Good Afternoon,
Currently, I play SF on my PS3 and X360. But I am thinking about playing SF on my PC. I see that there are two PC gaming services–Microsoft and Steam (3 if you count Onlive). Which service do you suggest? My xbox controller worked on Games on Windows but not on Steam. Have any suggestions on dealing with that? Thanks.
SF4 uses GFWL regardless. they’re all the same.
Wait, I am confused. When I go to steam, I can purchase sf4, ssf4 ae, and sfxt. I can purchase those same games on games for windows. On onlive, I can purchase ssfae. So what do you mean that sf4 uses GFWL? So, even if I buy it from steam it is as if I brought it from Microsoft? If that is the case, then why have steam? Thanks.
yeah you use games for windows live no matter what. have never played it on onlive, but I do own SF4 AE and SFxT through Steam and it goes through GFWL either way. I guess the only reason to buy them on Steam is if they’re on sale or you like the Steam client.
Well, I guess I should just windws GFWL. THanks.
Because Steam deals.
There’s also that Steam friends/community thing if you like to share your favorite cammy ass screenshots in the game hub
No, it’s not the same as you bought it from MS. It’s still in your Steam library like usual. It just uses GFWL for matchmaking.
Gee, I don’t know anyone who’s done that…Cough
But yeah, you need to go through GFWL matchmaking reguardless of where you purchase it.
Besides for the deals, I really do not understand what are the benefits of Steam over Games for Windows for offline gaming. I understand comparing PS3 and X360 because there are feature and hardware differences. But if you are playing it on the PC, I do not see the difference between buying a game from Steam, GFWL, or Amazon outside of sales.
There is no difference where you get it.
Steam / Boxed Copy are just ways of GETTING the game.
Once the game is installed and on your computer, “Games for Windows Live” is the service the game uses to connect to the servers. Regardless of how or where you bought it.
So buy wherever you want. I like Steam because I have other games on Steam already.
If given multiple choices, I can’t see why people WOULDN’T get the steam version of a game, since it’s clearly the superior and go-to gaming service for PCs.
the difference is mainly cloud saving. Eg imagine you playing a gfwl game, eg sf4, bioshock 2, virtua tennis 4, blazblue ct and suddenly the hdd is damaged and you have to reinstall windows from scratch. You have to forget about any progress you made. Eg trials, unlocked content, savegames, replays etc. Since gfwl encrypts that content, it is tied to one account, even on the same pc.
In sf4 you have to repeat them again. Some games have save game backup programms made by users, eg bioshock 2 (minerva’s den is not on steam version)
Only achievements and ranking points carry over in gfwl.
Main reason i avoid it in some games.
Steam carries over save games too.
Awesome, thank you petran79. I see cloud saving is very important. So is steam the only other option? I heard of Uplay and Origin but do those only play Ubisoft and EA games, respectively?
problem us that SFIV uses GFWL, so no matter what you use, save games are encrypted.
GFWL is for online play, encrypted user data, saving replays, achievements, etc
Steam is just for DRM. Eg Steam needs to be active for SFIV to run. So Steam friends need to be added to GFWL friends in order to play online.
In other games not using GFWL this is not the case. Eg in Sonic All Stars Racing, you can invite your Steam friends to play online sessions. In Skullgirls probably the same.
Regarding Xbox controller not working, it depends on the game really. You configure graphics, sound and controls from the game options found in each game.
If you have trouble with SFIV, I’d suggest using this:
configure the controller and copy the files in the SFIV exe directory. it should work.
The difference between Steam and Origin is simple: Steam is awesome; Origin is EA’s 10-years-too-late way of trying to muscle its way into digital content distribution using overhyped AAA titles.
Origin is gloried spyware. Stay far away from it
Steam is glorified DRM. Worth it if the discount is deep enough though.
what about onlive?
Onlive is a totally different type of service. Their servers provide the horsepower, then stream the game content to you. It would be totally horrible for fighting games, if they even offer them. If you are serious about gaming on a PC, these types of services aren’t really ready for prime time yet, IMO.
If you’re looking for a digital distribution service for your computer, Steam is the market leader.
OnLive, and the concept behind it in general, does not work for fighting games.