Will Windows 8 be the death of PC gaming?

[J T]

First off, I come into this not knowing anything about Windows 8 other than the new "Metro" interface looks a lot like the devices they use in Idiocracy.



Gabe Newell from Valve has said that Windows 8 is a catastrophe and that game developers should just start programming for Linux now.

Marcus "Notch" Perssons of Minecraft fame has said that Windows 8 will be really, really bad for indie developers.


Are people over-reacting? Is there truth to it? Has anyone tried Windows 8 yet? Has anyone attempted developing for it? My understanding is that one of the primary complaints is that they will make the PC a closed system where all the software you buy is through a Microsoft Marketplace, as if the PC were no different than X-Box Live. Is that just a bad rumor?

I'm just curious about Win8. I like Windows 7 and I'm not looking forward to a new OS, especially since just about every other MS OS sucks. Has Microsoft come up with big ideas and people are just resistent to change? Is Microsoft quickly making their own company irrelevant? Is this controversy all a storm in a teacup that won't even matter in a few months?

[RyaNtheSlayA]

The problem is less the MetroUI and more Microsoft trying to get a walled garden going like Apple has. Windows 8 has integrated storefronts for everything, and you can bet your ass they're going to push developers to use them.

[irixith]

PC gaming died in 1994, then it died again in 1999. Then it definitely died in 2004. No really, I mean 2008. 2012? 2014? Shit, I can't remember exactly when it died, but I do remember I've been hearing that as far back as I can remember.

There's a consumer preview of Windows 8 you can download from Microsoft, or the final bits which leaked a while ago (no crack, so it amounts to a trial as with previous Windows versions).

Personally, I'm not a fan of Metro, or touch interfaces -- but I'm not the majority. I don't see the need to turn the desktop into a gigantic software delivery platform replete with all the monetizing for various companies that the advertising will bring. Good thing that I have choice, right? The vast majority of my hardware still runs Windows XP, and will into the far forseeable future. I watched Microsoft cock up the 360 at every given opportunity, and I've grown to hate its UI, the forced advertising delivery even when a gold subscription is paid for, and countless other personal annoyances. Again, thank goodness I have choice for my modern gaming needs, and I don't have to put up with that garbage if I don't want to.

Considering that 8 is what, a $40 upgrade over 7, I simply can't imagine it won't be able to do the same things that 7 already does. They can keep sounding that bell, but PC gaming survives just fine.

[irixith]

The problem is less the MetroUI and more Microsoft trying to get a walled garden going like Apple has. Windows 8 has integrated storefronts for everything, and you can bet your ass they're going to push developers to use them.

Hence the reason Valve announced what we've known for ages, that Steam is going to begin delivering software (with steamworks support -- cloud services, installs, updating, etc) in September.

Let the battle of the Walled Gardens begin.

[BoringSupreez]

I hope there's an option to use a Windows 7-esque user interface, or at least an easy-to-apply unofficial patch that lets you do that.

[MrPopo]

I hope there's an option to use a Windows 7-esque user interface, or at least an easy-to-apply unofficial patch that lets you do that.

The classic desktop still exists. On a regular PC running Windows 8 you can still install whatever the hell software you want. The only devices that are walled garden are ARM devices; those ones you have to purchase through the MS store. Gabe Newell has a history of not knowing what the fuck he's talking about when it comes to other companies (PS3 comments anyone?) but he knows how to run his own ship really well.

[Hobie-wan]

Admittedly I'm not a fan of W7 either as I think a lot of their choices in implementing tighter security with the UAC and such is asanine. I Played with the W8 preview a bit for work and I loathe it. It might be fine for tablets, but it is just stupid for a desktop machine that you want to do something useful on. There are hidden hot spots everwhere and it took me several minutes to figure out how to shut it down because it isn't intuitive at all. The Metro (which might not even be called that now) screen is a big ugly waste made for people that run everything from icons on their desktop. For those of us who actually arrange things in an orderly fashion on the start menu, despite publishers wanting to put everything 5 layers deep in their own folders, it is not good.

I foresee trying to support people on W8 will be a nightmare.

[retrosportsgamer]

Good news for Ouya?

[emwearz]

If Vista showed us anything, it is that if the market doesn't want the OS, they will get there own way. Look at how long XP was supported and Vista eventually dropped all together.

[deathsled]

Given that it works just like any other version of windows allowing you to install software the normal way I fail to see how this means the death of gaming.

I ran the developer preview on my windows tablet and loaded as much stuff as I wanted on it.