Hi,
Although Javi and Nestor say that is not just a rumour, we must
consider it as a rumour unless we get news directly from ASCII, or we
can read at the ASCII homepage: "We will make new MSX MACHINE".
You know (or at least should know) most of Japanese people (like the
American-USA people) don't mind about what is happening out of their
countries. They think and they do the things exclusively for themselves
(Turbo-R). Anime and Manga could rule the comicz world if the Japanese
companies just thought producing/selling it also in English and Spanish.
Japanese MSX users even don't read/write in english...
How many MSXes were produced in Japan ? 4 or 5 million ? The amount of
MSXes produced/sold outsite the Japan is less than 10% of the total
amount of MSXes in the world. So we really are not business for them.
What the Japanese market needs/wants ? Maybe SEGA or even Panasonic
wants a new console to beat N64/PSX, or even kill SNES that is still
beind sold... In Japan electronic gadgets are really cheap, they have
money, and they buy anything new, just because is new...
I can't talk for Europe, but what WE need here in Brazil ? We need a
home computer with FDD standard. HD, CD, color InkJet printer and
Internet capabilities, small, that can be used with TV or monitor, and
with all software in Portuguese, costing the same as a 20" TV set or VCR
what is equal to +/- 250 US$. Is it possible today ? YES.
The problem here is not 'to compete' with PC. The problem is that
Brazilian people don't have enough money to buy a PC. Neverthless, we
have a BIG and always growing market. That's why PC hardware, software
and Internet companies are so concerned with Brazil.
What I think and I'm very afraid of ? ASCII wants to make a new console
or computer that can perfectly emulate an old MSX. So this way getting
the advantage of lots of old good games and applications already made.
If they succeed in this step (making an emulator), they probably will
not invest any money/time in a 'new MSX'. Just think, to the market's
requirements today, even the MSX Turbo-R is not good enough. Turbo-R
would not sell if it were re-released today...
But God knows how I want to be completely wrong about this, and maybe
ASCII really wants to make a new powerful MSX MACHINE, with extended
capabilities and a reverse compatibility mode with old MSX standards...
ASCII must realize that Japanese people are NOT good in creating new
things. Japanese are good in making things cheaper, smaller, faster...
But see... they could have made a thing like Joynet years before us, but
they made ninja tap extended... They never thought in direct acess to
VRAM... They never used DMA and NMI capabilities of Z80...
If they really wants to make a new MSX MACHINE, it will be a great big
great mistake if people like Ademir Carchano, Adriano Cunha, Ricardo
Bittencourt, Leonardo Padial, Leonard Oliveira, Nestor Soriano, Daniel
Zorita, Manuel Pazos, Henrik Gilvad, Cas Cremers, Maarten ter Huurne,
Sunrise and other great MSX users were not asked or even employed in the
project.
Werner Augusto Roder Kai
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