With Windows 8 being made available earlier today to MSDN and TechNet members we can now take a closer look at the final version of the apps and games Microsoft have released both with the Operating System and in the Windows Store. One thing noticeably missing from a fresh install of Windows 8 is a game that has been included in every version of Windows since Windows 3.0 back in 1990. It is however available for free from the Windows Store under the title Microsoft Solitaire Collection, and better still it is an Xbox Live title and it includes Achievements. In the store you will also find titles such as: Wordament, Microsoft Mahjong, Microsoft Minesweeper and Pinball Fx2.

The Solitaire, Mahjong and Minesweeper titles from Microsoft share the same menu style, but they also share something else. After each level/game/board a summary is displayed and to the right of the summary is an image prompting the user to download a free update. After clicking on the image, more information about what the update contains is revealed and one of these caught our attention.

PAUSE AND RESUME YOUR GAMES ACROSS ANY PC, TABLET OR WINDOWS PHONE!

These three games will be coming to Windows Phone! While there is already a Minesweeper game already available for Windows Phone, Microsoft have not yet announced Windows Phone versions of Mahjong or Solitaire. These titles will also support synchronous gameplay, meaning that you can start playing a new Minesweeper board on your PC/Tablet, save it and then pick up where you left off on your Windows Phone. WPCentral have reported previously that Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II will have this same functionality, which is not currently supported in any other Windows Phone game and it is currently expected to launch this spring.

Assuming that these new games from Microsoft will also launch this spring, it is our prediction that these will be released for Windows Phone 8 which is rumoured to be launching this spring too. Will these be the features that will be common to Windows Phone 8 Xbox Live games? At the very least it looks as though Microsoft’s “3 screens strategy is finally taking shape with Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.