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If Microsoft were a casino…

December 16th, 2006 by Long Zheng
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They’d had some really nice cards.

Windows Vista card games deck designs

Windows Vista comes with 4 unique deck designs (3 pictured, Large Print excluded) for its bundled card games including FreeCell, Hearts, Solitaire and Spider Solitaire. Each deck portrays a unique theme (Classic, Hearts, Seasons) with unbelievable detail on card faces and backs. The Seasons deck by far is my favorite. I’m even playing Solitaire just to see these cards.

Of course, these and every other games in Windows Vista are not actually designed by Microsoft internally, but outsourced through Oberon Games. Oberon designs many great looking games and have close ties with Microsoft, publishing many games through Microsoft’s casual games channels such as MSN Games and XBOX Live Arcade. With the former manager of Microsoft Game Studios, Don Ryan joining Oberon as Vice President of Publishing this year, this relationship can only strengthen.

I don’t think it would be unfair to speculate Windows Ultimate Extras will deliver additional Oberon Games from time to time. Such as the long-forgotten Texas Hold’Em Poker we’ve known since Beta 2.

Casino


Comments for "If Microsoft were a casino…"

  1. William Luu

    Very sweet looking deck of cards!

  2. Darren

    Yes they are! How long did that take?
    Gotta love the seasons deck, quite fancy!

  3. Karl

    Hold ‘em by Oberon, eh?

    Mobicore seem to be intent on their developing it, as a certain news post on their site (dated December 32st 2005) states:

    “Code complete milestone – We have just completed a Texas Hold’em poker game for Microsoft Windows Vista™. Now we are focusing on minor UI tweaks and bug fixes.”

    http://www.mobicore.com/news.html

  4. Long Zheng

    Wow you’re right Karl.

    Oberon Games also had a Texas Hold’Em game: http://www.oberongames.com/texas_hold_em.asp

    But Mobicore sounds definite :)

  5. Anthony Tam

    Wow so beautiful and consistent. If only Oberon made the Operating System

  6. Chad

    That Texas Hold’Em, two player style game is the exact same version on the Comcast games network. It’s got great quality.

  7. Fdail

    Not bad, it really can occur

  8. raul

    they are VERY nice, I agree, just play the game to see the cards… I am planning to make a poster and hang it in my house, does anyone knows where I can find the cards of J, Q and K in bigger size/resolution? I would appreciate any help! thanks!

Leave a Reply

  1. Texas Hold ‘Em: Oberon vs Mobicore at istartedsomething

    [...] Who is Long Zheng? « If Microsoft were a casino… [...]

  2. » Texas Hold ‘Em Confirmed For Vista Ultimate Extras »  InsideMicrosoft - part of the Blog News Channel

    [...] Long’s also got a shot of the card deck Oberon made for Vista, featuring incredible detail of the card art. Very nice. [...]

  3. Vista Card Decks » Solitaire News

    [...] Read Long Zheng’s complete article. [...]



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