Microshaft Winblows 98
| Microshaft Winblows 98 | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Parroty Interactive |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release date(s) | January 5, 1998 |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Microshaft Winblows 98 is a video game developed and released by Parroty Interactive. It parodies the then-popular Windows 98 operating system, as well as Microsoft and Windows' creator, Bill Gates.[1][2] Though released during the United States v. Microsoft Corp. lawsuit, the game does not address Microsoft's monopoly issues and scandals, and only exists for the sake of mocking Microsoft. Ironically it was released for Windows as well as the Classic Mac OS.
Gameplay
When started, the game presents a bootsplash much like the one on the Windows 9x operating systems before presenting the user with a desktop from which various "applications" can be launched; these include spoofs of computer games (such as Doom), Microsoft software (such as Internet Explorer), and even sometimes popular fads of the time (such as a "Billagotchi" that parodies Tamagotchi and Microsoft head Bill Gates[3][4]). The game also has a storyline, where the player starts out as a tech support employee and must work his or her way up to a meeting with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.
Reception
The game is notable for having negative reception, with Richard Cobbett of PC Gamer describing it as being "not really a game, although it has a few of them in it, but more of an interactive comedy CD-ROM", although even the parody sketches are "stuck mining geek humour" which Cobbett felt "smacks of non-technical people desperately trying to write jokes in what may as well be a foreign language".[5]
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160222183031/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-20154159.html. Archived from the original on February 22, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2012. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ Edward Rothstein, "TECHNOLOGY: CONNECTIONS; A time for sympathy, yes, sympathy for Microsoft in its lonely stand." The New York Times, Published: January 12, 1998.
- ↑ "Microsoft bashers aren't welcome inside electronics show", Associated Press in The Augusta Chronicle, September 27, 1997.
- ↑ Michael Marriott, "As Big as Microsoft: Ribbing Gates", The New York Times, March 19, 1998.
- ↑ "Saturday Crapshoot: Microshaft Winblows 98 | Crap Shoot, Features". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2013-02-01.