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General discussion (archive)The Microsoft Store: OH NOES?!!!!!!!(20 posts)(20 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 12, 2009
I love Microsoft. But the idea of their fancy retail stores scares me. Apple Stores? OK. Sony Style? Pretty cool. But Microsoft selling retail copies of Windows Server in a store on 5th Avenue is not a good idea altogether. Read it here.
The jokes about BSOD stores and Clippy as the store assistants begins now.
Posted February 13, 2009
This doesn't affect me to the point where I could make jokes about it, Michael.
Sorry :-(
Posted February 13, 2009
I've never been into an apple store, we have one in town but I try to avoid looking in lest people think I'm gay or know nothing about computers. The brief glance with my peripheral vision showed me a shop with no variety. Hardly seems worth the effort to have another.
Then again, they could make it a shop where you could have a good test of everything, check out 360 games or peripherals, have a good demo of vista, win 7 or server 08. That might make it worth the investment. Hell even if they had the ability to sell microsoft points by the 100 it'd be a new and welcome addition. I only need 100 points to get Lost & the Damned next week but noooo, I have to buy 500 and then have 400 spare...
Posted February 13, 2009
This is a rather strange announcement. Retail stores already act like Microsoft stores as such, but then again the idea has certainly been a success for Apple (albeit due in no small part to the vanity and hubris of a disturbing percentage of its "community"). It's also going to be nicely timed with the launch of Windows 7 to help promote the new OS to potential buyers (especially those who have arbitrarily jumped on the "Vista sucks" bandwagon).
A while back Microsoft organised Games for Windows kiosks in some stores (I don't know if this is still the case), so the Microsoft store will probably take this to the next level with Crysis Wars or the like running at beyond-HD resolutions on colossal widescreen displays alongside HDTVs with the latest 360 games. I expect they'll also have a Media Center PC or two to demonstrate the entirely new Play To feature and the improvements to Media Center. I wouldn't be surprised if they even managed to throw in a multi-touch table thing for no adequately explained reason (running Windows 7, of course).
If nothing else, the allure of trying the latest 360 games for free is sure to bring foot traffic.
Posted February 13, 2009
The initial laughable idea drops away fast when you take in all the areas they cover.
I'd visit one just to mess around with Surface, and some of the other tech Microsoft does. If they have open and free kiosks for a lot of their stuff for us to demo and use with MS products we have purchased, I can see it working well enough for them
Posted February 13, 2009
Oh I SO want Surface to be cheap and available quickly. Imagine how freakin awesome it'd be running an RTS via a massive touchscreen!
Theres one downside to the 360 demo idea though, they'd probably not be able to advertise some of the major sellers so openly. Seeing Marcus and Dom chainsawing Locust into bite size pieces is awesome and all but its not something they could really display where kids could see it, they'd probably have to have a partitioned area to stop the screeching 'think of the children' people from protesting. I mean it's not like seeing a chainsaw massacre is harmful to a deeloping mind or anything...
Maybe they could incorporate a net cafe so you could use win7 & IE8 for the normal tasks you'd do every day and see the massive benefit in things that are 1 larger than the previous version (worked in Spinal Tap).
Post edited February 13, 2009 by Aliasalpha
Posted February 13, 2009
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Aliasalpha: Oh I SO want Surface to be cheap and available quickly. Imagine how freakin awesome it'd be running an RTS via a massive touchscreen!

It would be hard to do, since the Surface thing is 180 degrees flat, making it hard to play a proper game, making it more suited to casual games of poker while ordering martinis in the bar, rather than a kickass DoTA machine. If it had an easel, I think it would be better. I have a Wacom tablet that I sometimes use for RTSes, allowing my to "draw" the squares and such. That's the closest I can think of.
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Arkose: This is a rather strange announcement. Retail stores already act like Microsoft stores as such, but then again the idea has certainly been a success for Apple (albeit due in no small part to the vanity and hubris of a disturbing percentage of its "community"). It's also going to be nicely timed with the launch of Windows 7 to help promote the new OS to potential buyers (especially those who have arbitrarily jumped on the "Vista sucks" bandwagon).
A while back Microsoft organised Games for Windows kiosks in some stores (I don't know if this is still the case), so the Microsoft store will probably take this to the next level with Crysis Wars or the like running at beyond-HD resolutions on colossal widescreen displays alongside HDTVs with the latest 360 games. I expect they'll also have a Media Center PC or two to demonstrate the entirely new Play To feature and the improvements to Media Center. I wouldn't be surprised if they even managed to throw in a multi-touch table thing for no adequately explained reason (running Windows 7, of course).
If nothing else, the allure of trying the latest 360 games for free is sure to bring foot traffic.

