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[buenoblue]

I gave up on trying to have a single launcher ages ago. The trouble is I sometimes buy games on sale and already own them on another another launcher/store.

 

[Fess]

There's nothing stopping all the other companies who manage the various other launchers from equalling or surpassing Steam when it comes to feature-set, pricing and customer service standards.

There is nothing stopping them but Steam is so big that I don't think just being better would be enough. Removing the last real incentive to ever go into another storefront seems bad right now imo.

Best multi store scenario would be if someone like Playnite would let you purchase games from multiple stores, then when you click purchase you get the choice where to buy the games, showing prices from top 5 stores or so. Would increase the competitiveness and push the giants to keep the prices down and would help small players to grow. Would be like buying physical, you buy where you get the games at the lowest price.

 

[Astray]

Block a shortcut?

I mean if they really want to then they can lol.

This idea that companies just can't control where their games end up is dumb because licensing agreements exist.

By that logic, there should be nothing standing in the way of Xbox making all XB and XB360 games backwards compatible and even enabling PC support for all of them, but here we are and they didn't do it for a reason.

That seems like it would also map to steam being store b instead of MS. Except that steam is very successful. This is just a link to steam, after all. Only now it's being taken advantage of for marketing. You'll be hearing that Sony games are 'on xbox's for a long time and it will be kinda-sorta true.

Yep that too. Steam and PS are making dough here doing nothing while their big competitor acts like this is a great achievement lol.

Also is it really effective marketing for Xbox when the vast majority of people either bought these games on PS or on Steam already? We've already seen what the effect of marketing to the die-hards does this gen.

The only people who didnt buy these games are the die-hard Xbox crowd and now Sony got their money without giving Microsoft one red cent.

I genuinely don't see the downside for Sony here, maybe for online console warriors yes, but all players involved have shown that they don't really care for their opinions when it really comes down to it.

 

[laynelane]

Destin is now pushing the BS that you can play PlayStation games on 'Xbox'

Of course he is, I would expect nothing less from someone like him. Also, considering how much console warring he does and what his job entails - you'd think he'd know how to spell 'warring'.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I genuinely don't see the downside for Sony here,

It's a marketing thing. For Sony, it's a big deal that videos on its channel and announcements during their show don't have an Xbox logo, for example.

if Xbox is marketing this things as "An Xbox" and the narrative online becomes: "Playstation games on Xbox consoles". Sony will have to do something about it.

 

[Crayon]

I mean if they really want to then they can lol.

This idea that companies just can't control where their games end up is dumb because licensing agreements exist.

By that logic, there should be nothing standing in the way of Xbox making all XB and XB360 games backwards compatible and even enabling PC support for all of them, but here we are and they didn't do it for a reason.


Yep that too. Steam and PS are making dough here doing nothing while their big competitor acts like this is a great achievement lol.

Also is it really effective marketing for Xbox when the vast majority of people either bought these games on PS or on Steam already? We've already seen what the effect of marketing to the die-hards does this gen.

The only people who didnt buy these games are the die-hard Xbox crowd and now Sony got their money without giving Microsoft one red cent.

I genuinely don't see the downside for Sony here, maybe for online console warriors yes, but all players involved have shown that they don't really care for their opinions when it really comes down to it.

Oh well valve is laughing in all this. Sony somehow doesn't see the competition.

Microsoft, though. JFC. Why would valve make hardware when ms is going to do it for them.

One of the most common tips for the new x-Asus handheld is going to be how to make it boot to steam bpm....

 

[Fess]

apparently playnite can pull playtime from steam

Just wanted to highlight that I got Playnite working properly today!

So thanks for getting me to try a bit more

Turns out there was a setting out of screen in one menu, had to scroll to the very bottom, where you specifically chose to pull in playtime.

I now see all the games from all the launchers I use, with playtime, cover art, game descriptions, in a big screen mode which the PC boots into. Looks great!

Uninstalled games can be seen too in the All tab. Haven't tried doing an install yet but will try tonight.

