algenon_iii Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 I've been thinking (yeah I know a dangerous thing to do) with all of the processor / gfx options around the lives of a games dev are a bloomin nightmare and as a consequence us PC gamers suffer. As much as I'd like to see a modern-day amiga/st I just don't see it happening. So what the heck can M$ and the hardware companies do to sort out this mess for us PC gamers and game devs so that we can go out buy a game and be reasonably sure it works. I'm old enough to remember M$ and the MPC Standard (Multimedia PC) - in the days when a CD-ROM drive was the latest thing! Surely M$ could sit down with the hardware companies and try to set-up a set of Games For Windows PC standards? Couldn't we have something like (using GTA IV min/rec specs as a guide): GFW PC09 - Entry: AMD X2 2.4Ghz / Intel Core Duo 1.8Ghz Nvidia 7900 256MB / ATI X1900 256MB Specific AMD/Intel/NVidia chipsets GFW PC09 - Advanced Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 Ghz /AMD Phenom X4 2.4Ghz NVIDIA 8600 512MB / ATI 3870 512MB Specific AMD/Intel/NVidia chipsets GFW PC09 - Ultimate Intel i7 / AMD Phenom II Nvidia GTX 260 1Gb / ATi 4870X2 1Gb Specific AMD/Intel/NVidia chipsets Then every 2 years or so we get a new Ultimate standard, the old Ultimate becomes Advanced, and old Advanced becomes Entry... This way PC's could be stickered (or windows could recognise it) and games could be labeled as to whether you need Entry/Advanced/Ultimate. If your PC doesn't meet the standard then you take the risk of things not working. I'm sure the idea has plenty of holes but I feel something like this is needed to hopefully make everyones life a bit easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 i had a thought about this last night actually its a pity pc gaming isn't very hastle free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waste Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Surely M$ could sit down with the hardware companies and try to set-up a set of Games For Windows PC standards? Microsoft needs to keep their grubby hands off of it to be honest. They'll just find some way to screw it up. Probably charge us a monthly fee just to play games online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okei Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 i also hate the fact that pc gamers are usually plauged by problems. with a console you can just pop in a disc and off you go. before you pc fanboys start trampling into the topic, i dont own any console but i just think pc gaming is a hassle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeperRed Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 i don't find it a hassle at all. Its just a few games th can be a hassle like GTAIV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otter Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 They've tried implementing a service like this before, I believe, but it all works out to be more complicated in the long run. And on top of that, PC games (the good ones) are designed to be scalable, even beyond the current bell curve... is this a bad thing? The issue really is that QA has severely slacked off to the point of allowing broken titles to ship almost every other day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacMaan Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 M$ probably wouldnt be allowed to do something like this - they've already been in enough trouble for fixing the competition to suit themselves Sounds like fascism to me anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algenon_iii Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 I agree M$ probably would balls it up or it just wouldn't take off. I was an 8-bit gamer in the mid-late 80's and a PC gamer since 1991, and in the past 12 months I've had more problems with drivers, crashes (as opposed to glitches) than in the previous 20-odd years. I've said it before and I'll say it again I'm too old for this sh!t, tweaking to get max fps is one thing, but spending hours getting a game working when you can only spare an hour in the evening to game is another. Fascism? Is my suggestion really an authoritarian nationalist ideology focused on solving economic, political, and social problems that its supporters see as causing national decline or decadence. Wow! My idea wouldn't stop people with differing configurations from playing games (or at least I hope not). It would just try and make sure if people do buy a stickered PC that they won't have to jump through hoops just to get a stickered game working ok. Anti-trust, well if M$ can use their Windows monopoly to get themselves into the console market (a former member of the DirectX team said as much) producing a labeling system for particular spec of PC shouldn't be a problem. I know AMD are trying a similar scheme but I dunno if they've had any sucess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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