Pedro Quaresma wrote:
>
> >Yes, but that's not the point; as I explained earlier, the PC versions
> >are signficantly different, rare, or both. Hence the need to get them.
>
> Usually the AppleII versions of most games are more rare
In what world do you live in? :-) The Apple II had a HUGE pirate
movement all throughout its life. That's why practically every single
Apple II game is on Asimov. The PC didn't have a significant pirate
following until about 1986, but games date back to 1982 (1981 if you
listen to some pundits). That's why hardly any early PC games are on
various Abandonware sites.
Unless, of course, you're talking about the packaged/boxed software, in
which case I'd agree with you past 1985, and disagree with you pre-1985.
> > >Not for stuff that isn't on the 'net! If someone doesn't make a copy of
> > >the software, then how do you expect to download it?
> >
> > Only extremely exceptional games aren't downloadable from the net. On
> those
> > games, of course, having a floppy is extremely important
>
> >Bingo.
>
> But they're the exceptions. There aren't that many.
You must not be familiar with the early PC gaming industry. There are
easliy a thousand PC games/ports made before 1990 that aren't freely
downloadble on the 'net. Why do you think my cause is so dedicated?
;-)
> >Who do you think seeded the original Abandonware community anyway? ;-)
>
> Lee? Hugh? Karl? Chris?... Hmmmm... no idea >:)
No, not them! ME! I was one of the first 10 Abandonware websites, and
I built up the original AB ring with a search engine, mailing list,
etc. I was also, not by coincidence, the first AB site taken down by
the IDSA. My site was up in 1997.
> > >But of
> > >course that won't happen, since Origin is finally dead, gone, and
> > >buried. :-(
> >
> > Not Origin, but Origin-as-we-know-it. :(
>
> >No, really, it really is dead. They laid everyone else off, and they
> >stopped using the Origin name/logo on packaging late last year. But
> >take heart; Garriot is re-hiring a lot of people for his new company.
>
> Yes, and they've taken a "great" project: they're supporting this
> super-crappy online asian RPG, for it to make a "triumphal" entrance on the
> US market. Yeah, right.
Oh, I don't agree with their RPG stuff... but who knows, maybe 3 years
down the road when they have some seed money they can come up with
Ultima X.
> That's not quite the truth. Baldur's Gate 2 sells, doesn't it? And it's 2D.
True, but it took some 3D products first to qualify this.
In a mini-return to that subject, can you tell me why you didn't like
Baulder's Gate 2? Or more specifically, what you wish it had and what
you wish it hadn't? (Because I just started playing and after 3 hours
of gameplay I'm not disliking it)
> "Quakers" love 3d, so some "geniuses" in game companies start directing
> their efforts to please them too. _That_ was their mistake... BG1, BG2,
> Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, Diablo 2, Fallout 1&2, they all sold
> pretty decently.
True, but it took some 3D products first to qualify this. ;-)
> Speaking of BG2, can you give me your email, so I can send you my first
> "direct comparison"?
Sure: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Maybe my questions above would be best answered in email.
> > Because they were first, they ran into a ton of issues and
> >problems. They were penalized, and the product lines abruptly ended.
> >It's a shame to be penalized for being first to market with something.
>
> As I said above, the problem is that they didn't stick to their fans, but
> to other's games fans.
That's very astute (perceptive) -- and also, unfortunately, a fact of
life in an industry where 1% of the market buying your game is
considered a huge success :-( The market is way too saturated :-(
> Also, why in the world are great game creators selling their companies to
> other bigger ones? Don't tell me RG was so poor he just _had_ to sell to
> EA, or that Williams had to sell Sierra to AT&T, or van Caneghem NWC to 3DO
> (I wonder how he's surviving so well in there, btw)
RG/EA: Many at the company didn't like it, but they needed the
development capital to make bigger and better games. It was the
beginning of their downfall (exactly why I'm still trying to figure
out), but it was also the beginning of their most technologically
advanced projects (Wing Commander 3, Strike Commander, Ultima 7, etc.)
They wrote their own 3D code (Strike Commander had so much advanced 3D
code that then-modern machines couldn't run it quickly), wrote their own
memory extenders (which is why it's so damn hard to run U7 on a modern
box), etc. and nobody else was doing that at the time. They were trying
to innovate, and they succeeded in some areas.
Williams: He had said many times before how sad it was that the market
had become so saturated, and that you had to claw your way to a 0.5%
market share. He didn't sell Sierra because they needed money; he just
didn't want to be a part of it any more. I don't blame him, given the
change of the industry in the first half of the 1990s. He had gone from
an industry where everyone knew each other and -- I'm not making this up
-- went on weekend camping trips and picnics, to an industry where you
had to fight tooth and nail to break even. He saw all that and he also
saw his great but ill-timed Sierra Network fade away. I don't blame him
for selling.
3D0: No idea. :-)
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