3D Ultra Pinball

[KeeperBvK]

hardcoregaming101.net/3dultrapinball/3dultrapinball.htm

Just a quick remark: It says that the original 3D Ultra Pinball was aimed at rivaling Space Cadet which came out in 1995, but then the release date for 3D Ultra Pinball is given as 1993. Should that be 1995 as well, perhaps?

[Weasel]

Probably a mistake made when reformatting the article - my original text also reads 1995.

[jorpho]

In August of 1995, Microsoft set world records for the launch of their next-generation operating system, Windows 95. Win95 promised computer gamers a smoother experience, making all kinds of claims about its new "DirectX" system, and even going so far as to bundle a handful of multimedia games with the OS, arguably the most popular being 3D Pinball: Space Cadet. While Space Cadet proved popular, what a lot of users didn't quite realize was that this was actually a tie-in marketing ploy by Maxis and developer Cinematronics for their upcoming title, Full Tilt Pinball, which included an enhanced version of Space Cadet as one of its three tables.

Wait a minute! Space Cadet wasn't included with the original release of Windows 95; it was only released as part of the optional Plus! pack. Windows NT 4, oddly enough, was the first OS to have Space Cadet bundled with it. DirectX was not even part of the original release of Windows 95.

[Weasel]

It was not my intention to imply that all of this happened right at Windows 95's launch; I was merely including it all to illustrate the events of the time to set a tone for the article. And yeah, NT 4 came first, but it was not marketed as a consumer OS "for everybody" like 95 was.

[jorpho]

I posit that at the time, people were probably more likely to encounter Space Cadet at work, on machines running NT 4, then they were to have shelled out extra money for the Plus! pack – but then, I really don't know anything about how well the Plus! pack sold.

[Weasel]

Dec 14, 2011 22:25:13 GMT -5 jorpho said:

I posit that at the time, people were probably more likely to encounter Space Cadet at work, on machines running NT 4, then they were to have shelled out extra money for the Plus! pack – but then, I really don't know anything about how well the Plus! pack sold.

To be fair, my dad purchased the Plus! pack at launch, and I didn't realize when I wrote the article that the 3D Pinball game might not have been included in vanilla Windows 95 (if I remember correctly, it does come on the OSR2 version, though). I haven't had an original Windows 95 disc to refer to for the last ten years or so. =P

[jorpho]

Dec 14, 2011 22:32:44 GMT -5 Weasel said:

(if I remember correctly, it does come on the OSR2 version, though).

'Fraid not. The first consumer OS to include it was actually ME.

support.microsoft.com/kb/188204
www.mdgx.com/newtip23.htm#3DPI

[Weasel]

So why do I remember having the game in my various Windows 98 machines...? Gah, Microsoft is fuckin' confusing, I tell ya what.