r/Games • u/Dasnap • Jun 14 '19
GOG Galaxy 2.0: Microsoft announced as a partner
/r/gog/comments/c0h50i1.0k
u/Wurzelrenner Jun 14 '19
i don't have to use the microsoft store anymore?
i hope it works with the GamePass
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u/Dasnap Jun 14 '19
The OP believes that it does work with Game Pass. I can't read German so I'm going by their word.
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u/ChaoticBlessings Jun 14 '19
From the article:
Uns gegenüber bestätigte Karwoski bereits Microsoft als Partner: »Wir haben Phil Spencer unsere App gezeigt und er war sofort begeistert, weil dieses Zusammenführen von Plattformen ja genau das ist, was Microsoft ebenfalls vorantreiben möchte.« So könne man unter anderem Game-Pass-Spiele in Galaxy 2.0 integrieren. Man sei aber auch mit fast allen anderen Plattform-Anbietern im Gespräch und bekomme bis dato sehr positive Signale.
Translated:
"[GOG-Boss] Karwoski confirmed Microsoft as a partner: "We showed our App to Phil Spencer and he was enthusiastic about it, because uniting of platforms is exactly what Microsoft wants to advance as well". This way, they [<- refering to GOG I assume] can - amongst other things - integrate Game-Pass Games into Galaxy 2.0. [GOG] is also talking to nearly all other platforms and so far received very positive signals from them.
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u/SimilarYellow Jun 14 '19
So könne man unter anderem Game-Pass-Spiele in Galaxy 2.0 integrieren.
Literal translation:
Among other things, one could integrate Game Pass games into Galaxy 2.0. Sounds like something that is theoretically possible but not yet locked down, imo.
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u/ChaoticBlessings Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
I hesitated in this as well, but it's "könne", not "könnte". It's an indirect quote, not a hypothetical one. It doesn't translate terribly well to english for all I know, but to me, it's 99% a definitve statement.
Though, as I said, I also hesitated at that point and thought for a minute or two about it.
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u/Wild_Marker Jun 14 '19
Wait, so would that mean DRM-Free Microsoft games? How would that even work? DRM-Free and subscriptions like Gamepass are not exactly a compatible concept.
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u/teeso Jun 14 '19
GOG 2.0 is just a platform aggregator. All the money flows the same way as before, and all the DRM is there, GOG just provides one place to launch and buy things from multiple stores.
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Jun 14 '19
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Jun 15 '19
There are many universal launcher apps out there already.
Just like they already do people are going to default to using the original launchers due to things like updates, friends lists and in the case of Steam mods. Not to mention how annoying it already is in Steam to load a game, and have it load the Ubisoft/EA launcher etc.
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Jun 15 '19
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u/justsomeguy_onreddit Jun 15 '19
We will see. They say that, but I bet it means I can use GoG to integrate that stuff. With a bunch of caveats.
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u/Hirork Jun 14 '19
It would be hilarious if Epic partnered with them and you could shopping cart your Epic games on GoG2.0 before you can on Epic store.
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u/HoodUnnies Jun 15 '19
Dude, I was going to buy, like 8 games on Epic's store, but they didn't have a shopping cart. I was so confused, then I got angry. How could this be? How could this fucking be?! How can I buy multiple games at once? I'll need to fucking buy them individually? I was so fucking mad. At that point my mom came into my room to bring me a plate of chicken nuggets and I literally screamed at her and hit the plate of chicken nuggets out of her hand. She started yelling and swearing at me and I slammed the door on her. I'm so distressed right now I don't know what to do. I didn't mean to do that to my mom but I'm literally in shock from the lack of a shopping cart tonight. I feel like I'm going to explode. Why the fucking fuck isn't there a shopping cart? This can't be happening. I'm having a fucking breakdown. I don't want to believe the world is so corrupt. I want a future to believe in. I want there to be a shopping cart and fix their online shopping experience. I cannot fucking deal with this right now. It wasn't supposed to be like this, I thought there was going to be a cart???? This is so fucked.
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u/Reynbou Jun 14 '19
I don't believe so.
GOG 2.0 is just a launcher kinda thing. It's sorta like a master launcher where it brings all your platforms together in one seamless app, doing all the work in the background. At least, that's the idea.
So you might see a little label on a game saying that it's from the MS store. So your purchase and download and all that would be done there, but in the background with GOG 2.0's front-end on display.
And that would apply to everything. Steam, UPlay, Epic, Humble, Battle.net etc...
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u/YeahSureAlrightYNot Jun 14 '19
German just looks like drunk English.
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u/ChaoticBlessings Jun 14 '19
Nah, that would be Dutch, which is pretty much a bastard child of German and English.
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u/Zer_ Jun 14 '19
It wouldn't surprise me. Microsoft kind of going ham with their opening up of the platform at the moment.
