Way back on May 26th the web site Insideris has posted a rumour that the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system for PCs and tablets will allow users to play Xbox 360 games on their PCs. For some reason this unverified rumour has become ‘news’ in the past twenty four hours, so here are the details.
According to sources, ‘Xbox 360 on PC’ will have a subscription fee similar to – but not – Xbox Live. Gamers will use Windows Live Marketplace and only be able to play against other PC gamers and not those on real 360s due to mouse vs controller imbalances.
Could this service be the ‘relaunch of gaming’ that was promised for Windows 8?
“Windows 8 will represent a real new push into PC gaming,” a source told TechRadar. “Gaming will be a key component for the whole OS.”
Please note that this is a totally unsubstantiated rumour, and an old one at that.
hazelam
they’re seriously thinking people will accept a subscription fee to play games they’ve bought and paid for?
i could see people buying an emulator program or something, but an ongoing sub fee to play your own games?
what the hell are they smoking in redmond?
KeRaSh
I think they are talking about paying for the online functionality, like with XBOX Live Gold on the 360 itself.
I’m sure that if something like this goes live, there will be an option to go with a free but gimped Silver subscription.
BAZ1307
Majorly bad idea IMO. Microsoft would end up killing their console Market off. People would probably end up not buying the XBOX 720 thinking that their PC’s will be able to play the games for it.
I think it’s best to keep things the way they are now – console Market for people who want a quick plug and play device that fits well in a living room, and PC Market for gamers who want the very best graphics with the sacrifice of cost, space and setting everything up.
I for one can not be arsed with PC gaming, consoles do the job perfectly fine. I don’t want Microsoft further killing it even more than they already have, thank you.