Windows 8 Pro, Tablets, & The Future of Gaming

This week saw the release of the Windows Surface Pro running a full version of the Windows 8 OS. In spite of the mix reviews, the new tablet has sold better than expected. Nonetheless, what has caught my attention is how well it runs various video games (see for example a recent Forbes article). Hence, after seeing the initial success of Windows Surface Pro (and also the early impressions of the Razer Edge Pro gaming tablet), I am very excited to see where the future lies in PC gaming. I will therefore discuss how Windows 8 Pro together with such Windows 8 Pro tablets could lead to an exciting future for the PC gamer.

As much as I love my iPad and its capabilities, what I desire from a tablet is to be able to do everything I can on my Mac or PC on it. I would love to be able to use it for not only for web surfing, reading texts, and PDF annotations, but for creating word processing documents, spreadsheets, as well as multimedia presentations. Windows 8 Pro tries to fill this whole in the market by allowing users to have a full computer OS on a tablet; thus attempting to be a bridge for the tablet and personal computer. And since this is a blog dedicated to gaming, what is intriguing is how tablets running Windows 8 Pro will allow users to play full PC games on a tablet.

For me, it would be a dream having the chance to play FIFA 13, Guild Wars 2, Company of Heroes 2, and Skyrim on a portable device. No longer would I be limited to a location for playing my favorite games (yes, laptops offer this as well, but gaming laptops are often larger than a portable ultrabook computer). With such a device, I would have the chance to link my Steam and Origin accounts to my tablet. This in itself would be a reason to get a one of these new and upcoming Windows 8 tablets.

An additional point to this article is that the gaming aspect could consequently push Windows 8 Pro tablets over the edge and make them a great alternative to both iOS and Android devices. Windows 8 has struggled being adapted to this point. But I believe making it relevant to gamers, especially as it pertains hardcore gamers, through providing a full OS and hardware capable of running the latest games (albeit not particularly at the highest graphical settings), this will make Windows 8 relevant. Since Windows has been tied to gamers for many years, it would be wise for Microsoft to take advantage of this mutual relationship. It has been the hardcore gamers that have help keep the PC alive, and by making tablets fully game capable, it can keep Microsoft profits strong in the foreseeable future. For this reason, these tablets could change the face of PC gaming and Microsoft itself.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please feel free to post a comment below. Thanks for reading.