In a curious move, Microsoft is adding support for Games on Demand (as seen with XBLIVE) to Games for Windows starting December 15th. This is curious for several reasons but I'd like to focus on two of the most obvious ones.

First up is Microsoft adding anything to Games for Windows. After neglecting and seemingly abandoning the Games for Windows initiative not long after it was announced, it's surprising to see an addition like this. Vista has a Games tab that led to your installed games but Games for Windows was always meant to be more than just a folder. You were supposed to get the Xbox LIVE experience but on a PC. Sadly, MS dropped the ball on this one and kept concentrating on the Xbox 360 and developers never really came around to reliably provide support for LIVE features.



Reason two is more common sense. Why would anyone want to download games from Microsoft's Games on Demand when there are plenty of well established direct game providers out there like Steam and Direct2Drive? Surely this is about money but does Microsoft truly believe they can jump into this market and make a splash based on an already failed service? It's going to be a hard sell that's for sure.

While I doubt this will be a successful service, the idea that MS is spending some time thinking about PC gamers can only be considered a positive. Anyway, the launch games are Resident Evil 5, Red Faction Guerrilla, Battlestations: Pacific and some arcade-like MS games such as Osmos and World of Goo.

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