Re: Regarding Asmiov (was: GS Icon file Verifier released)

[jefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff Blakeney)]

dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

>In article <4t65j3$3k@news.bconnex.net>, jefbla@bconnex.net (Jeff
>Blakeney) wrote:

>>rder@pro-palmtree.cts.com (Richard Der) wrote:
>>
>>>Jeffrey Robertson's proposal (see the thread about A Modest Proposal)
>>>says it well. If the software is still being sold OR a derivative
>>>of that software (example, AWGS is a derivative of MultiScribe GS),
>>>then it should not be made available no matter what because its
>>>availability can directly harm the sales of the current version.
>>
>>Yes, you are probably right about this.  If there is a newer version
>>of the title still available, an older version shouldn't really be
>>made available.

>What about on other platforms?  Quite a few old Apple II games have been
>updated and migrated.

>One could argue that giving away copies of an older version of a game
>which runs under an emulator would harm sales of the native version.

Well, if the version for the other platform is comparable in quality
(both graphics and sound) to the original Apple II version then yes,
it could definitely cut into its sales.  You might see these sort of
games being made available in classic game packs.  There were two
packages available a short while ago that had some classic Atari 2600
games that still had the same graphics and sound as the original
games.

If the game had been updated on the other platform, then the original
Apple II version being made available would most likely not cut into
the updated versions sales at all.  I doubt many IBM users would
rather download a free version of the original Apple II versions of
Castle Wolfenstein or Stellar 7 when they could buy Wolfenstein 3-D or
the updated version of Stellar 7 which uses VGA and supports sound
cards.

So, a new asimov might want to remove those products that have very
similar versions that are still being sold for other platforms but
keep any that have been updated for other platforms because the
updated version is superior to the original Apple II version.