Conference hydra::amiga_v1

5290.0. "Perspective on the Amiga Software Market" by KALI::PLOUFF (Owns that third brand computer) Thu Dec 19 1991 12:51

    Taken from Usenet... Here is an interesting perspective on the Amiga
    software market.  I've edited out the poster's parenthetical comments. 
    He himself condensed the magazine articles in the posting.
    
    Wes
    
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
     From: [email protected] (Mike Schwartz)
     Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
     Subject: Re: Anyone heard about the NEW A300 Games Console ?
     Date: 12 Dec 91 02:49:38 GMT
 
     Some quotes from articles in the November/December 1990 (1 year
     old) AmigaWorld Dealer Report (Magazine).
 
     A Need for Increasxed Aid In Development of Third-Party Software
     By: Paul B. Bader (president of Brittanica Software)
 
     People don't buy an Amiga or PS/1 for its power, but for the
     programs it can run.  In fact, the success or failure of all
     computers is dependent on the versatility and attractiveness of the
     software it runs.  For this reason, the Macintosh and
     IBM-compatible machines have been successful, and the Atari 520ST
     and Apple IIGS have not.  The Amiga is dangerously close to meeting
     the fate of the 520ST and IIGS, because Commodore, like Apple and
     Atari, refuses to take steps to make third-party software
     development profitable for any but a few esoteric "multimedia"
     applications.  Although many developers and publishers - along with
     much of the mainstream retailing world - are no longer supporting
     the Amiga, because they believe the Amiga pirates their software,
     there is a more subtle and intractable reason for this lack of
     support.  It is that Commodore does less than it could to help
     third-party software developers.  
 
     His reccomendation:  CBM should get together with representatives
     of top vendors in three or four software catagories, along with
     someone from the mass-merchant sales department at Commodore,
     approach a mass merchant like Target or Toys R' Us,  much the same
     way IBM has aproached Sears, and make them an offer they can't
     refuse.
 

     The Amiga: "Trojan Horse" or "Tombstone"?
     By: Fred Schmidt (VP & GM ORIGIN Systems, Inc.)
     [ my note:  ORIGIN has an outstanding HIT/PRODUCT ratio ]
     Developing and publishing quality entertainment software for the
     Amiga has always proven somewhat of an enigma for ORIGIN. ... As
     for Amiga... well, here are some of the factors that have prevented
     ORIGIN from thus far making any major commitment:
 
     * The Amiga has captured the hearts and souls of
     developers/programmers, but programmers do not constitute a market
     of "critical mass." ... Most programming professionals we know love
     the machine and always have.  But for some reason - mostly
     ineffective Commodore marketing and support, we suuspect - the
     Amiga  appears never to have caught on among the general public,
     except for a few  narrow vertical market segments like videophiles. 
     This computer, unlike so many others, has continually flickered
     signs of greatness, yet Commodore has failed to capitalize on its
     opporunities properly.
 
     * The Amiga user is a fanatic loyalist to his/her beloved computer. 
     We hear reports of certain Amiga titles racking up sales of 20-40K
     units domestically. Usually these successes have been titles that
     were designed specifically on and for the Amiga by Amiga-targeted
     development companies.  While there is a definite healthy niche
     there for some publishers, the reality is that those best-case
     sales still pale in comparison to the 100K+ units that can be
     achieved by a hit product in the IBM channel. ....  Sadly, our best
     experiences (with Amiga enhanced ports) inidicate a market for
     about 5-10K units, which is barely enough to recover the costs of
     these enhanced conversions....  it is highly unlikely that we will
     ever be in a position to originate a title on the Amiga.  Our best
     hope is to convert our leading IBM-originated titles - which these
     days look, sound, and feel as good or better than most Amiga
     originals - will generate more encouraging results...
 