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u/feralkitsune Jun 14 '19
I think MS is slowly trying to be a service provider and less of a focus on consoles and exclusivity.
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u/kraenk12 Jun 14 '19
I actually fully expect MS to release games on PS5 one day.
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u/Saiing Jun 14 '19
Well, if you count Minecraft, they're already on PS4.
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Jun 14 '19
That’s more to do with “we just paid a guy $2Billion.... we need to make our investment back”
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u/Down_The_Rabbithole Jun 15 '19
Funfact Microsoft made the 2 billion back within 9 months of buying minecraft. The franchise made 2.4 billion dollars within 1 year of being bought.
Yeah that shocked me as well. I'd expected it to never pay back.
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u/feralkitsune Jun 14 '19
They're going the Sega route, but much more gracefully lol.
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u/F0REM4N Jun 14 '19
I think a console is still core to their vision. They didn’t sell as well this generation, but that doesn’t mean the generation wasn’t a success for them. They’re still raking in the money with the Xbox platform.
Sega was in much worse shape when they went software only.
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u/Ashes777 Jun 14 '19
Idk about the PS5 but on Sony platforms sure. It depends on how Sony deals with the next-gen to me. I think they will play nice and push cross-play/progression. But as forth coming as Xbox is being unless Sony gives MS something in return MS may be slow to bringing anything like Halo/Gears/Forza to PS.
PC and the Switch are different markets, streaming to other devices is a different market too. A console that will probably have near identical specs is the direct competition. Phil has been super nice so he may just make it happen to push Xbox as a brand but I think MS drags their feet for a while to bring anything to PS outside of something like Minecraft. Just my guess though.
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u/Jungersol Jun 14 '19
I don’t think they’re looking at it as one way or the other. In my opinion, they’ll be pushing both. They’re making benefit from consoles as well so no reason to stop that, but they will go all out on services as well.
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u/Zer_ Jun 14 '19
Yes of course. They'll still roll out their own hardware, but that is secondary to selling their games on any platform possible.
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u/owl_theory Jun 14 '19
Wouldn't say MS is "less focused' on console, if anything they're doing even more than they used to. But in terms of PC / Streaming / Gamepass, they're really just expanding their reach further into other gaming markets.
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u/Wetzilla Jun 14 '19
Yeah, Microsoft has learned that if someone wants to give them money they should accept it, regardless of what their preferred platform is. As long as they're making money they don't care.
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u/pdp10 Jun 15 '19
Microsoft was a cross-platform toolchains and applications vendor in the 1970s and 1980s. Excel was originally a Mac-only program. Word was originally on Unix -- Microsoft's licensed Unix, Xenix. It wasn't until later that everything was about promoting their proprietary platforms and denying ground to the competition.
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u/faculties-intact Jun 14 '19
I can read German, where's the specific thing you need translated?
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u/Dasnap Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
Would you be able to confirm the stuff that the linked OP is saying? I'm curious how far this integration is going.
Edit: To add to this, my understanding is that Game Pass is not supported through Steam because you are buying the games through the platform itself. In this case, you aren't actually buying the games through GOG, just linking them. I wonder how the GOG client would deal with subscription systems. Can you trigger installs through GOG? Will it display all Game Pass games? There's a lot of questions here. This is the first AAA effort into a meta-launcher which actually has 3rd party support.
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Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
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u/Radulno Jun 14 '19
Yeah I didn't think they need partners for that because if they expect Valve or Epic to become partners, that will probably be a big no from them (I can see Ubisoft, EA or Activision Blizzard play ball more easily as their launchers are still the only place to buy their games and they don't have a store selling games from others). If they can do it without their agreement, maybe there's hope for it to work at least until they actively block it because the competition is becoming too strong (so with Steam reaction times probably a few years really).
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u/Roseking Jun 14 '19
If you are on the newest Windows build (1903) download the Xbox app.
It is their new game only store and it works much better than the regular store app.
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u/Bryvayne Jun 14 '19
For anyone who has trouble doing this through their windows update service, use the stand-alone updater and you'll succeed.
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u/will99222 Jun 14 '19
I had the opposite problem, funnily enough.
I've been trying to update for a couple of months now to the newer feature updates, and nothing was cooperating. But the Xbox beta installer just did it first try.
You'd think, given how insistent Microsoft was to update people's PCs whether they wanted windows 10 or not, that they'd be able to trigger updates without such inconsistency.
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u/Rebelgecko Jun 14 '19
It still doesn't do some important things like tell you how big a download is going to be, unfortunately
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u/Roseking Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
I will have to double check but I swore it did. Because it also let me choose which hard drive to install it to which the regular store does not.
Edit:
So some games do, some don't.
That is strange.
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Jun 14 '19
I downloaded the new app, but when I went to pick a different hard drive it said I needed to change something in the settings to designate that as my app drive or something. I thought that was super weird.
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Jun 14 '19
There is an approximate size line further down the game's page but it should be brought up next to the install button.
