By Jim McGregeorJune 7, 1999

Well, it seems Microsoft is doing it AGAIN. They purchased another software company. This is nothing new nor unique, since they have fallen into a pattern of "if you can't beat em, buy em." In their latest purchase, they really haven't bought good programmers, or good applications, or anything else; it's a game company. Because it is a game corporation, this exposes the true nature of the Microsoft method of conquering.
The first step is to look at what was purchased. In this case, it was Virtual World Entertainment. They produce a number of "capsule" pods which contain 3D virtual reality technology with various other effects, such as force feedback. As it turns out, Virtual World was doing force feedback long before Microsoft ever heard of it. (As a small note, Microsoft didn't pay any attention to this until after Nintendo of America reported substantial sales of a "rumble pack" for their popular TV console system.) The 3D technology is nothing impressive, so why would Microsoft purchase it?
They found someone who was successfully expanding at that which they could not. In late '96 and early '97, magazines in the "Game Developer" genre reported on Microsoft's interest in producing Wintel machines scaled for the coin operated game industry, providing easy portability and a cheaper alternative for arcade developers. So far this idea has flopped, the main reason being many such machines rely on graphical representation in order to first attract people to pop in quarters. That reqires the same scenes to be shown over and over again in a loop when the machines are not being played, and Microsoft's DirectX and Direct3D are simply too unstable to do that. "Coin-op" machines run unplayed for extended periods, and any machine that locks up is very likely to discourage people from using the machine further. So the reasoning is that by acquiring Virtual Worlds, Microsoft gets a small but successful company in an area they wish to excel at.
Virtual Worlds also owns FASA Interactive, a game software company for personal PCs. Microsoft can't use their usual claim of getting an experienced team to benefit users because FASA Interactive has only released one software title, MechCommander. Although very successful, it seems odd to be banking such a purchase on a corporation that has only produced one game in its entire history. However, both FASA Interactive and its parent Virtual Worlds were owned by the FASA Corporation. FASA corporation produces the 'BattleTech' RPG (a Dungeons and Dragons type game with giant robots) which has been successful for more than 15 years. FASA Interactive was created primarily to sell rights to produce BattleTech games to other companies. Due to that, the BattleTech games over time have all been released by various OTHER corporations like Activision. If Microsoft was interested in experience, they would have gone there. Thus, Microsoft didn't buy quality software, but a license.
That is the main reason why thus far, Microsoft games have failed: unlike business software, games require a healthy dose of new options; enhanced old ones simply won't cut it. Simply expanding a successful game does not mean success (sequels are usually at least 70% new code). As owners of the license, part of the creative work is done for them by contractors. But Activision may not want to produce anything for Microsoft since they - creativity intact - recently picked up a new license to produce similar games. That's bad news for Microsoft because a license is only going to pull in a few initial customers by name recognition. If the underlying product is crap, the game title will die.
As can be seen, the lies of Microsoft have become even more transparent on this one. Their usual rationalizing just doesn't work here. They are simply removing competition, cloning, and buying the right to use a name.