Microsoft looking into Gears of War 1 and 2 in Germany

@SpecBlank Exacty. Gears 3 is definitely more violent and gory than the first two though, so I'm not sure how that worked out

@SpecBlank
Most Germans interested in the franchise already own Gears 1 and 2. They simply import it from the UK, Austria or the Netherlands just like with any other game that is indexed. An official release in Germany would just mean that these people could finally download the DLC maps with their German MS points.

On another note: If it's offensive or not is only a secondary concern. Basically they can index any game that has "violence (as in self-administered justice) against humans or human like beings as a key part of gameplay". If you're persistent enough as a studio you can always send your game back to have it reevaluated as many times as you want until they decide to give it an 18+ rating (see GTA4).

@SuperAnthony64

Yes please. I prefer playing Gears of War on PC.

I'm a huge fan Microsoft, stop ditching us PC gamers.

@SuperAnthony64 Agreed. I still haven't played the series. I've watched my bro play 1 on the PC. After seeing it run at a buttery 60fps, seeing him play Gears 2 on the 360 was painful. We only kept the 360 so my bro could rent Gears 3. He's love for 2-3 to come to the PC to play all the time.

MS really wants to kill off PC gaming. Their wet dream is for all PC gamers to use an Xbox, thus increase their numbers vs. Sony, charge us for multiplayer, kill mods and charge for DLC, overprice hard drives and other accessories, etc. : (

@SuperAnthony64 Its also funny that the PC version of Gears 1 got extra chapters for the single-player campaign that the 360 never did.

@xiLeShadow

Oddly enough, I'd rather play it on my 360. Reason? Co-op. Once I'm done with the gears of war campaign, I love to play co-op with friends. My real life friends. I don't normally play competitive online, so this is something I can't get on my pc.

It's also one of those games, that I like to play, drinking beer, with my belly rising up and laying on the bed.

@SpecBlank

Edit: Also for me visuals matter, but I don't choose them over fun. I can play gears on my pc with higher visual fidelity, yet won't have as much fun.

@nerdydesi1

Why would they want to kill off PC Gaming when they stand to profit from it in various ways with little work. They have Directx and are paid to have drivers signed. They still publish PC Games as well. Epic has stated numerous times their concern for piracy.

@SuperAnthony64

The reason why Gears 2 didn't come to PC is not because of Microsoft, it's because of Epic games. Microsoft pretty much owns PC gaming since they own the rights to direct x & all the drivers that come with PC gaming.

@SpecBlank

Real life friends? Meaning Split-Screen? You can do that on PC.

and if you want to lay back, you can use a controller. Not that hard.

@xiLeShadow

How can I do split-screen on the pc? As in my friends can actually sit down and play with me simultaneously on the same system?

Also when I mean lay back, I mean. Turn on the console, 65'' inch t.v, home theater and just chill.

With my pc at least, I have to connect the hdmi cable to the t.v and the home-theater is another thing.

I have a gaming rig (580gtx), but I mostly use it for all my strategy, rpg's and simulation games. I love shogun 2, and the witcher 2.

Anything else, I prefer playing on my consoles.

@Prboi

Gears of War 2 wasn't released on PC because of Microsoft's decision.

Microsoft is the publisher and holds exclusive publishing rights to the first three Gears of War games.

Same reason why Halo 3 and Halo Reach didn't want them on PC.

They want you to buy a Xbox 360 so they can get more money out of you.

@Prboi

haha, right, You clearly know a lot about API's and PC gaming...

DirectX isn't the only game in town, OpenGL exists, and it's quite capable, on top of that it's completely OPEN. Drivers CAN be signed digitally by MS but don't need to, and all MS gets to do is give a stamp of approval, they don't need the blessing of MS if they don't want it, and MS wouldn't be able to do something like pull a driver, or software, etc just in the same way they wouldn't be able to ban you from the internet. A PC is not just an Xbox with better hardware, it is not the walled garden. which is part of the reason MS isn't a huge fan of PC gaming(every six months they come out and tell us they are recommitted to PC gaming, and they they do stuff like summer of arcade games having exclusivitiy deals, CLEARLY THEY HAVE WON MY TRUST. ;)

Granted DirectX is clearly preferred right now, but it's far from the only options. MS doesn't have the control I'm sure they'd like, and have on the XBox. They will keep their focus there for as long as possible.

It was up to MS, and MS doesn't want it on PC because it can't have the same Profit margins for them on PC. Would it make money? Yes. Would it benefit them nearly as much as when they make sales on their console? Nope, and it certainly wouldn't help push new console units.

That being said, Epic really doesn't like PC. When gears of war got released on PC it didn't too well. Cliff let everyone know it was because of Piracy, (there could be no other explanation, such as a terrible port, or releasing a game months after it first came out.) and that's why they didn't like the PC anymore (backtracking ensued of course.)
They released bulletstorm on PC, but I suspect that has more to do with PFC pushing for it than epic. PFC though is more of a PC dev than a console dev, (though obviously they do both.) They were originally hired to make content for Gears for PC.

I'm not sure who's responsible, I'd say there is probably a general lack of enthusiasm, albiet for diffferent reasons, on all sides(publisher, dev, consumer) regarding this making it to PC, and that's the biggest hurdle.