[casual_games] More good news on Vista!

[Arthur Humphrey]

Our games broke in XP LUA, and ran well in Vista. On XP LUA our users were 
prevented from saving their games in Program Files and so the game broke, 
while on Vista a handle was created in Program Files and the saves were 
automatically created in the correct users directory. One point for Vista, 
I guess.

Still we have gone ahead and changed it so our games save correctly into 
the user's path on all operating systems. Now we are already getting 
complaints from testers who liked to bring our games (and the game 
progress) back and forth to work on a jumpdrive. Some just used to keep the 
game on that jumpdrive at all times. This is no longer convenient for them 
with the new savegame paths.

Arthur

At 12:05 AM 1/25/2007 -0800, you wrote:

>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

><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

>

>----------

>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 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 

>ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Vista Communication

>Importance: Low

>

>2299aa.jpg

>ActiveMARK Windows Vista Communication

>2299f8.jpg

><http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get?_EC=_bWbefB7rXaOX0eyvFCUeq>Feedback

>229a08.jpg

>

>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.

>Microsoft® has released the Windows Vista operating system to 

>manufacturing. It includes many new security enhancements which impact 

>security-oriented technology such as Macrovision’s ActiveMARK™. 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

>229a17.jpg

>You are subscribed as packaging at wildtangent.com. You can manage your email 

>subscription preferences 

><http://mktg.macrovision.com/mk/get/macrounsubscribe>here.

>Copyright © 1990-2006 Macrovision Corporation and/or Macrovision Europe 

>Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Macrovision and ActiveMARK are registered 

>trademarks of Macrovision Corporation. All other names are trademarks, 

>registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective owners.

>Macrovision Corporation, 2830 De La Cruz Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA 95050, 

>United States.

>

>-MKTFI:enUS: zx+9JVpXx5M/GF0AzbwAMs-

>229a27.jpg

>

>

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