38 ms·

From Accidental Empires, which the article quotes: "Then there was Flight Simulator, the only computer game published by Microsoft". Even at the time (long befo

From Accidental Empires, which the article quotes: "Then there was Flight Simulator, the only computer game published by Microsoft". Even at the time (long before XBox), this wasn't true. Microsoft had published several games before Flight Simulator -- a version of the classic Colossal Cave adventure called "Microsoft Adventure", and "Microsoft Decathlon", an Olympic sports game.

pjc50 8y ago
Not to mention some of the most popular games of all time - Minesweeper, Solitaire, and the earlier Reversi. And a pinball game in Windows 95.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  At a higher level, Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Reversi weren't games. They were educational tools. This was how Microsoft taught people to do things like double-click, click-and-drag, and a number of other things that we take for granted today but were completely foreign back then.
- ChrisSD 8y ago
  Windows 95 also had Hover! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hover%21 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hover%21 A while back they made an online version: http://www.hover.ie/ http://www.hover.ie/
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - dwags 8y ago
    what about Fury 3?!
- omegabravo 8y ago
  https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=5803/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=... Pinball game was licensed, not developed by Microsoft AFAIK
  - reaperducer 8y ago
    And Flight Simulator was from subLOGIC in Champaign, Illinois, IIRC.
    - ficklepickle 8y ago
      Monster truck madness was a similar situation too. I remember there was still a logo from the original company in there somewhere, on a license plate maybe? This is from memory, mind you. I still exclaim "roll over, Beethoven!" whenever appropriate.
- JdeBP 8y ago
  ... and Microsoft Tinker in Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. (-:
- Narishma 8y ago
  Those were all after Flight Simulator.
lowercased 8y ago
Somehow donkey.bas always gets overlooked :)
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Not forgetting they licensed flight simulator from SubLogic.
dleslie 8y ago
There was also ... the MSX. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msx
marcosdumay 8y ago
The Z-80 computer I had the the 80's had an entire K-7 tape of games from Microsoft.
jimktrains2 8y ago
Also my absolute favorite game as a kid: SpaceSim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Space_Simulator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Space_Simulator
int_19h 8y ago
If you're ever near the Microsoft Redmond campus, building 16 has an open courtyard with tiles on the ground, each corresponding to some Microsoft product that was released. I'd be surprised if most people here (or in the industry in general) recognized even half of the product names on the tiles. https://i.imgur.com/meVHgYm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/meVHgYm.jpg
- int_19h 8y ago
  E.g. have you ever heard of Microsoft Dinosaurs? https://twitter.com/ThreddyTheTrex/status/1012144458337406976 https://twitter.com/ThreddyTheTrex/status/101214445833740697...

pjc50 8y ago

Not to mention some of the most popular games of all time - Minesweeper, Solitaire, and the earlier Reversi. And a pinball game in Windows 95.

reaperducer 8y ago
At a higher level, Minesweeper, Solitaire, and Reversi weren't games. They were educational tools. This was how Microsoft taught people to do things like double-click, click-and-drag, and a number of other things that we take for granted today but were completely foreign back then.
ChrisSD 8y ago
Windows 95 also had Hover! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hover%21 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hover%21 A while back they made an online version: http://www.hover.ie/ http://www.hover.ie/
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- dwags 8y ago
  what about Fury 3?!
omegabravo 8y ago
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=5803/ https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=... Pinball game was licensed, not developed by Microsoft AFAIK
- reaperducer 8y ago
  And Flight Simulator was from subLOGIC in Champaign, Illinois, IIRC.
  - ficklepickle 8y ago
    Monster truck madness was a similar situation too. I remember there was still a logo from the original company in there somewhere, on a license plate maybe? This is from memory, mind you. I still exclaim "roll over, Beethoven!" whenever appropriate.
JdeBP 8y ago
... and Microsoft Tinker in Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. (-:
Narishma 8y ago
Those were all after Flight Simulator.

lowercased 8y ago

Somehow donkey.bas always gets overlooked :)

NeedMoreTea 8y ago

Not forgetting they licensed flight simulator from SubLogic.

dleslie 8y ago

There was also ... the MSX. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msx

marcosdumay 8y ago

The Z-80 computer I had the the 80's had an entire K-7 tape of games from Microsoft.

jimktrains2 8y ago

Also my absolute favorite game as a kid: SpaceSim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Space_Simulator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Space_Simulator

int_19h 8y ago

If you're ever near the Microsoft Redmond campus, building 16 has an open courtyard with tiles on the ground, each corresponding to some Microsoft product that was released. I'd be surprised if most people here (or in the industry in general) recognized even half of the product names on the tiles. https://i.imgur.com/meVHgYm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/meVHgYm.jpg

int_19h 8y ago
E.g. have you ever heard of Microsoft Dinosaurs? https://twitter.com/ThreddyTheTrex/status/1012144458337406976 https://twitter.com/ThreddyTheTrex/status/101214445833740697...