Here's a letter Peter Moore wrote to us about Vista and Games for Windows...
Get ready to scrap Windows XP, Peter Moore talks Vista and Games for Windows.
OK, fine, he sent the letter to everyone, but you probablay haven't read it yet.
Check it!
Mark your calendars : January 30th 2007 will be the most significant day in gaming for the next several years.
In just one week, we’ll release to consumers the largest and most significant advance in gaming technology Microsoft has ever made: Windows Vista.
For the first time in Microsoft’s history, we’re releasing an operating system built from the ground up with gaming as a core scenario. With a worldwide presence of over 200 million gamers of all stripes, we’re taking the world’s most popular gaming platform and making it easier, safer, and more fun for everyone, while delivering new technologies that will deliver the most powerful, most immersive, most innovative gaming experiences to the Windows platform.
Unlike any OS before, we’re driving Windows Vista as a true gaming platform, complete with a broad marketing campaign that introduces the Games for Windows brand, complemented by ground-breaking branded titles from Microsoft Game Studios as well as from many of the world’s leading game developers. We are also investing in a more consistent brand presence at retail that will create a true category that will be easy for the consumer to discover and navigate.
When we merged the gaming team from Windows into the Interactive Entertainment Group, we did so to kick off a renaissance in PC gaming, fueled by two factors: the release of Windows Vista and a revitalized commitment to the platform.
Now, I couldn’t be more proud to see this renaissance come to life, with fun, new experiences that are establishing gaming as a top driver for Windows Vista adoption. Later today in New York and San Francisco we’ll give select press and community members the most in-depth look to date at what this means for all gamers, casual and hardcore alike. Here’s what they’ll see:
Under the Hood
Included with Windows Vista at launch is the availability of the next generation of graphics technology: DirectX 10.
Rebuilt from the ground up, DirectX 10 vastly improves performance, graphic fidelity, and ease of development. Many of the top game designers are already optimizing games for DirectX 10, and with the launch last November of the first DirectX 10 capable cards with Nvidia’s GeForce8800, PCs are shipping today capable of DirectX 10 gaming right out of the box.
These technologies will allow the most cutting-edge games to be within the reach of more consumers than ever before.
Only Windows Vista can deliver this experience, and with spectacular games like Crysis by Crytek and EA Partners, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Funcom/Eidos), Supreme Commander (Gas Powered Games/THQ) and an update to our own Flight Simulator X later this year, this experience will be a key reason for consumers to get Windows Vista as soon as possible.
Easier, Safer, More Connected, Fun for Everyone
One of the most remarkable features of Windows Vista is how central gaming is to the entire experience.
Right from the start menu, Windows Vista makes it easier for everyone to find and play games. No more searching for icons and files scattered around your computer – Windows Vista Games Explorer takes all your games and puts them in one place, every time you install, complete with access to community and online components for your favorite games. With Vista’s native support for Xbox 360 controllers and the ability to go wireless with the Wireless Receiver for Windows, you also have the ability to decide how you want to play your games.
Gaming on Windows Vista puts parents in control. Just like Vista gives parents the choice of what their children can access on the web, what programs they can use and what times they can use the computer, Windows Vista lets parents control what games their children can play, and when they can play them, through a simple set of family controls. Combined with support for every major game content rating system worldwide, parents will have both the knowledge and the ability to decide for themselves the level of access their children can have.
The ability to control your own gaming experiences was on full display at CES earlier this month, where we showed how we’re bringing the Xbox Live experience to Windows. We’re calling it LIVE, and it’s as simple as its name. Now, gamers on both Xbox and Windows will have one identity, one friends list, and one consistent set of experiences that will travel with them across both platforms. This year will produce a powerful first wave of LIVE-enabled games, starting with Uno, Shadowrun and Halo 2. And that’s just the beginning…
Windows Vista opens doors for more and more people to get into gaming, especially for casual gamers. Right now Microsoft casual games reach 120 million people every month, and by 2008 the annual revenue for casual games is expected to reach $1.5 billion. To meet this rapidly rising demand, Microsoft Casual Games will roll out eight Windows Vista-optimized titles in 2007 on the MSN Games website, including Luxor 2, Bliss Island, Crystal Quest, Spinword, Jewel Quest 2, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, Darwinia, and the runaway Xbox Live Arcade hit Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved.
Marketing the Platform
For the first time in history, we’re marketing Games for Windows as a true gaming platform, starting with redefining the brand.
The Games for Windows brand stands for a quality gaming experience, that’s easier, safer and more fun to play. We’re setting a new standard for gaming on the PC, with the best publishers in the world incorporating the Games for Windows brand into the hottest new games on the Windows platform, including Atari, LucasArts, Midway, Turbine Inc., 2K Games, THQ, Vivendi Universal, and of course, Microsoft Game Studios.
At retail, we’re taking PC games out of the shadows and giving them the spotlight they deserve. All Games for Windows titles will have consistent packaging and advertising, with playable kiosks for the biggest titles, as our new branding and merchandising campaign rolls out across the US at retail outlets including Circuit City, CompUSA, GameStop and Walmart. In years to come we’ll add more, especially worldwide, where we’ve already started with PC World and Virgin in Europe.
The Future Looks Bright
With all the excitement surrounding the launch of Windows Vista, it’s important to remember that 2007 is just the beginning for Games for Windows.
With a PC gaming renaissance touched off by Games for Windows and Windows Vista, and the release of more Windows Vista-optimized laptops, desktops and accessories, we’ll see more powerful, more innovative, and more fun gaming experiences than ever before.
We’ll see revenues from the PC gaming market grow more than ever before, as more people find it easier to get into casual and cutting-edge games alike. It’s our mission to meet this growth with a platform that’s as simple and safe as it is filled with potential and new gaming experiences.
For everyone who’s had even the slightest hand in bringing Games for Windows and Windows Vista to the consumer, you have my deepest appreciation and thanks. Together you’ve taken the most popular and historic gaming platform ever created and breathed new life into it, allowing great gaming innovations of the future to continue to happen on Windows.
Here’s to a spectacular launch,
Peter
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