On Wednesday, January 3rd, 1996 - Tom D'Ambrosio wrote:
 RR> You have no evidence or proof of any kind that these cross
 RR> licensed titles have ever impacted upon hardware sales.  Not a
 RR> shred of evidence - you're just guessing.
 
TD> I know my PC, C64 and Vic-20 using friends weren't impressed enough
TD> by the Atarisoft conversions they saw to actually purchase them.
 
Well, thank you for proving my point exactly!  If nobody bought them,
then those titles never posed a threat to the original title on the
original Atari hardware.  Seems like we agree 100%!   :-)
 
TD> And if 
TD> you think I didn't have to endure "Atari sucks" as a result, you are
TD> sadly mistaken.
 
I'm sorry you had to endure that, but there were plenty of people who
said "Commodore sucks" based on the low capability of the Vic-20.
Doesn't mean much either way - The C64 outsold the Atari 800XL based
on PRICE advantage and mass market exposure.
 
TD> "Atarisoft" was _not_ a financial success.
 
Oh yeah?  Says who?  What proof do you have of that?  I could just as
easily say it was a great success and be equally accurate - since we
are both pulling information out of our hats like magic rabbits.
I do know that Atari derived income from cross-licensing titles.
I also know that Activision is deriving some income from a cross
platform gender bender of their 2600 titles.  I also know that everyone
out there appears to be making money selling software for PCs and 
various game consoles.  I see no evidence that Atari should abandon
this source of revenue.
 
TD> If so, why did they stop?
 
Why did they stop selling Atari 2600s and Atari 800s?  Why did they
stop selling buggy whips when automobiles took over?  If Atari thinks
they have some HOT new video game concepts that will SELL on other
platforms, then maybe they have reason to pursue that market.  Hey,
Doom sold a lot on the PC, so why wouldn't a fast Alien Vs. Predator
sell on a Pentium?  People shopping for $249 game consoles can't afford
a Pentium anyway - so that's not a threat.  And when it comes to the
other guy's game console, I think people will buy whatever they're going
to buy, regardless of what titles are cross developed.  The average
user just doesn't get all whacked out about these details, I think.
 
Are there any numbers which prove a connection between loss of hardware
sales and cross licensed titles?  If you have the stats which
conclusively show proof of that, I would be more than happy to take a
look.
 
--- RiBBS v2.10        

[+/199 of 200/106 Mins] = * FIDO: ST_PROG =: Next...