Those of you, like myself, who like to get their gaming fix on the consoles and PC will be pleased to hear Microsoft’s much touted Games for Windows Live system will be launching on May 8th. The system allows Windows Vista users and Xbox 360 users to not only communicate with each other, but also play against each other.
The first game to use the service is Halo 2 which releases on Vista on May 8th. Halo 2 doesn’t allow cross-platform gaming between Vista and Xbox Live users, but will allow players to use all the communication tools and collect those precious achievement points.
Following this will be Shadowrun which will allow cross-platfrom gaming between Xbox 360 owners and Vista users when it launches in June 2007. The second game to allow cross-platform gaming will be UNO which launches on Vista later in 2007.
The current Silver/Gold memberships will remain for both 360 and Vista. Silver will remain free while Gold will still cost the usual £40 a year and of course, the three month and one month memberships will remain. If you already have Xbox Live Gold, you’ll already be able to use Games for Windows Gold.
Here’s what you can get with Silver and Gold membership:
Silver Membership Features
• Single gamertag
• Common gamer profile
• Common gamerscore
• Single player achievements
• Private chat via text and voice
• Common friends list and online presence
• PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games
Gold Membership Features
• All Silver membership features
• Multiplayer matchmaking with friends
• TrueSkill™ matchmaking
• Multiplayer achievements
• Cross-platform gameplay
Originally Written By: Scott Webber
