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I would challenge anyone to find a better computing platform for gaming than Windows. It's not about the hardware, it's the compatibility. People have been worr

I would challenge anyone to find a better computing platform for gaming than Windows. It's not about the hardware, it's the compatibility. People have been worrying about MS locking the platform down since Windows 8 was released nearly 6 years ago, and we're no closer to that now than we were back then. I'm an Apple user, but I'd be surprised if Apple didn't turn macOS into iOS before Microsoft turns Windows into iOS. That's just not how Microsoft operates.

pjmlp 8y ago
Well, they are bringing iOS APIs into macOS.
- izacus 8y ago
  And killing off compatibility with a significant portion of games that were released (via removal of 32-bit support and just general AppStore churn due to yearly subscriptions). Meanwhile even old Win95 targeted games run on Win10.
  - criddell 8y ago
    > Meanwhile even old Win95 targeted games run on Win10. I just threw away my copy of Civilization II because Windows 10 couldn't run it (I think it was 16 bit code).
    - suby 8y ago
      That's a shame. I personally find that nowadays, older games tend to run better on Linux with Wine than on Windows 10. Civ 2 for instance runs flawlessly on Wine. Even on Windows 7 I had to install a fan made patch to get it to run without crashing.
      - criddell 8y ago
        I didn't even think of Wine. I wonder if I could have made it work under WSL + Wine?
        detaro 8y ago
        Civ 2 should run in DOSBox, graphical stuff under WSL is a hassle.
    - jamesgeck0 8y ago
      Oh no! There are mods to make the game compatible with 64-bit Windows 10. https://github.com/FoxAhead/Civilization-II-64-bit-Editbox-Patcher https://github.com/FoxAhead/Civilization-II-64-bit-Editbox-P...
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
      16bit code arbitrarily doesn't work in 64bit Windows, but I'm guessing it would probably have worked in Win3.11 under DOSBox.
slantyyz 8y ago
The big sea change for me over the past four or five years is the number of games that are getting a simultaneous release on Steam. I play mostly fighting games (when I can find the time), and those, for the most part, used to be the exclusive domain of consoles. Outside of some first party exclusives (like Nintendo's Smash series), just about every major fighting game franchise outside of Virtua Fighter (and who knows, that might even show up hidden in a release of Yakuza) is now on the PC. They're coming out so often that I can't even keep up now. And while I know there are Steam haters out there, it has been great for me. I buy games only when they're heavily discounted, so I now have a huge library that is a fraction of the cost of some of my old console purchases.
- freeone3000 8y ago
  Yakuza 6 has Virtua Fighter 5 and Yakuza Kiwami 2 has Virtua Fighter 2. Neither are announced for PC, but they just did 0 and Kiwami, so signs are good?
  - slantyyz 8y ago
    In the meantime, there is Dead or Alive 5, which is built on the same engine and has a few VF characters in it (and more importantly, the ones I like to use). IIRC, DOA6 has been announced too, and I would expect that to show up on PC.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
On the other hand, Microsoft does their damnedest to remove the user's ability to control updates, keep you from disabling their "no really, just for improving your Windows experience!" telemetry, force-install AppStore apps you didn't ask for, and reset settings back to defaults on feature updates. They certainly seem like they're ready to lock the platform down at any moment if they decide it suits them. Meanwhile, the experience of using Windows gets crappier and crappier. It's becoming more and more difficult to believe that they aren't intentionally trying to kill off desktop computing.
Kurtz79 8y ago
Microsoft is well aware of that, they went as far as not making first party titles exclusive for the Xbox, and releasing them on W10. It's a competitive advantage and they won't be giving it up so easily, they know a lot of people would drop Windows in a heartbeat were not for it being "the" PC gaming platform. Even if Apple decides today to invest heavily in having games as first party citizens in macOS (something that they never showed interest in), they would still need to deal with the 20+ years of backward compatibility and huge existing library that Windows has.

pjmlp 8y ago

Well, they are bringing iOS APIs into macOS.

izacus 8y ago
And killing off compatibility with a significant portion of games that were released (via removal of 32-bit support and just general AppStore churn due to yearly subscriptions). Meanwhile even old Win95 targeted games run on Win10.
- criddell 8y ago
  > Meanwhile even old Win95 targeted games run on Win10. I just threw away my copy of Civilization II because Windows 10 couldn't run it (I think it was 16 bit code).
  - suby 8y ago
    That's a shame. I personally find that nowadays, older games tend to run better on Linux with Wine than on Windows 10. Civ 2 for instance runs flawlessly on Wine. Even on Windows 7 I had to install a fan made patch to get it to run without crashing.
    - criddell 8y ago
      I didn't even think of Wine. I wonder if I could have made it work under WSL + Wine?
      - detaro 8y ago
        Civ 2 should run in DOSBox, graphical stuff under WSL is a hassle.
  - jamesgeck0 8y ago
    Oh no! There are mods to make the game compatible with 64-bit Windows 10. https://github.com/FoxAhead/Civilization-II-64-bit-Editbox-Patcher https://github.com/FoxAhead/Civilization-II-64-bit-Editbox-P...
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    16bit code arbitrarily doesn't work in 64bit Windows, but I'm guessing it would probably have worked in Win3.11 under DOSBox.

slantyyz 8y ago

The big sea change for me over the past four or five years is the number of games that are getting a simultaneous release on Steam. I play mostly fighting games (when I can find the time), and those, for the most part, used to be the exclusive domain of consoles. Outside of some first party exclusives (like Nintendo's Smash series), just about every major fighting game franchise outside of Virtua Fighter (and who knows, that might even show up hidden in a release of Yakuza) is now on the PC. They're coming out so often that I can't even keep up now. And while I know there are Steam haters out there, it has been great for me. I buy games only when they're heavily discounted, so I now have a huge library that is a fraction of the cost of some of my old console purchases.

freeone3000 8y ago
Yakuza 6 has Virtua Fighter 5 and Yakuza Kiwami 2 has Virtua Fighter 2. Neither are announced for PC, but they just did 0 and Kiwami, so signs are good?
- slantyyz 8y ago
  In the meantime, there is Dead or Alive 5, which is built on the same engine and has a few VF characters in it (and more importantly, the ones I like to use). IIRC, DOA6 has been announced too, and I would expect that to show up on PC.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago

On the other hand, Microsoft does their damnedest to remove the user's ability to control updates, keep you from disabling their "no really, just for improving your Windows experience!" telemetry, force-install AppStore apps you didn't ask for, and reset settings back to defaults on feature updates. They certainly seem like they're ready to lock the platform down at any moment if they decide it suits them. Meanwhile, the experience of using Windows gets crappier and crappier. It's becoming more and more difficult to believe that they aren't intentionally trying to kill off desktop computing.

Kurtz79 8y ago

Microsoft is well aware of that, they went as far as not making first party titles exclusive for the Xbox, and releasing them on W10. It's a competitive advantage and they won't be giving it up so easily, they know a lot of people would drop Windows in a heartbeat were not for it being "the" PC gaming platform. Even if Apple decides today to invest heavily in having games as first party citizens in macOS (something that they never showed interest in), they would still need to deal with the 20+ years of backward compatibility and huge existing library that Windows has.