NEW YORK: Microsoft is planning to change the software landscape with Windows 10, and one of the main focal points of the upcoming operating system is that Microsoft has plans to focus on gaming this time around and the Xbox is going to play a part in it all.
Double Jump recently published a piece that sets up the excitement for the launch of Windows 10. They explain how on January 21st, head of the Xbox brand, Phil Spencer, will unveil some exciting new content for the long-running platform and introduce PC gamers to some long-awaited attention.
According to Spencer…
“For the Xbox team, this is the beginning of our discussion with fans about the work that we’re doing to bring gaming to the Windows 10 operating system,”… “It’s really nice to finally get to be able to talk about this. We’ll continue the conversation throughout the year.”
This glimmer of hope that a bridge between Windows gaming and Xbox gaming has stirred the pot of interest once more. Chatter and talk about possibly playing Xbox games on Windows began bubbling up in hardcore gaming discussions, especially after a new Xbox app was leaked for Windows 10.
This isn’t the first time these talks have cropped up, though, and this isn’t the first time Microsoft has sought to bridge to the two platforms. Originally Microsoft tried with Windows Vista and the OG Xbox and Xbox 360. They first ported over Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the latter of which was a Windows Vista OS exclusive. These titles were followed by games like Viva Pinata and even Gears of War. They were part of Microsoft’s initiative called Games for Windows Live.
Unfortunately, Games for Windows Live didn’t work out. However, Microsoft is showing a renewed interest in the PC gaming and this makes fans question if Xbox games will be playable at some point on Windows?
Well, as Spencer mentioned… the company will be making announcements throughout the year regarding their new gaming initiative for Windows 10, so even if nothing comes out of the January 21st announcement, it doesn’t mean they may not have something to reveal later in the year.
Of course, the most obvious question in all of this is: how viable is it for Microsoft to make Xbox games compatible with an OS like Windows 10? Well, from a purely technological point of view, running Xbox One games natively on a mid-ranged PC wouldn’t be a problem, hardware wise, since the core architecture is x86 based. A lot of the Xbox One’s technology is based on mid-range PC tech from 2013 save for the SRAM and 8GB of RAM. But, as mentioned, the games would have to be able to run natively in Windows 10 and not through any kind of virtual software or hardware emulation due to the amount of system resources required for emulation.
Also, given that Xbox One games are designed for x86 architecture, it makes it easier than ever to port games over compared to the Xbox 360, which was PowerPC based. Standard PCs run x86 hardware, so the instruction sets are mostly the same.
