Awesome. Don't know what else to say to that. Seems kind of like EA has been making a good effort on the part of PC gaming as well.

Awesome.. This will be good for my gaming computer powered by Nvidia, Intel, and Microsoft.. O.o

Many Bothans died to bring us this information.

Euch, why?

Will this "promoting the PC as a gaming platform" include half-assed attempts to get XP gamers to buy Vista like Microsoft's last attempt?

The dark alliance :-o ? , hehe just kidding, nintendo should make its alliance with amd and ibm :D, and sony with hp or something...

It seems like what they're doing is trying to make a consistant platform on which to develop games... There's a word for that already -- a gaming "console".

Isn't Intel already planning to launch their own line of GPU's sometime in 2009?

Ugh...

Now don't get me wrong, I'm certainly a console gamer.

But if these three start working a little too closely together, gaming PCs will end up being consoles.

Part of the charm of PC gaming is that it gives you a choice regarding your own computer.

If the three biggest players in their respective parts of the PC gaming market work together to make their competitors incompatible with the software (and they can; together, these three can effectively ransom the whole computer gaming industry), we'll end up with glorified consoles.

Folks; scary shit like that is why proprietary software and closed hardware designs and conventions was NOT a good idea in the first place. I know some of you 'mericans loves their capitalism, but THIS here is why we should never have left large monopolistic entities control such large parts of the market.

In before "MS is screwing their console gamers over" comments come in...

@Tale:

Goodlord I hope not

Hopefully this means I'll be able to use my stupidly expensive Computer for more than just WoW and Crysis!

Or will it be a PC gaming Empire... yes, but it will be cool.

Is this just a marketing deal or is it possible they'll actually work together on making things smoother? 'Cause, if any of you have had an nvlddmkm graphics error, you'll see why I stick with consoles. I'm not saying computer games are bad, I just get gunshy with trying to work out bugs in downloading a game or patches.

The consoles have made a critical error and the time for our attack has come.

With out Steam this will fail. Suck it up Microsoft and embrace Steam!

Wasn't this called the Phantom?

"...but a lot of us just want to play better - and more - good old-fashioned PC games." Absolutely.

@amost:

I don't begrudge console gamers their systems; they're great, fantastic, etc. I played on consoles long before I touched a PC and I'll continue to game with them. But (and it is a big but): there are a lot of things you can't do with a console that are possible with a computer. Fanmade game mods, more elaborate control possibilities, mouse-based menus, and so on. There are whole genres that are by and large missing from the gaming mix.

This is not meant to be a flame. Consoles are great--they do some things better than PCs, for certain. I, for one, just miss having a surplus of great games on my PC.

This seems like the Coalition of the un-Thrilling... PC gaming alliance? Just let the PC games minus MMOs and keyboard intensive shooters die already... Just because they are the most vocal gaming sub-group doesn't mean that companies should kowtow to the ancient gaming relic... I mean... cell phone games in JAPAN sell as many games as PC games.... I only play fun flash games and free, independent user-created games on mine, so I cant talk for the whole, but I used to, but it became just dumb to constantly buy expensive new computer components when the rest of the family uses MS Word, VLC Media Player and checks their emails.

Unite to dominate the console market... THAT would make news.

Today seems have unusually good news for the PC. I'm loving it.

It's a trap!

@hopelesshindu: I disagree with you there. Back then, PC gaming was the absolute must for any 'hardcore' gamer and the only reason that it has lowered, in my opinion is the fact that more casual consoles are coming into the market.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on the consoles. I have a Wii and a 360 myself, but I'll still welcome a new reign of the gaming PC with open arms. Multiplayer just isn't the same.

Meh, I heard the same sort of talk back when Games for Windows Live was being promoted. Then Micro$oft got greedy and wanted to charge us for many of the features we already enjoy for free. If they want to get people back, they're going to have to sacrifice some initial money for a better long term investment.

Bring back the big-name space sims and adventure games. Considering that they sold well enough to last for years on the PC gaming market, I'm confused as to why they've been relegated to the bottom shelves of the PC gaming platform anyway.

@hopelesshindu:

Man I don't get this hate for PC games by consol gamers, Like its some sort of competition. There are tons of awesome games for the PC. I just don't get why anyone wants to see it die as a game platform.

I hope microsoft inclusion does not kill OGL support from Nvidia.

@hopelesshindu: Hehe, Coalition. Dead Aussie politics represent!

Maybe this means they'll stop pricing themselves out of the market hardware-wise. Hell, if they just realised cheaper games would discourage piracy...

I love PC gaming, don't get me wrong. But having to upgrade my shit every other year REALLY puts a dent in my pocket, especially when most of my expenses have to go towards my music equipment.

I'm still rocking Windows XP on a system that I built some years back ... AMD 3500+, 2 Gigs PC3200 RAM, BFG GeForce 6800GT OC 256MB DDR3 RAM, 2 x 74GB Raided 10000rpm raptor harddrives. It works okay, but it can't play anything new worth a damn.

Meh. It'll be not much different than the current PC gaming industry climate then. Developers work with Nvidia and Intel to gain free access to their premium labs and the like, meanwhile Nvidia gets first crack at the developers' code to release optimised drivers ahead of the competition. Partner developers' games are slapped with aforementioned companies' logos.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun also states that AMD is part of this unholy cabal as well. I wonder if this is at least in part a counter to Valve's Steam and their recent declarations...

