Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Launched: The New GFW Marketplace

By Alec Meer on November 15th, 2010 at 7:29 pm.

As revealed the other week, and now actually actual – right over here. There’s not a vast amount of super-recent games on there as yet, but Lego Universe, Dead Rising 2 and 007: Blood Stone are the headliners and suggest a drive to be relatively contemporary. A lot of the existing stuff remains comically expensive, however, which suggests that publishers are either very cautious about this service or Microsoft are still testing the waters. Clue: be cheaper.

There’s an inaugural mega-bargain, at least – GTA IV, sans DLC, for £12. Alas, it has been cheaper on Steam during past ultro-sales and can still be had for less at retail/etail, but if the high street or a wait for the post-person ain’t handy for you it’s certainly cheaper than any other digi-store right this minute. You can also use your Live/Messenger/Hotmail/whatevs id to sign in and buy stuff, which might make it a little easier or more palatable for some folks. Or not. WHO KNOWS?

The roster isn’t, it must be said, especially impressive right now, primarily consisting of stuff that was on the old version of the service, with the addition of a few older Activisoin titles. The two most recent CODs – both requiring Steam – are noticeable by their absence, so I’m not terribly convinced anyone’s gonna rush to pick up World of War right now… Still, it means it genuinely is hosting games free from Games For Windows Live.

Then again the service has just relaunched, so it’s unfair to sneer before its wheels have fully begun to turn. I entirely appreciate that it’s going to take a little while to fill up with the promised wave of Live-less titles. In general, the predominantly web-only interface seems admirably de-cluttered and de-cludged compared to previous incarnations of GFW Marketplace, but forcing people into having a Live account might create some annoyance. Give it a whirl, anyway – seem more appealing than a) before b) other services c) shops?

Update – as Miker cleverly suggests below, GFW also allows (but doesn’t force) you to pay in MS points. And there are quite often offers to buy MS Points discounted, if you keep your ear to the ground, so it’s entirely possible that canny PC gamers could snag bonus price cuts. A potentially effective spanner in the (Steam)works, if the new GFW pulls in enough desirable games over time.

__________________

« | »

, , .

146 Comments »

  1. 15/11/2010 at 19:35 Miker says:

    I have to say, it looks very slick, but I can’t see myself buying anything that’s not absolutely exclusive from them. That said, with so many retail deals for MS points, I could see myself stockpiling a good amount in order to get cheap games even cheaper.

    EDIT: The prices are pretty awful. The non-GOTY version of Fallout 3 is $50, the non-GOTY edition of Batman: AA is $50 while the GOTY edition is $40. Section 8 is still $50, and Resident Evil 5 is on sale for $30 down from $50. What the hell were they thinking?

  2. 15/11/2010 at 19:35 Nemon says:

    Well, they sure got self-e-Steam *muffled laughter*

  3. 15/11/2010 at 19:39 Tei says:

    I like the prices.

    http://pastebin.com/38BiYQhD

    The price of Bioshock 2 in Steam is 29,99€
    http://pastebin.com/Gr6Y7zSE

    I am tempted to pay $899.00 for Singularity in GFWL, is Singularity any good?

  4. 15/11/2010 at 19:46 noobnob says:

    “Unfortunately your Xbox LIVE account region is not currently supported. Check back with us soon as we continue to add regions.”

    Thanks. No really, thanks.

    EDIT: I’m from Brazil, just to clarify. So they add a more sleek storefront, but forget to open it to the whole world. I can deal with regional restriction on individual games, but not this.

    • 15/11/2010 at 19:54 Decimae says:

      Funny. I don’t get that from holland, I’m just getting sent through to the EN-US page.

    • 15/11/2010 at 23:41 Teliach says:

      From Portugal here

      “Your region is not currently supported”

      Releasing a internet store so limited, is kinda dumb lots of people will try to log once, not be able and never bother again when youc an just go to steam, etc…

    • 16/11/2010 at 00:54 Vayl says:

      “Unfortunately your Xbox LIVE account region is not currently supported. Check back with us soon as we continue to add regions.”

      Very nice service…. this is from Portugal btw, can’t even log.

    • 16/11/2010 at 04:03 eclipse mattaru says:

      This.

      Until Microsoft figures out how to make this whole internet-and-how-to-access-it-from-anywhere-in-the-world thing work they can suck on my pustulating, fungi-ridden left toenail (Hint: Every other motherfucking digital store in the entire universe already does it, I guess it can’t be THAT hard).

    • 16/11/2010 at 13:21 CilindroX says:

      Same here, not allowed to access from Uruguay – apparently, my money is no good for MS. Back to Steam I say!

    • 16/11/2010 at 14:27 Farewell says:

      Visiting the site from Norway sends me to the Canadian version..

    • 16/11/2010 at 15:44 eclipse mattaru says:

      @CilindroX: Another Uruguayan around these parts? And one that buys original games too? This is madness!

  5. 15/11/2010 at 19:54 Ignorant Texan says:

    Then again the service has just relaunched, so it’s unfair to sneer before its wheels have fully begun to turn fall off. Sorry, mean of me I know, but I couldn’t resist

    • 16/11/2010 at 11:51 battles_atlas says:

      On the subject of which, given that the whole point of a re-launch is to prompt people to consider a product afresh, and given that the previous MS Store was a fucking joke, wouldn’t it have been more sensible to re-launch it with a huge catalogue and discounted prices? I mean, I’ve no MBA or anything, but that strikes me as sensible.

      They’ve relaunched a crap product as a crap product.

