[casual_games] More good news on Vista!

[James C. Smith]

What happens what a game is "broken"?  Are the games completely unplayable?
Or are save games lost? Or are there just extra pop-up messages warning
about running in compatibility mode?  Is it only "broken" if you are running
as a limited user or with parental controls enables?  In other words, can
the "brokenness" be avoided by changing user behavior? Can the user right
click on the game and force it to run in compatibility mode? Does this fix
it?

 

This is not black and white.  Everything is not either "broken" or working.
If you want to get my attention you will need to tell me in what way it is
"broken."

 

You do a great job of pointing out every problem you can find.  Did you find
anything good you could report?  Are there some portals that use DRM that
isn't "broken"?

 

Do games downloaded form PopCap or WildGames or ArcadeTown or Reflexive
work? 

 

Don't get me wrong. I believe there are some real problems that do need to
be addressed. Trying to "change user behavior" to "avoid the brokenness " is
not a solution.  But I want to put into proper perspective exactly how bad
the situation is.  

 

James C. Smith

 

 <http://www.game> 

-----Original Message-----
From: casual_games-bounces at igda.org [mailto:casual_games-bounces at igda.org]
On Behalf Of Alex St. John
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 12:05 AM
To: casual_games at igda.org
Subject: [casual_games] More good news on Vista!


Our QA labs are doing a light test sweep of the major casual gaming portals
to see which ones are impacted severely by Vista.  It looks like Microsoft
managed to break Trymedia DRM with Vista so it's likely that most if not all
Trymedia wrapped games are broken under Vista.  This is consistent with our
analaysis that at least 50% of the casual games currently posted on the
major gaming portals are broken.  Our labs also report that RealArcade
itself is broken by Vista.  If I'm not mistaken all the casual games hosted
by Oberon on MSN are based on Trymedia DRM.  It will be interesting to see
if Microsofts own casual game offering is actually Vista ready. 
 
Since a lot of small developers don't appear to have access to Vista builds
yet we suggest that you try your games under a Windows XP LUA account.  If
it breaks there, it certainly breaks in Vista.
 
-Alex
 

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From: macrovision at mkt1.macrovision.com
[mailto:macrovision at mkt1.macrovision.com] 
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 9:19 PM
To: WildTangent Packaging
Subject: [Possible SPAM] ActiveMARK Windows Vista Communication 
Importance: Low
 


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ActiveMARK Windows Vista Communication 

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Dear WildTangent ,
You should have received the communication below on December 27, 2006. If
you have not yet had a chance to respond, we urge you to do so by January
15, 2007. Should you have any questions about the below, please contact:
<mailto:AM_Vista at macrovision.com> AM_Vista at macrovision.com.
MicrosoftR has released the Windows Vista operating system to manufacturing.
It includes many new security enhancements which impact security-oriented
technology such as Macrovision's ActiveMARKT. To continue providing our
customers with the best DRM solution for Windows Vista, we have been working
closely with Microsoft to develop a new version of ActiveMARK and to
evaluate the impact of Windows Vista on products packaged with previous
versions of ActiveMARK. 
We are writing to advise you of the current status of our technology in the
context of Windows Vista and request that you verify your unprotected
application(s) are compatible with Windows Vista and perform to your
satisfaction.
Games packaged with ActiveMARK versions 5.5 and earlier are known to be
incompatible with Windows Vista due to increased security features in the
operating system. We have worked with Microsoft to develop a strategy to
address this issue as it relates to games packaged with previous versions of
ActiveMARK.
For all new packaging projects we strongly recommend that you use ActiveMARK
2007 to help ensure your titles are compatible with Windows Vista.
ActiveMARK 2007 has been engineered to conform to the new security features
built into Microsoft Vista. If your game cannot be repackaged in ActiveMARK
2007, we will provide you with a process that can enable protected products
to work in Windows Vista on a per-game basis. 
Our initial testing has shown that some unprotected applications do not run
properly on Windows Vista due to issues independent of ActiveMARK.
Consequently, we are requesting that you test all of your current titles in
an unprotected state on Windows Vista (Build 6000 RTM) as a Standard User.
After you complete these tests, send your feedback to
<http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=X3O_-yq58eun6aRweyKt5M>
http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get/AM_VISTA. 
Please try to complete all testing and send feedback by January 15, 2007.
This will help us compile our broader scoping of affected titles. Your
prompt feedback at
<http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=mydnD2zuzLieimZSy_paAu>
http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get/AM_VISTA will allow us to better support
you. During this transition, we will be following up again with additional
best practices for Windows Vista. 
If you need to submit testing for an extensive number of titles, please
contact us immediately at  <mailto:AM_Vista at macrovision.com>
AM_Vista at macrovision.com for alternative test submission instructions.   
Sincerely,
Macrovision Product Management

 
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