There’s an interview with Peter Moore of Microsoft in the June issue of Games for Windows Magazine (GFW 7), and I wish there were a way to link to the actual interview, but alas… you’re just going to have to check out the magazine.

Anyway, about the interview with Peter Moore; specifically, the question “What message does it send when Halo 2 ships for Vista at roughly the same time that Halo 3 debuts on XBox 360?”

Peter responds with the statement that games like “Flight Sim”, “Age of Empires”, and “Zoo Tycoon” are the exclusive domain of the PC while the console gets games like Halo 3 because that’s where the game gets the most impact.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but isn’t this a cop out? Certainly, I understand where he’s coming from, but was that the best answer he could come up with? This guy is trying to promote a service that a lot of folks aren’t sure about and his best answer as to why PC gamers aren’t getting, at least, the same AAA titles is “because the focus isn’t there”? Um, isn’t that the point of Windows Live, to bring focus to the PC?
Sorry, Peter, but if you’re not giving us your best titles, why should we even care? What does Windows Live REALLY offer that would entice us, aside from what we already get from a lot of games that already run in Windows? Why do I have to feel like second class? I’ve been a Windows user a lot longer than an XBox owner… doesn’t that mean anything? Don’t we deserve a little more for our money?

He says the message isn’t supposed to be negative. Well, if that’s true then his message smacks of indifference, perhaps even arrogance. If I were Peter Moore I’m pretty sure I would have chosen a far different way of spinning the answer to that question. Also, I really wish the interviewer would have held his feet to the fire and demanded at least a better explanation of how they hope to make this service worth a damn when it’s obvious that they (Microsoft) aren’t interested in giving PC gamers the best experience possible with AAA titles to back it up. After upgrading to the latest hardware and installing Vista (against all better judgment) the best we get is Halo 2… three years after it debuted on XBox. Nice…

No, seriously, why couldn’t Halo 3 launch on both platforms? According to Peter Moore, because the PC version wouldn’t have sold as well. It was designed for the XBox 360 with the XBox 360 controller in mind as the primary interactive device and if that’s a problem for you, too bad. But definitely make sure you subscribe to Windows Live because UNO is cross platform and it’s one of the most popular game on Live… Really.