Minor complaint is seeing the Windows desktop for 3 seconds when closing a game before it go back to full screen Playnite again. And I saw some Windows console window too at one point when launching Wreckfest 2.
Not quite like a console UI yet, but it's close. This is what Microsoft needs to top now.



Will try Launchbox next.

 

[UniformDeliverance]

Destin is now pushing the BS that you can play PlayStation games on 'Xbox'

The goal ultimately is to streamline the pc experience. If someday Microsoft sells something called an Xbox, that can play Steam games including PlayStation exclusives.. you as an enthusiast may understand that it's actually a pc..

But will your average consumer? They will see an Xbox, that boots into a console interface.. and can play god of war.

You get to a point where.. if it walks like an Xbox, talks like an Xbox.. it's an Xbox.

 

[Topher]

Destin is now pushing the BS that you can play PlayStation games on 'Xbox'

"muddled" is one word for it

 

[Astray]

Oh well valve is laughing in all this. Sony somehow doesn't see the competition.

Sony doesn't see it because Microsoft is essentially downgrading its Xbox brand into being Steam Deck/Machines but worse for a console buyer.

They're reducing their presence in many regions, they're likely gonna have to hike the price of HW (how else is Asus etc gonna get paid?) and they will likely get drastically reduced ports from 3P companies, everything about this equation is getting worse for the core Xbox buyer, the guy who plays games and doesn't pay attention to what forums or Twitter say.

Microsoft, though. JFC. Why would valve make hardware when ms is going to do it for them.

This is the exact calculus Microsoft wants to push Valve into.. "Why bother with SteamOS when we can grow on this new hybrid OS initiative instead and count the money?"

Valve is likely seeing this for what it is and probably doubling down on SteamOS.

Just wanted to highlight that I got Playnite working properly today!

So thanks for getting me to try a bit more

Turns out there was a setting out of screen in one menu, had to scroll to the very bottom, where you specifically chose to pull in playtime.

I now see all the games from all the launchers I use, with playtime, cover art, game descriptions, in a big screen mode which the PC boots into. Looks great!

Uninstalled games can be seen too in the All tab. Haven't tried doing an install yet but will try tonight.

Minor complaint is seeing the Windows desktop for 3 seconds when closing a game before it go back to full screen Playnite again. And I saw some Windows console window too at one point when launching Wreckfest 2.
Not quite like a console UI yet, but it's close. This is what Microsoft needs to top now.



Will try Launchbox next.

I really like what I see here, can you link me to a tutorial (and tell me what skin this is because it looks fucking gorgeous)?

"muddled" is one word for it

Anyone who has a passing interest in how the gaming business works is utterly baffled at what MS management is doing.

We're witnessing brand self-immolation in front of our eyes.

 

[GHG]

"muddled" is one word for it

Pretty much what I expected to be honest.

------

There is nothing stopping them but Steam is so big that I don't think just being better would be enough. Removing the last real incentive to ever go into another storefront seems bad right now imo.

Still not a walled garden. Again, other companies failing to keep up with what steam has built over the years is a failing on their part. You're also misunderstanding/ignoring something else key here which I will link in response to another part of your post below.

Best multi store scenario would be if someone like Playnite would let you purchase games from multiple stores, then when you click purchase you get the choice where to buy the games, showing prices from top 5 stores or so. Would increase the competitiveness and push the giants to keep the prices down and would help small players to grow. Would be like buying physical, you buy where you get the games at the lowest price.

Game Deals - Find Discounted Video Games, Cheap Steam Keys, CD Keys & Game Codes - Compare & Track Prices | GG.deals

Compare prices of video games from almost 60 stores, find the best game deals online. CD keys for all PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC games on the market at the best price!

gg.deals

The end.

 

[Crayon]

Sony doesn't see it because Microsoft is essentially downgrading its Xbox brand into being Steam Deck/Machines but worse for a console buyer.

They're reducing their presence in many regions, they're likely gonna have to hike the price of HW (how else is Asus etc gonna get paid?) and they will likely get drastically reduced ports from 3P companies, everything about this equation is getting worse for the core Xbox buyer, the guy who plays games and doesn't pay attention to what forums or Twitter say.


