Vista update improves "legacy" game support

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jan 31st 2007 at 1:25PM }

Microsoft has rolled out a Vista software update that, in part, addresses compatibility issues associated with certain "legacy" games. The update is not a response to Alex St. John's accusation that Vista's tight security could block popular online casual game networks; those remarks have been generally discredited.

The update improves support for the following titles: Age of Empires III (and The WarChiefs Expansion Pack), Battlefield 2 Deluxe, Dungeon Siege II, Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna, Fable: The Lost Chapters, Family Feud Online, Flight Simulator X, Lego Star Wars, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, and Zoo Tycoon 2 (and the African Adventure, Endangered Species, Marine Mania, and Zookeeper Collection Expansion Packs).

[Via CVG]

Tags: Patch, Software, Update, Vista, Windows

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Myke @ Jan 31st 2007 1:29PM

Wow, so roughly 12 hours after the OS is release they are sending out "updates". Before I get flamed, I know that this is all just standard proceedure and it happens all the time, but it's just really REALLY funny to see for some reason, maybe I'm crazy....in fact I'm fairly sure I am.

Phranctoast @ Jan 31st 2007 2:01PM

was listening to Opie and Anthiny int he morning, and Anthony had so many problems with the install. It made for great radio..

I wont go near Vista until the second edition...

Draco @ Jan 31st 2007 1:38PM

get used to it, everything you ever buy from now on will have backwards compatibility problem, systems are changing to much to not be affected.

anything you can buy that can be plugged into a computer it seems has a firmware update to be done, which usually isn't

Antonio @ Jan 31st 2007 5:44PM

Finally, Family Feud Online support! LOL.

AirIntake @ Jan 31st 2007 1:39PM

Too bad there's no way I'm upgrading to Vista with the prices they've set. I just bought a new PC this summer, so I guess I'll have to wait more than a few years before I get Vista, as this new PC will probably last me 4-5 years.

Of course, I mean legally. I'm sure I'll have some illegal copy running on something very soon just to check it out.

Thrawn @ Jan 31st 2007 2:46PM

How about improving support for something that's actually legacy?

Return to Zork? Legend of Kyrandia? Space Quest?

Remember that whole XMS/EMS debacle? No? Did "Alternative" music kill off that generation of gamers?

SLiFE @ Jan 31st 2007 8:13PM

Sooo... we're gonna be getting BC updates for Vista as well?

billychaos @ Jan 31st 2007 1:59PM

The fact that microsoft is ready to respond so fast with updates is NOT a bad thing.

FYI, Daylight savings time has been changed this year, it hasnt been changed for a long, long, long time. MS has to patch all versions of windows for this. This includes the recently released vista. This is no fault of MS, it's the changing of US laws.

http://www.answers.com/topic/energy-policy-act-of-2005

This law goes into effect this year.

Chris @ Jan 31st 2007 2:30PM

Honestly the prices aren't that bad. Buy the OEM version from NewEgg or something it's only 200 bucks for Ultimate OEM. Same as XP used to be. You can buy OEM Home basic for 150 or less I think and that's what it used to cost to upgrade to XP, so I don't think there's anyhting astronomical about their pricing...

Crono @ Jan 31st 2007 2:02PM

Anybody know if Gametap works yet?

E.J. @ Jan 31st 2007 2:03PM

If you're gonna complain about price, college bookstores that sell software are selling Vista Home Premium for the academic price of $89.99.

Roflmon @ Jan 31st 2007 4:02PM

Been using for 2 months now, the RTM and its been working great. Diskeeper has released a new Vista version and it keeps everything running smoothly.

Just note, you need 2GB of RAM if you are used to extremely responsive XP installs. 1GB still has about 50% in use on load, and it gets slow if you have lots going (especially VMware which I use).

Myke @ Jan 31st 2007 2:07PM

Billy, please don't tell me that DST is the reason it was late and/or it's being updated quickly, if the king of computer technology has to delay the release of it's most anticipated product because daylight savings time changed then that's pretty damn sad.

Michael Lubker @ Jan 31st 2007 2:10PM

Uh, most of these games just came out?!

webrunner @ Jan 31st 2007 2:08PM

Half of those games listed are actually -Microsoft- ones. That's just shoddy that they needed to be patched at all.

I wonder if the other games are just fixed as an accidental consequence of fixing the Microsoft ones.. hm.

Phranctoast @ Jan 31st 2007 2:09PM

"If you're gonna complain about price, college bookstores that sell software are selling Vista Home Premium for the academic price of $89.99."

Thats pretty cool. Thanks for the heads up!!!!

Grammar freak @ Jan 31st 2007 3:30PM

But.. does it play Doom 1 and 2???

moominsean @ Jan 31st 2007 4:26PM

wish i could play the original quake on windows xp...

Crono @ Jan 31st 2007 2:55PM

I guess to microsoft "legacy" means anything that came out before vista.

Also known as All Software for the Windows Platform. Except office 2007.

Nossy @ Jan 31st 2007 3:15PM

OEM versions are cheaper because they are not transferable to a different pc. You could find Home Premium OEM for $100 - same price as MCE 2005.

