Is Windows 8 Really What We Need?

With Windows 8 right around the corner, due out on October 26th, is Windows 8 really what we need? We have seen the new UI that forces at start up, and so far, it does not look very appealing. It looks like something you would use on your tablet, while drinking a cup of coffee and using your mac-book at Starbucks, because you’re a hipster douche who hangs out at Starbucks for the free WiFi.

Get yo’ tablet design out of my desktop

Now of course, you can use a more traditional Windows UI, but this new ‘metro’ UI will be what you see every time you boot your computer, and if you’re a good person, that’s at least once every 3 days. I can tell you, that I’m going to be throwing my computer out of my window if I have to see that every time I boot up.

With the new UI aside, lets talking about PC gaming on windows 8, shall we? As you may or may not know, I love me some video games, and I really love PC Gaming. But what’s going to happen to our beloved PC gaming on Windows 8? Well, Microsoft wants to embrace the PC gaming culture, as long as you do it the Microsoft way. This article drives that point home. There’s also been outcry from Gabe Newell of Valve, who goes as far as suggesting that we take to Linux for PC gaming. The CEO of Stardock, Brad Wardell points out three big problems with Windows 8, who says it’s “Schizophrenic” and “Obnoxious”. Blizzard, of Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft fame also does not like it, echoing what Gabe Newell said. Markus “Notch” Persson of Minecraft fame, voiced his concern in a reddit AMA about a month ago, stating that he worries if Windows 8 is locked down, then it will hurt Indie gaming in the future. If Gaben being worried wasn’t enough, then Notch being worried should be.

So what does Windows 8 hold in store for users? We’ll find out as more and more people get their hands on it, but only you can be your own Judge.

– From the Room of Alex_N

40 Xbox Live Games Coming To Windows 8

Major Nelson has released 40 titles from Microsoft that will be coming to Windows 8. Some of the games will even be exclusive to Windows 8, but can be played on any desktop, laptop, or tablet.

Gamespot reports,

Earlier this year, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed that the Kinect motion-sensing camera peripheral would be coming to the PC, saying that, “We’ll support that in a formal way in the right time, and when we have an announcement to make, we’ll make it.” (The company has since released the Kinect software development kit for the PC.)

See the list of the 40 titles coming to Windows 8 below:

1. 4 Elements II Special Edition
2. A World of Keflings
3. Adera: Episode 1
4. Adera: Episode 2
5. Adera: Episode 3
6. Angry Birds
7. Angry Birds Space
8. Big Buck Hunter Pro
9. BlazBlue Calamity Trigger
10. Collateral Damage
11. Crash Course GO
12. Cut the Rope
13. Disney Fairies
14. Dragon’s Lair
15. Field & Stream Fishing
16. Fruit Ninja
17. Gravity Guy
18. Gunstringer: Dead Man Running
19. Hydro Thunder Hurricane
20. IloMilo
21. iStunt 2
22. Jetpack Joyride
23. Kinectimals Unleashed
24. Microsoft Mahjong
25. Microsoft Minesweeper
26. Microsoft Solitaire Collection
27. Monster Island
28. PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX
29. Pinball FX 2
30. Reckless Racing Ultimate
31. Rocket Riot 3D
32. Shark Dash
33. Shuffle Party
34. Skulls of the Shogun
35. Taptiles
36. Team Crossword
37. The Harvest HD
38. Toy Soldiers Cold War
39. Wordament
40. Zombies!!!

‘I Am Alive’ Coming To The PC On September 13th

The post apocalyptic survival game I am Alive by Ubisoft Shanghai and published by Ubisoft is coming out next month on the PC, five months after it’s debut on XBLA on April 7th. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as many Ubisoft games come out later on the PC compared to the console counterparts. This isn’t  due to a problem with developing for the different systems, as Windows and Xbox development are very similar, to the point where 4chan’s /v/ board got Skyrim DLC Dawnguard’s Xbox version that released 30 days earlier working on the PC.

So why does Ubisoft do this? Well, Ubisoft has been known to delay PC releases for most, if not all of their games, and recently in an interview the Ubisoft CEO  Yves Guillemot was quoted saying “On PC it’s only around five to seven per cent of the players who pay for F2P, but normally on PC it’s only about five to seven per cent who pay anyway, the rest is pirated. It’s around a 93-95 per cent piracy rate, so it ends up at about the same percentage”.

Now, PC pirating is nothing to joke about. PC games are much easier to pirate compared to console games, but still overall, the processes is painstaking to pirate a game for your PC. Gabe Newell (The god of the internet and also happens to be the CEO of Valve) once said that “The people who are telling you that Russians pirate everything are the people who wait six months to localize their product into Russia” and that “The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work, It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates”. Ubisoft tends to treat the PC market like it’s filled with thieving people, when Valve has proven the opposite.

So will Ubisoft stop their shenanigans of delaying PC ports, or shall it only get worse?

-From the Basement of Alex_N

The Update: Windows 8

With Windows 8 right around the corner coming out on October 26th, and the RTM already out, a leaked version has already hit the internet. So, what do we know about this new Windows 8? Well, here’s a few things we already know.\

1. You can’t bypass the new ‘Metro’ screen, not yet at least.

Why god, why?

2. A new feature for Dekstop users, called File History, where you can back up your Libraries, Desktop, Favorites and Contacts folders to a external device.

3. A new version of Windows Movie maker and Windows photo gallery for Windows 7 and 8

4. Windows 8 will be good for gaming, as long as it’s microsoft style. Basically, according to this article Microsoft is trying to cut out Steam and orgin, by making it so you need to sell your games through the Windows store thing. Steam does work on windows 8, but not all the games do.

So a little bad, and a little good. We’ll see how it plays out as Windows 8 is released, and the general public gets their hands on it.

-From the basement of Alex_N