  6. 15/11/2010 at 19:55 Deston says:

    Hmmm – reinstall GfWL, or repeatedly stab myself in the thigh with a leaky biro. Decisions, decisions…

    • 16/11/2010 at 09:13 Thermal Ions says:

      I’d go for the leaky biro. I went to the site, and …
      1. Discovered apparently I now live in the UK instead of Australia.
      2. Selected to change locations and apparently Australia doesn’t exist.
      3. Fine, I’ll log in with my GFWL login then.
      4. Of course this opens another tab with untrusted connection warnings in several frames.
      5. What the hell, log in anyway.
      6. “Updated terms of service” message – you have to go to http://www.xbox.com to accept the new terms
      7. Click the link, another new tab opens
      8. Click “sign in” and another new tab opens (this is getting ridiculous)
      9. Complete sign in details
      10. Accept new T&C’s (not on a new tab – they’re learning)
      11. Go back to http://www.gamesforwindows.com to find my login doesn’t carry over
      12. Click “Sign in” (and a new tab opens for me to sign in on – we’re back on that train again)
      13. Complete login details and finally presented with “Coming soon: Unfortunately your Xbox LIVE account region is not currently supported. Check back with us soon as we continue to add regions.”
      14. Goes looking for leaking biro

      Arrrgggg. Now RPS is telling me I’m posting too quickly, even though my last post was more than a day ago. Goes looking for _rusty_ leaking biro

    • 16/11/2010 at 10:24 Corrupt_Tiki says:

      Personal preference it may be, I prefer the bang my head repeatedly into my desk approach, it’s super effective if you have a solid oak desk, the ply wood ones are relatively ineffective.

      (god, isn’t there *one* day that I can have that doesn’t involve me thinking about pokemon – I am scarred by my childhood)

  7. 15/11/2010 at 19:59 Navagon says:

    Their prices are even higher than they were as points. But that might have something to do with me getting the Live point cards cheap.

    So what happens to the points we didn’t spend? I can’t find out as the bloody stupid client won’t login. But then it’s probably doing me a favour…

  8. 15/11/2010 at 20:08 woot says:

    I hope they’re still selling the Ltd Ed. version of BioShock 2: Lorem Ipsum… :P

    • 15/11/2010 at 20:23 westyfield says:

      Heh. I was just about to comment on that as well. It seems to have been corrected on the GfWL website now though.

    • 16/11/2010 at 14:30 Farewell says:

      The description for COD 4 (from 2007) is also amusing (my emphasis):
      The new action thriller from the award-winning team at Infinity Ward Inc., Call of Duty® 4: Modern Warfare™ delivers the most intense and cinematic action experience ever. The epic title also features the added depth of multiplayer action for an all-new community of persistent, addictive, and customizable gameplay.

  9. 15/11/2010 at 20:18 Shadrach says:

    I think it looks like they stole GOG.com’s design, at least part of it, especially the menu bar :)

  10. 15/11/2010 at 20:22 Lewie Procter says:

    Want to buy FUEL? http://bit.ly/aWjggc or http://bit.ly/9FyytA or http://bit.ly/cKMpvL which would you pick?

    Also, GTA4 is £11.99 in the UK, but $11.99 in the USA. 60% more expensive in the UK

    At least the MS Points option means you could potentially save money. £17 worth of points can routinely be bought for £15, but it’s only really of use to anyone who already owns an Xbox 360.

    Kind of shows that they are using this service more to push people to buy 360s than to do anything for PC gamers.

  11. 15/11/2010 at 20:24 terry says:

    Steam for Windows Live.

  12. 15/11/2010 at 20:26 Meschio says:

    Steam>GFWL

  13. 15/11/2010 at 20:30 pkt-zer0 says:

    Am I missing something, or is there basically no way to filter the games by category or price bracket or something of the sort?

    • 16/11/2010 at 00:23 subedii says:

      You can sort alphabetically, by price or release date, but they don’t appear to have any category listings.

      Well, apart from distinguishing between “LIVE Enabled” titles and “All Games” I suppose.

    • 16/11/2010 at 05:35 Quxxy says:

      This distinction is very important. It lets you know which games you need to avoid like the plague.

  14. 15/11/2010 at 20:32 Oneironaut says:

    I was hoping they would sell Dungeon Siege considering Microsoft has the rights to it and won’t sell it anywhere else. It’s the only thing I would have been interested in buying off their service.

  15. 15/11/2010 at 20:37 Clovis says:

    GFWL is the worst. Just the other day I cleaning up a hard drive and found these huge download files in the GFWL folder on my C drive. I decided to run GFWL to make sure that it was correclty set to put them on my G drive.

    As soon as the login screen came up, I knew something would go wrong. I try to login and get a cryptic error message and something about error code XXXX. Helpfully, the message was a link. When you click on it you basically get a 404 page. Awesome.

    I finally figured out that I had to login from the web first to sign some new EULA for some reason. Even when it comes to the most simple tasks, GFWL fails almost every time.

    (speaking of fail, I keep getting “You are posting too fast” notices, even though this is only my second post in several hours. I’m forced to use IE6 though, so maybe that is the problem.)

    • 15/11/2010 at 21:39 DarkNoghri says:

      I just got one of those errors, on Firefox no less, and I’m fairly certain I hadn’t posted since late last night.

    • 15/11/2010 at 22:56 MindFukr says:

      Same thing happened to me (through client). Googled the error code. Oh, the terms have changed (yeah, they could have told that instead of magic numbers). Tried to click the link, page doesn’t exist (I’m sure they’ll fix it eventually). Ok, a bit annoyed, guess I’ll try to manually login. Did that, and was immediately prompted with license terms have changed, please read them and accept.

      But it wasn’t that hard and GFW isn’t the worst thing in the world.

      Although now that I try to enter gamesforwindows.com with Firefox, I get a message:

      Couldn’t sign you out

      We couldn’t sign you out because your browser is blocking cookies. To sign out, close all of your browser windows. To keep this from happening again, change your browser’s settings to allow cookies. If you don’t know how to do that, see your browser’s help.

