Mass production makes computers cheap. The question is: will any company
make that much MSX computers?
Maybe there will a new -out of the box- MSX computer. But I don't think it
will be cheap. Because there is no market.
We have moonsound, Graphics 9000, padial's z380 etc. Are those hardware
extensions cheap? Nope.
Why? Because the market is to small. I agree that the MSX computer is a HC.
But children these days are learning on the PC at school , not on a MSX.
There is more software for children on the pc now, than there ever was for
the MSX.
I don't think ASCII and ESE can beat mass production prizes to give the MSX
a big marketshare what it needs to survive on the long term. Look at the
trouble the Dreamcast has to get enough software developers for there
system.
Everybody knew Sony whould beat them with the Playstation2 before it was
launched. And with DVD and Broadband modems people will buy a playstation2
sooner than a new MSX.
----- Original Message -----
From: "ag0ny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Funny how developers seem to 'go back to the future' .. first
homecomputers
> > were made, easy to set up, plug into TV set and run it. then came PCs,
> > seperate machines, requiring a seperate space... and now everything is
going
> > back to the first again...
>
> Yes, this is why MSX can succeed if somehow ASCII manages to release a new
> generation: cheaper and easier to program.
It will only succeed if there will be enough software developers developing
for the system. And that's why Microsoft is developing a game machine that's
compatible with pc's: they know developers will not start to develop for a
new machine if they can't port there code easy.
Metal Gear Solid costed about $2.500.000 to develop. Do you really think
any big software developer will put that kind of money in a new system if
they aren't sure that they will earn a few bucks?
If there is a market for a homecomputer, why did only Panasonic develop a
new MSX (turbo R)? And why did they left MSX for 3DO? Because there wasn't a
market anymore. And they hadn't any return of investment anymore too.
Why did Commodore stop with the Amiga range? Why did Atari stop with the
1024? Why did sharp stop with the X68000? Bad marketing? Maybe that was a
part of it. But the big reason was that the PC computer, because of mass
marketing, went cheaper and cheaper, more people bought it, and more and
more software came available for cheaper prices.
The only way to get a MSX in peoples homes is to cloak it in some other
device. And even then (think about the Commodore CDTV and Philips CDI) you
have a small change of succeding.
If there is a new MSX, say MSX3, and it looks like a real MSX HC, I'm sure
some of us will buy it. I will, if it's not to expensive. And, maybe there
will be a Moonlight Saga 2 for it and a few tools. But it won't be cheaper
than a PSX2 or the cheapest pentiumII pc with a Nvidia Gforce.
The schools I know, use computers that learn children how to use computers
when they go to the next school, at home and when they go to work in the end
when they have growned up. That is a pc for 99% and a few macintosh
computers here and there.
If you visit www.amiga.com, you can read that they are busy with
re-introducing a new amiga. It uses pc hardware, and it will run Linux as
the operating system. Why? read this article again..
Maybe we can safely conclude that the HC era is over, not for us, but for
the big market. Can ASCII and ESE restart this era? Let's pray for it.
-Sander
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