Windows 7: Articles

Microsoft appears to be sending mixed messages when it comes to playing games on Windows 7. Not too long ago, PC World’s Matt Peckham was bewailing the sorry state of gaming on Windows 7.

Peckham noted that the number of titles receiving Games for Windows branding nosedived between 2008 and 2009. Major titles like Left 4 Dead 2 and Grand Theft Auto 4 shipped without the brand, which is supposed to signify a high level of quality.

Almost half of the title released don’t support LIVE, Microsoft’s online collaborative play technology. This lack of support for Windows 7 gaming seems strange in light of Microsoft’s recent announcement that its partners are preparing a total of 60 game titles for Windows Phone 7.

The list includes already popular phone game titles such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, as well as exclusive Microsoft headliners such as Halo: Waypoint. Gadget site Gizmodo provided a sneak preview earlier this year of the Windows Phone 7 title Harvest, which it categorized as “awesome.”

Microsoft announced that Windows Phone 7 will include full support for Xbox Live, including fully realized avatars. Why the disparity? Consider the different markets. Most home gamers, both casual and serious, play games on consoles.

Between Sony’s Playstation 3, Nintendo’s Wii, and Microsoft’s own Xbox 360, the gaming market is glutted with options. So many options, in fact, that sales in the console space are sputtering out.

By contrast, sales of games on smart phones like the iPhone and Android are soaring. It’s easy to see why. Advances in processing power mean that smart phones can provide a gaming experience equivalent to what a gamer might enjoy on an old Playstation or Gamecube station.

Smart phones are more compact than portable gaming systems like the Playstation Portable or the Nintendo DSi. Great games on smart phones mean that consumers only need carry a single device for calling, messaging, Web surfing, and gaming.

It’s little wonder that Microsoft wants to storm this space. Unlike Sony and Nintendo, the company has no portable gaming platform. It needs to give consumers an incentive to buy Windows 7-enabled phones after a flurry of early reviews that have compared the mobile operating system (unfavorably) to the first-generation iPhone.

Given that Microsoft is making as large of a gamble on its Windows 7 tablets as it is on Windows Phone 7, it’s a solid bet that consumers will see a similar announcement regarding Windows 7 tablet applications and games in the near future.

And of course, Microsoft will continue to pour tons of resources into the Xbox platform, which is locked in a quarter-by-quarter sales battle with Sony’s Playstation. With all of this activity in the console and mobile computing markets, don’t expect much good news about PC gaming.