This is the exact calculus Microsoft wants to push Valve into.. "Why bother with SteamOS when we can grow on this new hybrid OS initiative instead and count the money?"

Valve is likely seeing this for what it is and probably doubling down on SteamOS.


I really like what I see here, can you link me to a tutorial (and tell me what skin this is because it looks fucking gorgeous)?


Anyone who has a passing interest in how the gaming business works is utterly baffled at what MS management is doing.

We're witnessing brand self-immolation in front of our eyes.

Valve does't really care if you use windows or steamos. Then just don't want windows to limit what they can do. So when windows sucks for a handheld, valve does it themselves with steamos. Now, oops pc gamers have an option for once in their lives. There's no stronger motivator for ms than the threat of an option other than them. So now ms does for valve what they wanted and valve is no longer limited in that way. Valve was more or less showing everyone that it can be done. But no matter which os a user chooses, they're probably just going to use steam anyhow.

 

[Topher]

Pretty much what I expected to be honest.

How is any of this "pretty clear"? We know what Switch is. We don't know whatever this thing MS is making is. Destin was less stupid when he worked for IGN. He has devolved into a Colt Eastwood wannabe.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

I just launched an EA game on my steam deck. Take that EA fanboys!!!

 

[Fess]

The end.

That's for purchasing games, I mentioned Playnite because it needs to be a launcher too. Think console, but on PC, and should hold games from every launcher and store, your complete games library, in one spot and with a big screen mode. Perfection!

 

[Fess]

I really like what I see here, can you link me to a tutorial (and tell me what skin this is because it looks fucking gorgeous)?

It's not too difficult, just go here:

Playnite - video game library manager

Video game library manager with one simple goal: To provide a unified interface for all of your games.

playnite.link

Install.
Go into settings and setup your launcher integration and log in to your launcher accounts. That bit can take some time.

I had to set up a private API key for Steam, couldn't get the account authorized, default settings didn't work. There is talk about it here:


Then start fullscreen mode. BAM!

I went with the default skin but set it to horizontal in the layout settings menu (one pic is vertical, the one showing three rows).

Can change the size of game boxes to your liking. I went fairly big, Switch style menu.

There is a choice to add background images too, you can choose them yourself if they don't show up. I had to add them, plus the box art, manually on Gamepass games. Generally I dislike manual operations but it was fairly easy, Playnite have a search the web function that is awesome.

Go try it! Ask if you want specific help on anything when you get there.

 

[Astray]

Valve does't really care if you use windows or steamos. Then just don't want windows to limit what they can do. So when windows sucks for a handheld, valve does it themselves with steamos. Now, oops pc gamers have an option for once in their lives. There's no stronger motivator for ms than the threat of an option other than them. So now ms does for valve what they wanted and valve is no longer limited in that way. Valve was more or less showing everyone that it can be done. But no matter which os a user chooses, they're probably just going to use steam anyhow.

Windows doesn't monetize them directly so it's not an issue now, but remember that having %95 of their revenue tied up with Windows users means that their fate is in many ways up to MS.

Remember how Microsoft wanted to move everything to UWP? Gabe clearly does, which is why he kept pushing Linux gaming even after the failure of Steam Machines.

It's not too difficult, just go here:

Playnite - video game library manager

Video game library manager with one simple goal: To provide a unified interface for all of your games.

playnite.link

Install.
Go into settings and setup your launcher integration and log in to your launcher accounts. That bit can take some time.

I had to set up a private API key for Steam, couldn't get the account authorized, default settings didn't work. There is talk about it here:


Then start fullscreen mode. BAM!

I went with the default skin but set it to horizontal in the layout settings menu (one pic is vertical, the one showing three rows).

Can change the size of game boxes to your liking. I went fairly big, Switch style menu.

There is a choice to add background images too, you can choose them yourself if they don't show up. I had to add them, plus the box art, manually on Gamepass games. Generally I dislike manual operations but it was fairly easy, Playnite have a search the web function that is awesome.

Go try it! Ask if you want specific help on anything when you get there.

