Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!pacbell.com!tandem!zorch!xanthian From: xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games Subject: Re: Run (don't walk) to your store. Lemmings has been released. Message-ID: <1991Feb24.040413.8258@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> Date: 24 Feb 91 04:04:13 GMT References: <1991Feb20.064217.26621@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <5215@vela.acs.oakland.edu> <19228@cbmvax.commodore.com> Organization: SF-Bay Public-Access Unix Lines: 58 kominetz@cbmvax.commodore.com (John Kominetz - Product Assurance) writes: > Software manufacturers will produce their software for the most common > configuration of each system. An Electronic Arts Rep said that over > 90% of their sales (or at least those that sent in the reg. card) in > the Amiga market are straight A500s: no ram expanders, no external > drives, nothing. Which is, of course, completely bogus. If you insult all the folks with money to burn, by refusing to support their extra hardware, and then only get registration cards from folks with kiddie-car startup systems, you are allowed to draw the conclusion that only kiddie-car startup system owners buy games, but you prove yourself a fool doing so; you have already selected out the folks with the cash before you did your registration card survey. Now if you were to go check the registration cards from the games that say: "HD installable, extra sound with one meg of ram, runs completely from memory with 3 meg of ram, extra drawing detail on faster systems" prominently on the cover, you'd get a very different feel for who is spending money on Amiga games. > They will not change their policies until they are convinced (by their > market info.) that accelerators, extra ram, etc. are the rule, not the > exception. If this is an example of their world view of the market, no wonder marketroids are the object of jests around the world, and no wonder they continue to produce such utter dreck. Scan the online files in this group for "EA" and see how many posting have that wrapped in: "Will never buy another" and "game". > Since many companies base this on their registered owners' responses, > your boycott not only deprives you of good software but insures that > manufacturers won't change their behavior. The alternative being to throw good money after bad, I guess I won't keep buying their system hostile games, thanks. Since they only survey those who agree with their opinions, and then produce goods as if that represented Truth, the remaining available suasion is market force. The biggest reason for this newsgroup is to warn folks away from the turkeys and highlight the winners. (Though the bulk of traffic is game hints.) Sometimes the "turkey" is a whole company. In the case of Lemmings, Psygnosis didn't write the game, they just chose to wrap it in obnoxious copy control before selling it. It's nearly a sure bet the game was _developed_ with play from a HD, and crippled by the vendor. Buying the system friendly games (Crystal Quest, Pocoman, Empire, Pirates, etc) and not buying the system unfriendly games is the best handle on changing game vendor behavior, either by smartening them up, or by replacing them with those who read _do_ handwriting on walls. Kent, the man from xanth.