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PC Games (Games) Operating Systems Software Windows Entertainment Games

Windows XP Game Advisor Discussed 40

Posted by simoniker from the tivo-picks-for-windows dept.
Thanks to GameSpy for their 'Biz Buzz' summary discussing the recent launch of Microsoft's web-based Windows XP Game Advisor. The Game Advisor site, "created in conjunction with Futuremark, the makers of the 3DMark 3D game benchmark utility, takes the user's answers to questions regarding age range and preferred game genre, then returns a list of recent games (along with gameplay information) that might interest the user." As for the motivation behind this service, a Microsoft spokesperson "...noted that it's not a profit center for Microsoft - it doesn't charge publishers to list their games in the Advisor database... [and] equates it to the company's DirectX API bundle, which doesn't get revenue from users nor publishers, but if, by regularly improving and enhancing and promoting it, another computer with Windows is sold, Microsoft then earns some revenue, albeit indirectly."
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Windows XP Game Advisor Discussed More

Windows XP Game Advisor Discussed

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  • But being on the page, all around the page, even used microsoft's search thingy, and i still couldn't figure out where i can get/use anything more than screenshots of the "Windows XP Game Advisor", where is it?
    • theres some stuff about it here [microsoft.com] (from the article) but it doesnt say anything of use appears to be vapourware at the moment, itll prob be some proprietary activex thingy like windows update when it does appear though.

    • Requires XP and IE (Score:2, Informative)

      by Nicolay77 ( 258497 )
      Windows XP Game Advisor requires the use of the Windows XP operating system and the Internet Explorer (version 5.5 or later) browser.
    • as i said in my post, it only seems to work in internet explorer. when I went there with firebird, i got the same thing you did. however, I opened up IE and when i went to the page, the button was there.

  • Requires XP (Score:3, Informative)

    by Slider451 ( 514881 ) <slider451 AT hotmail DOT com> on Monday November 24, 2003 @12:08PM (#7548161)
    Can't run it from my Windows 2000 Pro desktop. Also requires IE 5.5 or later.

    Based on the site, I'd say it's good for casual (non-technical) gamers and parents looking for compatible games for their kids.

    Can't see a serious gamer getting anything of value from it. Better to go to Gamespy [slashdot.org] or Gamespot [slashdot.org].
    • Ugh, meant GameSpy [gamespy.com] and Gamespot [gamespot.com]

    • Re:Requires XP (Score:4, Informative)

      by bigman2003 ( 671309 ) on Monday November 24, 2003 @12:17PM (#7548266) Homepage
      Hmm...I wonder if that is what they meant when they called it the Windows XP Game Advisor. That you needed XP.

      I used it, and it was actually pretty cool. The best part was the 'will it run on my PC' feature.

      A separate utility is downloaded (Futuremark) which 'analyzes' your computer. Then, when you click on the 'will it run on my pc' link next to a game, it will tell you what 'percentage' your computer is in comparison to the requirements. My computer was in the 500+% range for all of them.
      • "Hmm...I wonder if that is what they meant when they called it the Windows XP Game Advisor. That you needed XP."

        I think the point was that XP is not required to play any of the games that are currently out. So why limit the "advisor" to only run on XP?
        • Possibly as some soon to be more blatently advertised feature for clueless parents when it comes to helping parents control the games kids play? I can see it as being a bonus for a clueless parent.

          It could also just be used as a usability and beta testing site for somethign similar but for different applications / purposes. Who knows.

          jason
      • If you need XP to view the site, then you already have XP, and there's not much chance of any potential revenue being gained from the sale of a PC with XP on it. Seems to me if they want potential revenue from the sale of a PC with XP on it, they'd better make the site work on 'competitor's' machines.

  • shock and awe.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by bigbigbison ( 104532 ) * on Monday November 24, 2003 @12:10PM (#7548181) Homepage
    Surprisingly, the site does not seem to work with Mozilla Firebird. I opened it and the button to start the test does not even appear in Firebird. I know this is a big shock to us all. Microsoft not playing nice with competitors? That's umpossible!

