Kevin Unangst, Microsoft Senior Global Director, Games for Windows
(Credit: Microsoft)Q&A Kevin Unangst, Microsoft's Senior Director of Global Gaming, hit the interview rounds starting in April, with the goal of working to dispel the myth that PC gaming is in trouble.
That idea came about in the beginning of the year following a report from NPD research showing that U.S. retail sales of PC games trailed those of games for the various consoles. As Unangst and others have pointed out since the NPD report, those figures do not take into account subscription-based PC gaming, like the World of Warcraft juggernaut, nor do they factor digital distribution from services like GameTap and Valve Software's Steam.
Over the course of Unangst's interviews, he made some interesting points about the perception of PC gaming, the adoption of DirectX 10 hardware, and Microsoft's plans for its Games for Windows Live program. We followed up with Unangst earlier this week.
When you spoke to the game blog Kotaku, you mentioned perception as one of PC gaming's biggest problems right now. Valve Software's Doug Lombardi said the same thing in an interview with Shack News. Can you elaborate?
The perception is really what's being written about in the press since the console battle began anew with the Xbox 360, the PS3, and the Wii. When the PC's written about it's "oh, wow, the PC's not selling as many copies at retail so it must be dying." That's the story that's been written about for so long and that's where the root of this perception issue comes from. And it does get a bit frustrating for folks like Valve and Microsoft, and Intel and Nvidia and others who are investing time and money and seeing new gamers and seeing PC sales increasing and seeing Direct X card sales increasing and seeing these huge revenues in online. We've seen a growth in casual games. MSN Games and PopCap are doing incredibly well on the PC, but you're not seeing a lot of coverage about that. So that's where I think the history of the perception point comes from and it's not true.
Has there been any progress towards more balanced reporting of PC gaming's financial landscape?
NPD has a new study. They're actually taking an assessment of the online space and starting to aggregate. DFC (Intelligence, a video game market research firm) has done a bunch of work there. As you look at the DFC numbers for 2007, the PC is ahead of any other platform, with $8.2 billion in worldwide game sales, with about $5 billion of that online. So in terms of raw numbers, we think the PC is still by far the leading platform when you look at the entire picture.
What do you make of the fact that 2007 was the same year Microsoft's Games for Windows retail branding program was in full swing?
I'd be interested to see what the decline might have been had we and our partners not invested. I think there is a natural shift to online that we're seeing in the PC space, and I think we still feel like with a billion-dollar opportunity sitting at retail we needed to continue to invest in building out dedicated, branded shelf space. I can't peek into what could have been, I certainly think that our investment has kept publishers and retailers devoting shelf space to the PC that they may not have otherwise, or at least attention on the PC that they might not have otherwise.
You mentioned the installed base for Direct X 10 hardware earlier, and in your interview with Kotaku you said that there are 60 million DirectX 10 parts in the marketplace right now. Is that discrete graphics cards?
That is discrete as I understand it. And potentially laptop chips, as well.
Yet the numbers on Valve's PC Hardware Survey (which catalogs system information from users of its Steam PC game download and community software) indicate that of the 1.7 million systems it sampled, 80 percent still use Windows XP, and 90 percent do not have Direct X10-capable hardware.
That like all the others is just one more stat to look at when you're measuring adoption. You have to take into account that Steam and its installed base has been very focused on Half Life and other games that are Valve's first-party IP, and we believe those survey results skew heavily towards those customers. I don't believe that any of their titles take advantage of Direct X 10 at this point, so it doesn't surprise me that they haven't seen a strong adoption rate among their core consumers. I think the (hardware) sales numbers speak for themselves as well as the numbers of titles that are shipping and the investment that the publishers continue to make.
Speaking with the game developer trade site Gamasutra, you said that Microsoft would be working to compete with Valve's Steam software by way of Games for Windows Live. You also pointed to a public development document on MSDN.com outlining the requirements for Games for Windows Live. We didn't find that, but we did find a PowerPoint presentation from this year's Game Developers Conference called Games for Windows Live: Just the Facts. That document outlines features like digital downloads, automatic game patching, and remotely storing saved games, all of which are currently available in Steam. What kind of time table does Microsoft have for adding those features to Games for Windows Live?
I don't recall the document that you're referring to, but I can speak in general that things like automatic updates are available in Games for Windows Live offered today. Those features are all part of the infrastructure that we built and it's something that we're going to build on over time. It's really been our focus to bring over as much of the platform as we can. And then build on top of that the unique experience we think Windows gamers and Windows developers are going to want. So you're going to see even more significant investment from us on Games for Windows Live. Digital distribution and things like that are certainly areas that we have talked about, that we're looking at how we build on the infrastructure and support. But today the focus is on having an identity, having a common friends list, and being able to offer in-game updates. We also have things that other services don't offer like cross-platform support with Xbox 360.