Excellent. Thanks a lot.

 

[GHG]

How is any of this "pretty clear". We know what Switch is. We don't know whatever this thing MS is making is. Destin was less stupid when he worked for IGN. He has devolved into a Colt Eastwood wannabe.

I guess that's what he wanted when he quit his job just because he had that pointless softball Phil Spencer interview lined up.

But what's clear here is that all of these guys in unison are saying their next "console" will follow the blueprint of the Xbox ROG Ally, while hoping they get the Xbox console BC side of things figured out with AMD.

That's for purchasing games, I mentioned Playnite because it needs to be a launcher too. Think console, but on PC, and should hold games from every launcher and store, your complete games library, in one spot and with a big screen mode. Perfection!

So as I've displayed, if you can purchase games from a large variety of sources, how exactly is that a "walled garden"?

Regardless of what front end unified launcher you ultimately decide to use (playnite/bigbox/Gog galaxy/etc), you'll still need to purchase games via the respective various storefronts (or via keyshops to be redeemed).

 

[Crayon]

Windows doesn't monetize them directly so it's not an issue now, but remember that having %95 of their revenue tied up with Windows users means that their fate is in many ways up to MS.

Remember how Microsoft wanted to move everything to UWP? Gabe clearly does, which is why he kept pushing Linux gaming even after the failure of Steam Machines.


Excellent. Thanks a lot.

That's right- windows 8/s and uwp were probably a lot of motivation for steam os. But remember at the same time there was the 'steam universe' initiative. Idk if you heard of that,but it was sort of encapsulating home streaming, steam input, and bpm. Steam machines (in theory, I don't think they ever realSteamos and the deck could be considered extensions of that.

The point of it was extending the appeal of pc gaming to catch people around the edges and push the limits of pc to a little further from the desk.

So think of it this way- valve's motivation for steamos is not to take over windows. It's just to make for themselves what they want in an os. To not depend on MS to do what valve wants. That's simply what it seems to take to get ms to do the features the want. Because MS is a follower not a leader. Valve is being the leader. But if ms follows, then valve got what they wanted in the first place: for windows to be better at some stuff.

The hidden movement is that steamos will still be developed. Probably stay ahead because of that leadership role. And if ms tried to enshitify steam on windows, it only makes steamos better in comparison.

 

[Fess]

So as I've displayed, if you can purchase games from a large variety of sources, how exactly is that a "walled garden"?

Regardless of what front end unified launcher you ultimately decide to use (playnite/bigbox/Gog galaxy/etc), you'll still need to purchase games via the respective various storefronts (or via keyshops to be redeemed).

What you first said wasn't that you would buy games from multiple sources but that the best scenario would be if all games would exist on all storefronts. I think the second scenario kinda kill the first.

When there is no longer any reason for people to ever go elsewhere than their favorite place is when the rest will seem irrelevant and vanish.

One place to do it all is an incredibly appealing scenario. It's what we all want. The convenience. I feel it right now when using Playnite.

But it's a slippery slope the whole thing. Convenience to have it all at one spot. But also the competitiveness of having multiple healthy storefronts. To not end up with decreased competition and increased prices etc.
I have no well-thoughtout solution to suggest right now. Maybe gg.deals as a tab on Playnite or something like that.

 

[GHG]

What you first said wasn't that you would buy games from multiple sources but that the best scenario would be if all games would exist on all storefronts. I think the second scenario kinda kill the first.

Yes, and nothing that I've subsequently said invalidates that.

When there is no longer any reason for people to ever go elsewhere than their favorite place is when the rest will seem irrelevant and vanish.

By saying this it's like you're fundamentally misunderstanding how the entire PC gaming ecosystem works. 3rd party key stores are an option for pretty much all of the major PC gaming launchers. That in itself means that people are in fact going to a wide range of places to purchase their games and DLC.

That is why the absense of a physical market for PC gaming is not a big deal, it's actually very difficult for any one publisher or vendor to exert price control, and if they do they will suffer due to the competitive nature of the ecosystem as a whole.

