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From: specter@disk.UUCP (Byron Max Guernsey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Pirating CD-ROMS
Keywords: CD-ROM
Message-ID: <4777@disk.UUCP>
Date: 17 Dec 90 19:19:10 GMT
References: <1990Dec11.205920.12986@daffy.cs.wisc.edu> <4751@disk.UUCP> <48778@sequent.UUCP>
Organization: The Alaskan Organization for Amiga Domination
Lines: 58

cseaman@sequent.UUCP (Chris "The Bartman" Seaman) writes:

>specter@disk.UUCP (Byron Max Guernsey) writes:
>< And I am almost certain game manufacturers won't produce A LOT for
>< this thing until enough applications such as the encyclopedia appear that
>< many many people will already have one. 

>I wouldn't bet my life savings on that if I were you.

Would you really want to be the first to spend 10's of thousands of dollars
on production of a program on CD when the current CD user base is relatively
low. What about compatibility? Aren't there about 3 or 4 different types of
CD drives? 

I'm sure production of games on the CD's would help boost the user base, but
its just not convenient *RIGHT NOW* for companies to produce these things.

Your talking about a "GAME" that would costs ALOT of money in developement.
You would have to pay animators, digitizers, musicians, programmers (by the
ton- it would take a huge number for any realistic total CD project), ANd
if that isn't ENOUGH- If you are a company like PSYGNOSIS, *IT WON'T EVEN 
WORK FOR THE FIRST SEVERAL RELEASES* :} This "GAME" has just went up from
50$ for the DISK to about 200$ because they don't have enough people to
buy it and TOO many people to pay. This is REALISTIC thinking. You have to
consider the COST. Without CD it is expensive to pay programmers to make
something- and in fact they limit their numbers to save on expenses.

Please don't flame right away till you consider my point. Am I not at least
partially right? You can make the general assumptions..

1) The user base is low
2) The low use base was force the price up higher than the media cost and
   "normal" game cost
3) a gigabyte game is more expensive than a floppy
4) People WANT good software and LOW prices
5) Either the company hires animators, musicians, etc or they get a 
   crappy game with digital animation from the programmers bathroom. :)
6) The cost of the extra programmers would bring the price of the software
   up
7) And finally, software is ALREADY too high due to piracy. These CD games
   would start out at say 30$ for the media (thats the price of many games
   today WITH their piracy LOSS added on) then with all other factors you
   get this mega expensive game. Lets say 90$ + the cost of a CD drive
   which is compatible (What is the price now? 700$)

I'm sorry, but anyone who spends 700$ on a drive to JUST play games and
90$ on a game had better see a psychiatrist. Most people now don't have the
CD drives and have no need other than to play games if they were produced.
I thought I had spent enough on a computer, and now they want to make it
even more expensive. sigh. 

I'm sure sometime, possibly by 2000 CD drives will be used enough to where it
might be profitable for the developers to do all their stuff on CD. Maybe a
developer might even make a game now, but 1 game isn't worth the price of
a cd drive. These all are factors are they not? MONEY is what it is all about
not "How good a game would be on cd" or "How hard it would be to copy a CD".

Byron Guernsey