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To: Charles Hughes who wrote (301)	3/6/1998 4:04:00 AM
From: Sleeperz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 633

More on Consoles "Why the shift? Sony (and to a lesser degree arch-rival Nintendo) realized that the out-of-this-world graphics and sound of their latest machines have great appeal to adults -- but only if the game itself is equally sophisticated or innovative. Final Fantasy VII, Bushido Blade, GoldenEye 007 and PaRapper the Rapper deliver, offering all-new gaming experiences -- plus a world blissfully free of minimum requirements, compatibility tests and DirectX drivers." zdnet.com >>>BTW - I agree about playstation potential - I'm doing one of those titles now - but not with my money, I couldn't have afforded the tools.>>> Well for $19 you get the Command Line Compiler that you don't want. Today you have to pay more for an IDE that comes with lots of bells and whistles. >>> BTW, lots of kids got started with games using the $19 Borland compiler or Apple basic with a $25 assembler for subroutines. You could save to floppy. Literally hundreds of small software companies were started that way. Nearly all of the brilliant new categories of software (like the spreadsheet) that came out of 1975-1985 were developed on a shoestring with cheap tools by independents working in their garages and bedrooms and student dorms back then.<<< Lots of Talented kids are already working as programmers making the big bucks. If not the kid can always start with the beginners version without all the C/S stuff in it. >>>You compare the price of these tools to MSVC? What kid can buy this? Sure, I buy it - I have lots of customers willing to pay me well to rewrite yesterdays (corporate ideas of what makes an entertaining game) news with that compiler. They end up paying for it.<<<

To: Charles Hughes who wrote (301)	3/6/1998 4:47:00 AM
From: Sleeperz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 633

Isn't the brilliant fun kid going to use the $19 Borland Command Line compiler to develop games for the PC?? Probably not, times have changed. Today its GUIs and IDEs. Unless you can effectively program a GUI using a CL compiler you have to pay up for an IDE. Also back in the days of $19 Borland compilers, PCs cost alot more too. Although the only compilers I saw even close to that price were the Student versions. Actually most kids have their parents buy them their first PCs and SW. Then they start making big bucks programming for the corporate development houses. Make lots of money and then can buy lots of toys. The programmer who wrote Capture the Flag for Quake sort of started out that way. Now ID hired him to do CTF for Quake II. He now has 2 well equipped PII PCs one with a Voodoo card. Not cheap. Would Bill Gates be Bill Gates of MSFT fame if his parents instead of being lawyers were just blue collar workers. Probably not. >>>You compare the price of these tools to MSVC? What kid can buy this? Sure, I buy it - I have lots of customers willing to pay me well to rewrite yesterdays (corporate ideas of what makes an entertaining game) news with that compiler. They end up paying for it. That brilliant, fun kid who doesn't want to sell out to the corporate development houses, or is too young to play there? SOL.<<< Todays Games look a lot different than the old PC side scroller and maze games. Which BTW looked all the same too. If the PSX and N64 games all looked and played the same why would they be developing so many different types of games then? Maybe they all look the same because they are all using the same latest 3D techniques? >>> That's why almost all these games look the same. You need big bucks to play, and the system is just like the system that produces the TV sitcoms - only even cheesier and more gutless.<<< cl

To: Charles Hughes who wrote (301)	3/6/1998 5:08:00 AM
From: Sleeperz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 633

Actually according to a PBS show, the original spreadsheet was developed by 2 University professors. Basic was developed by Bill Gates and Crew who bought the original from some other company. The Apple computer was developed in a garage by Jobs and Wozniak. I don't think anything PC or Software was really cheap in 1975-1985. PCs and Software today are alot cheaper than it was back then. Games today cost less today than in the early 80s. There was no such a thing as a sub $1000 PC in the early 80s. You can't really compare Borland's $19 CL compiler with todays IDE. cl >>>Nearly all of the brilliant new categories of software (like the spreadsheet) that came out of 1975-1985 were developed on a shoestring with cheap tools by independents working in their garages and bedrooms and student dorms back then.<<<