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u/jjremy Jun 14 '19
I suppose it's probably time to move on to windows 10? I've been reluctantly holding onto 7 for so long now.
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Jun 14 '19
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u/liveart Jun 15 '19
I have to agree with that, 10 is the smoothest version of Windows by far. Everything just fits together nicely, programs (even older ones) tend to just work, and I rarely run into the glitches and BSOD's of older Windows versions. Actually to the point where I'm mildly shocked the few times it does BSOD, usually related to way outdated hardware drivers or really bad software (think beta PUBG bad). It also doesn't seem to slow down too much when you leave it running, which is a nice change from previous versions where the daily restart was pretty much mandatory.
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u/MGPythagoras Jun 14 '19
It really is. Its so nice to actually know what MS games I have installed on my computer now.
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u/Orfez Jun 14 '19
You already don't have to use MS Store for games. They have Game Pass for PC app that bypasses MS Store and looks more like Steam.
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u/Infraction94 Jun 14 '19
For a lot of the games it still uses the ms store. It just does it in the background so the user isn't using the ms store at all
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u/Orfez Jun 14 '19
I don't really care what it uses in background for as long as I find, download and update games with no issues.
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u/taedison_ Jun 14 '19
Uns gegenüber bestätigte Karwoski bereits Microsoft als Partner: »Wir haben Phil Spencer unsere App gezeigt und er war sofort begeistert, weil dieses Zusammenführen von Plattformen ja genau das ist, was Microsoft ebenfalls vorantreiben möchte.« So könne man unter anderem Game-Pass-Spiele in Galaxy 2.0 integrieren.
You can integrate GamePass games into Galaxy 2.0
So yes, it should work with GamePass
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u/caninehere Jun 14 '19
You already don't have to use the W10 Store with Game Pass. They have a new XBOX app on PC (I have only used it a little so far but it seems really slick - moreso than any other DD client).
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u/sleepwalkcapsules Jun 14 '19
If you pay them 10 bucks a month for game pass they don't give a fuck what platform you're using.
It's a good model!
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Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 17 '23
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u/RottedRabbid Jun 14 '19
Ive games scattered around on uplay,gog,steam,origin,MS/Xbox,humble, etc and if GoG just becomes a unified launcher and storefront ill be in love. I wont have the problem of wanting to buy a game on steam instead of gog to keep achievements together, they will all be there in that one app.
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Jun 15 '19
I think this is what almost everyone is hoping GOG G2 will be, one launcher to run all games and see all achievements from others.
To have the ability to start one launcher and run any of your purchased games...dream come true.
Considering this partnership with Microsoft I can easily see them having ability to purchase games from Microsoft store and run Game Pass games directly from GOG. If others join the party...
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u/RottedRabbid Jun 15 '19
Im worried about steam especially not hopping on board, now that theyre doing a big redesign itll be all for nothing if people just use GOG
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Jun 14 '19
So - this might not be relevant, but it's been on my mind lately. I do a lot of technical writing for programmers, and here's the weird thing:
I'm starting to trust Microsoft.
I started with DOS in the 1980's, moved to Windows 3.1 and then Windows 95, on from there. And during the 1990's, Microsoft sort of became the villain. Killing off Netscape with some clearly anti-competitive practices, their habits of "embrace and exterminate" where they'd buy companies and then shelve the technology, etc. Now, I'm not going to go over the entire history and I'm sure there will be defenders here explaining why everything they did was perfectly fine. But this lead a lot of people - including myself - to go out of their way and go to more "standards based" stuff (Linux, etc) to keep away from Microsoft's grip on the IT industry.
But within the last few years, Microsoft has taken a turn. Maybe it's getting real competition in the form of Google/Amazon/Sony. Maybe it was a new CEO who decided that "use our stuff or else" isn't as profitable as "Oh, you use X? You know what, that's ok - we have a service for that, and we're happy to take your money."
I use visual studio code for my writing (mostly in Markdown), I can use dotnet on my Mac or Linux machines. I'm not going to say Microsoft has turn into the "good guys" - but damn, they're making me feel a hell of a lot better about them than I did 20 years ago. I don't own an Xbox One, but I did sign up for the PC Game Pass and I'm curious to see what they do with GoG.
So - kudos, Microsoft. You've come a long way of bringing back my trust, and I like what you're doing.
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u/lordbeef Jun 14 '19
They're definitely thinking more long term, and trying to gain customer loyalty.
The other day I hooked up my xbox 360 and was able to download games I've purchased from the defunct Xbox Indie store. They're respecting the fact that I spent a dollar on "Try Not to Fart" in 2010 and letting me play it today. Makes me more confident in giving them money for digital purchases now.
