Until pretty recently, PC gaming was very much an exercise in harnessing the power of hardware and an operating system designed for general productivity and applying it to a hobby far less business oriented. Though Microsoft first gave gaming a nod when it began hyping the release of Windows 95 and a collection of APIs dubbed DirectX, PC gaming has never approached the simple and cohesive experience possible on a dedicated gaming console. A couple of OSs and a decade after Microsoft's first attempt to call one of its operating systems a "gaming platform," the dynamic may finally be about to change.
Windows Vista will be Microsoft's warmest embrace of gaming yet. As we discussed in Part 2 of our Windows Vista Journal, Vista's Games Explorer consolidates installed games and offers features like parental control. That's actually only the surface of a broader "Games for Windows" push that Microsoft is only just beginning to ramp up, which will shortly include a lot of marketing, unified design for game boxes and more prominent retail placement in stores.
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Microsoft will also aim to parlay the success of the Xbox 360 into the Vista experience. The planned uber-network of Xbox Live Anywhere will tie PC gamers into the cohesive online service that many see as the 360's most desirable feature. The project is still in the works, however, but the building blocks are already starting to be put in place, specifically in terms of accessory inter-compatibility between the Xbox 360 and PC.
Since launch, the wired USB Xbox 360 controllers have worked with Windows XP via simple driver installation, which was a nice, if rarely used, feature. Support for, and the desirability of, a gamepad for the PC has traditionally been pretty questionable. Genres that would require one, like fighting or platforming games, have never made much of a splash on the PC, and there are few who'd choose a gamepad over a mouse and keyboard combo for FPS titles. Complicating the matter further for those so inclined is the fact that very few games natively support gamepads or joysticks which leaves players, at best, with the hassle of manually assigning commands to the controller buttons, and at worst, unable to use a controller at all due to the game not recognizing the analog sticks.
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That's all about to change with DirectX 10 and Vista. To qualify for the "Games for Windows" branding, game developers will be required to, among other things, support all Xbox controllers via the 'DirectInput' subset of DirectX. The requirement should finally make a gamepad a feasible option for hardcore and casual PC gamers alike and will be a strong factor in unifying Vista as a gaming platform.
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Though Vista is still a few months off for consumers Microsoft isn't waiting until it drops to enhance compatibility between Xbox 360 gear and the PC. While the wired 360 controllers are decent on the PC, wireless is where it's really at, and Microsoft is finally giving us the tools to make them compatible as well. The Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver will begin shipping later this month and essentially makes a PC fully capable of accepting any and all first-party Xbox 360 wireless peripherals. The dongle connects via USB and can manage 4 wireless 360 controllers and headsets at a time, as well as the new 360 Wireless Racing Wheel and any future 360 controllers from MS. Installation is a simple driver install, and the dongle has a sync button that ties it to a controller much like the Xbox 360.
As things stand with Windows XP, probably the most useful aspect of the Wireless Gaming Receiver is getting the 360 Racing Wheel to play nicely with the PC, since it's a pretty nice wheel. The wireless 360 pads also work just fine with the Wireless Receiver and Windows XP, but it won't be until Vista and the newly branded Games For Windows roll out in 2007 that the full utility of the Wireless Gaming Receiver will become apparent. Nevertheless, the $19.99 dongle is a relatively affordable and functional accessory for getting double duty out of your 360 controller accessories.
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