      So yeah, fuck you Games for Windows, I tried to be your friend ;) (PS. The site worked once with Firefox and even with IE it tells me in BIG RED letters SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG)

    • 15/11/2010 at 22:59 MindFukr says:

      Same thing happened to me. Googled the error code. Oh, the terms have changed (yeah, they could have told that instead of magic numbers). Tried to click the link, page doesn’t exist (I’m sure they’ll fix it eventually). Ok, a bit annoyed, guess I’ll try to manually login. Did that, and was immediately prompted with license terms have changed, please read them and accept.

      But it wasn’t that hard and GFW isn’t the worst thing in the world.

      Although now that I try to enter gamesforwindows.com with Firefox, I get a message: Couldn’t sign you out, etc..

      So yeah, damn you Games for Windows, I tried to be your friend ;) (PS. The site worked once with Firefox and even with IE it tells me in BIG RED letters SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG)

  16. 15/11/2010 at 20:52 gigantichorseschlong says:

    You would think that they would be selling halo 1. I lost my old copy and really enjoyed the multiplayer far more than any of the sequels but it seems im going to have to stick to the demo…

    • 15/11/2010 at 21:23 AlexW says:

      Well, Halo 1 isn’t a GfW game, since it came out a while back. Halo 2 is, since it’s actually a GfWL1 game, but it’s unlikely to appear on this service since it really hates modern systems with newer versions of GfWL – it actually required fiddling around in the Windows directory for me, and then a system restore a few restarts later when the system would fail to start. I’d love to see Halo 3 on it, but since they refuse to release the thing on PC that seems increasingly unlikely.

    • 16/11/2010 at 00:33 subedii says:

      I actually re-installed Halo 2 on my Vista PC a few weeks ago. Didn’t run into any issues installing or running.

      Have there been problems with Windows 7?

    • 16/11/2010 at 07:40 Matt says:

      There was a major issue with Halo 2 on my Vista x64 system. If halo is rendered at over 60 FPS the mouse look gets very stuttery. If you force V-sync on in the Nividia/ATI driver panel and your monitor is a 60Hz model then that fixes it. I have a 120hz monitor and despite every attempt to set it to 60Hz, once in game it would revert to 120Hz. After a few hours on the web I finally found a program that could limit fps in DX9 games (which Halo 2 seems to be). I also found a nice program that let me increase the very claustrophobic FOV.
      Honestly the FOV issue drives me a bit nuts its set low for console games where the screen tends to take up less of the players FOV and is left that way for the PC port. Letting the user set the FOV is a really easy option to implement but many skip doing it.

      Also the Captcha is using non-standard characters.

    • 16/11/2010 at 10:01 Rich says:

      ebay for Halo? It’d be second hand, but it’s not like it has limited activations.

    • 16/11/2010 at 10:03 Rich says:

      Surely ebay will do for Halo. It’s not like it has limited activations.

  17. 15/11/2010 at 20:53 Mark Raymond says:

    The paying with MS Points thing is potentially interesting to me as an Xbox 360 owner; however, the prices aren’t competitive, and I am not yet convinced that the service will survive long term. The latter issue is pretty big, as I don’t want to be cut off from my purchases a year or two down the line.

  18. 15/11/2010 at 20:54 Mark Raymond says:

    The paying with MS Points thing is potentially interesting to me as an Xbox 360 owner; however, the prices aren’t competitive, and I am not yet convinced that the service will survive long term. The latter issue is pretty big, as I don’t want to be cut off from my purchases a year or two down the line.

    (Sorry if this comes out as a double post.)

  19. 15/11/2010 at 21:16 Unaco says:

    Personally, I don’t think I’ll be using this service. I had to remember/set-up a GfWL account when I bought Batman AA Goatee when it was úber-cheap on Steam a few weeks ago. I have since forgotten the username/password (thankfully Batman remembers, and he tells Microsoft what they want to know every time I want to play the game). That isn’t the only reason, of course… prices are looking a little steep, not that many titles (of the type I would consider purchasing), and the software/client/backend etc. probably aren’t the best. But… saying all that, I hope they do get it right. Steam was a POS when I first got it (I still find offline mode is whack)… but now it’s pretty good.

    One day… One day, they’ll maybe get this GfWL right… like Windows 7.

    Also… Don’t see anyone mention this yet… The Daily Deal is GTA IV, but they also appear to have a Deal of the Week… currently Osmos (I think I read a little about it here, is an indie “classic motion puzzle game”) with 75% off, or £1.25… which is, like, half-a-pint!

    Edit: Also, I appear to be getting the “You’re posting too fast” message… I don’t think I’ve commented since Friday or Saturday. If my musings are THAT annoying, and I’m to be limited to 1 a week, some warning would be appreciated… that way I can work on that 1 post and make it the best it can be.

    • 15/11/2010 at 22:48 Alex says:

      Osmos is excellent. Highly recommended ambient game that gets engagingly difficult.

      I would suggest, however, buying directly from the developer. Granted, it’ll cost you $10 (£6?) but it all goes to the devs and you can play or Mac or Linux if you like.

  20. 15/11/2010 at 21:18 UncleLou says:

    I don’t get it. The client looks almost the same as before, only there’s a black bar at the top now. And the games seem to be more or less the same as before, too.

    I was expecting a giant relaunch, not a change of the client’s color scheme.

  21. 15/11/2010 at 21:41 Hypatian says:

    So does this mean that shops will now be boycotting GfWL, since it’s competing with them?

  22. 15/11/2010 at 21:56 Mac says:

    Riddle me this – how will charging more on their http://bit.ly/d4nYQH website will it encourage customers to use it?

    There isn;t a game on their that isn’t cheaper elsewhere…

  23. 15/11/2010 at 22:03 Paul says:

    As Fuel would say:

    Try harder, or fail forever, MS!