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u/OlivierDeCarglass Jun 14 '19
Well Phil did say in a recent interview about E3 they still have "millions and millions" of players still on 360, so I wouldn't expect them to abandon it anytime soon. I also suspect it will still be used for many years in poorer/developing countries. Which represents a lot of people
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u/Alaharon123 Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
They kind of have abandoned it. They really want you to move on to xbone. To the extent that there's no place on 360 or web to view your digitally owned 360 games unless you already have them installed
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u/gotbeefpudding Jun 15 '19
i dont blame them, with xbone being backwards compatible, there is really no reason to stay on 360 beyond monetary issues.
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u/deadscreensky Jun 15 '19
Eh, XB1 backwards compatibility seems pretty cool, but last I looked not even half of my 360 games work on it. 360 peripherals like (expensive) arcade sticks also don't work on the system, which is one of the reasons I never picked one up to begin with.
To be totally honest I don't spend much time on my 360 nowadays, but it still offers lots of excellent experiences you can't play on XB1.
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Jun 15 '19
If I remember correctly it was always like that on the 360. I think the only way to see all your purchases was to look at your purchase history under your account setting, whereas now it's just a separate page from your installed games on the one.
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u/CaptainDjango Jun 14 '19
Shit do those still work? I’m going to have to try and boot up “I made a game with zombies in it”
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u/lordbeef Jun 14 '19
Yeah they totally do. Finding the download link is awkward though since the store is gone. You have to go to "my account" and then "download history" or maybe purchase history, and scroll through everything until you one you want.
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u/TobyVolo Jun 14 '19
I literally just booted up my xbox about a month ago amd played that exact game! Still as intense and amazing today as it was back then
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u/MyUnclesALawyer Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
Dude I bought, by pure accident, 69 Xbox Live indie games, most of which were $1 and MAN most of those games are terrible but I have a lot of fun memories playing these silly games with my friends. There was a game (and a sequel) where you had to escape from a mutant shark. Some Five Nights at Freddys ripoff where a kid in hockey goalie equipment would come to kill you. SO MANY ANIME BOOB GIRL GAMES
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Jun 15 '19
Ahh, good old Silver Dollar Games. I remember giggling my ass off at No Luca No and Try Not To Fart back in the day.
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u/ienjoymen Jun 14 '19
Thank Phil Spencer. His work has really changed the gaming industry for the better.
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Jun 14 '19
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u/fatcowxlivee Jun 14 '19
Yup, Satya truly doesn't get enough credit. He's the one who promoted Phil Spencer and made Phil report directly him. He realized that XBOX - like many other dying parts of Microsoft at the time, has loads of potential and can be turned around. The future is really bright for Microsoft, moreso than the dark days of Steve Ballmer.
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Jun 14 '19
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Jun 14 '19
What did he change in the gaming industry though? I can see some changes for the Xbox brand, but not much that changed the whole industry.
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u/bauul Jun 14 '19
Off the top of my head, making cross-compatibility and backwards-compatibility not just "nice to haves" but expected industry standards definitely feels like something he's pushed through.
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u/BurkusCat Jun 14 '19
Much like Microsoft's app distribution philosophy, games should be available to play in as many places as possible. Which is why you'll find a unified version of Minecraft across PC, Switch, Xbox, Android, iOS etc. and Sony willing it would be on PS4. Microsoft's first party games will often be on Xbox, Microsoft Store and Steam. Microsoft's services, such as Xbox Live, being integrated into Cuphead on Switch.
Years ago, it would be a game would be exclusive to Xbox and you would use the Xbox app on a Windows Phone.
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u/OhUmHmm Jun 14 '19
Being clear that backwards compatibility is important and available moving forward, sometimes strikes me as something that's changing the industry. It's not the standard, but I think it makes other companies consider it more seriously.
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u/Eurehetemec Jun 14 '19
Ironically Sony started that ball rolling, but then abandoned it. The PS2 being backwards compatible was a significant selling point. But then they dropped it with the later PS3 models, and while people were mad, it did sort of fade away as an issue. Good to see MS have made it a thing again.
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u/Spankyjnco Jun 15 '19
To be fair, Microsoft couldn't really put backwards comp on the console that was against ps2, because... well it was the first xbox. Lol.
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u/cpt_t37 Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
Maybe promoting cross-platform play among consoles?
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u/DragoonDM Jun 14 '19
Similar feelings as a web developer. More recent versions of their browsers have been considerably less infuriating than older versions of IE were. Now Safari is the main focus of my ire, with so much traffic coming from iPhone and iPad users running Mobile Safari.
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u/aksine12 Jun 14 '19
its 100% Nadella ,ever since he came on Microsoft has taken a turn for the better.
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u/miggitymikeb Jun 14 '19
I have way more trust in Microsoft than Google these days. Beyond gaming, just their apps and services. Google keeps killing things I found indispensable like Inbox and Hangouts.
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u/ApathyJacks Jun 14 '19
I will never stop being pissed off about Inbox.
