Here we go, what started as a few notes turned into a rant. I couldn't stop. If you're insane you should follow along. I was hoping GFW was good, so I got a bit annoyed..
Bullet-pointed for my pleasure
First the website
*Here's the archive.org version since they removed the original completely
http://web.archive.org/web/20101002040039/http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-US/index.aspx
*Original site www.gamesforwindows.com
First impressions of site
- Random. Is this where I buy stuff? It looks like it is
- But wait, there's a 'Download' button sitting in a mess of graphics saying 'get the most out of your live games'. What does that mean? What IS the GFW Live client? Is it like steam? or a multiplayer thing just for Live tagged games? MSN?
- 'Deal of the week' design looks like a cheap late night commercial. EVERYTHING MUST GOOOO!!!
- The scrolling thumbnail thing is pointless, it just cycles through slightly bigger thumbnails
- Clicking one takes me to a product page with random graphics advertising GFW Live stuff again. Why?
- 'Buy now' right, that's clear I guess, but wait
- 'Games on Demand' in a random font and colour mix with a random clip-art icon
- So we've got 'Games on Demand. Launch Games for Windows Live to get Games on Demand.' also, why did the woodchuck chuck when the woodchuck could chuck wood? That is terrible writing and design. After all that I still have no clue what it means. Do I click it? What about 'buy now'? Isn't 'games on demand' just another way of saying 'download'??
- So... 'buy now' and the 'games on demand' stuff take me to the same page. Why?
- The 'LIVE! Games ON Demand' page
- Ok, so there's software involved.. So I CAN'T buy games off this site? Why even advertise and show product pages if I see all that in the steam like client?
- "Get Tinker for free and access Games on Demand with Games for Windows - LIVE."... WHAT is tinker and would you please stop saying 'Games ON Demand, Games for Windows LIVE'. That has to be the least catchy and overly committee designed tag line ever.
- Honestly, just looking at this page, this SINGLE page, has this, "Games for windows, Games, Live, about GFW, LIVE Games ON Demand, Games for Windows LIVE, access Games on Demand with Games for Windows LIVE, ..or Games for Windows LIVE account, download the free Games for Windows LIVE client, ..you can do with Games for Windows LIVE!, the XBOX LIVE terms, *LOGO* Games for Windows, msn games, LIVE terms"
- Look at that... I don't usually bitch but someone HAS to kidding with that right?
- I click the 'create gamer tag' MASSIVE button.
- err what happened? I'm in a totally and utterly different website with completely different graphics. I don't have an XBox so I've never been here
- Abort!
- I click 'download client' button
- Ah a page that has a clear layout... wait the download window popped up over the instructions. Shouldn't the instructions go on the previous page?
- Anyway, I'll download it I guess... ah, are we living in dos 8.3 days again? What is going on with the filename? How is a normal person meant to know what that is or find it later on? 'gfwlivesetupmin'??
- The instructions are wrongish anyway, you don't have to go to the start menu, because the app auto starts
- ah HAH. 'Tinker' is a game..
- Back to the main menu I go
- So I've got 'Games'. I click, the menu doesn't change to indicate what page I'm on and the graphics aren't lined up right and why am I here?
- Wait.. 'Games on demand' submenu popped up under Games. So Games is a button AND a pulldown.. which both do different things.. It doesn't popup on mouseover, only AFTER I click it.. I'm on Opera.. *Moves to Firefox to test* same *moves to ie9* woah, popups work on mouseover but they massively misaligned
- Oh god. It takes me to a Games ON Demand page with ANOTHER list of games in a totally different graphic design style that doesn't even fill the same vertical space as the last page. Different sized header and everything
- Another link to the download client page after a big unclear paragraph on what "Games for Windows - LIVE Games on Demand" actually is..
- 'LIVE' button
- Orange borders for some reason. Rambling description of what LIVE is. So it's like MSN with scores??
- :( ANOTHER list of games thumbnails in yet another graphic layout.
- Pulldown 'Join LIVE'
- D: the gamertag/download client page again
- Pulldown 'Get the client'
- DD: the same page AGAIN! Wait.. this time it's just the download button, no gamertag button..
- Pulldown 'Regions supported' I'm in Australia so I'd better check otherwise this is massive waste of time
- Hmm, different graphics again except this time the LIVE logo is MASSSIVEE. Yet another spiel about how great LIVE is. Why?