Tell PC Gamers to stop fucking pirating everything, then maybe game devs will start making good games for PC again instead of just ports.

Expect to see "Games for Windows Live account required to play this game online" warnings because of this "Alliance"

Valve and their Steamworks better be apart of this or I won't want any part of this.

<----- hardcore PC gamer.

If Microsoft, Nvidia, and Intel are the Alliance, what the hell could be big enough and evil enough to be the empire?! The gaming and PC industry don't have anyone one else big enough to fit that! Either way, lets hope the Ewoks are on their side.

This sort of reminds me of Apple's rhetoric in the 1990s about how great the Mac was going to be as a gaming platform. But the PC still smoked it in the end, because it was cheaper.

These days, consoles are the best deal in terms of price/performance over time.

When the first MMO comes out on console (Age of Conan? The new Blizzard MMO?), then PCs will be just like Macs for gaming: marginal.

@Jashin:

Only if they stop fucking up my PC with DRM.

And FYI piracy doesn't hurt sales nearly as much as they would have you believe, if you want an example of that check out Galactic Civilizations 2 and Sins of a Solar Empire, both entirely lacking in DRM to prevent piracy.

@Morberis:

Don't give me that bullcrap! Thts the same Bs every pirater says.

Guess what DRM is in your cell phone, your satelitte, or digital cable box, and mircosoft is watching you on your XBL account.

Is your tinfoil hat too tight my friend?

Then the world

@Morberis:
"both entirely lacking in DRM to prevent piracy"

Find that out first hand did we? There would be no DRM if there wasn't pirating on a large scale. I hate DRM, but I accept it due to the fact devs feel more comfortable releasing games on the PC that way. If there were a non intrusive solution to pirating, would you still call it DRM, just because you couln't pirate it?

@Morberis: X3 Reunion is a semi example :) they had starforce but released a patch the made it unnecessary so you could install the game without the DRM.

Also I think Jashin is correct about the piracy. Im willing to bet its a select few people who pirate a lot at least thats the way it is for me (none of my friends do it except for one guy).
@Neolibertarian: I think you probably hit the nail on the head, its the cost of high end game machine. My graphics card alone costs as much as my PS3 did.

@Diesel_Power:

I think the point is more that many DRMs are literally harmful to your computer, most notably Starforce. DRM-free software has its benefits, and it's not as if hackers haven't been able to crack any and everything anyways. I'm by no means arguing in favor of piracy on any level, but it's like these companies are punishing the people who are actually buying the games through the shoddy DRM progrmas, while pirates have free reign with a hacked copy.

@homernoy: There were non intrusive systems in the past, most involved stuff at the disk level that made copying them difficult (this was before the era of torrents so idiots downloading ISOs hadnt come into existence yet.).

lol
@J-Fro:

Among a large group of nerds whom I've known since early highschool (12-15 years), it's ended up shaking down into essentially two groups; PC Gamers, Consol Gamers. The most common thing among the PC Gamers is that they don't have the tech support jobs anymore and have moved on to a lucrative salary (and still build thier own computers). Among the consol gamers, I've noticed most of them still work at call centers, have burdened themselves with children, or shackled themselves with wives. Their most vocal objection to PC gaming is thier wives anger at the money they would have to spend.

My conclution; if you used your nerd to make you bank, you are likly a PC gamer and will always be one. If you used you nerd to grow a neck beard and lord your computer knowledge over users for 14 dollars an hour, you are probably a Consol Gamer (but secretly wish you could afford a new "Gaming Rig").

@NitrousO: Yea I remember, I just wanted to see if he hated the DRM or the fact that you couldn't pirate the game. None of like DRM, hell I hate it. I format my HDD every six months or so and I can't stand getting that bullshit on my minty fresh OS. Even so, I think it is here to stay for awhile. Unfortunately

Man, that sounds SO naughty!

Over the past few months I've drifted further away from my passion for PC games and have become more friendly with the consoles due to a more or less stagnant GPU market and a more or less lack of new PC exclusives. I'd love to replace my 8800GTX and finally be able to play Crysis at a level I consider acceptable, along with some new titles as well!

If amazing graphics cards didn't cost about the price of a console, not to mention that most pc games can be found on consoles, i'd be up for some more pc gaming.

DRM free software and//or Mandatory internet verification (IE STEAM!!!!) would be a big "Yes, please!"

And come on PC brethren,... stop pirating!

I'm not gonna argue whether pirating is hurting PC gaming or not.

The point is it's dicouraging game developers from making PC exclusive games.

So please stop!

@KanoBlade: You do realize that if there was more agreement in how PCs were constructed and//or sold, then all people would have to do is add that $240 GFX card (I'm looking at you, 8800GT 512Mb) and that's it... they bought a console in the form of one PC addition.

RAM keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. You don't need a stupid $200+ CPU, quad-extreme, unlocked multiplier chip to game. 2Gb RAM + $130 CPU could be standard in PCs and not raise costs. A 500W PS, if made well (which Dell and other companies really don't slack in their quality in PS, it's just they are usually lower power) is all a decent gaming rig would need.

Haha,.. Microsoft goes into PC hardware sales in the form of a "gaming rig" outle