Remember the fuss about the Windows Vista Ultimate Extras? A large part of these extras were a few games that other Windows Vista users did not have access to. The extras were not really what Vista Ultimate users expected from Microsoft and many were rather unhappy about the amount of extras that they received for paying a premium for the operating system.
The games were not all that bad and it was kinda surprising that Microsoft did not ship them with Windows 7 initially. A coming soon page over at the Games for Windows homepage indicates however that Microsoft is planning to bring the games Tinker and Hold’Em after all to Windows 7. This time free of charge although it is not entirely clear if all Windows 7 editions will have those two games included in the future.
It is more likely that only those editions of Windows 7 will get the two additional games that have premium games included which would mean all versions from Windows 7 Home Premium upwards including Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate (note: games are not installed by default in Windows 7 Professional).
Tinker
Even robots get lost, sometimes! Help this one get home by solving puzzles that untangle a surreal and misleading world…but be careful! Tinker only has a limited amount of energy, so you’ll have to use it wisely or he’ll be lost forever! A classic mental challenge for the entire family, Tinker features an original score, compelling visuals, and 60 levels of classic puzzling fun!
Hold ‘Em
Pit yourself against the computer for a high-stakes experience that won’t empty your pocket! Play with up to five computer opponents, and customize the look of the card deck and playing table. Have fun and bet what you want — the computer can’t make you pay up!
Take a look at the announcement over at Games for Windows. What’s your take on the two new games? Good move or yet another unpleasant move to make Vista Ultimate users angry?
Pro and Ultimate only hopefully
. However, its looking like it might be for all versions which is a good thing, if texas is online that will be AWSUME
This is good news and in more versions of Windows this time around.
Doesn’t really bother me, not going to use them anyway. MS could be developing something better/more important.
wow … it’s weird all windows 7 sites all of a sudden just found out about this, I read about his article like a month ago in MS site and I’m still waiting for them to be fully compatible for Win7 although I already have ‘em
The only useful thing I had received from Vista Ultimate Extras after Windows Dreamscenes was “Tinker”. The game is nice, although it can get boring sometimes (when getting stuck on the same level for too long).
It’s good to see it come to Windows 7.
“Those suckers that bought Vista Ultimate, myself included, are screwed,” said yet another commenter. “There isn’t a chance in hell that I am paying $219 for what should really be Vista SP2. We were promised ‘extras’ which we never got, now we are being excluded from the pre-order special. Anyway even at $49, it is still too much to pay.”
The extras that commenter mentioned refer to “Ultimate Extras,” one of the main features Microsoft cited in the months leading up to the 2007 release of Vista Ultimate to distinguish the operating system from its lower-priced siblings. According to Microsoft’s marketing, Extras were to be “cutting-edge programs, innovative services and unique publications” that would be regularly offered only to users of Vista’s highest-priced edition.
But users soon began belittling the paltry number of add-ons Microsoft released and the company’s leisurely pace at providing them. Just five months after Vista was launched, critics started to complain.
Earlier this year, Microsoft dumped the feature, saying that it would instead focus on existing features in Windows 7 rather than again promise extras.
The furor over Vista Ultimate has even reached analysts’ ranks. In May, Michael Cherry of Directions on Microsoft urged Microsoft to give Vista Ultimate owners a free upgrade to Windows 7. “It would buy them a lot of good will, and I don’t think it would cost them much,” Cherry said at the time.
Some of the commenters in the latest Computerworld stories about Windows 7 echoed Cherry.
“I am running Vista Ultimate and feel ripped off by Microsoft because … [we] never received the extras we paid good money to get,” said “Hellfire” in a long comment. “The very least that they should do is offer a heavily-discounted upgrade to Windows 7 Ultimate to those that have lost money by purchasing Vista Ultimate.”
Good to see a couple more freebie games coming.
What about adding a few more classics like battleships and updating chess titans, so it can be played against another human opponent on another PC on the network.