Nowhere is going to "vanish" when the overhead for maintaining these stores is minimal and the margins for selling games on them are healthy.

One place to do it all is an incredibly appealing scenario. It's what we all want. The convenience. I feel it right now when using Playnite.

Speak for yourself. Not sure how you go from complaining about some fabricated PC gaming walled garden to then saying thats what you want.

Once you have Playnite installed I'm not sure what more you need. At that point you can purchase all your game keys from the cheapest available vendors on gg.deals and redeem them. Regardless of which underlying store those keys are for, they will all appear in your Playnite library.

 

[reinking]

Destin is now pushing the BS that you can play PlayStation games on 'Xbox'

Thing one: That is not a PlayStation game. That is a PlayStation studios published PC game. That being said, yes, a former PS exclusive game that came to PC can be played through Steam/Windows.

Thing two: That is not an Xbox. That is a ROG Ally with Xbox branding and a version of Windows. It has more to do with "Xbox" becoming a PC than it does PlayStation coming to Xbox. It is cool but not the victory that someone like Destin is claiming.

 

[poppabk]

Thing one: That is not a PlayStation game. That is a PlayStation studios published PC game. That being said, yes, a former PS exclusive game that came to PC can be played through Steam/Windows.

Thing two: That is not an Xbox. That is a ROG Ally with Xbox branding and a version of Windows. It has more to do with "Xbox" becoming a PC than it does PlayStation coming to Xbox. It is cool but not the victory that someone like Destin is claiming.

They have a term for that 'pyrrhic victory'

 

[Fess]

Speak for yourself. Not sure how you go from complaining about some fabricated PC gaming walled garden to then saying thats what you want.

Once you have Playnite installed I'm not sure what more you need.

No I don't want a walled garden you're missing my point completely if that's how you read it.

What I want is a combined UI for the living room where I can do everything through a controller while there is still healthy competitivity between stores to keep pricing in check.

Zero walls, no added friction toward anything and no "home store" if you understand what I mean. Completely open, just combined in a neat big screen UI. Upside of console gaming plus upside of PC gaming. Perfect.

In such a scenario I don't want to go to an outside website to buy a key and manually add into a launcher. Everything needs to be doable within the big screen UI, purchasing, installing, playing, controller in hand, all the data in one spot. Like on console. But on PC and without any walls.

 

[drganon]

Destin is now pushing the BS that you can play PlayStation games on 'Xbox'

Destin is literally turning into this :

 

[SamuraiEdge]

Destin is literally turning into this :

Pretty much lol, the whole handheld context is a nothing burger.

 

[Gamezone]

I mean if they really want to then they can lol.

This idea that companies just can't control where their games end up is dumb because licensing agreements exist.

By that logic, there should be nothing standing in the way of Xbox making all XB and XB360 games backwards compatible and even enabling PC support for all of them, but here we are and they didn't do it for a reason.


Yep that too. Steam and PS are making dough here doing nothing while their big competitor acts like this is a great achievement lol.

Also is it really effective marketing for Xbox when the vast majority of people either bought these games on PS or on Steam already? We've already seen what the effect of marketing to the die-hards does this gen.

The only people who didnt buy these games are the die-hard Xbox crowd and now Sony got their money without giving Microsoft one red cent.

I genuinely don't see the downside for Sony here, maybe for online console warriors yes, but all players involved have shown that they don't really care for their opinions when it really comes down to it.

I'm pretty sure Sony can't block us from making a .exe shortcut on anything that is on PC, that's including the Xbox app. But as I said, it's just a shortcut. No official ties to the Xbox app at all, really.

 

[Fess]

More testing done… Long post, sorry

The Xbox App is good for Gamepass games, everything works well, but it's awful for Steam games tbh. Games are added automatically, which is good, but no external data is pulled in, literally nothing. No playtime etc, no game descriptions, no achievements, no screens, nothing. The box art is super low res, better than nothing I guess but I couldn't find out how to change it. Probably need to swap out files manually. Amateur hour on display on that.

However, there is a link to Steam within the game detail view. Means that you can go over to Steam big picture to get your data and details. But that's a janky solution.

