Microsoft to Introduce "Panorama" Live Arcade for Vista?
Microsoft plans to introduce what seems to be a Windows gaming service called "Panorama." Apparently, Panorama will be a part of Windows Vista and will act essentially as Xbox Live Arcade for Windows.
PC gamers will be able to not only play Live Arcade games, but will also be able to engage in multiplayer gaming versus gamers playing on the Xbox 360 version of the service. It does not appear that Panorama emulates the Xbox 360 environment, which suggests that developers creating cross-platform compatible Live Arcade games may have to release two versions, one for each platform. However, Microsoft tools such as XNA should expedite this process.
Microsoft's Andre "Ozymandias" Vrignaud has addressed this rumor on his blog, stating that Panorama is the codename being used internally by Microsoft for the first stages of translating Xbox Live to Windows. Though he did not address individual features, it seems likely that early versions of Live on Vista will be less ambitious than what is described here, though Shacknews' sources seemed confident that this functionality is indeed something being planned. Again, Microsoft is likely to reveal something relating to this project in just a few days at its Gamefest event.
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