In some ways, over time, there will be competition there as we both continue to deliver on feature sets that we think developers and consumers are going to want. That said I think what Valve is doing for the PC is a great service. They're delivering great games, they're delivering an interesting set of digital content to millions of people. They've done great things for the Windows gaming ecosystem and we hope that they continue to do that.
Update: As a clarification, Microsoft previously had a Google News competitor, named MSN Newsbot, which no longer exists.
As a part of its Rome release, Microsoft's Live Search team has launched a new Live Search News, a direct competitor to Google News.
At this time, Live Search News looks like a simplified version of Google News. The layout and design are aesthetically pleasing and will be familiar to Techmeme readers.
The orange breaking-news bar on the top is a decent feature of the site and only appears when big news is happening. The breaking-news information, unfortunately, appears only to be provided by MSNBC and not automatically generated by trends. Even considering this, it is still a good way to call attention to important stories.
Microsoft's Google News competitor, Live Search News
(Credit: Microsoft)One feature that I really like is the local-news sidebar on the right. It appears that the site automatically detects your IP address and feeds you news from the state that you're in without you needing to register an account. This local focus is a nice touch.
Live Search News also lets you refine news results based on categories that are relevant to the story you're viewing. To access this functionality, just click "More on this story" for any article and you'll see relevant stories, along with these filters.
One feature that sets Live Search News apart from Google News is its "Top News Videos" section. Not only are the videos provided relevant, but Microsoft has implemented the same preview technology that Live Search uses in its video search. If you roll over any of the video images, a preview of the clip will automatically start to play. I can't say enough about the cool factor of this feature, in both news and in its regular video search.
While Microsoft is not providing a specific number of sources that are included in Live Search News, it appears, at this point, to be significantly less than Google News' 4,500. Google News definitely has more customization and alert options than Live Search News. Despite those differences in features, I prefer the design of Live Search News over that of Google News, and simplicity does a lot for readability. In addition, I love the video preview integration, along with the breaking news.
There has been no announcement, at this point, from the Live Search blog, so detailed information on this new service is limited.
Google News already has a fairly loyal user base and it benefits from the popularity of the search engine, so Live Search News may struggle to find an audience until the search engine grows in popularity. However, I think that Live Search News is a strong offering and is definitely worth a look.
Microsoft's Live Maps team just dropped a huge new version of its service in addition to the traffic updates from earlier Thursday.
Live Maps now offers a wealth of new features, including exporting to GPS devices, improved 3D imagery, and one of my personal favorites, MapCruncher integration.
Las Vegas hotels, as seen in Live Maps 3D
Microsoft is rolling out its new "version 2" 3D imagery in four cities (Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas, and Phoenix) for now, with more to come later. The rest of us will have to wait and look on in envy. 3D improvements include higher-resolution textures, rendered trees, and buildings reaching farther out of the city cores and into the suburbs.
Another thing for GPS owners to get excited about here is that you can now export map collections in three different GPS-compatible formats (KML, GPX, and GeoRSS). Adoption of these standards also means that you can view these exported collections in any compatible application, such as Google Earth.
A side-by-side comparison of Giants Stadium with and without the seating chart overlay.
(Credit: VE/Live Maps Blog)The feature in this release that has me really excited is MapCruncher integration. MapCruncher basically enables you to apply layers on top of the map that you are looking at.
The example that the Virtual Earth team used (seen above) is overlaying a seating chart onto Giants Stadium. This could also be used in cases like overlaying a campus map, labeling buildings on top of a university or corporation. I think that this has really great potential in providing a new level of information for maps that you are viewing.
The Live Maps team is really together right now. It is offering a product that, in my opinion, is clearly superior to Google Maps. Live Maps is the best browser-based map experience out there today.
Thanks to Kip over at my other blog, LiveSide, for alerting me to this new release. The full feature list:
- Export your collection to your navigation/GPS device
- Improved 3D cities
- 3D modeling with 3DVIA
- Labels for bird's-eye imagery
- 1-Click directions (party maps!)
- MapCruncher integration
- Enhanced explore of map content from across the Web, contributed by other people
- Neighborhood subscribe via GeoRSS
- Tour enhancements, including hi-definition movies
- Directions and traffic enhancements
- Improved display of KML files, including Google MyMaps links
Microsoft is planning to detail a new product under development called Live Mesh, which appears to be a way to manage user data in the "cloud" across multiple devices.
Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet spotted the talk, entitled Get Mesh!, which will be put on by Microsoft's Live Mesh general manager Amit Mital at the upcoming Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco later this month.
Foley said the first beta of the product is due later in April and that it will act as a way to synchronize files across a network, or mesh, of devices:
Right now, the best way to understand where Microsoft is going with mesh is via what it's doing with Windows Live FolderShare. FolderShare, which is based on technology Microsoft acquired when it bought FolderShare from ByteTaxi in 2005, is designed to allow users to keep their files in sync across their computers, share folders with associates and access files from any computer (or, ultimately, device).
We know creating an application platform to manage the "mesh" of devices is one of projects that Microsoft is working on. At the Mix '08 conference in March, chief software architect Ray Ozzie said:
The folks at LiveSide.Net spoke to George Moore, General Manager of Windows Live Platform Service, at Mix to get their take on what Live Mesh is all about.Just imagine the possibilities of unified application management across the device mesh, centralized, Web-based deployment of device-based applications. Imagine an app platform that's cognizant of all of your devices. Now, as it so happens, we've had a team at Microsoft working on this specific scenario for some time, starting with the PC and focused on the question of how we might make life so much easier for individuals if we just brought together all your PCs into a seamless mesh, for users, for developers, using the Web as a hub.
Utilizing elements of AtomPub, Feedsync, the Microsoft Sync Framework, and SSDS, Live Mesh will sync information across computers and devices, and store information in the cloud, accessible from the Web. It will resolve conflicts with collaborative syncing, and allow for inviting others to collaborate on mesh folders stored in the cloud. A client installed on local devices will produce "Live Mesh folders," wrapping them in a way that they can be easily synchronized. Live Mesh will allow remote access to devices in "the mesh," not only allowing for access to files and folders, but applications as well.
The head of Microsoft's Windows Live Platform Services group offered late Wednesday an early description of services and tools that Microsoft will release at next week's Mix '08 Web conference.
Dave Treadwell is part of a team assembled by Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie and chartered with building a development platform for writing Web applications that tap into data on Microsoft services.
Tafiti is an application that combines Silverlight with Windows Search.
(Credit: Microsoft)Last year, Ozzie described the cloud computing infrastructure that Microsoft is constructing to deliver services, which touch everything from user identification to applications like Windows Live Messenger.
Treadwell said Wednesday that Microsoft's updated Live development platform has expanded application programming interfaces (APIs), including an API for getting contact information from a social-networking site.
He also said Microsoft is boosting support for the Atom Publishing Protocol by providing Atom interfaces to some of its hosted services.
Finally, Treadwell said that Silverlight Streaming by Windows Live, a hosted service for delivering video to Web sites launched last year at Mix, is now in beta and includes 10GB of free storage.
For a thorough summary, check out LiveSide.net and Programmable Web.
Microsoft today released the latest version of its all-in-one security product, Windows Live OneCare. In beta since July, version 2.0 offers many enhancements of existing tools and offers several new tools, particularly in the area of networking and backup storage.
Installation from the Windows Live OneCare site requires signing with a Windows Live account. Microsoft says you can use your current Live ID or create a new one for OneCare and, if you wish, use one Live ID for Windows Live OneCare and another Live ID for Windows Live Messenger on the same machine. The Live ID you use with Windows Live OneCare will be good on two additional machines. When installing on the addition PCs in your home network, just use the Live ID; there is no need to re-enter the registration key.
We're still not crazy about the Windows Live OneCare interface. It's cold and not very intuitive; then again Microsoft doesn't win many design awards.
What's new? Wireless network security features, including the ability to monitor and tweak your router's settings. A new start-time optimizer, displaying infrequently used applications so you have option of removing them from the Start folder and thus speed up your boot time. You can now configure printer sharing, even install device drivers on network machines so you don't have to move the printer from room to room. And you can now centralize all your individual PC backups to one external drive or one central computer, and a new online photo storage service is offered. There is even a monthly report of all the actions that Windows Live OneCare performed recently.
We haven't yet seen the final code, so we don't have any performance information. Microsoft has come under fire recently for not performing well in several independent antivirus tests (in one, even falling to last place against Symantec and McAfee). It remains to be seen if the recent hires to the anti-malware team are enough to improve the product's ability to block malware. The antispyware protection is top-notch, going beyond the free Microsoft Windows Defender offering found on most Windows XP and Windows Vista machines today.
We expect Windows Live OneCare to be better than the previous versions. Check back to see a full CNET review early in the new year.
The big news out of Redmond today is that Microsoft is working on a Flickr competitor.
