Though I’m waiting for more details on these releases, I agree that things don’t look very promising. If that’s the way Vivendi plans on handling the re-release they are wasting their time and money.
They start off at the wrong foot declaring that the games would run on Windows XP, because by now Sierra fans are wise enough to know that whatever runs on XP today would be useless on whatever system Microsoft will issue five years from now. That’s why they all have DosBox. They don’t need to buy the games again.
I also think that including bonus materials with the games would be a good idea. How about stuff like Peter Spear’s books? This is something fans can’t find anywhere else. Perhaps arranging new interviews with the original designers? If they want me to buy these collections, than they’ll have to give them some added value.
I agree that smaller titles like the Laura Bow games and the Conquest series (and perhaps even stuff from the earlier days, like what was included in the Roberta Williams anthology) could have also made good candidates for re-release, but perhaps Vivendi is testing the water with the bigger names. In this respect, at least, I hope they will succeed.