See Colon Slash: Games for Windows Live

Welcome to ‘See Colon Slash’, my weekly column on Negative Gamer. As you might have guessed by the title, the series will be about looking at bleeding rectums. Oh, actually, I got that wrong. It’s actually about PC gaming. If you don’t get the clever pun in the title, perhaps you’re a Linux or Mac user. In your case, the title of the column should be mentally shortened to simply “Slash”.

In my (cynical and jaded) eyes, Games for Windows Live is one of the worst aspects of PC gaming right now. There, I said it. Not content with having the operating system monopoly in terms of games, Microsoft now seem intent to force as many games as they can into relying on an awful and outdated overlay system. I’m sure most people who have encountered the system will know what I’m talking about, but if not, let me enlighten you.

Aside from the fact that it even exists, perhaps the most annoying part of GFWL is that it requires you to log in in order to access your save games. This creates irritating conflicts with offline saves. When I play Fallout 3, my saves are divided into “Signed in to GFWL” and “offline” (although that’s just a mental division I make, not an official one). The offline save was created one evening when I had no internet connection, meaning that it was hours of solid play, and therefore my stronger character (thus, more enjoyable to play as). Of course, if I ever decide to purchase the DLC for Fallout 3, I must do so through GFWL. To play the DLC, I have to be signed in. If I am signed in, I will have to play with my level 3 character- just not very fun.

This brings me to another aspect of Games for Windows Live that I hate: the redundancy of it. I can play Fallout 3 just as well without GFWL. In fact, thanks to the fact that I have to remember to sign in every time the game starts, the Fallout 3 experience becomes better without it. Why have a system that adds nothing to the game other than Achievements? I don’t give a hoot about Achievements, but the thing about them is that they’re supposed to be to show off. Who am I showing off to? Nobody.

GFWL seems to exclusively be glued to single-player games, or at least games that don’t focus on multiplayer. I have not a single friend on GFWL, because I don’t play games where I could meet any. Perhaps if I played the (awful) multiplayer of Red Alert 3 or something like that more I might, but there’s just no point. GFWL simply seems to be trying to emulate the success of Xbox Live, but the thing about PC gaming is that we can easily contact and communicate with our friends already using other programs. I don’t need a messaging system to set up a game with my buddy, I’ll just go on Skype or an instant messenger. Even in-game communication is taken care of in most multiplayer games by Steam, Vent, Teamspeak, or Skype.

Here’s a few smaller problems with the blasted thing that aren’t worth railing on about at length:

• It’s present in some games on Steam, forcing you to have two overlays
• “My first overlay service” interface- even slightly patronising in places
• Mouse bugs- temperamental about where you have to click
• Seemingly randomly asks you for your CD key every so often
• Uses the stupid “points” system for buying DLC

I recognise that this article will cause a lot of people to complain. I’ve left out some of the better things about the service, and am essentially ranting about PC gaming becoming too much like Xbox Live. We obviously encourage debate in the comments here at NG, but don’t just shout at me. Remember, this is Negative Gamer, not “Mostly negative but also there are some good things too” Gamer. I still think that, despite the small amount of positives, GFWL has not earned any place in PC gaming and should be destroyed.