A job posting on the software giant's career site reveals that the Digital Memories Experience Team is trying to recruit a program manager to lead the project.
"This feature team is building a next-generation photo and video-sharing service that will compete with Flickr, SmugMug, and other photo Web solutions today," according to the posting. It's clear who the competition is.
Flickr has a really strong and popular product right now, so if Microsoft wants to be competitive in this space, it will have to put out a phenomenal product with enough incentive to pull users away from the Yahoo service.
One thing that, in my opinion, has hurt some of Microsoft's online efforts recently is the lack of an open platform and open data. Flickr's main strengths lie in that they make it very easy for users to download and upload photos through a variety of methods. Much of this is made possible through Flickr's developer application programming interface, or API, and also through first-party support.
I am happy to see Microsoft entering this space and creating more competition, but it really needs to focus on making sure that the service plays nicely with a variety of download and upload methods. This will be a welcome replacement to Microsoft's current photo-sharing solution in Windows Live Spaces, whose photo resolution could stand to be bumped up.
Via Long Zheng
Microsoft's Windows Live services are living up to its name by going live, losing the "beta" label, and becoming available as a free, Windows suite of six Web-connected applications.
The suite includes Windows Live Mail, which integrates with Hotmail and supports POP and IMAP. Among the other complete desktop services are Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Writer for composing blog posts. Windows Live Photo Gallery manages picture albums that can be uploaded to Microsoft Spaces, MSN Soapbox, or Yahoo's Flickr.
The Windows Live Installer took about 10 minutes to work.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Also final are Windows Live Spaces for blogging, the Windows Live Events invitation service, as well as the security products Windows Live OneCare, and the 3MB Windows Live OneCare Family Safety, which offers parental controls over children's Web-surfing habits. Microsoft's many other online-only tools with the Windows Live moniker include search, Local mapping, and Favorites for bookmarking Web pages.
Fully using these tools requires a Windows Live ID, which replaced Microsoft's former Passport ID. Sign-up is available at get.live.com.
In our tests on Windows XP so far, the download took several seconds. Installation took another 10 minutes. Before you install, make sure to tell Microsoft not to change your browser and home page settings if you like them the way they are.
The Google Pack of 13 applications, which includes Picasa photo editing, Norton security scanning, an IM client, a browser toolbar, and desktop search, may be the closest competitor to the Windows Live bundle. However, the Google Pack does not offer a desktop blog composer or an e-mail client as Microsoft's suite does.
Last year, when we picked our favorite Windows Live services, Microsoft still seemed only to be getting started with its stable of online tools, each of which remained in beta testing for up to two years.
Although Windows Live has reached prime time, we suspect that Microsoft will continue to add features. For example, we wish that you could chat within Windows Live Hotmail, which came out of beta testing in May. But at least the e-mail service will notify you when buddies are online so that you can open Windows Live Messenger with a few clicks. Plus, the Messenger clients from both Microsoft and Yahoo enable users to chat with users of the other brand.
Windows Live services remaining in beta testing include Windows Live Calendar beta, released today, and Windows Live SkyDrive.
Microsoft's latest mobile offerings for checking e-mail work with Wap2.0, iMode, and HTML phone browsers.
We'll report back soon with results and a review from our hands-on testing with the Windows Live desktop suite.
Live Search 411 has very similar functionality to GOOG-411. It is a voice-navigated free information service, powered by the recently acquired Tellme, that you can get to by dialing 800-CALL-411 on any phone.
Much like GOOG-411, you can find any business in a city and state of your choosing, then get its information and a map sent directly to your cell phone via a text message. You can also search by business category and connect directly to the business that you select.
The number is not yet active, and right now, you will get a coming-soon message if you try to call, so I cannot yet evaluate the service's ease of use or quality.
While Google was first to launch its 411 service and has already begun a billboard-advertising campaign in San Francisco, this is still an important launch for Microsoft. To compete with Google, the software giant needs to keep pace.
This is just one more Microsoft service that matches Google's offering. With the release of its much-improved Live Search 2.0 a few weeks ago, along with this release today, it's clear that Microsoft wants to take a real shot at dethroning the search giant.
Microsoft has overhauled the look of its Live.com search page, part of a series of changes expected in the coming weeks.
While the first visible changes are to the user interface, fonts and look of the Live.com search page, the bigger changes are coming to the engine itself, as well as the way Microsoft presents results. (Props to the folks over at Liveside.net for spotting the changes.)
Microsoft has scheduled a press event, dubbed "Searchification," for September 26 at its Silicon Valley offices, where it is expected to tell all.
But we'll keep watching to see if more details squeak out onto the Web. If you see more changes, let us know.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