You can "Alt + Tab" between Xbox App fullscreen and Steam big picture through Xbox+Start but the apps seem to clash on button presses, you probably need to unbind the Xbox button from Steam to remove some jank on that. They said that you'll swap apps on the ROG Ally by holding the Xbox button. Maybe that works better but that turns off the controller when on a regular PC so they need to juggle multiple input scenarios. Let's see how that goes.

In the end, for me it all falls flat in the current iteration. It's a beta and it's possible it becomes better, the ROG Ally Windows version will push this strategy forward I guess. But as it is right now nobody should hype this.
The social media people just want clicks. It's not worth any consideration to use in it's current version. Just use Playnite unless you're 99% on Gamepass. And use Steam big picture mode if you're 99% on Steam.

 

[Astray]

That's right- windows 8/s and uwp were probably a lot of motivation for steam os. But remember at the same time there was the 'steam universe' initiative. Idk if you heard of that,but it was sort of encapsulating home streaming, steam input, and bpm. Steam machines (in theory, I don't think they ever realSteamos and the deck could be considered extensions of that.

The point of it was extending the appeal of pc gaming to catch people around the edges and push the limits of pc to a little further from the desk.

So think of it this way- valve's motivation for steamos is not to take over windows. It's just to make for themselves what they want in an os. To not depend on MS to do what valve wants. That's simply what it seems to take to get ms to do the features the want. Because MS is a follower not a leader. Valve is being the leader. But if ms follows, then valve got what they wanted in the first place: for windows to be better at some stuff.

The hidden movement is that steamos will still be developed. Probably stay ahead because of that leadership role. And if ms tried to enshitify steam on windows, it only makes steamos better in comparison.

If MS tries to enshittify Steam on Windows then most PC gamers will have to grin and bear it because rn Linux gaming is still young-ish and undeveloped (consider that %90 of PC gamers have Nvidia GPUs, which don't play completely nice with Linux afaik).

Meanwhile they will be pushing their store as the best way to play things like COD/ES6 etc.

Microsoft are a behemoth beyond whatever Valve had to deal with before. EGS has one or two big games, Microsoft has like 15 now.

I'm pretty sure Sony can't block us from making a .exe shortcut on anything that is on PC, that's including the Xbox app. But as I said, it's just a shortcut. No official ties to the Xbox app at all, really.

Depends on how their licensing terms with Steam work.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

The goal ultimately is to streamline the pc experience. If someday Microsoft sells something called an Xbox, that can play Steam games including PlayStation exclusives.. you as an enthusiast may understand that it's actually a pc..

But will your average consumer? They will see an Xbox, that boots into a console interface.. and can play god of war.

You get to a point where.. if it walks like an Xbox, talks like an Xbox.. it's an Xbox.

Steam has features that Xbox does not. The community, the workshop.

If nobody gave a shit about those things and only cared about the price Epic would have actually made it.

 

[GHG]

No I don't want a walled garden you're missing my point completely if that's how you read it.

What I want is a combined UI for the living room where I can do everything through a controller while there is still healthy competitivity between stores to keep pricing in check.

Zero walls, no added friction toward anything and no "home store" if you understand what I mean. Completely open, just combined in a neat big screen UI. Upside of console gaming plus upside of PC gaming. Perfect.

In such a scenario I don't want to go to an outside website to buy a key and manually add into a launcher. Everything needs to be doable within the big screen UI, purchasing, installing, playing, controller in hand, all the data in one spot. Like on console. But on PC and without any walls.

Everything your asking for already exists minus the purchasing side.

But the request for the purchasing side of the equation to also be included makes no sense. Something like Playnite isn't going to handle payment processing, it's the individual vendors or storefronts who you will ultimately end up purchasing from who will handle it. So all Playnite can do is send you to a web page that is run by whoever you're purchasing from, at which point you'll need a mouse and keyboard.

This determination to do purchases via your controller on a screen makes no sense, you can just sit there with your phone on gg.deals to do your purchases and/or redeem your keys and they will automatically appear on your big screen via Playnite on the next refresh.