    This is still hilariously bad, like it has always been.It is amazing how clueless MS is.

  24. 15/11/2010 at 22:05 Mac says:

    Riddle me this – how will charging more on their website will it encourage customers to use it?

    There isn’t a game on their that isn’t cheaper elsewhere…

  25. 15/11/2010 at 22:31 Freud says:

    It’s like they have zero understanding of how the market works. Digital distribution is about offering consumers good deals and there are none to be found there. Not even worth bothering with bookmarking this.

  26. 15/11/2010 at 22:37 Atic Atac says:

    What this site does best is really underline how better Steam, Gog, Impulse and Gamersgate are than this. Please spend your money there because all are good services. I don’t understand also why people are always slamming steam? The reason we all buy from them is because they are the best service really. Good servers, community features, crazy deals, huge library and automatic updates? …Yes please.

    Also 39.99$ for Age of Empires 3? Puhleeez Microsoft…get over yourself!!!

  27. 15/11/2010 at 22:38 quijote3000 says:

    I tried. OK, ¡I tried! I gave Microsoft the benefit of the doubt.

    I didn’t mind that firefox warned me that their page was not supported
    I didn’t mind going to the XBOX page because they had updated some kind of text I never signed up in the first place (well, I did)

    But: “Unfortunately your Xbox LIVE account region is not currently supported. Check back with us soon as we continue to add regions.”

    So, anyway. For digital downloads i’m going back to steam, direct2drive, impulse, gog, gamersgate… I mean, I’m going back to every single digital system in existence that actually cares for my money and doesn’t give me any pain.

  28. 15/11/2010 at 22:43 quijote3000 says:

    Ok, Let’s try…
    I tried. OK, ¡I tried! I gave Microsoft the benefit of the doubt.

    I didn’t mind that firefox warned me that their page was not supported
    I didn’t mind going to the XBOX page because they had updated some kind of text I never signed up in the first place (well, I did)

    But: “Unfortunately your Xbox LIVE account region is not currently supported. Check back with us soon as we continue to add regions.”

    So, anyway. For digital downloads i’m going back to steam, direct2drive, impulse, gog, gamersgate… I mean, I’m going back to every single digital system in existence that actually cares for my money and doesn’t give me any pain.

  29. 15/11/2010 at 22:45 EALouise says:

    Can you re-download games, or install them to multiple computers? I think that’s one of the most important features that Steam has.

  30. 15/11/2010 at 22:47 LordCiego says:

    Random crashing, unable to install a game you just downloaded because of error Code:0x8007000d and having to download it again, shitty prices…

    Keep trying Microsoft.

  31. 15/11/2010 at 22:57 Mut says:

    Microsoft once again demonstrates how utterly clueless they are when it comes to PC gaming. Oh, well.

  32. 15/11/2010 at 23:01 JohnnyMaverik says:

    Will somebody get this over with already and just kill it with fire =/

  33. 15/11/2010 at 23:09 Longrat says:

    Sorry Microsoft, this is one area in which your towering monopoly can’t win!

    • 16/11/2010 at 15:13 Robbie G says:

      Really?

      http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/66318

      Especially this part is disturbing:

      Danny Bilson: It’s been easier for development [moving to Steamworks], so far, but Microsoft is really talking to me a lot about getting back on Games for Windows Live. So, it’s not something I want to comment on because there are a lot of discussions going on about that right now. I like both platforms and I really, really, really like Microsoft as a partner. They’re fantastic partners. I want to respect them.

    • 16/11/2010 at 22:22 kjr says:

      That really worries me. There may be some great games in the next few years that I would need gfwl to play, not because they provide good value, or a good service, but purely because MS has paid the publisher for an exclusive…

  34. 15/11/2010 at 23:13 Atic Atac says:

    …and they still don’t sell Rise of Nations, Crimson Skies or Freelancer.

    Also Age of Empires III 40 bucks?…Lulz, get over yourself Microsoft!

    I so hate Microsoft’s PC gaming division because there are some great games there that aren’t on Steam or Gog!

  35. 15/11/2010 at 23:14 Atic Atac says:

    …and they still don’t sell Rise of Nations, Crimson Skies or Freelancer.

  36. 15/11/2010 at 23:31 Wowza says:

    It’s funny how very of the comments are ignoring how Osmos is also on sale for $2.49.

  37. 15/11/2010 at 23:32 Wowza says:

    It’s funny how few of the comments are mentioning how Osmos is also on sale for $2.49.

  38. 15/11/2010 at 23:36 Teliach says:

    My Region is not currently supported, awesome!

  39. 15/11/2010 at 23:42 Camerooni says:

    Yay.. thanks Microsoft for relegating everyone that is not in your ’5 supported’ countries as incapable of purchase (not that we necessarily would).. Just sell to ‘International’ from the US store in US dollars.. Australia has a free trade agreement with the states – sell us stuff.. :p

    The digital world and it’s insistence on regional restrictions is very disappointing.. It’s all a ‘global economy now’ when big business wants to remove corporate taxes/import duties/maximise profits etc, but when consumers want to do the same thing and shop around for the best bargain it’s their way or nothing. Especially since they won’t setup local operations anyway and just charge us out of Singapore – adding additional ‘international transaction’ fees even though we’re purchasing in local currency and there is no warning before/during the point of sale.

    P.S still waiting for Xbox Live Indie Games fella’s.

  40. 16/11/2010 at 00:23 CreepingDeath says:

    Amazon is currently beating gfwl’s launch deal

    GTA4 – 9.99
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001EO74NW?ie=UTF8&tag=pa0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B001EO74NW

    Sooo….yea, sucks for Microsoft

  41. 16/11/2010 at 00:32 subedii says:

    Wait, if they’re boycotting titles that require Steam, then why’s Dawn of War 2 on there?

