Ayepecks Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 "Windows Phone 7 is the launch of a major gaming platform for Microsoft," says Matt Booty, general manager of mobile games at Microsoft Game Studios. Booty made this declaration in an announcement just issued as the tech giant lays bare its plans for gaming -- specifically Xbox Live and actual titles for the platform -- on its upcoming mobile OS at GamesCom 2010.Planned for launch "this holiday season," Windows Phone 7 will bring with it what sounds like a surprisingly full implementation of Xbox Live, as first talked about this past February. Features such as Avatars, Achievements, gamerscore, messaging, friends lists and multiplayer (although in turn-based fashion) are all slated for when the first WP7 devices hit the market. The game lineup is very familiar, comprised largely of games currently available on iOS and Android based devices, supplemented by exclusives from Microsoft Game Studios itself. First party highlights include ilomilo, Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst, The Harvest and a mobile version of Halo Waypoint. You see the full list of announced first- and third-party titles after the break, and see stills from over a dozen of them in the gallery below. Our fantastic friends at Engadget have gone hands-on with Xbox Live for WP7 (and games!) and created the videos you'll also find past the jump. Source: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/16/microsoft-details-xbox-live-and-launch-game-lineup-for-windows-p/ For the (surprisingly massive) list of launch games as well as media, hit the link. Engadget's preview here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/16/xbox-live-launch-titles-for-windows-phone-7-finally-revealed-we/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenwizard88 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 I can't wait for my Windows 7 Phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 Gizmodo preview up, too: http://gizmodo.com/5614244/xbox-live-on-windows-phone-7-hands-on-and-first-impressions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Jolt Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 I'm praying for Audiosurf Tilt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tech Star Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Awww turn based. :( I hope real multi-player comes soon. Can't wait though. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BajiRav Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Woot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Wow WP7 is really tempting as a gaming platform. The only problem is the browser and store/application restrictions make it completely unappealing as a smart phone :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woelfel Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Wow WP7 is really tempting as a gaming platform. The only problem is the browser and store/application restrictions make it completely unappealing as a smart phone :( What's wrong with their restrictions? Is it because they're restrictions or something in the restrictions. From what Ive been reading, the browser is usable so I don't see a problem as of yet. (Please don't say it's because it's IE) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 What's wrong with their restrictions? Is it because they're restrictions or something in the restrictions. From what Ive been reading, the browser is usable so I don't see a problem as of yet. (Please don't say it's because it's IE) As for the browser it is IE 6ish. All the CSS bugs and website incompatabilities that you've come to expect from a decade old browser are there. Compared to what Android and iOS are offering it is a joke. As for the restrictions: no side loading apps, not even corporate provisioning, once you're past the developer deployments you're alotted it has to be in the store to get on a phone. No copy/paste. No multitasking. No shared storage for sharing data between applications or mounting the phone as an external drive and loading your files to it. Tied to Zune client software. I would love for Windows Phone 7 to be a success because Live integration and being programmable in Visual Studio/.NET are right up my alley, but they got everything else they possibly could wrong. My guess is that the whole platform is just an excuse to sell people Azure compute time because the only way you're going to build a powerful experience on Windows Phone 7 is if you're tethered to the cloud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mockingbird Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 As for the browser it is IE 6ish. All the CSS bugs and website incompatabilities that you've come to expect from a decade old browser are there. Compared to what Android and iOS are offering it is a joke. As for the restrictions: no side loading apps, not even corporate provisioning, once you're past the developer deployments you're alotted it has to be in the store to get on a phone. No copy/paste. No multitasking. No shared storage for sharing data between applications or mounting the phone as an external drive and loading your files to it. Tied to Zune client software. I would love for Windows Phone 7 to be a success because Live integration and being programmable in Visual Studio/.NET are right up my alley, but they got everything else they possibly could wrong. My guess is that the whole platform is just an excuse to sell people Azure compute time because the only way you're going to build a powerful experience on Windows Phone 7 is if you're tethered to the cloud. What are you planing to do on your phone anyway? Run SunSpider? What's wrong with all the restrictions? Do you like Android Market As for side loading, developers would be able to "unlock" their phone and side load applications. This has already been shown of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 