 

[Fess]

Everything your asking for already exists minus the purchasing side.

But the request for the purchasing side of the equation to also be included makes no sense. Something like Playnite isn't going to handle payment processing, it's the individual vendors or storefronts who you will ultimately end up purchasing from who will handle it. So all Playnite can do is send you to a web page that is run by whoever you're purchasing from, at which point you'll need a mouse and keyboard.

This determination to do purchases via your controller on a screen makes no sense, you can just sit there with your phone on gg.deals to do your purchases and/or redeem your keys and they will automatically appear on your big screen via Playnite on the next refresh.

We can agree to disagree on this. The purchase side is as important as anything else for me. For a living room scenario I definitely want to be able to scroll through a store and purchase directly on the TV. Might be dinosaur thinking but I still want it.

Playnite doesn't have to handle the actual purchase, as long as you're logged into the accounts and Windows play nice and don't remove controller input it should be doable to get what I want.

I tried installing a Gamepass game through Playnite this morning, that pushed me into a storefront dialogue but it worked fairly well, slight sense of jank but no mouse pointer needed at least. It even shows "Installing" in Playnite during the install which was a surprise. Then changes to Play when done. Smooth. Quite impressive considering the whole progress is happening in the back in another app. Takes Gamepass to new heights since the whole library is all there right on the TV. Needs a controller-only category though…

 

[GHG]

Playnite doesn't have to handle the actual purchase, as long as you're logged into the accounts and Windows play nice and don't remove controller input it should be doable to get what I want.

Playnite (or similar) have no power to control the payment/transaction pages that you'd ultimately end up on via the various storefronts/launchers that you'd ultimately be exposed to when making payments.

 

[Fess]

Playnite (or similar) have no power to control the payment/transaction pages that you'd ultimately end up on via the various storefronts/launchers that you'd ultimately be exposed to when making payments.

I'll experiment more but in Playnite for Xbox games it seems to use what you've already set it to in your MS account, I just moved down to a purchase/install button, no bigger issues.

I could see Steam purchases working in similar ways if you have it set to big screen mode. As long as there is no mouse pointer needed it should be fine. But there is currently no way to scroll through Steam games you don't own through Playnite.
Full screen Xbox App should give you a menu traversal into Steam store through game details and the view on Steam button, worth a try for science.
And GeForce Now, where sales were shown in the UI, should work too but haven't tried it.

Epic and GOG etc without big screen modes. Hmm. That'll be difficult I think. There is a way to move the mouse pointer with the controller by holding down the Xbox button… But default settings for that is also to turn off the controller lol
Maybe a Dualsense controller would solve it all through the touch pad.

 

[poppabk]

We can agree to disagree on this. The purchase side is as important as anything else for me. For a living room scenario I definitely want to be able to scroll through a store and purchase directly on the TV. Might be dinosaur thinking but I still want it.

I haven't purchased a game directly through any storefront on PC in a long time. A phone is just a much nicer experience considering all the scrolling thats usually involved. Do console players really buy games directly on their console?

 

[GHG]

I'll experiment more but in Playnite for Xbox games it seems to use what you've already set it to in your MS account, I just moved down to a purchase/install button, no bigger issues.

I could see Steam purchases working in similar ways if you have it set to big screen mode. As long as there is no mouse pointer needed it should be fine. But there is currently no way to scroll through Steam games you don't own through Playnite.
Full screen Xbox App should give you a menu traversal into Steam store through game details and the view on Steam button, worth a try for science.
And GeForce Now, where sales were shown in the UI, should work too but haven't tried it.

Epic and GOG etc without big screen modes. Hmm. That'll be difficult I think. There is a way to move the mouse pointer with the controller by holding down the Xbox button… But default settings for that is also to turn off the controller lol
Maybe a Dualsense controller would solve it all through the touch pad.

I don't understand this great desire to purchase things using a controller.

You can literally sit there and make your transactions (purchases/key redeemtions) using your phone and they will automatically appear in your Playnite library.

Like poppabk mentioned above, even if I'm buying games directly on Steam or PSN I'll just use my phone instead. It's far more secure.

