>> Ian wrote: >> I'm surprised that the big names in Go programming a decade ago >> haven't ported their programs to the small handheld platforms. I only >> know of AI Go for the Nintendo DS (Many Faces). In the chess arena, >> Richard Lang ported his last Mephisto program from the 80s (Roma) to >> the Palm and then to the PocketPC. Chess Genius is now one of the top >> selling games of any kind on these platforms. The authors of the >> strong programs Shredder and HIARCS have also followed suit. I would >> have thought this a vast untapped market, especially in Asia where >> gadgets are so prevalent.
>Don wrote: >You would think that, but Ogo sold only a few hundred copies, and most >of them in Europe and the USA. I don't know if this is true, but I >heard that Asian markets are difficult to penetrate and that even with >the internet you cannot expect to get many sales. I did get SOME >sales from those places, but very few relative to Europe and USA. I used a Palm for many years. I believe Chess Genius was a great success because it was quite fast (nearly instant response time) yet it was strong enough to give the average user a good game. All the Go programs I played on the Palm were either too slow and/or too weak. I believe AIGO for Palm was the most enjoyable overall, but it was quite weak, even for me (I am only 18kyu). (It was also available in a Japanese language version.) I tried OGO, but it was incredibly slow on my Palm, and not significantly stronger than AIGO. The new handhelds (WindowsMobile/PocketPC, Smartphones, and iPhones) can all run versions of GnuGo which I are much faster and stronger than anything that was available for the Palm platform. If they can't already support the latest version of GnuGo, they will soon enough. I just don't see the Palm platform being able to compete, since it is hardly used anymore. Gnugo for WindowsMobile/PocketPC and Smartphone: http://vieka.com/gnugo/ Gnugo for iPhone: http://www.robota.nl/products/iPhone%20iGo.html I say keep developing for the general CPU and wait for the handheld platforms to catch up to your requirements. Ben. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list [email protected] http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/
