The year was 1996, and the Internet still had training wheels when Microsoft entered the realm of online games.  Originally known as The Village, the site began as a retail matchmaking destination for massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs).  But Microsoft quickly realized that a different kind of gamer was waiting to be cultivated the casual gamer who was interested in seemingly simple, but inevitably hard to master, gameplay.  So the Village morphed into a casual games hub, the Internet Gaming Zone, Zone.com and MSN Gaming Zone before becoming what is today, MSN Games (www.games.msn.com).

And so because no significant birthday should go unnoticed, MSN Games has launched a month-long celebration to thank its loyal users for 10 years of puzzle playing, card dealing and trivia tackling.  The online celebration (June 6 30, 2006) will include an instant win sweepstakes, downloadable wallpaper and buddy icons, promotional badges and a spotlight on some of the most tried-and-true game titles. For more information, visit http://games.msn.com.

Via: Gamerscoreblog