🚀 go-pugleaf

se...@cornell.edu (Stephane Evoy) writes:
>In article <38mkg2$2...@acmex.gatech.edu>, gt6...@prism.gatech.edu (John) wrote:
>> Afterall, where would Origin games be if Wing Commander and System Shock
>> were both designed, implimented, and capable of running on an Apple II?
>> I think their business would be in much more jeopardy in that case..because
>> their games would all suck (Not to say that the simple games, like
>> loadrunner, etc, aren't fun.. that's just not the part of the game market
>> we're talking about).  In a sense, ID Games did the same thing.  Can you
>> imagine how pitiful Doom's game play would be if it was backward compatable
>> to anyone who still only has a PC with 1 or 2 5.25" floppy drives, 256k,
>> and a CGA monitor? (don't laugh, there are still people out there who
>> have them, and who do just fine with that system for what they use it for).

>I agree with you. Origin did not get where they are by designing games
>that were obsolete a few months after they were released. 

	Maybe that was the case in the past, but I am not sure as that being
true in the present.


>Every company (in any field) has to define their target market if they
>want to suceed. You can not blame Origin if they want to design products
>for the high-end machines: that's the piece of the market they want to
>corner. Can you blame Disney for producing movies that are mostly
>appealing to young-at-hearts? Can you blame BMW for selling luxury cars?

	Well, I agree with you there.  But when someone does THAT, they have to
make sure they do a GOOD job on it.  Disney and BMW have not become famous
because of their "off-the-market-formula" products, but because they make
"GOOD-off-the-market-formula" products; in other words, while they are doing
their own thing, they are doing it RIGHT!  Although Disney's "lion king" had
a fairly weak story, they sure made up with it in every other respect:
animation, sound, characters and voicing... they know what they are doing.
Origin does NOT.  They aim for the "top of the market" but their programming
implementation is poor.  PS was supposed to run ok on a 486-dx-33; it does not.
Some have said that it does not even run PROPERLY on a dx2-66.  The irony in
all this is, even though Wing Commander I required a 386, it ran pretty well
on a 286 (for me, anyway).  WCII - the same thing.  Someone said in these news
that Academy never could run on a 286, though I cannot see why not.
	All I am trying to say is that if you are going to do something
"extraordinairy", do it RIGHT.


>If you feel that you are not part of the target market, don't whine about
>it, just do not buy the product...

	We "whine" because the target market not only is small at the moment
(Pentiums) but also because the products designed for it are for the gurgler.
You said something about Origin's games lasting... if you are talking of their
last 3 major releases (PS, U8, WC-Armada) then I would have to say you were
smoking something "extraordinairy".  Yes, Armada IS a good 2-player game;
though touted to be more than 2-players, a lot of people here are saying you
cannot get more than 2 players to play at the same time on a network.  Not
only is that bad programming (though I must say that their graphics engine here is outstanding), but it generally defeats the purose of the game: how many
of the people who own computers today CAN play the multiplayer mode? because
that is all the game is good for; it's one-player options are very easy... I
know because I wanted to buy this, but after testing it and having a go at a
friend's place, I was rather disappointed - so Origin have lost another customer
... again.


>Origin is still there. Altough I agree that some of their latest releases
>were disappointing (U8, PS), I am certain that their approach to this
>market is the best one. They just have to make sure that their games are
>as innovative as they used to be (Underworld I, Wing Commander...).

	You just summed up my points exactly.  It IS a case of good intentions
but majorly bad implementation.  System Shock is a great game, and guess what?
it was done by looking glass rather than Origin.  I can only hope that WC3
returns Origin to its former glory of yesteryear... otherwise if this product
fails, then I do not think there will be any more parachutes left to hand to
Origin when their plane is taking a major dive to 1000% solidified air.

					- Falcon