Yes, I've read about the kiosks in some old issues of PC Gamer, but I've never seen one in my life.
Post edited February 13, 2009 by michaelleung
Posted February 13, 2009
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Aliasalpha: Oh I SO want Surface to be cheap and available quickly. Imagine how freakin awesome it'd be running an RTS via a massive touchscreen!
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michaelleung: It would be hard to do, since the Surface thing is 180 degrees flat, making it hard to play a proper game, making it more suited to casual games of poker while ordering martinis in the bar, rather than a kickass DoTA machine. If it had an easel, I think it would be better. I have a Wacom tablet that I sometimes use for RTSes, allowing my to "draw" the squares and such. That's the closest I can think of.

You'd be leaning over it certainly but that'd just make it even more like playing warhammer 40k
Posted February 13, 2009
You also don't have to keep it horizontal and very large. A decent base/stand for the Surface table, that can be set at angles and mounted on the wall would work. As would a reduced size version.
I agree, RTS games would be awesome on the thing. I've taken to using a drawing-tablet (A Wacom Graphire.3 for those playing at home), and the benefits over a mouse shine in some cases. A multi-touch screen (and games that support multi-touch) is just itching to be released.
Posted February 13, 2009
Something the size of those freestanding whiteboards that have a pivot in the middle would be perfect. I've used an electronic whiteboard before but it was primitive and crappy despite being fucking expensive (to be honest, I reckon my college was ripped off with it)
Posted February 13, 2009
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Ois: A multi-touch screen (and games that support multi-touch) is just itching to be released.

A company was demoing a multi-touch display at the last CES (Samsung, was it? I forget); with multi-touch support built into Windows 7 you can bet there will be several on the market in time for its launch. The only barrier will be how many people actually buy such displays; while the API will be simple to implement, developers just won't bother if nobody owns one. If nothing else, multi-touch will be a success in the tablet PC market.
EDIT: oh, it was indeed Samsung, with 50 inches of awesome.
Post edited February 13, 2009 by Arkose
Posted February 13, 2009
Microsoft will conquer the world oh yes. :S
Posted February 13, 2009
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Arkose: A company was demoing a multi-touch display at the last CES (Samsung, was it? I forget); with multi-touch support built into Windows 7 you can bet there will be several on the market in time for its launch. The only barrier will be how many people actually buy such displays; while the API will be simple to implement, developers just won't bother if nobody owns one. If nothing else, multi-touch will be a success in the tablet PC market.

Once things like that are as comparatively inexpensive and available as LCD TVs, we might get support for it because enough people would have them to make it worth attempting to add the controls. Even if it could just be emulating 2 mice, it'd be interesting to try.
The interface that the general is using in the Endwar trailer is the exact type of control system I'm envisioning and getting vaguely horny at the thought of (I REALLY like technology...)
Post edited February 13, 2009 by Aliasalpha
Posted February 13, 2009
Sounds like a good idea that'll allow them to showcase their wide range of products. It's going to be pretty hard though to have a store without walls.
Posted February 13, 2009
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michaelleung: It would be hard to do, since the Surface thing is 180 degrees flat, making it hard to play a proper game, making it more suited to casual games of poker while ordering martinis in the bar, rather than a kickass DoTA machine. If it had an easel, I think it would be better. I have a Wacom tablet that I sometimes use for RTSes, allowing my to "draw" the squares and such. That's the closest I can think of.
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Aliasalpha: You'd be leaning over it certainly but that'd just make it even more like playing warhammer 40k

I'm not sure that would be the best posture for your back...
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General discussion (archive)The Microsoft Store: OH NOES?!!!!!!!(20 posts)(20 posts)
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