How standardized branding could help PC games
Shopping for console games is easy; you just look for the console branded bar on top of a standardized box that is easily noticed, pick it up, and buy. Shopping for PC games is a little more difficult (at least in terms of shelf browsing) due to no visual mark telling the consumer what hardware requirements the game has and a lack of standardized box sizes for easy browsing.
Now Microsoft hopes to change all that. In an interview with Next-Gen, Microsoft commented on the new use of the "Games for Windows" brand with standard box sizes and what it means for PC gaming. The report states that "Games for Windows" labeling is used as a set of guidelines that Microsoft requires publishers to meet for easy installation, upcoming Vista support, and ESRB parental controls. The hope is to have retailers push PC games alongside that of console and handheld games (read: more sales).
Said the interviewed Microsoft spokesman: "New game titles carrying the Games for Windows branding will support wide-screen gaming, can be launched from within Windows Media Center, will be compatible with 64 bit consumer versions of Windows and support the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (for games which enable gamepads)... We're going to be supporting Windows as a real gaming platform nowadays."
