The awkwardly branded Games for Windows Live now has free multiplayer, which is an improvement over the previous requirement for a paid Gold level subscription as with Xbox 360. For those new to this service, you can have one gamertag/login for supported PC games, Xbox 360 and Zune. You can also earn achievements, which are added to your Xbox 360 gamerscore (if you have one). Alas, some features are still Gold only including TrueSkill matchmaking, special Gold-only games on dedicated servers, multiplayer achievements and enhanced gamer feedback. And there's no sign that Xbox Live multiplayer is going free, except for maybe some more of those occasional sponsored weekends.
Microsoft's marketing elves would like you to know that the Live brand means their PC games all support widescreen monitors, 64-bit Windows, parental controls and, where possible, the Xbox 360 controller via USB. Then again, there are only 11 PC games (and some only announced) with these features after a year:
Microsoft's marketing elves would like you to know that the Live brand means their PC games all support widescreen monitors, 64-bit Windows, parental controls and, where possible, the Xbox 360 controller via USB. Then again, there are only 11 PC games (and some only announced) with these features after a year:
- Battlestations: Pacific
- The Club
- Fallout 3
- Gears of War
- Halo 2
- Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
- Lost Planet Extreme Condition - Colonies Edition
- Shadowrun
- Universe at War: Earth Assault
- Viva Piñata
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
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