What are you planing to do on your phone anyway? Run SunSpider? Using the mobile version of the Neowin forums for one would be nice, can't do that with Windows Phone 7 at the moment, but I would like the browse the web with as close an experience to the desktop as possible. The competition is doing that extremely well at the moment. What's wrong with all the restrictions? Do you like Android Market The whole point is that on Android you don't have to like the market. Google can put whatever restrictions in place they want on the market and you still have the option of just putting an apk file up on the web somewhere for anyone to download. You can also put your apps out there for free using this same method, although the one time fee of $20 probably isn't stopping anyone from using the market. As for side loading, developers would be able to "unlock" their phone and side load applications. This has already been shown of. You can pay $100 a year to load applications that you have the source code for on up to 5 phones. For corporations with internal apps they're not going to want to pay $20 per phone per app to be able to deploy internally. For developers looking to share an app without going throug the store they probably don't want to share the source and they don't want to require the end user to have a paid developer account. The simple fact of the matter is that Windows Phone 7 sucks for power users and we need to call it out on this so that Microsoft will throw even more money and talent at it. They are entirely capable of making a device that is simple to use without completely crippling it to the point that it is a glorified toy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Lyons10 Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 No Peggle? *sigh*... LOL In all honesty, that's a surprisingly decent lineup for launch... Though I do wish Peggle were among the list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted August 17, 2010 Global Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2010 This is only the tip of it, as they've said, more will be listed from now till release and new games will be added every week (same as how it's done on Xbox Live), If you like to game on a phone this looks very very good. I know some might think "meh turn-based" but really, what sorta charges does one face if you do multiplayer over your carriers connection? True multiplayer gaming will come, but it's best to flush out the system first on the light stuff then try to jam everything in and have it all fall like a house of cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 As for the browser it is IE 6ish. All the CSS bugs and website incompatabilities that you've come to expect from a decade old browser are there. Compared to what Android and iOS are offering it is a joke. As for the restrictions: no side loading apps, not even corporate provisioning, once you're past the developer deployments you're alotted it has to be in the store to get on a phone. No copy/paste. No multitasking. No shared storage for sharing data between applications or mounting the phone as an external drive and loading your files to it. Tied to Zune client software. I would love for Windows Phone 7 to be a success because Live integration and being programmable in Visual Studio/.NET are right up my alley, but they got everything else they possibly could wrong. My guess is that the whole platform is just an excuse to sell people Azure compute time because the only way you're going to build a powerful experience on Windows Phone 7 is if you're tethered to the cloud. You bring up some valid points, but how you can complain about some of them is beyond me. The Zune client software is great, just like iTunes is great for the iPhone. The browser is the biggest drawback, absolutely, and not having copy/paste and multitasking is extremely disappointing as well, given the previous Windows Mobile had it. But stuff like side loading apps you're really going to complain about? What about the iPhone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted August 17, 2010 Global Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2010 Concidering things like C/P are coming, as has been said to death already, in a update I don't mind waiting a 4 or so months till it does. And the version of IE isn't IE6, it's a hybrid of IE7 and 8, so most, if not all, of those older CSS bugs that are in IE6 are gone. I can't hold the mobile IE team back on their choice to go with what they had when WP7 started dev 20 some months ago. Now that IE9 is coming quick, at some point in 2011 WP7 should see a nice MIE update that brings it inline with IE9. The thing is that the MIE team can't, and it'd be silly to, try and build a version based on 9 that wasn't even started back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 You bring up some valid points, but how you can complain about some of them is beyond me. The Zune client software is great, just like iTunes is great for the iPhone. I love the Zune software, but not all my friends do. If I'm at one of their houses and I want to upload a photo album from my phone to their computer or vice versa am I really going to make them install some program they don't even want just to access my phone? It should be possible to just plug it in and drag and drop like an external drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 I love the Zune software, but not all my friends do. If I'm at one of their houses and I want to upload a photo album from my phone to their computer or vice versa am I really going to make them install some program they don't even want just to access my phone? It should be possible to just plug it in and drag and drop like an external drive. That's not solely a Microsoft issue, though, as you make it seem. That's actually not too atypical of a situation. And why would you want to upload an album at your friend's house? Why wouldn't you have them e-mail you the album instead of going over there to get it? Seems like a spur of the moment upload, in which case it probably isn't a very vital thing to have on your phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
____ Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 That's not solely a Microsoft issue, though, as you make it seem. I never said it was a Microsoft only issue, I'm only talking about Microsoft because this thread is about WP7. And why would you want to upload an album at your friend's house? Why wouldn't you have them e-mail you the album instead of going over there to get it? Seems like a spur of the moment upload, in which case it probably isn't a very vital thing to have on your phone. Well that was just the first example that came to mind because it was something that I saw happen. My friend had spent a few months touring South America and was showing off his pictures on his iPhone and another friend who does a lot of traveling asked him to send them to him. So he had to go to his car to get his iPhone cable while my other friend installed iTunes on his computer. It was one of the stupidest things I have ever seen but given that there were at least 100MB of photots there wasn't really any other choice. People have been spoonfed this bs that something has to locked down and controlled end to end by one vendor in order for it to be simple but thats the opposite of the truth. If the device had allowed them to mount it as an external drive they could have accessed whatever files they wanted the way they are used to doing with external hard drives and thumb drives. Microsoft is just looking for an excuse to get more of their software on your machine so they can try and sell you additional services you never asked for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 I don't think it's BS, personally. I think it's perfectly natural for a company to want to make sure its platform is under its sole control and limit any improper use. I don't really think it's a software issue (other than obviously for the people who actually purchase the phone), but that's just me -- for Microsoft or Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spenser.d Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 I wonder if I'll be able to download games I already own for free or if I'll have to double dip. Can't wait either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George P Global Moderator Posted August 17, 2010 Global Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2010 I don't think it's BS, personally. I think it's perfectly natural for a company to want to make sure its platform is under its sole control and limit any improper use. I don't really think it's a software issue (other than obviously for the people who actually purchase the phone), but that's just me -- for Microsoft or Apple. MS has also, lets not forget, personally tried it both ways, well once WP7 has released it will have. For years WM was open (like Android) and left to the OEMs and Carriers to do with whatever they wanted just as long as MS got it's license fee. We all see how that turned out though. **** poor apps, slow devices, bloated, crappy drivers (thanks HTC) and so on. And who got all the blame? MS yet again. It thus makes perfect sense to me that with this reboot if you will of the mobile platform that they take more control and make sure things stay top quality from the ground up. Once things start to go well and sales are there they'll in time open it up little by little in a controlled fashion so that things don't once again turn into the mess that was windows mobile for all these years. I wonder if I'll be able to download games I already own for free or if I'll have to double dip. Can't wait either way. That's a interesting question, I don't think it's been asked till now either. If MS doesn't want to be an ass about it and greedy they won't charge you over if you have the same game on your 360 already. I think they'll use their heads and not charge you over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 That's a interesting question, I don't think it's been asked till now either. If MS doesn't want to be an ass about it and greedy they won't charge you over if you have the same game on your 360 already. I think they'll use their heads and not charge you over. I doubt it, because technically it's not the same game and it's not the same platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayepecks Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 Another preview: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/18/preview-xbox-live-on-windows-phone-7-and-launch-games/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhell Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Wow. Harvest is pretty damn impressive graphics for a phone. Canada better get the bloody Zune pass finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Jolt Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 I have to admit... The WP7 simulator was terrible for me. First of all, apparently my graphics card sucks so bad that when I run the simulator, I get absolutely no animations/transitions at all. My graphics card can run Aero Glass but it's still a GeForce 7300LE. But then I used the browser, and I couldn't believe that it was exactly like the Zune browser...how pathetic. Maybe the engine version is what they left out...Maybe the hybrid IE7/IE8 part of the deal, was code for the UI and other parts of the browser. I cannot imagine the engine being IE8 when it renders so damn bad, it's also a resource hog, for example, on my Zune when browsing, sometimes it just refuses to stop loading a webpage when you click on X. The whole browser is bad news... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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