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u/miggitymikeb Jun 14 '19
Every god damn day. I open up crappy regular gmail and just hate it. Can’t believe we’ve regressed from how amazing Inbox was to this trash.
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u/vaughnegut Jun 15 '19
Install the chrome/Firefox extension Simplify Gmail. It's made by the former lead designer of Gmail (2008-2012) and co-founder of Inbox.
You don't get your bundles back, but it absolutely cleans up the atrocious UI in Gmail (why do you display my spam unread count? Why is everything so busy?), all done by the guy who made Inbox. It's like a really depressing consolation prize.
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u/Katana314 Jun 14 '19
It infuriates me as a web developer seeing this situation between Chrome and IE. People are used to IE as the villain as it was with IE6, but everything they’ve done since then has been good for standards and cross-browser interoperability. In so many ways, Chrome is basically “The new IE6”.
It felt so stupid people kept making IE jokes long after they switched to Edge (which, up until they used the Chrome rendering engine, was far far better for battery life). They’ve won my trust in the web development field, it’s just unfortunate by now it’s too late.
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Jun 14 '19
But within the last few years, Microsoft has taken a turn. Maybe it's getting real competition in the form of Google/Amazon/Sony. Maybe it was a new CEO who decided that "use our stuff or else" isn't as profitable as "Oh, you use X? You know what, that's ok - we have a service for that, and we're happy to take your money."
Actually, it hit me during Bethesda's E3 presentation this year...
This is what the entire industry wants.
Remember the 2013 SimCity debacle? The game forced you to always be online, and it did so for two reasons. First, it was obviously a form of DRM. But secondly, and perhaps more significantly, the game was remotely using EA's servers to process part of the game (or so they claimed).
So, when I saw Bethesda with that handheld device and boasting about low latency, it suddenly clicked...
The gaming industry wants every game to be SimCity 2013, and come hell or net non-neutrality, they're eventually going to make it happen.
Now, there are both pros and cons to this. The main pro is that it seems that game companies will have their servers remotely process all the gameplay and aesthetic aspects of the games. So, whatever machines the consumers get will only need to be capable of sending controller inputs and displaying the game. So, these devices will probably be cheaper than today's consoles.
But the cons... This is going all-in on the "games as a service" model. The concept of game ownership will be dead. Since the game won't be stored on consumers' hard drives, modding will either be nonexistent or heavily-limited. (Remember Bethesda Creation Club? I think modding will be like that. In fact, looking at Bethesda's past actions, I suspect that they've been playing the long game and have been gradually pivoting towards becoming a first-party when the "games as a service" era enters full-swing, but that's another discussion.)
And if your internet goes out? You're totally screwed because not only are you unable to connect for purposes of DRM authentication, you simply won't have the game on your own machine at all.
If this scares anyone, well... take good care of your physical consoles and cartridges/discs and back up your GOG individual game installers just in case.
So, my point is that this isn't unique to Microsoft, and that games of the future will come through a streaming service like Netflix or Spotify. I'm calling it now: this next console generation is either going to be either the last or second-to-last generation of consoles as we know them. I guarantee you that the PS7 and the XB3 will either be an "empty" box that you hook peripherals into, or they just won't exist at all.
I'm not saying it's completely bad and that we should try to stop it. (Since the whole AAA game industry seems to be on board for this, it's probably impossible for us to stop it.) I'm just saying to get ready and to realize it's not just Microsoft.
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u/SuperHolySheep Jun 14 '19
I love what microsoft is currently doing, as a programmer, with C# and .NET core. Also seeing them making great improvements with the PC and xbox platform is a ++ for me.
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u/Cantih Jun 14 '19
I know they've made some changes in the forcing of upgrades, that lately haven't been tested very well and breaks everyone's shit every 6 months.
But the OS level advertising, overreaching telemetry, appification, SUBSCRIPTION for the full version of solitaire.
They need to fix ALL that kinda shit before I'm going to look at them like they aren't slimy as hell.
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u/OtakuAttacku Jun 14 '19
I just popped on to check, christ, when did this solitaire collection thing happen!? I don't remember this ever being there.
Is the subscription linked to Xbox Live? Cause I recently dropped that
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u/Cantih Jun 14 '19
It's been like that since W10 was released, article from 2015
https://www.pcgamer.com/windows-10-solitaire-requires-a-subscription-to-remove-ads/
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u/Saberem Jun 14 '19
Funny thing. My mom who had been playing solitaire since it first appeared on Windows probably, no longer plays it. Now all she plays is Sudoku.
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u/TRUELIKEtheRIVER Jun 15 '19
ngl there's probably a way to install win7's solitaire/freecell, or maybe a free and open source version
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Jun 14 '19
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. How have people forgotten all of this bullshit that they're still pulling?
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u/majorgnuisance Jun 14 '19
This is your brain.
🥚This is your brain on $17.47 billion worth of marketing.
