Friday, February 26th 2016
Windows Store Games won't have VSync, SLI/CrossFire, Fullscreen or Modding
Microsoft is looking to cut itself a lion's share of the game digital downloads pie, by making Microsoft Store (which comes included with Windows 10), sell contemporary AAA games, such as "Rise of the Tomb Raider." Unlike other cross-DRM transactions (eg: purchasing a Steam DLC game through UPlay store), Microsoft Store will serve both sales and DRM roles. You must be thinking "it's a free world, always room for more competition," right? Think again. There are several pitfallls to buying "Rise of the Tomb Raider" or any other AAA game through Microsoft Store, as users on Reddit found out.
To begin with, games purchased through Windows Store are built on Microsoft's Universal Apps Platform, and not the conventional desktop-based executable. The game is essentially a "modern UI" app, and not a conventional Windows application. This has great limitations - no NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFire support; no real fullscreen mode (just borderless windowed mode or pseudo-fullscreen); and V-sync being always-on. Other major downsides of UAP apps include no support for modding, and mouse macros. What's more, since UAP apps don't have *.exe extensions, you can't add them to Steam, and so no Steam Controller support. The Store in itself doesn't have a good refund policy along the lines of Steam and Origin limited full-refund policies; and you'll never be able to play your games on Windows versions older than Windows 10.
Source:
Reddit
To begin with, games purchased through Windows Store are built on Microsoft's Universal Apps Platform, and not the conventional desktop-based executable. The game is essentially a "modern UI" app, and not a conventional Windows application. This has great limitations - no NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFire support; no real fullscreen mode (just borderless windowed mode or pseudo-fullscreen); and V-sync being always-on. Other major downsides of UAP apps include no support for modding, and mouse macros. What's more, since UAP apps don't have *.exe extensions, you can't add them to Steam, and so no Steam Controller support. The Store in itself doesn't have a good refund policy along the lines of Steam and Origin limited full-refund policies; and you'll never be able to play your games on Windows versions older than Windows 10.
91 Comments on Windows Store Games won't have VSync, SLI/CrossFire, Fullscreen or Modding
However, we do have to give Gabe and Steam credit. Without their foresight to offer publishers the idea of using their platform as DRM, instead of packaging game and OS-crippling DRM programs in their games, PC gaming, I daresay, would not be in the strong position of health it is now. PC gaming was gasping at the time Steam began.
With Master Chief and Fenix.
Makes for an interesting read...:).
Best,
Liquid Cool
EDIT: after reading, I have even more to say. What I brought up the other day about what Gabe predicted 3 years ago, and this bearing watching, now seems even more real.
The idea, if Sweeney is right, of M$ (yes, I intentionally used the dollar sign) being able to curtail the ability of games to be cutting edge if they DON'T use the Windows Universal Platform (and the Windows Store) is extremely ominous.
Big titles are nearly all worthless from a quality gameplay perspective, so M$ can keep the studios that they ruined (so can all the other lamers). Indies will continue to do what is good.
Let them drive themselves out of the market completely. I'm fine with that. Gaming has always pushed the direction of PCs historically, maybe it can do it one last time.
MS Support gaming my ass
I am a Zune HD owner and they did everything right with that platform except market it adequately and then essentially cut support and blamed Apple. They made a solid OS for Windows Phones but just like with Zune, failed by making all apps go through some nonsense quality test hoping to be more like iOS than Android and sucking worse than both. They gave the world Vista, then finally fixed it with Windows 7, only to forget everything they learned and release Windows 8 which was clearly designed for Touch Screens from the ground up. They made a huge dent in the console industry with the Xbox 360--I assume the 360 comes from the fact that they cut so many corners with the hardware it's essentially a circle--and then threw it all away with the announcement of the Xbox One, basically saying they wanted to lock down their console and control everything, oh and you have to buy a Kinect for an extra $100 despite the fact nobody wants it.
They have time and time again failed with PC Gaming, despite it being a pretty damn easy thing to get right. Between buying beloved studios and running them into the ground, putting up artificial barriers with DirectX, and now this nonsense, Microsoft is basically challenging Nintendo for the "Company With No Idea What The Fuck They Are Doing" Award. Gamers have been rewarding companies that allow more control, that allow mods and have deep customization options (Skyrim, Minecraft Witcher 3), and shunning developers for making lazy console ports, so naturally Microsoft goes all in with the latter. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS!?>?
The only way I can rationalize all of this, is by saying it's clear Microsoft just wants full control over all their platforms. It's the main reason a lot of their newer product lines have suffered, they just cannot give up control, and people don't want walled gardens left and right.