- Anyway 'view a comprehesi...' etc etc SHOW LIST would do..
- NO! Another different website... oh and it's totally broken "Ooops! What happened to this page?"
- 'Hardware' button. 'hardware'? Since when do MS do hardware? Ok understandable page although it takes me away from the GFW page. Open a tab. Also the links and 'Microsoft hardware' button takes me to the same pages.
- Pulldown 'hardware' and 'windows pc scout'
- Man, it's taken me to the same page as what was linked all over the main button page. Why have them at all?
- 'DirectX'. Why would a normal person click this? They don't know or care what DX11 is. Hide it until they need to know
- Doesn't have pulldowns, just when I was getting the hang of things ;)
- Flashes up 'You're being redirect...' cutoff
- Ok, standard DX11 advertis... no... NO, you CAN NOT be showing me ANOTHER list of game thumbs in *ANOTHER* graphic design?? Did someone go through every web template there is? Is this 1996? Where is the little 'under construction' digger gif?
- 'Forums' no pulldowns again
- Jeez, massive spiel again, just take me to them and whats with the clipart at the top? ANOTHER header style separate from the blank gray header
- Oh happy day. A COMPLETELY different designed page with totally different menus, graphics and layout
- Terrible forum software which makes it look at first glance to have only 100 posts
- The usual stuff that noone cares about (number of users etc) is separating the recents from the topics??
- I'm not going through this, needless to say a quick look at 'blogs' showed nasty windows icons of random sizes with unmasked backgrounds
- Oh Jesus Mary. I clicked the 'Games' menu here and it takes me back to the original games page.. ETC
- 'Community', hang on.. wasn't I just IN the community section? With people talking and blogging and stuff?
- It's getting insane now. ANOTHER bunch of games thumbnails. HOLD THE PRESS, you can't click on them!
- The 'visit forum' button again and another spiel about how great LIVE is?? Oh and the forums button is a different colour and style to the REAL forum button
- MORE stuff about how great GFW is
- Next pulldown is... 'forums'??
- I'm being punked aren't I, I'm on TV right now..
- 'About GFW' AND pulldown 'About games for windows'.. yes that's right, they go to the same page
- ANOTHER spiel about the endless virtues of GFW LIVE
- OTHER RANDOM STUFF
First impressions of App
- Nothing like the website in design or function. The buy section is nothing like the website at all. The screenshots page looks and works nothing like the webpage. Good start
- Expanding app, didn't expand content. Don't have an expand button if it doesn't do anything
- Clicking on Dead rising 2 removed me from all context
- There was a dead picture link
- I don't know what '160 @' means for the cost. Presumably it's MS points? I haven't tried this before and I really shouldn't be expected to know. Sure I'm acting a *little* bit stupid but I'm just playing devils advocate.
- I clicked 'download' (Isn't that Buy?) and nothing happened. Took a while to see the tiny little spinning wait icon in the top left corner. Not consistent with OS and the wait graphics and text look nasty.
- Then it asked me for my contact information. Didn't I just click download? Isn't that what my Live ID was for? Why am I still surprised at random pages coming up after the website?
- Picture preview
- I clicked GTA4 picture, it opened an undragable window, which clearly has an Win 7 style header with cross. This isn't dragable but the main app is, which doesn't have a header?
- Nothing happened. No pictures loaded, no thumbnails. I could highlight and navigate the incredible invisible thumbs though
- Video preview
- I clicked a GTA4 video. The audio was too loud, the audio slider icon is unclear. The actual audio slider has no border/backing. You can't click the audio slider anywhere in it's range unlike the video slider. Consistency
- The fullscreen button has no loading UI or any UI at all. No idea if it's still caching or why the stuttering was happening. It didn't fill the screen either
- The video player boarders aren't sized to the video
- Where are the ratings/reviews/'users who bought this also bought this' type stuff? Whats the point of this app if it provides nothing over a normal webpage? 'Normal' not meaning the GFW site naturally..
- Marketplace = All Games = Home = Downloads. They could all mean the same thing.
- There's a home button ON the home page. Brilliant
- Clicking on Dirt 2 demo
- *3* download buttons.. 3. All different of course
- The word 'Free' and $89.95 randomly placed on the same page, no real differentiation between the demo and full. Do I get $89.95 for free? Bargain! and yes, that's how much games cost in Australia. New they're up to $120, because 1's and 0's are so hard to ship here..