Anyway, wasn't this tested before the DVDs were pressed and sent out?

Aiyah. Same deal as the 360 Legacy Support I suppose - which happens to come out every 6 months and only 5-10 games updated.

SymetriX @ Jan 31st 2007 3:42PM

Ok guys, new rule: You can't refer to current tech as "legacy" a day after you release your new product!

DOS is "legacy", DirectX 9.0c and games like Flight Simulator X are NOT!

Mike @ Jan 31st 2007 4:28PM

"Wow, so roughly 12 hours after the OS is release they are sending out "updates". "

No. This is almost 3 months after it was "Released".

gg newb.

Myke @ Jan 31st 2007 4:33PM

I'm clearly referencing the fact that it was available at retail as of midnight last night. I apologize, clearly with your advanced knowledge of online lingo (see: gg newb) you were one of the uber-nerds that creams themselves over beta versions and early-released editions. Congrats, you totally PNWED MII!111!11!!1!!!!111! MIKE RULEZ TEH WURLDS!!1!

gareth @ Jan 31st 2007 6:13PM

The real question is, when will they (MS) get going on playing nice with punkbuster. You STILL cannot play a game with PB enabled mroe than an hour before you get booted.

Matt @ Jan 31st 2007 6:14PM

Ah, Joystiq makes a post about Vista, and all of a sudden all kinds of people have degrees in computer science. Watching people think they know what they're talking about (reminds me of a Jew I once knew) makes me giggle. :)

FoxMulder @ Feb 1st 2007 7:02AM

Can anyone confirm if the Nintendo USB Wifi dongle works under Vista 64-bit?

nox @ Jan 31st 2007 10:14PM

is it just me or a majority of those games from microsoft game studios?

Tyler @ Feb 1st 2007 3:05AM

Kinda reminds me of the 360 backwards compatability... you only get to play what Microsoft wants you to play.. you know.. cause most games out right now dont work for Vista

mocax @ Feb 1st 2007 4:37AM

Which version of Vista is equivalent to XP Pro?
I'm confused...

Gab73 @ Feb 1st 2007 11:03AM

I'd like to see real legacy support from M$. It's about time now, really! I mean support for games since the early DOS era. This is part of history and it needs to be preserved. And retro gaming is growing constantly (see next gen consoles) and a serious future market worth a whole separate microsoft division in my eyes.

Ryan @ Feb 1st 2007 10:05AM

Well I had multiple problems with the betas and I could never get RC1 to install, RC2 ran really well and I work as a programmer and have access to MSDN so I have been running the release Vista for a bit now. I have to say its a really good OS. I think people who bash MS are jumping on a bandwagon that really has no reason to exist anymore. Was Windows 9x unstable? absolutely, was playing games on NT4 the biggest pain in your life? I don't even know why I tortured myself like that. However, in my opinion as a developer, administrator, business user, and home user XP was a good OS. Vista so far only seems to improve on that. I have substantial experience with many Unix and Linux distros and none of them hold a candle to the usability and software library of XP (and now Vista). About a year ago I found myself tinkering with OS X and to my surprise found it quite enjoyable. However as a gamer I am still forced to use Boot Camp (haven't played much with Parralels) to play any games.

On to the point, all games and software not developed with Vista in mind are legacy. The much needed and greatly appreciated security updates in Vista can cause problems for older games. Now if MS was the horrible company everyone wants them to be they wouldn't waste there time releasing patches to make the user experience running older apps easier on the user.

And while I can understand people wanting to say "lol M$ has to patch their crap OS the day its released" this is just horribly fanboyish. While yes the OS was released to mass population only a few days ago, millions of us have had (legal) release copies for a while now and are happy to see MS is staying on top of updates. Do I want Apple (hell I would take a linux distro that was easy enough for grandma to use) to step their game up so that MS felt pressure that there was real competition thereby forcing MS to stay on the cutting edge? absolutely. Look at the 360 (by far this generations best developer/user/"connected" system [that list is a single item as the whole is greater than the individual]), the 360 is proof that MS can produce a product to outshine the offering of that markets giant.

People claim MS was failing at security so they stepped up and made security a much greater part of their thought process (yes it could be better in my opinion but you try making perfect security for OS's that run on 90% of the world's systems and still make that a useable system). People said Apple was flashier and cooler so MS tried to make an OS that was a little flashier and cooler (you have to understand that Windows has to be accessible to everyone who has used any version so MS can't change the UI so much that its completely new). And if you want to be a linux geek and complain that MS makes money off their operating systems... well to that set I say turn 30, have a wife, a kid or two, car payments, house payments, vacations, and plan for retirement and then tell me how viable you think open source software is. (I still like and use a lot of open source software and am greatful for the people who spend their time making it, but if you want support (absolutely vital in the real world) you have to pay for it)

Jeff @ Feb 5th 2007 9:10AM

I don't want to see "real legacy support" in windows at all. Its this legacy support and backwards compatibility that causes half of the problems with Windows. If the re-wrote it from the ground up, and forced other applications to use better programming (such as not requiring admin permissions for everything) windows would be a better OS.

If you want legacy, run Windows 95 on a spare 486.