05-28-2013, 04:36 AM
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#19
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MVP
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Re: According to IGN, Madden 25 is on PC
Guys, there is a greater chance soon enough that Microsoft will make Madden work on PCs before EA actually go out of their to do so. While many details about the Xbox One's technical makeup remain unknown, what is known basically points to a Windows gaming PC anyway - exact same hardware, same OS at its core. Microsoft could very well merge PC and Xbox gaming - one way at least (Xbox to PC, not PC to Xbox).
It will either be so easy for EA to do it they could very well hand it off to a recent graduate as a side project, or it will end up being done because Microsoft's grand scheme is to leave hardware behind and offer Xbox gaming as a platform which isn't restricted to one box (despite the name :P) - all you need is a Windows OS on x86 hardware, possibly even ARM hardware like mobile (which Windows 8 and Server 2012 can natively work on), and you can technically run Xbox One games, assuming they rely on APIs rather than raw hardware calls (which they should). Apparently the Xbox One's gaming functions run inside a Virtual Machine anyway. I'm getting a little technical, but in easy terms, this means the VM could be ported to other hardware without much drama. All this adds up to is Microsoft potentially being able to take over PC gaming - they already own the OS, but if they can inject more titles on a middleware platform they run too, they'll be laughing, and they're in prime position to attempt something like this. No one else could even dream of something like this because no one has the position Microsoft do when it comes to PC OSs. Running the same executable code on Xbox and PC is now technically a very real possibility.
But I don't expect it for M25. Anyone who has been following the Madden releases with PC in mind over the past few years will tell you every year some big site lists the PC as a release platform - it's just a clerical error. It always is. For starters, being a launch title, it is fairly unlikely it would be on PC in its new engine form anyway. Even Microsoft have been known in the past to prevent same-time PC releases of their own titles in favor of Xbox as to give the Xbox its best chance. Madden *sells* consoles at launch - even though it will be on Sony as well, MS won't want this to be touched at all. And I doubt EA would want to complicate things by releasing on PC with their first new engine release.
Unless Microsoft stun us all and "Xbox One" is not a console, but is actually a virtual gaming platform that can work across multiple types of hardware, and the box Microsoft showed recently is just one of those aimed at the current console market, then all of this is well into the future. I hope not the next generation after the incoming one, but realistically that's probably the earliest. Depending on the technical hurdles, it could possibly be realistic some time into the XB1's release - MS have shown previously they like to evolve the Xbox during its life and not just every generation.
Of course having said all this, one could argue this would be the equivalent of hooking your Xbox One to your PC screen under your desk and just playing it normally (i.e. this would all certainly eliminate much of what makes PC gaming what it is). However keep in mind "responsive design" is a major driver in the world of software/websites these days, which means changing your experience depending on how the user is viewing it. Perhaps the same sort of thing, "responsive gaming", could be used (On a PC? here's a different menu system, and a new options screen to change visual settings, keyboard awareness etc).
Last edited by Nza; 05-28-2013 at 04:59 AM.
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