At Microsoft’s BUILD developer conference, the company revealed that Windows 8 will featuring heavy Xbox Live integration. Xbox Live functionality has already stepped out of the Xbox 360 through the Windows Phone mobile platform. With Windows 8, the service stands to get bigger than ever. Before I get into that, here’s the official word from Microsoft’s Major Nelson:
We are confirming that we will be bringing Xbox Live to the PC with Xbox Live on Windows. We are very excited about Xbox Live coming to Windows 8. Xbox Live brings your games, music, movies, and TV shows to your favorite Microsoft and Windows devices. Bringing Xbox Live to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy. At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox Live. We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox Live on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future.
Xbox Live is one of the best features of Xbox 360 and a huge part of why the console has been so successful. Adding a substantial social layer to gaming and having games “live on” after players have stopped playing them is huge. When I first heard about these features way back in 2005, I knew they’d be killer. Having the social aspects of Xbox Live integrated into an operating system is a brilliant move that will almost definitely take the service to new heights.
A lot of you use social media services like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. They’re all great service, but none of them are integrated on the OS level. It takes effort to set up these services and to get the most out of them. Microsoft appears to be making Xbox Live on Window 8 easy as pie (preferably pecan). Being integrated into an upstart mobile OS like Windows Phone is one thing, but being integrated into what will be the most popular operating system on the market — one that will be used on desktop, laptop, and tablet computers — is tremendous. I believe the children are our future that being part of Windows 8 will increase Xbox Live use among existing users and help draw new players into the mix.
While I’m not too high on Windows 8 (yet), I’m loving the enormous potential of Xbox Live on Windows 8. What do you guys and gals think? Is it something you’d use? Do you think that OS-level integration will help the service blow up? Or am I just enamored with the potential and ignoring the realities of the concoction?
I have an Xbox and a Mac, I can care less about XBL on Windows 8.
^What he said.
I like how aggressive MS is being with Win8. I'd hope that the xbox experience isn't limited to streamed media and chatting with a friends list.
I'm pretty meh on it though right now. My gold sub expired and I have no plans to renew. I can use Netflix elsewhere (until that expires), and the ESPN thing doesn't ever have anything I'd care to watch.
I wonder if the charge for a PC only account would be the same? There is no charge for MSNmessenger or streaming Netflix on a PC.
What features would you like to see on Windows?
Virtual Xbox 360 or whatever the console name. I'd pay $400 for that piece of software.
That would be cool, but how likely do you think that would be? It also sounds like a nightmare to support.
I think it would be worth it. It would easily give them the penetration needed to get into Japan and further into Europe. Of course at a cheaper price than what I mentioned in the above post. Something like that would really put them in the catbird seat for all segments of gaming. PC, Console, and mobile.
Support? Hmm. I really think they have enough experience and data to offer support as long as the system requirements are kept strict. Strict as in some guy w/o a video card of xxxx parameter can't install the VM. It's doable, and manageable if you consider that a lot of their customers the first go around will stick to the console hooked to the tv. Only ppl like me will use it on PCs or PCs hooked to tvs at first. Glorified beta if you will.
If they had a "spectator mode", I'd be all over it. One of the good things about XBL is that I can chat with someone (or group of people) no matter what we are doing or playing online. If you take that concept to the next level on a PC running Windows 8, you should also be able to see what is on your friend's screen as well. This would be awesome for games like Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter 4. Seriously, I need to see N8 and Big Blak duke it out.
If I could log into my XBL account in Windows 8, and then be able to see what someone on my friends list is playing on the screen, that would be awesome. Also, I would like the ability to chat PC-to-Xbox as well.
-M
He's still ducking me.
He signs on, sees me on and playing MK, and starts a movie because he knows I have the common courtesy not to bug someone while they watch a video.
I feel like Lennox Lewis, and he's Riddick Bowe.
If BB is truly Bowe then his next step is throwing his Xbox 360 in the trash so that he can't face you. I definitely smell cowardice here….
I knew you'd get the reference.
I haven't had time to meet N8s request, I'm not hiding form the man, I accepted the challenge, the timing is just off and I'm a coward? I could justify that stance if I didn't accept his challenge. The fight just hasn't happened yet and now I'm the bad guy. Thanks N8R!
Not necessarily. I remember when I tried to get him to play Splinter Cell with me and I saw that he was watching something on Netflix. I sent him a message, but I didn't get a response. It turns out that his girlfriend/wife/woman uses the Xbox for Netflix and doesn't respond to us when we send him a message. The best way to get a hold of him is texting him on his cell phone.
Just make sure you record the game with a good capture card and upload it to YouTube.
-M
Actually, I'll do commentary and upload it to my video site. Ha!
That's true, that would be an awesome idea to bring to life. I would love to stream matches of friends like that. There could be a lot of possibilities there.
Most of the comments I've been reading are not positive, though I tend to mostly hang around PC users, not console users.
I think most of the complaining isn't from the obvious social element which might be nice, but the fact that Games For Windows Live was bad and I hated to play any game that required it.
It costs money. Money that I currently don't have/ am not willing to part with. So that's a no. I might change my mind later if it turns out I want it bad enough, but at the moment it's just not enticing enough. And anyway, isn't the average Xbox Live user for games a whiny 13 year old? That's what most people chalk it up to be, and it doesn't really impress. Someone wanna convince me?
I have games for windows live on my PC now and buy games that support it when I can. Having it in the OS itself will bring features they've been saying they will add to the current form though. The big issues is still support though. They are claiming it will be easier for devs to do that, but we have to wait and see. Steam is still the big contender and EA and other companies are wanting to fracture, love that pokemon btw, that market even more.
This is something I want, I'm looking forward to an actual release of Windows 8 even though I still love Windows 7. I would be all for xbox integration on my PC, and am seriously reconsidering purchasing a WinMo7 phone whenever I can use my wife's upgrade (since I let her use mine to get her iPhone before unlimited data went away).