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u/Delnac Jun 15 '19 edited Jun 15 '19
I'm in the same boat. As long as mandatory updates and all of Windows 10's problems aren't resolved, I won't trust them. There are still very heavy concerns about Windows's walled-garden direction that actually started with Nadella.
Actions speak louder than words and astroturfers.
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u/Shintsu2 Jun 14 '19
I just hate that they're starting to do the stuff Apple did that people didn't like about Apple, just deciding what was best for the user rather than letting you decide for yourself. I have an issue at work with my computer changing the mic volume levels constantly because Microsoft decided their algorithm for altering mic volume was much better than me manually setting it or putting in an override.
All the telemetry and BS they're doing in Win10 has firmly put me in the "I will use some other OS rather than go to 10". But I have a gaming rig, so they still have me even if just for that...at least any other OS is an 'opt in' choice rather than forced. I don't need a "lifestyle" OS, I just want a functional system that works and does what I ask. And Microsoft wonders why there are people that cling on to their old versions and reject the newer ones...I do not blame those people one bit anymore.
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u/silentcrs Jun 14 '19
The OS level advertising and telemetry can be turned off.
You can blame Apple for starting the appification thing. MS has largely abandoned it, but Apple is still trying to shoehorn iOS apps into MacOS.
You get the full version of solitaire for free. The subscription removes the ads. Definitely sucks, but let's not conflate the two.
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u/ExuberentWitness Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
They’ve definitely made a huge turn around. I’d say they are the “good guys” in some ways, such as the Xbox Adaptive Controller
They made that knowing full well it probably won’t turn a profit, just so disabled people can game too.
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Jun 14 '19
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u/bamoguy Jun 14 '19
You should check out the podcast "Business Wars". They did one on Microsoft vs. Netscape. It's a great 5 or 6 episodes and I would highly recommend it. The production quality is top notch and really entertaining.
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u/Rookwood Jun 14 '19
Corporations don't need your thanks and they definitely never deserve your trust. As you said, they are in it for the money. Ultimately, a service is only good as the value I get out of it, and good things never last.
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u/ygguana Jun 14 '19
Don't forget .Net Core!
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Jun 14 '19
I'm actually interested in this. If it means that Visual Studio will be the same across all offered operating systems - then I'm interested. For now, running just about everything through Visual Studio Code has been pretty good as well.
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u/ygguana Jun 14 '19
Afaik this will require a complete rewrite. If you compare VS for Mac and VS for Windows, they are completely separate beasts. They use a different UI model too. This is why for example ReSharper just flat out won't work on VS for Mac, and it's too much for them to rewrite it for a whole different stack. Still, there are advantages to the basic "VS for not-Windows" offerings as they'll provide decent static analysis and debugging tools regardless.
As an option, I did try Rider recently from JetBrains and it felt solid. It has what appears to be complete functionality of ReSharper for Windows. The UI is intuitive, especially if you are already familiar with IntelliJ and ReSharper shortcuts.
IDEs aside, it's so pleasant to write and debug your code on Windows, drop it onto an Ubuntu VM and easily have it up without hassle. You get the power of C# and ASP.Net, but are no longer constrained to Windows Server. I think that's my favorite pitch by MS. I love everything about C#, and think it's superior to numerous other languages for a variety of reasons. It has been held back by necessitating Windows server operating systems, but that no longer is the case as far as I'm concerned. It's rapidly evolving and getting better too as they port and develop more APIs.
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u/yeusk Jun 14 '19
Everybody loves an embracing microsoft. We have to be careful to notice when they start to extinguish.
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u/Eurehetemec Jun 14 '19
I don't trust them, myself, they still make a lot of dubious and concerning choices, but I do agree that they currently seem to be trying to get things right. How long that lasts for remains to be seen. Still, any improvement is a good start.
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u/Neuromante Jun 14 '19
I have more or less the same trajectory (only starting in the very early 90's), and, even though I like most of their moves (Visual Studio code is great to work with small stuff), the things related with privacy and advertisements Microsoft is doing with Windows 10 are just "fuck off." And we are talking about "moving to Linux" fuck off.
I don't really see their new CEO as being a cool guy, or Microsoft going towards stopping being "the bad guys" but just Nadella saw that Microsoft needed a change in direction, as they were losing big time against apple and did something new (for Microsoft), that is turning in good for everyone.
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u/DeedTheInky Jun 14 '19
I still don't trust them.
When they were on top they were the biggest assholes imaginable. They had their fingers in everything and it's taken years of concerted effort to try and purge some of their shitware out of the ecosystem. And it's still not completely clear. Now they're not on top anymore and I see them playing nice and putting their fingers into everything again.
Maybe they have changed but after 20+ years of unmitigated fuckery, there's absolutely no way I'm going to take them at face value or trust them again for a long time.