- Why is this there? "Sort By: Release Date | Best Selling | Title"
- Clicking all of them didn't do anything and why would I want too seeing as I'm on a specific game page?
- I Clicked 'Game Manual' which then proceeded to open my browser and start downloading a 3 meg file. No indication what was happening. Then the PDF finally came up on page 6
- Indicate that something is separate to the app. Via colour, popup, icon. Something
- I clicked 'download demo' and it took me to another page to verify my ID. Why? I'm already logged in, it's just a free demo, so why?
- This page looks totally different to the rest of the app. Different colours, different graphics (green strip placed wider than everything else). Deja vu...
- It asked me for my contact information again. For a free demo download? AFTER I've logged in AND confirmed my password? Why?
- I HAVE to type my physical address and phone number? For a non physical download? Why?
- Then it made me type in a credit card. At this point I stopped. This is for a *demo* I can get anywhere with no questions asked. I know why they are doing it, but you need to encourage use of this app first.
- Oh, also on this page the 'Skip', 'Next' and 'Cancel' buttons were squished into a tiny scrolling window with 'privacy statement' header. Also 'skip' AND 'cancel'? Aren't they the same?
- Ok, so I didn't quit (I can't stop!), I clicked Skip and it turns out to be the skip for the credit card thing
- At this point the thumbnail was broken and I get 'confirm purchase' stuff. For a demo..
- Now it congratulates me.. they're patronising me at this point I presume and it doesn't show me the download, just a link.
- I manually go to the downloads and it says in the description 'Download the stunning demo for Dirt2!'. Um.. do I have to start over?
- The download screen DOES work across the expanded app. Unlike everything else. So my 'pause' 'cancel' buttons are right over to the right
- Why do I care about the publisher/release date etc etc? Just show the top part and have the rest expandable
- There's no back button when I went here. Wait, on second look it's grayed out so much it's nearly invisible.
- I finally click the 'home' button, which turns out to be exactly the same as 'marketplace'. Naturally
- After the demo finished downloading I have to click 'Install'. Why can't it just default to auto installing?
- Oh.. it didn't install. It INSTALLED the INSTALLER. *NOW* I click the normal 'I downloaded this from a normal website so why did I download it in this app' install procedure. No indication if I've got enough harddrive space obviously.
- 10 clicks later, success! And it only took in total around 20 pages and at least 100 odd clicks to get there. No exaggeration.
- Guess what.. I spoke too soon.. You can't actually launch the demo from the app. The 'downloads' page is just that, what I've downloaded. I have to go to the bog standard program files start menu to run it. Which of course makes the app utterly pointless. It's like I've just watched a film and at the end it was all a dream..
- Buttons
- Light blue on light gray? Very hard to read. Different design to the main page buttons/colours which are fine (white on shaded blue)
- Some buttons aren't buttons, but also pulldown. There's no indication or differentiation. eg I clicked on 'My Account' which did nothing, unlike the website where EVERYTHING seems to be a button even if it doesn't make any sense.
- The highlighted dotted square doesn't line up to the buttons
- Back button ABOVE section menus?
- Header
- Isn't standard Win 7. Takes up loads of space for no reason
- 'Points balance' has this little circle icon next to it. Why? It looks like it should be clickable
- 'Settings' has a large prime location button. Because everyone wants to change their download location 5 times a day. Put it with the small options up the top right
- The screen sections have no separation. It looks like everything is placed randomly and every different page looks like it's been designed by a different person and/or template robot.
- Use some subtle colour blocks to better highlight related/unrelated areas
- 'More details' button has random slanted edge unlike every other button.
- The 'game demos' 'full games' disc icons aren't clear at all. If you have mouse over them to know what they are, they don't work as a 'thing'
- 'Games for windows' header
- It's inconsistent with box art
- The rounded border is random
- While I'm here, can we please minimise the GFW box art? Make the text much smaller keeping the logo and don't fill the whole top of the box, just stick to the top left area. It looks tacky and ruins the box art.
That was TOTALLY worth it I'm sure you'll agree.
Cameron Bonde
www.kartsim.com
www.maschinesimulations.com
octamed@gmail.com