    Or Chaos Rising for that matter?

    • 16/11/2010 at 00:49 Warduke says:

      Because THQ is going back to GFWL and away from Steam apparently as part of a deal with M$.

    • 16/11/2010 at 03:40 Vinraith says:

      Because they can’t very well boycott games that include GfWL?

    • 16/11/2010 at 13:43 subedii says:

      Fair point, I guess they can’t disown family. :P

      @ Warduke:

      All THQ ever said was that MS is contacting them to try and get them to come back to GFWL, and that they have respect for Microsoft. THQ had just as much “respect” for MS when Relic made the decision to drop GFWL from Retribution, and not use in Space Marine. By this stage even if they wanted to, it’s probably far too late to switch back.

      The problem, is that regardless of how much Microsoft may try to talk them back into using the service again, nothing has fundamentally changed with the system to address all the issues that made Relic drop it in the first place. It wasn’t a light decision to take, and I can’t see any change in context between then and now that would make Relic reverse it.

  42. 16/11/2010 at 01:03 StingingVelvet says:

    I really thought they might re-launch with a blockbuster new lineup and some exclusives, along with a much improved service, but no, they did none of this. Microsoft could really compete with Steam if they bothered to give even half their potential effort, but I guess they still don’t see the point.

  43. 16/11/2010 at 01:05 jalf says:

    They’re joking, right? This is just awful.

    And now I’m going to have to spend the next hour uploading screenshots and writing an angry blog post about it… *Sigh*

  44. 16/11/2010 at 01:17 sneetch says:

    Delight to report that they appear to have withdrawn support from Ireland with this relaunch. I used to be able to use Games for Windows Live but now I can’t.

    For some reason I’m not exactly devastated.

  45. 16/11/2010 at 01:21 sneetch says:

    Well, let’s hope this one gets past RPS’s over-eager sentries.

    Well, without either surprise or disappointment I note that with this relaunch they seem to have removed Ireland as a supported country. I could use it before but no longer.

    No big tragedy really, it’s not like I’m missing much is it?

    Did just buy another game on Steam though, just saying Microsoft.

    Edit: Oh great, now I look like it’s a big deal for me, damn you to hell Spamotron! Damn you!

  47. 16/11/2010 at 01:46 castle says:

    Wow, they’re really missing an opportunity here by not launching with a big set of sales. Looks like all the games are at or above normal pricing, with the exception of a few weak sales (40% off GTA4? Really?). If they want to draw in new customers from the other download services, the best way to do that is to launch with a bang–give people a deal they can’t refuse to get them to jump onto your boat. As it is, what motivation would anyone have for using GFWL at this point?

  48. 16/11/2010 at 01:50 dr.castle says:

    My comment got eaten by the spam-whatsit on the first try. Sorry if this appears twice.

    Wow, they’re really missing an opportunity here by not launching with a big set of sales. Looks like all the games are at or above normal pricing, with the exception of a few weak sales (40% off GTA4? Really?). If they want to draw in new customers from the other download services, the best way to do that is to launch with a bang–give people a deal they can’t refuse to get them to jump onto your boat. As it is, what motivation would anyone have for using GFWL at this point?

  49. 16/11/2010 at 02:50 DJ Phantoon says:

    This is worse PR than Bill Gates getting caught blowing up a small African village and justifying his actions by yelling, “I PAID FOR IT! I PAID FOR IT, DAMNIT!”

    Spamotron won’t let me post. This is not an upgrade, RPS. Well actually, I guess in Microsoft’s case, it basically is the same type they do.

  50. 16/11/2010 at 02:55 FKD says:

    Does anyone happen to know why they never seem to offer the earlier Age of Empires games for d/l? That was the whole reason I got the last (crappy) version of GFWL because I was hoping those would be there :/

    I have already bought the games once, and since they have been in storage for the past three years with no ETA on when I will see them again, I am willing to buy them again because they were that good! Especially AoM..

  51. 16/11/2010 at 03:25 Hybrid says:

    … but I’m perfectly happy with Steam.

  52. 16/11/2010 at 03:35 Definitely NOT Sam Crisp says:

    I can’t even log in. Every time I try, it sends me to a page saying it could not successfully sign me out. And if I try logging in from another Live service and then opening the marketplace, I just get the same message. I doubt they’ll let me buy anything in Australia, anyway.

    On another note, I seem to be unable to comment on any RPS threads anymore. My comment on the IndieDB post hasn’t been approved my moderation, and every time I try to post this, I get rejected for spam. In fact, I’ve had to log out of my RPS profile and use an alternate name and email address in order to post this successfully. If you’re reading this right now, it’s a miracle. I suppose I’m not have much luck with user accounts today.

  53. 16/11/2010 at 04:25 Trayder says:

    I was gonna say this looked ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for us Australians with most games being 66%+ off retail prices without the stupid regional markups we see on Steam
    BUT
    I finally managed to log in (I had to sign into my Xbox account at Xboxcom, sigh) and it informed me my Xbox region wasn’t supported.

    Great work getting a new store and all that GFW, I can accept that my region isn’t yet covered, fair enough but seriously stop with the Xbox crap already, IT IS A HOTMAIL ACCOUNT AND I AM ON A PC.

  54. 16/11/2010 at 05:03 Trayder says:

    Doesn’t work for Australians yet.

    Most likely because they are implementing horrible regional markups that would prevent us from getting those American prices that are 66%+ off our retail.

  55. 16/11/2010 at 05:06 frags says:

    Had a look. Not terribly impressed.

  56. 16/11/2010 at 05:12 drewski says:

    I’m not happy with Steam, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to use an even worse implementation of digital distribution.

    • 16/11/2010 at 07:14 Vinraith says:

      Exactly. You can’t compete with Steam by being even more intrusive and obnoxious, while simultaneously failing to do the matchmaking, community, and other features that sell people on Steam even half as well.

