four thousandths of a penny) per pre-installed copy of the game. Divided over roughly four billion Windows installations over the decade, that current stock value comes out to about $0.00004325 (i.e. On the other hand, even with decades of stock inflation, $173,000 is a pittance of a payment for a game as widespread as Minesweeper. “So getting those things done, getting the bugs fixed, everything, getting the art up to par, getting it into the common installer-it was a big push for these guys.” At that time, it was a day job and a night job-trying to write on top of ,” product manager Charles Fitzgerald said. With the book excerpt below, let’s go back to a time when, following the success of Solitaire, a group within Microsoft was tasked with making a suite of casual Windows games-called the Microsoft Entertainment Pack or Windows Entertainment Pack-that could help sell the idea of computers as something that belonged in the home.ĭespite Gates’s direct attention, the first Windows Entertainment Pack wasn’t enough of a priority to justify taking any coder’s time and attention away from development of the company’s core productivity software. Today, of course, Microsoft is a gaming powerhouse. A gripping read that tells the wild story of how Minesweeper became one of the most ubiquitous games in history-a tale that saw Microsoft CEO Bill Gates himself getting hooked on the game-it also involves profound internal strife at the company, where many were resistant to the idea of the office software maker creating and publishing games. Among the books in this season’s offerings is Kyle Orland’s tome on Minesweeper. The sixth season of Boss Fight Books is currently funding on Kickstarter.
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