A while back, Microsoft announced their Silverlight software. I didn’t think much of it, but now that they have announced the Azure platform, I realized that they have developed a Forgotten Realms theme in their products.
Let’s look at this, while we’re in the beginning of the trend, to see how this relates to the the SSI “gold box” Forgotten Realms games:
| Product platform | How it relates | To this SSI FR game |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Silverlight | … silver light is the color of light that gleams off silver blades … | Secret of the Silver Blades |
| Microsoft Azure | … azure is the color of the bonds tattooed on the adventurers’ arms … | Curse of the Azure Bonds |
Based on this flimsy evidence, I suspect the next major product platform from Microsoft to be related, somehow, to “radiance.” (As in Pool of Radiance, of course.)
We might also expect a future initiative centered around “darkness,” but I consider that less likely — or, it may already have happened, given the reverse chronology that seems to be at work. (See Pools of Darkness.)