perhaps a PC release of a Halo game -- only Halo and Halo 2 have seen a release on PC -- could be something we'll see down the line.

What games would you like to see Microsoft release on PC?

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Microsoft thinks Blu-ray’s days are numbered

According to Microsoft, it’s only a matter of time before Blu-ray discs go the way of the dodo, if the dodo was a popular high-definition movie and game format. When asked whether their commitment to the DVD format, which holds 8GB in a single disc compared to Blu-ray’s boggling 50GB capacity,  was holding their console back, Xbox UK head honcho Stephen McGill was quick to gaze into his crystal ball. Presumably the same crystal ball that said HD DVD was gonna be huge.

“Blu-ray is going to be passed by as a format,” said McGill in an interview with Xbox Achievements. “People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming, so we offer full HD 1080p Blu-ray quality streaming instantly, no download, no delay. So, who needs Blu-ray?”

Though it’s true that digital downloads are on the rise, I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in Microsoft’s statement that the days of Blu-ray are numbered. Claims that excluding a high definition drive from the Xbox 360 was a “smart decision” as it kept the price nice and cheap for the money-strapped masses might be true, but that’s more hindsight than foresight on Microsoft’s part. It may not have come standard, but they backed a format and that format went down in flames, making their slight against Blu-ray sound more like pouting than prophecy. Blu-ray may never reach the mainstream status of VHS and DVD, but there will always be a demand for disc-based product. Even after they’re beaming content right into our cerebral cortexes, I’m still gonna want something I can tear the plastic off of with my powerful bionic hands.

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