Games and Windows 7 : Using the Games Explorer (part 1)

Windows 7, like Windows Vista before it, includes a new Games Explorer that is prominently linked to from the right-most side of the main Start menu display, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Apparently, games are as important in Windows 7 as the computer and the network. Yeah, you bet they are.

NOTE

Don't see it? If the Games link does not appear in your Start menu, you can easily add it back: right-click the Start button and choose Properties. Then, in the Start Menu tab, click Customize to display the Customize Start Menu window. In this window, scroll down to the Games link (the items are alphabetical) and choose from Display as a link (the default), Display as a menu, or Don't display this item.

The first time you run Games Explorer, you'll be presented with a dialog, Set up Games, that asks whether you'd like to use recommended settings or customized update and folder settings. If you choose Recommended settings, Windows 7 will automatically check online for game updates, and the Games Explorer will automatically download game art and information, and collect information about the games you most recently played. We suggest simply using the recommended settings in this case.

When you select this option, you're shown the Games Explorer, as referenced in Figure 2 and oftentimes referred to simply as Games. Games is a handy front end to the games that are included with Windows Vista, as well as a number of other game-related features, including third-party games you install yourself, game hardware, parental controls, and other tools.

Figure 2. The Games Explorer

Actually, if this is the first time you've opened the Games Explorer, you'll see a slightly different display: Microsoft provides a window with which you can configure various options related to the Games Explorer and the built-in Windows 7 games, as shown in Figure 3.

The first choice you need to make is whether to let Games Explorer automatically update itself with game updates and—new to Windows 7—news about game-related products and services. You can also decide whether you want the Games Explorer to automatically download art and information about installed games—similar to the way Windows Media Player downloads album art—and collect information about the games you play. This latter feature isn't as Big Brother as it sounds. Instead, Windows 7 is simply creating a Most Recently Used (MRU) list so that it can display those games you've played recently and most frequently at the front of your list of games, if you so choose.

Figure 3. The first time you run Games Explorer, you can configure a few options.

If you clicked through this window without paying attention, or think you may want to pick different options, fear not. You can make these configuration changes later. Just click the Options toolbar menu item in Games Explorer to redisplay the window.

Once you dispense with this window, you're free to, ahem, explore the Games Explorer. It works largely like the version from Windows Vista: as you select any of the built-in game titles, a large version of the game's icon and its Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating is displayed in the Preview Pane, which is found on the right side of the Games window.

This display has changed a little bit since Vista, however: thanks to a new tab-based user interface, you can toggle between the ESRB rating and a new Performance tab, shown in Figure 4, that provides the recommended and required Windows Experience Index (WEI) score for playing the game, as well as the WEI score for your PC so you can compare and contrast.

Depending on how you've installed or acquired Windows 7, you may see additional games in the Games Explorer. For example, PC makers often include their own selection of game titles.

Figure 4. Performance information is now available from within a new tab-based user interface in Games Explorer.

As a program explorer and shell location, the Games Explorer is customizable in certain ways. Via a standard Organize toolbar menu button, you can perform common shell tasks and change the layout of the window. The toolbar also includes links to Games Explorer options, game-related tools, and Windows 7's parental controls, the latter of which provide a way for parents to restrict which games their kids can play.

You can also right-click a game icon and choose the Play option if you think double-clicking is too simple and obvious. Glibness aside, there is a great new reason to right-click games in the Games Explorer: with Windows 7, two new Pin To options enable you to attach shortcuts to the Start menu or, more usefully, to the taskbar. So if you find yourself playing a certain game quite frequently, you can skip the rigmarole of navigating through the Start menu or using the Games Explorer and simply make that game a permanent inhabitant of your taskbar, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. If you're a big fan of a particular game, you can pin it to your taskbar for even quicker access.

NOTE

Here's a useless but fun fact: Microsoft did not create any of the games in Windows 7. Instead, they were created by third parties for the software giant. For example, Oberon Games was responsible for updating games such as Minesweeper and Solitaire.