O
ne of the greatest
decisions Microsoft
took when designing
Windows 10 was to
include the Game Bar,
a video capture utility that was
meant to run in the background
while you’re playing a game. And
only when you’re playing a game.
My day job often involves creating
tutorials on how to use Windows
apps, and these need to come with
screenshots. I’ve taken to recording
video of what I’m doing, and then
capturing screengrabs from that
rather than trying to set something
up artificially and wait for Snipping
Tool to do its stuff, only to catch itself
in its own screenshot and forcing me
to start all over again.
This is the way a lot of the
screenshots of games in this
magazine are captured, as not every
digital marketplace has a useful
screenshot shortcut like Steam does.
I’m looking at you, Epic.
That’s when I discovered the
Game Bar. It’s triggered by a
keyboard shortcut while you’re in
another app, so I started up
Photoshop Elements, or maybe it was
Windows’ Photos app or Luminar... it
doesn’t matter. I hit the shortcut, and
instead of the familiar grey overlay
sliding in, I was faced with a
question: “Is this a game?”
I don’t know how the Game Bar
detects whether you’re playing a
game or not. Perhaps it knows if
you’re in fullscreen mode, or running
a different resolution to the desktop,
or perhaps it has a list of games built
in like the Windows XP firewall did.
But if it comes across something it
doesn’t recognize, it asks. And if you
say yes, it runs perfectly. And if you
say no, it then it exits.
The Game Bar is innocent. The
Game Bar believes me every time,
even when I’m lying to its face. It can
capture video of anything, but“I almost feel bad about it, but the
Game Bar only wants to help”
Microsoft says it must only capture
games. So it asks about every app,
with a tickbox to not ask again. Is this
a game? Each time, I say yes. It’s like
lying to a small child to get their
cooperation in chores.
I almost feel bad about it, but the
Game Bar only wants to help, and by
letting it expand outside the limits of
its original remit I’m giving it a gift, in
a really weird way.IT’S ONLY A GAME, SO...
Photoshop is a game. Chrome is a
game. Blender. The Control Panel.
Any number of rotten shareware
backup utilities I’m trying out.
Anything I need screenshots of is
now a game, and my hard drive fills
with beautifully captured 1080p
video of all these games. Why
Microsoft wrote it this way is a
puzzle. Why not have a way of
capturing video of every app? Why
limit it to games? Why make it so
easy to use on non-games?
But then, with a recent update, the
Game Bar has changed. It no longer
asks, but hidden in its settings is a
tickbox “Remember, this is a game”.
It’s written in the way you might
speak to a child, underlining the app’s
apparent guileless personality. I still
love you, Game Bar.IAN EVENDEN
THIS MONTH
Abused an app’s innocenceALSO PLAYED
Borderlands 3, Elite
DangerousTaking advantage of an app’s eagerness to please in the WINDOWS 10 GAME BAR
I DON’T KNOW HOW THE GAME
BAR DETECTS IF YOU’RE
PLAYING A GAME OR NOTTHE GAMES WE LOVE RIGHT NOW
NOW PLAYING
The old Game Bar shyly asks its question from the side of the
screen when run on a non-game (the Photos app in this case).