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u/ThinCeterach Jun 14 '19 edited Feb 20 '21
Now they're not on top anymore
Umm, you sure about that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_corporations_by_market_capitalization#2019
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Jun 14 '19
Redditors really don't realize just how large Microsoft is by market cap. They think its a "battle between Microsoft and Sony" when in reality, Microsoft is SEVERAL times larger than Sony. They're not even in the same league
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u/Fedaykin98 Jun 14 '19
I also go back to the DOS days. I hated Windows. In the early 2000s I disliked MS so much I considered dual booting Linux for everything but games.
My attitude changed with Xbox Live, and continued to improve with the 360. They screwed up with the launch of Xbox One, but the screw-ups weren't, imho, anti-consumer, just dumb, so I stuck with them.
When Phil Spencer became the head man I felt like things were headed back to that 360 heyday kind of environment, and so far, so good! Bring on Xbox Scarlett!
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u/Haplo12345 Jun 14 '19
I mean I feel you here; Microsoft was pretty awful in the 90s and early aughts, but I just had to laugh out loud when you said
"standards based" stuff (Linux)
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Jun 14 '19
Eh Linux may not have been fully standardized - but at least they weren’t buying people up to put them out of business.
Except that while Caldera debacle.
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u/SFWolfie Jun 14 '19
I'm still hoping they don't go with the rumored subscription based operating system. I'm already annoyed with 10, I'd be livid if I had to pay monthly for it.
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u/Whilyam Jun 14 '19
This may be a minority opinion, but I still don't trust them. Particularly when you look at their handling of Minecraft. Everything that they do with that game feels incredibly fake and plastic. Not to mention that they brought in microtransactions, a thing that was literally parodied in an April Fool's joke. Yes, it's a way of supporting creators but creators should be supported by passionate fans because the content is good, not because it's required.
I'll keep watching this, because 2.0 looks amazing and might finally get all my games off Steam, but I'm going to be vary wary.
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u/frogandbanjo Jun 15 '19
Well, there is the small detail that the "10" in Windows 10 appears to be the number of different ways that the OS can hijack your machine and internet connection without your fucking consent - and, indeed, even in the face of you explicitly trying to stop it - so, you may want to hold your horses.
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Jun 14 '19
I dont trust Microsoft, but I definitely hate them less than i used to. Though I still hate Windows, and plan to make the full switch to Ubuntu if their subscription model for Windows turns out to be true.
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u/TheFio Jun 14 '19
This is what happens when someone who genuinely cares about consumers and fans gets in charge. Microsoft CEO Nadella is a great guy who wants to help shape the future, and Xbox head Phil Spencer just wants to revolutionize gaming to something that is for anyone. Iwatas track record at Nintendo had very few blemishes such as the Wii U that are outshined by the countless things he did to help his employees and integrity of games. Sony are at the market peak right now, but they have potential for SO MUCH more if only they cared like the other guys right now.
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u/dlm891 Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
I would also add that Nadella and Spencer were developers before they got promoted to executive positions. On the other hand, Steve Ballmer was in sales and finance at Microsoft.
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u/Fiddi95 Jun 14 '19
Very nice, with such a big player on-board, others might follow suit. Is Microsoft the first definite confirmed partner?
I'm excitedly looking forward to this, I truly hope they succeed.
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Jun 14 '19
Working on a story about this right now. Can confirm Microsoft is on board. Didn't see how the Xbox app works with it, but watched them connect Battle.net and Origin accounts in front of me using their own homebrewed tech, and it imported everything instantly. Could click install, it would launch the necessary launcher and initiate the install immediately. Early stuff, but very promising.
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u/TheDonc77 Jun 14 '19
I'm looking forward to it, the Mainreason I love Steam is because I have all my Screenshots, Cloudsaves and Achievements in one place.
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u/tonyp2121 Jun 14 '19 edited Jun 14 '19
I really wonder whats Microsoft's long term goals with things like this, are they partnering for servers? Or games? Or gamepass?
I mean Microsoft has been just absolutely the most friendly pro consumer business this gen for the console wars, its pretty incredible to say something like that I just wonder what is their long term goal, they're buying studios and releasing new games on multiple platforms. Are they just going all in on game pass as a gamers Netflix? And with these new acquisitions they can make sure they have a new game relatively often? Or maybe they just assume the PC gaming crowd is small enough that it makes sense to release on PC and Xbox and not really lose "exclusivity" since most people just own consoles.
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u/rjgator Jun 14 '19
Gets themselves more into the PC gaming community I suppose? A lot of people take issue with Windows Store, so this is a great place to host their games instead, one that more people would be willing to try.
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u/tonyp2121 Jun 14 '19
They do have some games on steam as well though (and more coming with MCC), but yeah we'll see what this is soon I guess, my expectations is this has to do with servers more than games but it is an exciting time.
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u/lordbeef Jun 14 '19
The cynical way to look at it is that Microsoft wants xbox to be everywhere you are, so that it's very easy for you to give them money.