 

[Crayon]

If MS tries to enshittify Steam on Windows then most PC gamers will have to grin and bear it because rn Linux gaming is still young-ish and undeveloped (consider that %90 of PC gamers have Nvidia GPUs, which don't play completely nice with Linux afaik).

Meanwhile they will be pushing their store as the best way to play things like COD/ES6 etc.

Microsoft are a behemoth beyond whatever Valve had to deal with before. EGS has one or two big games, Microsoft has like 15 now.


Depends on how their licensing terms with Steam work.

Not a huge number would have to switch to Linux. Or any, really. The thing is it would be very difficult for ms to hide it now that there's something to compare to.

 

[Fess]

I haven't purchased a game directly through any storefront on PC in a long time. A phone is just a much nicer experience considering all the scrolling thats usually involved. Do console players really buy games directly on their console?

Depends on the launcher, for Steam I do both, sometimes on the phone, sometimes on the launcher/store. For Epic I just use the phone and scoop up the free games. Either way not even having access to a store in the UI seems odd to me. Old fashioned or not for me it needs to be there.
And for Gamepass I literally never use the phone, it's 100% a browse and play thing on the actual device. But that's doable through Playnite so no problem there.

 

[RickMasters]

What console? Xbox Series X won't be doing it.

Their next console…. Duh!

 

[mayham2199]

I don't understand this great desire to purchase things using a controller.

You can literally sit there and make your transactions (purchases/key redeemtions) using your phone and they will automatically appear in your Playnite library.

Like poppabk mentioned above, even if I'm buying games directly on Steam or PSN I'll just use my phone instead. It's far more secure.

Yea when I had Playnite setup this is what I did as well. Then I just got rid of Playnite and realized it's just easier to be on Steam only since I had a steamdeck as well.

 

[Sephiran]

That seems like it would also map to steam being store b instead of MS. Except that steam is very successful. This is just a link to steam, after all. Only now it's being taken advantage of for marketing. You'll be hearing that Sony games are 'on xbox's for a long time and it will be kinda-sorta true.

To illustrate how much of a nothing burger this is: For 3 years every Steam Deck owner has been able to play every Switch game for free on the Steam Deck. This situation led to the Switch and its games still selling massive numbers. It doesn't matter at all if niche devices are able to play console games even for free.

 

[dgrdsv]

Let's see how that goes.

Prediction: it will go badly as in they won't give a fuck.
Basically how everything which MS does with PC gaming goes since about 1995.

 

[Fess]

Prediction: it will go badly as in they won't give a fuck.
Basically how everything which MS does with PC gaming goes since about 1995.

They seem more focused than ever on PC gaming now. Obviously because they've killed off their console but from a PC gamer perspective I'm cautiously optimistic.

But there are lots of work to do and they need to listen carefully to the community. The insider version of Xbox App is not good at all.

Took some screens of Playnite, Xbox App, Steam this morning. Zoom in on the Xbox App and Stellar Blade for example, this how it is, no fiddling with anything… Not good enough!

 

[Gamezone]

Just tried this, and the app library looked like horrendous dog shot.

 

[Baemono]

How is any of this "pretty clear"? We know what Switch is. We don't know whatever this thing MS is making is. Destin was less stupid when he worked for IGN. He has devolved into a Colt Eastwood wannabe.

The funny part is when he says something like « I am not 100% sure with this Xbox news » they call him an Xbox hater

 

[Fess]

Just tried this, and the app library looked like horrendous dog shot.

Pixelated library box art?
Yeah they can't do an official launch like this and expect a positive reception. It's embarrassing that they've even let people try it out through the insider app. It wasn't ready to be shown outside the office.

And I don't have a clue how to change the box art either, been looking through all settings, adding the games is all automated which is good but all the art looks super lowres. The Horizon games don't have any box art at all, shows a broken image link icon. Elden Ring shows the Easy anti cheat blue bear. Sigh.

I've tried to find the files in some folder but no luck and can't find anyone talking about it. I wish the social media people hyping this would stop for a second and highlight flaws too so things can improve.