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MIcrosoft original annoucement for the zone...

Posted By: Michael Petch
Date: Wednesday, 2 February 2011, at 3:24 a.m.

In Response To: Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers? (Michael Petch)

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/1996/jun96/msad617.mspx

Item #2 in the press release is relevant to the acquisition. I'd like to quote the reason the Village/Zone was created: "The Internet Game Zone was created by Electric Gravity co-founders Kevin Binkley and Hoon Im (Cupertino, Calif.) to maximize the fun and sense of community experienced by game players on the Internet. "

Kevin and Hoon surely delivered on that promise, and I think they left an indelible mark in the world of online gaming. Although they created a site with more than one game - their backgammon client delivered with its simplicity and ease of use. Their Backgammon client was no where near that of FIBS, but it didn't need to be. It just needed to be good enough. Jim Borror (The same developer of SHG's BG client) was also responsible for the Bunny Zone converter that was eventually shipped with Snowie. Someone else that is not well liked among many WC players here will take some credit too (not referring to me!). This was an adhoc tool that took the non-standard log that MS displayed and converted it into a Jellyfish MAT format. This community development added some credibility for competitive play since it allowed a large group of players to analyze matches in the bots.

I hate to say this but I think the popularity of MS IGZ was largely due in part to the name behind it - "Microsoft". I know many players who wouldn't play elsewhere because they believed Microsoft to be "safe".

I'm not sure there is any name now that could be as successful including Facebook, Apple and Google. I joked in 2006 that maybe we'd get lucky and see a Google Games. If one could get a BIG name behind the development and funding of a server the community could be further ahead. I'm not sure there is any name within the BG community that has the impact of a name like Microsoft.

This may be political, but I'm trying to be humorous with a spin of reality: Maybe we need to Send Barack Obama's kids a Backgammon board and have it end up in the oval office to help decide strategy. We could tell Obama that we are sending him backgammon to his kids to promote math skills that are lacking as addressed in his State of the Union Address.

Messages In This Thread

• Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
  Michael Petch -- Tuesday, 1 February 2011, at 9:05 a.m.
  • Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
    Stanley E. Richards -- Tuesday, 1 February 2011, at 8:30 p.m.
    • Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
      Michael Petch -- Tuesday, 1 February 2011, at 10:12 p.m.
      • Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
        W Womack -- Tuesday, 1 February 2011, at 11:28 p.m.
      • Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
        Steve Mellen -- Wednesday, 2 February 2011, at 12:28 a.m.
        • Does Backgammon Need more Backgammon Servers?
          Michael Petch -- Wednesday, 2 February 2011, at 2:53 a.m.
          • MIcrosoft original annoucement for the zone...
            Michael Petch -- Wednesday, 2 February 2011, at 3:24 a.m.