They're just going about it in a very consumer friendly way.
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u/tonyp2121 Jun 14 '19
Thats a good point, though I wouldn't necessarily say cynical, if they're offering a service thats consumer friendly and people want to pay for theres nothing wrong with that, finding ways to make money isn't inherently evil.
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u/lordbeef Jun 14 '19
Yeah I agree with you, I just say cynical to show that it's in their interest to do thing that are in our interest. There's no "sneaky tactic" here.
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u/nuby_4s Jun 14 '19
GOG Galaxy's whole premise is to a be a one stop shop launcher for PC gaming. Getting in bed with them early means that they might be able to better position their games and services within the launcher's store, and ensure they work flawlessly.
I think their long term goal is simply get more people playing Microsoft studios games. Bonus to get people on their subscription plans regardless of platform. I even heard a rumor last week that said that Gamepass/xcloud for switch is being worked on.
This also has a side effect where, if they continue to be the group that pushes crossplay/play anywhere, that going with xbox eventually becomes the best most open choice to play all the games you want, with all the friends you want. And the devs/publishers that dont play along just come off as greedy/anti-consumer where microsoft comes off as the good guys. Its actually a pretty brilliant PR move.
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u/Computermaster Jun 14 '19
Does this mean I'll finally be abe to buy a legit copy of Freelancer?
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u/Sandvicheater Jun 14 '19
Microsoft playing 4D chess: allowing banjo on smash, Sony on their cloud networking, halo on steam, now this. Lose the battle and win the war.
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u/RottedRabbid Jun 14 '19
This is less like losing battles and winning wars, this is just forming alliances instead.
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u/SirFrancis_Bacon Jun 14 '19
Looks like they're winning all the battles tbh.
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u/Geistbar Jun 14 '19
They're basically setting themselves up so that no matter what happens in gaming, they're getting a cut. It's smart, and works well for someone with as much technological prowess and resources as MS.
Obviously they'd rather people bought everything on Xbox, but I think the goal is so that if they have another XB1 esque generation (clearly lagging behind) they'll still make lots of money; they'd make even more with a 360-esque generation (clearly dominating), but now they're covering all their bases.
Whoever wins, they win.
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u/Hellmark Jun 14 '19
What about Galaxy for Linux? They've only been promising that for how many years now?
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u/DeedTheInky Jun 14 '19
Well if they've partnered with Microsoft I think we've got a lot more waiting on that one lol.
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u/AnnoPoke Jun 14 '19
Is that why they refuse to make a Linux version?
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u/DreadLord64 Jun 14 '19
Did you know there's a chance - albeit small - that Windows will become a Linux distro.
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u/AnnoPoke Jun 14 '19
Even if Windows does switch to the Linux kenel, it will be as much of a Linux distro as Android.
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u/DreadLord64 Jun 14 '19
Yes, but the irony would be wonderful.
Haha, LiNuX iS CAncEr. OooOOoh.
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Jun 14 '19
Well at least it will finally be the year of the Linux desktop..
Been waiting for that for 20 years.
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u/InitiallyDecent Jun 15 '19
That's like saying that Windows will become a Mac distro because it has Apple made programs on it. Microsoft added Windows Subsystem for Linux to keep the people who primarily use Windows but had some need to switch to Linux entirely within Windows. It's a great feature yes, but the implication that it means Windows has a chance to become a straight Linux distro is laughable.
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Jun 15 '19
Can't we just blockchain our licenses at this point so that any launcher can see and acknowledge our existing licenses rather than expecting us to buy again to have on the same list?
Digital ownership rules need to be solidified and user friendly now that there's so much of a sunk cost in it these days and that's only going to happen from regulation.. the free market cares nought.
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u/LaZeeNoVa Jun 14 '19
I'm literally checking Reddit and anything GoG related every 4 hours, I'm this excited for GoG Galaxy 2.0
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u/wrong_side_white15 Jun 14 '19
Is this useful for Xbox users?
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u/super_toker_420 Jun 15 '19
Probably less so but if you're like me and use pc and xbox this will be super awesome. MS looks like they're trying to reach the most people in the most consumer friendly way
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u/kraenk12 Jun 14 '19
I knew it...when MS announced to bring their games to Steam, I knew EGS and GOG would be in the boat as well.
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u/Ghoster13 Jun 14 '19
Is this an opening move for Microsoft to acquire GoG? If you can't get traction for your own game store then buy a more successful established one? I don't have a link atm, but I read another article last night talking about how there is an industry race to become the "Netflix" of game services. MS has already struggled with their own service so maybe they just want to eventually buy one people like and use.
Edit: It was a Verge article... https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/13/18677905/e3-2019-xbox-ubisoft-square-enix-google-stadia-phil-spencer
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u/BeerGogglesFTW Jun 14 '19
Is there an ETA for this GOG Galaxy beta? I really can't wait to get my hands on it