If Microsoft knows anything, it’s crashes

In its fruitless quest to be cool (the missing fruit being an Apple) and equally futile pursuit of search leader Google, Microsoft has introduced a game called Live Derby 2007. You drive a virtual course made from Live Search satellite maps, which is kind of cool, and gain points for hitting banks, hotels and other landmarks, which probably isn’t. I assumed the persona of arrogant cockney driver “Studly” (natch) and raced the London course. Within the first few minutes, I’d endured several collisions, and my car was sputtering and belching smoke, kind of like a PC without enough memory to run Vista. The point of the game is to highlight Live Search’s capabilities, though I’m not sure it accomplishes that. For one thing, it doesn’t show you where to buy that white-hot mobile device everyone’s talking about. (Yeah, the Zune. Right.)

—Posted by David Gianatasio

July 24, 2007 | Permalink