Hi Michael, The answer to both of your questions is simply money. Companies limit the number of items in order to force prices up by controlling the supply and raising the demand for those products. If they didn't do it that way eventually they would have a large supply of products but little to no demand for them making the value of their products worthless. Therefore they limit the number of products that are created and sold.
To put it another way if a company creates only 10,000 copies of a certain product they can set whatever price they think it will sell for. If the supply is limited and demand is high then the product will sell for a lot more money than if the company had made 1,000,000 copies of that product. Make sense? However, the problem is that the internet has made it possible to share electronic media like books, movies, music, and games so that the normal rules of supply and demand no longer apply. Without encryption and other forms of security a person can make hundreds, thousands, and perhaps millions of copies of the media making it totally worthless financially. So the companies are trying in their own little ways to restrict access and distribution of the content so they can control the supply and demand, but are finding that harder to do in an e-world where there is no physical media to control. As for the issue of cross-platform games we've been over that before, and I can say little I haven't said already. There are technical issues with creating cross-platform games, extra costs involved, it takes more time and manpower, and most companies simply do not want to invest time and money into a platform they don't think will sell as well. If we say Windows has roughly 80% to 85% of the PC market, Mac OS has 10%, and Linux the remaining 5% its clear that the majority of money will be had in making a Windows game where Mac OS and Linux would probably not return as high an investment for the company so many choose not to do it unless there is some other incentive for doing so. Those who do develop cross-platform versions of games such as a version for XBox, another for Play Station III, and another for Wii can maximize their investment by creating platform exclusive content. That's why a version of the game for platform x might get an expansion pack and the version for platform y gets something else. The companies believe if you like the game that much, want the expansions etc enough, you'll buy both versions and play them. Its just another way to get you to pay twice for something you already have. Cheers! On 6/15/12, Michael Gauler <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Thomas, > That might be true for books or music. > What I never got was the why all things had to be limited. > For example, one of my friends bought the complete Outlander Series (at > that > time six books) as an audiobook series on a few MP3 CDs. > They didn't use DVD discs at that time except for movies in Germany. > That was around 2006. > Other media like DVDs or Blu Ray discs have more storage capacity than your > average CD ROM, but the only thing they are used for is either games or HD > movies or TV shows. > But you also could store a high quality (lossless) music archive on such a > disc and sell that. > But apparently no one is thinking of that. > But it seems to be easier to cry for help because "pirates are the cause > for > not getting enough money". > But one reason why people might use file sharing services could be that > prices for audiobooks or music have been rising (at least in Germany), or > because lots of music from smaller labels can't be found on Amazon, or > Itunes. > Or the other problem someone might encounter is that your favorite book or > CD is no longer on sale in your favorite store or onlineshop. > > And when it comes to games (mainstream), I still can't get, why so many > games have to be released for one platform only. > While it might be expensive to get awhatever library or tool set to program > > for game consoles, once you have said tools, you can rdevelop your product > and release it. > And theoretically you don't need to edit content for porting the product to > > another platform, but you would have to change your code. > But if you released one platform version first and if your title was a > success, you could use the gained money to cover cost of porting, if you > didn't start cross platform from the very beginning. > And if the console creators or apple set high quality standards the games > have to follow before release is allowed, then that should be no problem for > > a PC (Windows or Linux) release, because your content and basic game play > mechanics follow the required standards at the release date, because they > wouldn't get out if they weren't... > > And while we are at it, I still don't get, why several games get expansion > packs, or some other downloadable content exclusive to platform x while > platform y users get something different. > I heard some rumors that Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3 are getting some > downloadable content. > But since the PC version of Max Payne 3 is to come out somewhere around the > > end of this month while the console versions are already out, no one knows > if extra content is being released or not. > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [email protected]. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://mail.audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, > please send E-mail to [email protected]. > --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. 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