  • Article title (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kethinov ( 636034 ) on Monday November 24, 2003 @12:16PM (#7548254) Homepage Journal
    MS: A PC with XP Plays EZ
    *Seizure* Sounds like a nursery rhyme. Look what filth they flood our children's minds with!
  • I was quite impressed to learn that my PC has exactly 808% of the power of a 500mhz Athlon, despite the fact that when running a different game it has 5538% of the power of a PII 400 system, (Tron 2 to Warcraft 3)
    • It also takes into consideration your memory, graphics card, etc. Maybe disk space too- I don't know.

      Tron probably requires a better graphics card, and possibly more memory.
      • I realize that, i was just trying to point out how daft the numbers are, i severly doubt that my PC has 5000% the performance of anything above maybe i dont know, a first gen pentium. Whats wrong with just saying, yes your computer will run this game, or yes your computer will run this game well.

  • Summary of Games Advisor (Score:4, Insightful)

    by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Monday November 24, 2003 @03:50PM (#7550116) Homepage
    This "Advisor" takes two inputs... target age and type of game, and outputs a number of games in that category.

    Categorizations are somewhat willy-nilly. "Kids" is a category, despite it also being the age group. Note, there are no games for any kids over the age of 6, nor are there games in any other categories for kids under 6. If a categorization fails, the advisor will just revert back to "all game types," though it won't tell you it did so. Categories overlap significantly, such as Sim City not being listed under "Simulation," but "Life Simulation." "Action" vs "Action Adventure." Final Fantasy XI is a featured game in Role Playing, but second in Massively Multiplayer Online. No other MMO game makes it to another category.

    The recommendations are questionable at best. For example, Law and Order 2 is apparently a hot seller for the 6 year old adventuring crowd. Myst 3 is apparently so intense it makes the 6-12 Action market. FIFA, Madden, Tiger Woods, and nearly all other sports games are inappropriate for anyone over 16. Their featured family entertainment will teach your 6 to 16 year old to drink and gamble like a real vegas loser. Of course, if you are over 17 you are too old to breed, and no games exist for your family. Strategy games like Warlords are inappropriate for anyone under 13, but Combat Flight Simulator, Lock On, and Forgotten Battles are A-OK. Apparently the only strategy game so violent and lacking in morals as to be locked away until your 17th birthday is... UFO aftermath.

    If you want more information about a particular game, you have to go to the publisher's website. No objective reviews, no individualized ratings, not even a paragraph describing the game. As far as "information" goes, this site is sadly lacking.

    To see if you can play the game (not a high hurdle, as the site apparently only works under XP), the Active X script attempts to download a program from the aforementioned futuremark. If you choose not to install it, the application hangs. It then gives you a somewhat useless graphical representation of how well your system does as a percentage of the minimum, then tells you to check the "other requirements." These mysterious "other requirements" are apparently just the system specs it just checked, repeated, with your system next to it. Didn't we just check this? Of course it also says to check the system specs with the publisher in 3 different places, making this whole exercise somewhat moot.

    Somehow I doubt this will satisfy even the casual gamer. Even when grabbed by a catchy title, the person has to turn to goggle to find out any information at all about it. What advantage does this provide above, say, a trip to videogames.com? Age ranking is something that should be painfully obvious after the first screen shot. So what then... Availability? This is buried in the back end of Microsoft.com. Reliability? Recommending Law and Order to 6 year olds?

    Unless Microsoft gets serious about the site, it will fall by the wayside. +1 points for trying, but -2 points for treating a Microsoft Gaming initiative like a Microsoft Business initiative.

  • *downloads*

    Thank you for installing XP game advisor. Here is your list of games.

    MS Flight Sim
    MS Combat Flight Sim
    Mechwarrior 4
    Crimson Skies
    (etc...)
  • So.. When Doom III or any other OpenGL based game comes out, will it be listed?

    I'm half tempted to see what games it might list for me right now, but it doesn't seem to be available with Mozilla Firebird..

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