Halo 2 PC And Games for Windows Live Launching On May 8

Just a couple of days ago, during an interview with GI.biz, Valve's Doug Lombardi was questioning Microsoft's commitment to PC gaming in the long run, arguing that their "Games for Windows" (a.k.a. "the PC isn't dying") initiative may be just a marketing push to help sell Vista. We weren't aware that people were still doubting that, but it's great to see that game developers are just as concerned about this, as gamers themselves. We should, nevertheless, give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt, and take joy in their latest announcement today. In it, they detail the launch of the Games for Windows Live service, together with the PC Vista version of Bungie's Halo 2 sequel, at long last, plus another couple of Live-enabled PC/Xbox 360 games - Shadowrun and the party card game UNO - set to debut later this year on the PC.

To start off, the Games for Windows Live service (the equivalent of Xbox Live) and Halo 2 for PC Vista will both launch on May 8 in North America, and May 18 in Europe. Although it should be noted that, even though Halo 2 is the first title to incorporate the new Games for Windows Live service, PC gamers and Xbox (360) gamers will *not* be able to play Halo 2 together. For that, they'll have to wait until the release of Shadowrun in June 2007. Shadowrun promises to be the first title to connect both Windows Vista and Xbox 360 gamers in cross-platform online matches of up to 16 players.

As a unified service with Xbox Live, Games for Windows Live will be available in every country and region supported today by Xbox Live, and will include the same features - such as voice chat, integrated achievements and dedicated servers. And, in turn, members of Xbox Live will automatically receive the functionality of Games for Windows Live, using the same gamertag and friends list at no additional cost.

And speaking of cost, the pricing of the Live service will be identical across both platforms. As such, PC gamers will be able to sign up for a Silver membership free of charge, while Gold memberships will deliver the premium online network experience for $49.95 / year. Also, current Xbox Live Gold members will automatically have access to Gold features on Games for Windows Live titles. And here are the main features for each kind of Live service:

Silver Membership Features

- Single gamertag

- Common gamer profile

- Common gamerscore

- Single player achievements

- Private chat via text and voice

- Common friends list and online presence

- PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games

Gold Membership Features

- All Silver membership features

- Multiplayer matchmaking with friends

- TrueSkill matchmaking

- Multiplayer achievements

- Cross-platform gameplay

Another noteworthy mention included in Microsoft's press release is that Halo 2 includes a Map Editor on the PC, which will allow for new content and greater game customization. Also, Halo 2 will be playable with mouse and keyboard or the Xbox 360 controller for Windows. And, to compensate for all the good stuff, it will only run on Windows Vista, as previously announced (ed. - I still can't get over it, though).

Looking further ahead into the cross-platform future, during an interview with Gamasutra, Xbox Live general manager JJ Richards offered a hypothetical example of mixed gameplay between the two platforms:

"For example, in a RTS you might have a PC player controlling the generals and making the upper level decisions, while the console gamer might control the foot soldiers from a more action type perspective."

Oh yeah, I like the sound of that: all your Xbox peons are belong to us!

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)