Vista Version of Gaming Brings New Opportunities to CE Pros

One area that Vista will impact our CE installations is Vista's Games for Windows because of its new GUI (graphical user interface).

Yes, Mr. Console is going to be including Games for Windows in my Gaming Mini-camp. Here's why:

For starters, all the Games for Windows are grouped in a single area that can have parental controls applied to them.

Better yet, the system allows a home office computer running Vista to become another "gaming node" in a house. Later this year it will be possible to play games like Halo 2 and ShadowRun on Xbox LIVE against not only other Vista machines but Xbox consoles as well.

CORRECTION: In fact, Halo 2 will not have this capability, but ShadowRun and presumably others will. Sorry for the confusion.

The key thing that Microsoft has done is enabled all the Xbox 360 controllers, racing wheels, etc. to be used for Games for Windows in Vista. This includes all the wireless controllers as well.

So, when it comes to gaming, the combination of peripheral support and the new DirectX 10 drivers allows for a high degree of parity between out-of-the-box Vista PCs and the old soup-it-up-and-customize-it-to-the-max approach.

End users now only have to buy one set of controllers that they can use on their Xbox 360 and their Vista PC, although I would suggest having two sets.

Optimizing the Gaming 'Node'

To optimize the home office gaming node, I suggest that integrators utilize Gefen's new HD Mate Scaler that takes two component inputs and a computer DVI input and scales and switches the sources to a single computer DVI output.

In English, that means that an Xbox 360 and a PS3 could be used on the same monitor that already exists in the home office.

Now a hard-core gamer can do their business during the day on their Vista machine (sure, boss) and after work can play either through a console or a PC with Vista Games for Windows.

Just as parents have begun installing dedicated home theaters to free up their family rooms, I think the same urge to play someone's own games in their own space will drive this concept to be more widely adopted.



Andrew Finkel of Westminster, Md.-based Diversified Technologies is an integrator and avid gamer. He writes often about gaming for CE Pro, and teaches the Gaming Mini-Camp at the Electronic House Expo. Finkel has espoused console-based gaming (Xbox, PS3, Wii) for eternity, but he just may be coming around to PC-based entertainment, thanks to Games for Windows, Vista style.