    • 16/11/2010 at 09:22 neolith says:

      I have to agree. I do dislike a lot about STEAM and I’d never buy a new or full-price game there, but it does have some benefits for me that sometimes outweight the horrors it comes with. So I tolerate it.

      GFWL however… worse shop, worse prices, lack of community, worse bugs, the stupid and useless GFWL account for games that you can buy retail or via STEAM – and all that on top of yet another client I would have to use in case I’d want to buy something? No thanks, no good can come from this.

    • 16/11/2010 at 10:08 Thermal Ions says:

      They even failed on having decent launch specials, therefore regardless of how they improve it from here, many aren’t going to bother coming back to see.

  57. 16/11/2010 at 05:26 MaxNormal says:

    Same story here. I could and did buy the special on FEAR 2 a few weeks back through the games for windows client. Now I cannot even log into to a WEB BASED STORE because I live in New Zealand (a supported country for xbox live etc), and the specials of the new store do not show up in the games for windows client. Epic fail MS

  58. 16/11/2010 at 06:10 adamos says:

    Still same old MS. Just a bit prettier than before yet some substantial changes are not there. For once how hard is it to put a language option MS? Why i’m set to Finnish ( despite regional and language settings are set to greeek/english ) and there is nothing i can do about it ?

  59. 16/11/2010 at 06:13 frags says:

    Also, Osmos is going for 2 bucks on GFW marketplace. Kinda old but worth it.

  60. 16/11/2010 at 06:53 The Army of None says:

    I will continue to hate this service as usual. Until they decide to host Freelancer. Then I’ll buy it and quickly fall in love, if only for that one game.

    • 16/11/2010 at 09:26 RakeShark says:

      That is honestly one thing GfWL could have in their favor, by securing the rights (or twisting the arms of rights holders) of old Windows and Dos games that haven’t been made available on GoG or Steam. Starlancer, Freelancer, Populous, Syndicate, Wing Commander, X-Wing? We will flock like self-aware lemmings to the service that provides those games.

    • 16/11/2010 at 16:01 KillahMate says:

      Heh, here’s a fun bit:

      Since this is a Games For Windows Marketplace, it sells games that are Games For Windows certified. Which those fine titles you’ve mentioned are not. So they will never ever be sold there. In fact, almost any game made before 2007 will never ever be sold there.

      Fun, innit?

  61. 16/11/2010 at 07:10 Trayder says:

    After being told to log into my xbox account over at xboxcom I was informed that the marketplace wasn’t available for my xbox account region. Nice try GFW but I am trying to purchase PC games because I HAVE A PC.

    Unfortunate that there is no access for Australians yet, if we could get those prices it’d be 66%+ off from our terrible retail. I’m sure when it is enabled it’ll be accompanied by regional markups that drive us away from purchasing.

  62. 16/11/2010 at 07:29 Talorc says:

    Site is down for me, just “Something has gone wrong” in big red letters

  63. 16/11/2010 at 07:33 Gabbo says:

    I haven’t tried playing any of my (two) GFW games yet (and DoW2 needs to be updated on my slow ass connection, so it could be a while before I try). This wasn’t much of a revamp. Better site/client, but that was really the least of the services problems and it still has a ways to go (like opening MGS’ vaults).

    That said, they have a couple games I might be interested in currently if:
    A) the price was significantly lower, as neither title is new
    B) They gave a better explanation of the DRM used for each game (ie their own, 3rd party DRM)

    So until they crack open their vaults and make older MS published titles available for Win7 at better prices with better DRM details, I’ll stick with the other DD services I currently use and watch GFW to see if things improve (I won’t hold my breath).

  64. 16/11/2010 at 07:51 Gabbo says:

    Well my two biggest issues were:
    A) They do not provide enough info on the DRM being used (their own and/or others) on the site
    B) They didn’t open the vaults of MGS up, and allow Win7 compatible versions of older MS titles to flow forth until my gaming

    And the ‘re-launch’ didn’t really address those, nor did it really show any genuine effort to push GFW forward (Using the Xbox Live website for the new TOS and making the client/games inaccessible until one visits that site was a nice touch if I do say so myself.)

    There are a couple titles I might grab, but not at the prices their selling them for.

    At this point, I’ll keep watching, but I want play their game, not yet.

  65. 16/11/2010 at 08:00 Gabbo says:

    They did not address my two main issues with the previous setup:
    A) DRM information (theirs and 3rd party) is severely lacking, and I don’t buy DD until I know what I’m getting into.
    B) They didn’t open the MGS vaults, allowing a flood of Win7 compatible older titles to be embraced by my gaming busom. Two titles have piqued my interest, if they lower the prices.

    If they put more effort into it over time (not using XBL website for TOS agreement for starters), and it has a ways to go at this point, I may come around. But if this is their best efforts, I’ll stick with the services I currently use and watch GFW for improvements

  66. 16/11/2010 at 08:32 Zogtee says:

    Well, it’s a first step and a long overdue one.

    You’d think they would adjust prices to be more competitive other digital distribution sites, but I guess they’re trying to find a price level that will work for them. Like with all their PC gaming projects, I expect them to treat this like an embarrassing afterthought and put very little actual effort into it.

  67. 16/11/2010 at 08:38 PearlChoco says:

    Am I the only one who cannot run the GfWL client? It is the only program on my PC that fails to connect to the internet for some reason, even with Comodo firewall disabled. Anyone knows what could be the problem? Does it require some special service? I’m running Win7 x64.

  68. 16/11/2010 at 09:25 The Sombrero Kid says:

    lol microsoft just keep adding stuff to the games for windows brand rather than fixing it, meaning whatever new stuff they launch is tainted with the brand from the start, and so is doomed to fail.

