Kevin Unangst, Director for Games for Windows, made a pretty cool little announcement today over on the Gamerscore Blog regarding Games for Windows - LIVE.  Games for Windows - LIVE now offers completely free multiplayer capabilities even when playing in cross-platform games with Xbox 360 users! Kevin also tells us that not only will new games like Dawn of War 2 and Fallout 3 under Games for Windows - LIVE have free multiplayer awesomeness - so will existing games under Games for Windows - LIVE such as Shadownrun, Gears of War, and Halo 2. I wrote about Halo 2 on Windows Vista here last May.  

Another tidbit that Kevin revealed (and has certainly perked my interest!) is that they have announced that his fall they will be delivering a brand new marketplace for Games for Windows - LIVE. This Marketplace will be THE place to go to get content for all your Games for Windows - LIVE games. Expect to see some awesome content up on the new Marketplace for Games for Windows - LIVE including game demos and trailers!

In case you are not familiar with Games for Windows - LIVE

Michael Wolf over on the Gamerscore Blog announced on Wednesday two new Games for Windows Live titles hitting store shelves this week: Crysis and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men . Crysis received a score of 98 out of 100 by PC Gamer and utilizes Windows Vista’s Read More……(read more)

Michael Wolf over on the Gamerscore Blog announced on Wednesday two new Games for Windows Live titles hitting store shelves this week: Crysis and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Crysis received a score of 98 out of 100 by PC Gamer and utilizes Windows Vista’s DirectX 10 offering incredible graphics. And Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is a Games for Windows - LIVE title supporting online game play for up to 8 players with free List Play for Silver users and, for Gold members, enhanced matchmaking and online multiplayer achievements.

Gears of War was also released as a Games for Windows - LIVE title earlier this month. The Games for Windows - LIVE update I posted about in October was released as well. Michael Wolf has some information on the update including some specifics about getting the update installed with Gears of War. I was able to install the Games for Windows - LIVE update flawlessly through Shadowrun. You can also download it and install it separately.

Remember, games under the Games for Windows brand offer easy installation, widescreen capability, native 64-bit support, and take advantage

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This evening, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson revealed some tidbits on an upcoming update to Games for Windows - LIVE for the PC.

As you know, several games have launched under Games for Windows - LIVE that allow PC Games to tap into Xbox Live. Last May, I talked about my experience with Halo 2 for Windows Vista and a few months ago I also picked up Shadowrun. While Halo 2 for Windows Vista let me score achievements and add to my gamerscore - Shadowrun goes cross-platform by letting me play with gamers who are playing Shadowrun on their Xbox 360 consoles.

Like with Dashboard Updates to the Xbox 360, Microsoft can also update the Games for Windows - LIVE components within PC games such as Halo 2 for Windows Vista and Shadowrun that add functionality and bug fixes. Major Nelson highlights several changes coming with the 1.2 release:

• Support for offline Achievements (so you can add to your gamerscore when not connected to the internet).
• Ability to see if your friends are “joinable” in games.
• Additional UI features.

I look forward to seeing these improvements for the 1.2 release for Games for Windows - LIVE. Major Nelson says we can

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This evening, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson revealed some tidbits on an upcoming update to Games for Windows - LIVE for the PC. As you know, several games have launched under Games for Windows - LIVE that allow PC Games to tap into Xbox Live. Last May, I talked Read More……(read more)