re-release games?

hi,
just wondering if I should even attempt to run any pre windows 7 games on windows 7 regardless of whether or not to run things using compatibility.
I haven't gamed much on PCs for a while. Are people still making new PC games (other than online games - MMORPGs etc). I know I see occasionally a new FPS game trying to test the limits of hardware etc. but for the most part everything new seems to be released on consoles only.

The only real sort of thing I was thinking of trying was something like Halo1 or is this likely to be too old.

Even then, am I best just rebuying any games which have been redesigned for windows 7 etc. What I mean is say like Civ4 has been re-released for use with Windows 7 - Is this specifically because the version which worked on XP won't work with 7.
Is there any way of getting round buying the same titles again???
Alot of the games I see being released are ones that came out years ago but have just been remade for windows 7.
I don't really want to be putting any software on my laptop if I'm just going to have to uninstall it straight away etc.

hi, i'm a bit late but i registered today ^^.

eehm in short no, the pc games at that are coming atm for non-online gamers are really bad. i actually started playing diablo II again. if you wan't to play offline games but not pay the full amount i'd say go download them i don't know ore it's allowed to speak about it here but i wouldn't pay €50,- for cod BO without playing multi.

altough this year diablo III might come out wich will have a great single / multiplayer (pre-ordered 2 years ago :P)

Many old-old titles can be found for free online as abandonware. And products like DOSBox can make many of these old DOS games function pretty well. Fans have also written emulator shells to make games like Tomb Raider or Marathon function. But as for getting them to play multi-player online I couldn't really tell you as I'm not a big gamer.

As for "other" methods of obtaining the rereleased versions of licensed games, we at w7forum encourage you to follow the laws in your area and any such discussion is forbidden in posts here.

It is, of course, perfectly legal to maintain an old computer with an old OS that will still run the applications you own. Or it may also be possible to get these programs to run in a Virtual PC ... essentially the old OS is simulated inside a Virtual window running on your Win7 machine.

thanks both of you. seems like the pc gamers have once again been screwed. makes me wonder why tcompanies even bother releasing gaming pcs and laptops as the hardware is not needed for this purpose due to lack of games. seems like anything decent is released in consoles. it's a real shame if u think back to what multiplayer fps's like counterstrike and team fortress were like.. :'(

yups true, i now have a wii and a couple of pc's i have to say i still am a pc player but the best games (in my taiste) like COD BO are most for consoles (40 million buy's first day in consoles 400 000 on pc's if i'm right...)

In order to keep the gaming systems going they make deals for exclusivity where particular games will only run on a specific gaming system. It's big business and everybody wants their piece or "your" pie.

Eventually nearly every gaming system gets an emulator to play them on the PC or the game is released with a PC version; it just takes a while.