  69. 16/11/2010 at 10:32 Chris says:

    I have never had anything but problems with GFWL.

    Thanks to GFWL I can’t play a game that I purchased (F1 2010).

    I would not buy anything from GFWL web shop, or knowingly buy any game infected with GFWL, no matter how cheap it was.

    For me Steam has been flawless, GFWL has been a nightmare.

  70. 16/11/2010 at 10:33 Miko says:

    I think this is all actually a practical joke, and next week there’ll be a press release just saying “lol j/k”.

    Of course, that’s what I used to think about GFWL in general.

  71. 16/11/2010 at 11:05 Poppis says:

    Their site looks a lot like that other digital distribution site, whats its name…

  72. 16/11/2010 at 11:23 FKD says:

    Does anyone know why they do not offer any of the prior Age of Empires titles? That was the whole reason I tried the last iteration of GFWL. I already own the games, but am willing to buy them again since my copies are in storage and I enjoyed them that much! Plus no other d/l site seems to offer them :/

  73. 16/11/2010 at 11:25 Carra says:

    I bought GTA 4 in last years steam deal.
    Price? €7.5.

    So no thanks.

  74. 16/11/2010 at 11:56 oceanclub says:

    12 hours later, and I still can’t even access the page (am now getting a different error):

    http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/9348/gfwlstillfail.jpg

    Still, I _can_ ignore that and login anyway. But then I can’t even specify a credit card for my locale – the Country field is locked at “United States” and greyed out:

    http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/8084/gfwl3.jpg

    Sorry, this is plain embarrassing. One of the world’s mega-corporations can’t implement a games shop that competes with a bunch of Polish developers in a side project.

    P.

  75. 16/11/2010 at 12:08 sneetch says:

    It’s seriously underwhelming considering it’s their big relaunch but it is I suppose indicative of their PC policy.

    Oh, I found out that if you’re in a Live country that’s not on their list then you can download and buy games through the client but not the website. Found that out in a random thread on their forum site, no point in putting that kind of information on the website of course. It’s really poorly done. It just, rather rudely, logged me out when I tried to sign in and told me to make sure Live was supported in my region. Directing me to the Xbox page which assured me that Live was, indeed, supported in my region. I wonder who thought it was a good idea to have their users figure that kind of thing out on their own?

    I must admit to a certain fascination with this now: it’s like watching a slow motion train wreck.

  76. 16/11/2010 at 12:14 oceanclub says:

    It’s lucky for Microsoft that noone really cares about this. On Twitter, there’s far more traffic about GOG’s Baldur’s Gate 2 relaunch than GFWL.

    P.

  77. 16/11/2010 at 12:29 mqzpla says:

    I hope RPS uses this picture when talking about GFWL in the future:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/XBL_Map2.png
    And the Osmos deal is not that great; I got it about a year ago from Steam for $2.

  78. 16/11/2010 at 13:59 jon_hill987 says:

    Even the EA store has better prices than that.

  79. 16/11/2010 at 15:03 Robbie G says:

    Unfortunately we all know where this is going. This is Microsoft we’re talking about, they always earn market share by releasing good products, you know.

    1) Buy GFWL exclusivity from a handful of publishers that are on Steam (2K for one, already in ‘talks’, apparently)
    2) Buy GFWL DRM activation from publishers who sell on Steam and GFWL
    3) Market GFWL as the best thing since bagged tea
    4) Profit, for Microsoft anyway.

    Online distribution is going to be Microsoffed, unfortunately.

  80. 16/11/2010 at 15:16 DrGonzo says:

    Well Osmos is £1.50 on Gfwl at the moment, but god forbid I say anything positive about Gfwl in this thread.

    Oh and for those having log in issues. 90% of them are caused by not reading that you must go and accept their new terms and conditions on xbox live before they will allow you to sign in on Gfwl.

  81. 16/11/2010 at 17:09 Gabbo says:

    Two things I didn’t like about GFW before still aren’t addressed:
    A) DRM info (whether it’s their own or 3rd party) is not straightforward or detailed enough for me to pull the trigger
    B) Still not enough titles from MS’ vaults that are Win7 compatible

    Their storefront was really the least of my issues with GFW, and currently maybe 2 titles would interest me, if they were cheaper. $40 for exclusive titles that are 3+ years old, I don’t think so Microsoft. Maybe at $25, then we’ll talk. Oh, and using the XBox Live website for TOS, classy. I’ll stick with the various other DD services I currently use, and watch GFW to see if it improves over time.

  82. 16/11/2010 at 17:16 oceanclub says:

    (Cross post with a GFWL forum thread here: http://forums.gamesforwindows.com/p/15623/134577.aspx)

    I just rang the support line about my problem not being able to add a credit card to my account. Actually, It turns out that the country was automatically specified from my Hotmail account settings. Which, since I set up my Hotmail account in August 1997 (long before many XBox 360 gamers were born I’ll wager), I have no idea if I even set those country settings myself, or specified them incorrectly. But it seems now I have an account with the wrong country and am unable to change them.

    While the support person was very polite and nice, his suggested solution that I have two Live accounts, add points to one, and gift myself games to the other, is just convoluted. At the end of the day, I’m the customer. The best alternative for me, it seems, is to ignore GFWLM altogether and continue to use Steam, GOG and other direct download services that service me, the customer. If something’s inconvenient for me and offers no benefits (and the GFWLM prices are currently completely uncompetitive compared to other sources), I’m not going to bother. I do hope the service is eventually fixed, but considering this is a relaunch of something which has already been around for years, I’m not holding out much hope.

    P.

    • 16/11/2010 at 18:39 Carra says:

      So yeah, the obvious solution would be to add a bug to their system.

      And then allow people to change the damn country they live in.

    • 16/11/2010 at 21:23 oceanclub says:

      “So yeah, the obvious solution would be to add a bug to their system.

