On Thu, 21 May 1998, Ruffin Bailey wrote:
> to have to refute this one. First of all, where there are finite funds,
> any and all expenditures have an influence on any other potential
> purchases. Gameboy games and 2600 games are no exceptions. If I do buy
That implies that the average classic gamer who is a potential consumer of
a 2600 game also collects for many other systems. This is up for debate.
I would suggest that most 2600 gamers who are die-hard enough to pay
_anything_ for a new 2600 game would probably shell out $30 for a good
game that is well packaged.
> going to have the dough for Edtris and Oystron (both carts I'd like to
Oystron is already available as a freely distributable BIN image and
Tetris clones are available on just about every platform imaginable.
There are multiple factors. Availability outside of the cart format is
one, and the uniqueness of the game is another, in addition to the quality
of the game, and the taste of the consumer. Somebody may only like action
games, for instance.
Nevertheless, release a 2600 game cart-only and make it unique, and it
will be more of a seller. That's what the guy on RGVC is planning to do
with his Warlordsesque game and it's a good strategy.
> I've been struggling with: Shouldn't we be more protective of our .bins?
> With every attachment on the list going up on the net, isn't this going
> to hurt sales? Edtris demand is still high lo these many years later,
> but will Oystron keep pace?
If Piero had kept his BINs secret then he wouldn't have had the heavy
playtesting he got. He'd have to be much more detached from the mailing
list and I think this would have hurt the game immensely.
I think that if the goal is QUALITY, then you have to sacrifice
EXCLUSIVITY and open it up to the list, especially since most of us are
journeyman 2600 coders and inexperienced game programmers in general.
My hat's off to those who feel they _can_ develop a game in a vacuum and
then release it in cart-only form (although I would expect the game to be
read and placed online whether they like it or not at some time in the
future.)
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