      And then allow people to change the damn country they live in.”

      True; if this was Steam – that is, if I cared – I’d probably take the matter further, but it speaks volumes about GFWL that I can’t be bothered.

      P.

  83. 16/11/2010 at 18:41 dogsolitude_uk says:

    The pricing is atrocious, considering that you don’t get a box, printed manual or whatever, I mean, seriously…

    Worse, Microsoft need to hire a decent Info architect. The navigation and layout of the site is dreadful.

    Supposing I was to buy, I dunno, STALKER. If I go into a shop, I’d find the PC section, find the ‘S’ bit, and probably find STALKER. Given that I have a sort of peripheral vision, I’d also see other games with titles beginning with S. In other words, I can browse.

    Here however I either have to scroll through ‘All Titles’ from left to right using a s-l-o-w fadey thing (probably coded in Silverlight), or type the name of a game into a search box.

    Search is ropey. I typed in ‘flight’ expecting to get Flight Sim X or at least something with the word ‘Flight’ in the title, and got Dark Void instead.

    There’s no ability to search by genre either.

    Mind you, this is nothing compared with the nightmarish Escher-inspired structure of most MS sites, liek MSDN for example.

    Still, it’s a nice shiny black colour I suppose, so I’ll give it a few points for prettiness.

  84. 16/11/2010 at 19:07 KillahMate says:

    It’s been said on numerous occasions that Microsoft as an organization really isn’t this huge monolith – it’s more of a loose association of teams assembled from on high, and then left to fend for themselves in an environment of frankly unhealthy competition (also encouraged from the top).

    So it’s not so much that Microsoft is messing up GfW – it’s more that there is no Microsoft. There’s the Games for Windows team, and there’s everyone else (everyone else here especially including the mighty XBox product team, who are a juggernaut in the MS power structure). The GfW team is against everyone else in a fight for influence and company resources, and they are losing. The results are then released for everyone to see, in the form of a pathetic game client and middleware, and an embarrassing online shop, because there really isn’t the manpower or money to do it better. It’s not hard to understand.

    Not that I care. It’s still all Microsoft, and the more time they spend on petty infighting the less they have left for spoiling everything for everyone else. Given their behavior in other fields they’ve successfully monopolized, I can only hope they completely abandon the PC as a games platform.

    • 16/11/2010 at 19:25 dogsolitude_uk says:

      Yeah, on reflection this explains so much… Oddly, wasn’t this structural infighting also something that nearly killed Nokia? I think I read something along those lines on El Reg.

    • 16/11/2010 at 21:35 oceanclub says:

      “So it’s not so much that Microsoft is messing up GfW – it’s more that there is no Microsoft. There’s the Games for Windows team, and there’s everyone else (everyone else here especially including the mighty XBox product team, who are a juggernaut in the MS power structure). ”

      This is utterly confirmed by the response of one of the GFWL people to my query about broken links:

      http://forums.gamesforwindows.com/p/15623/134647.aspx#134647

      “The reason that you are getting the broken link for that page is that the xbox.com team moved a few things around when they updated their site and we’re still trying to find all the places where they changed links.”

      The XBox left hand doesn’t know what the GFWL right hand is doing. (Seriously – link verification? Wasn’t that in Dreamweaver 15 years ago?)

      P.

    • 17/11/2010 at 01:29 subedii says:

      Ultimately, this is why GFWL can’t succeed. It’s fundamentally at odds with XBL in what it needs to achieve. Games exclusives, patching systems, cross platform play… Anything that changes to benefit on one side almost inherently has a detrimental effect on the other. And GFWL doesn’t have the clout to push anything through.

      Frankly, I think this is also why a stand-alone GFWL community client has never materialised, even though they clearly have the capability of creating one (GFWL marketplace got its external client after all).

      If a GFWL client were ever released, it would have the same profile of Steam, as in, it would be an app that was constantly running in the background, keeping you logged in as long as your PC is running. That’s the only way a community system can really work.

      The problem is with XBL. Because you are forbidden to use the same login from two different locations at the same time, even if it’s you turning on your PC whilst Netflix is running on your 360. The system will kick you off one of the two. This is something that (much like the possibility of real cross-platform play) reflects poorly on the 360, or Live in general. So ultimately, a GFWL client simply cannot be allowed to exist. Being permanently logged into Live on your PC just causes issues for XBL when you choose to switch that on at the same time, and they have no inclination of fixing that issue and making Live work together as a cohesive whole. As the system currently exists though, you’re far less likely to be running your 360 if you’re currently playing a game on your PC, so the issue is largely sidestepped. No external client means no conflicts.

      They have the means, the fans are clamouring for it, and they’ve certainly had the time. So the choice not to have an external client can only realistically be considered a deliberate one. And the only reason I can think of as to why they wouldn’t implement one, is because it’s caught in a conflict of interest. With a group that has far more clout than the GFWL team.

  85. 16/11/2010 at 23:55 oceanclub says:

    Oh look, now the official Live team are accusing me of acting in bad faith (which, in my book, is a few degrees from calling me a liar):

    http://forums.gamesforwindows.com/p/15623/134665.aspx#134665

    Yes, back in 1997, I deliberately set the country location of my Hotmail account to the US because I knew that one day Microsoft would release a second-generation console whose online account I would want to tamper with.

    They’re doing soooooooooooo well at convincing me to become a customer. (The “soooooooooo” bit indicates extreme sarcasm, incidentally. As was the above paragraph. Jesus, these people are annoying. Gabe Newell, I love you and will never ever slag you off again.)

    P.

Comment on this story

XHTML: Allowed code: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Respond to our gibber

Read our finest words

Telltale On ‘Weird’ Experiments, Revisiting Comedy

Search for clues

Play indie, mods, demos

Browse the archive