     * The Amiga has a larger installed base in Europe than in the
     United States. [ ....]  In the meantime, however, should the
     European Amiga market suffer a major  decline in its active user
     base (IBM/compatible hardware is rapidly on the rise there, too),
     it will likely spell an early demise for ORIGIN's development plans
     for further Amiga support.
 
     * Over the past year, Commodore has publicly engaged in the same
     mistake as most other computer manufacturers: coldly ignoring
     "entertainment" as a viable use of a home computer.  This is a most
     disturbing trend, especially as it relates to any "encouragement of
     entertainment publishers to produce products for the Amiga."
 
     Let's face it, entertainment does more to harness and showcase the
     full capabilities of a great computer than any other type of
     product.  No other application pushes technological limits to their
     max by fully and simultaneously engaging graphics, sound, and speed
     in a breathtaking presentation...  Now that's the way to sell
     hardware: first lure your prospect with the sizzle, then inundate
     them with the details.
 
     * Commodore has been plagued by poor outbound communications, high
     personnel turnover, a limited dealer/distributor network and
     helter-skelter marketing, advertising, and positioning programs... 
     The well-intentioning good folks at Commodore take enough abuse on
     a regular basis; there is not much more of substance than we could
     add.
 
     His reccommendation:  It's clearly an IBM/MS-DOS world out there.. 
     It seems to me that the most sensible thing for Commodore to do is
     to bundle IBM compatibility as a standard feature with ALL Amigas. 
     Then they could promote the fact that you could run all your
     "daytime" word processors, spreadsheets and other business
     applications on the Amiga, while vigorously differentiating the
     value of the Amiga for its unique and creative features, like paint
     programs, music packages, video interface capabilities, and so on. 
     In other words:  the Amiga is the PC you need, plus a whole lot
     more. In this sense, the Amiga could vindicate itself as the Trojan
     Horse candidate in a cluttered field of indistinguishable me-too PC
     clones.  Otherwise, I see the Amiga makred by yet another sad
     tombstone in the cemetary of home computers.
 
 
     Expanding Amiga Market Share
     By: Gilman Louie (president and CEO of Spectrum Holobyte)
 
     The Commodore Amiga makes an ideal computer for game publishers
     like Spectrum Holobyte. The hardware's brilliant graphics and crisp
     sound appeal to the senses heighten the realism of games like Faces
     and Flight of the Intruder...  Despite the computer's advantages,
     the Amiga is, unfortunately, a complex machine with a small market
     share. Commodore needs a strategy to expand its image and market. 
     The Amiga is currently perceived as a machine primarily suited to
     graphics, but in truth it has much more to offer.  Commodore first
     needs to promote it as a versatile, multi-oriented computer, whith
     applicability to the business and consumer markets as well. 
     Implementing a solid advertising strategy to reposition the Amiga
     in the public's mind is a critical first step in expanding its
     market share.
 
     At the same time, a greater variety of business software and
     productivity software.  People rarely buy a computer for games
     alone, but once they purchase one for practical purposes, their
     interest in games follows naturally.
 
     Although services and communication to Amiga programmers have come
     far in the last few years, they still have a long way to go. 
     Apple, for example, realizes the importance of programmers to the
     success of the Macintosh and makes every effort to put useful
     software tools at the programmer's fingertips - tools such as
     source code examples, a service hot line and excelelent technical
     documentation. Unfortunately, Commodore's support system is not as
     developed.  Basic information on system updates sent with the disks
     is usually insufficient, and we must often resort to other sources
     for additional information.  Commodore's recent addition of a
     telephone support line for programmers has been an effort to bridge
     the gap, and is much appreciated on our end.
 
     His recommendation:  As new technologies are developed and lines of
     communication opened between Commodore and the game software
     companies, not just Commodore but the whole industry will benefit
     from the Amiga's success.
 
     How Software Publishers Can Help Make the Amiga Dance
     By: Jerry Wolosekno (CEO North America, Psygnosis, Inc.)
 
     Largely ignored in favor of its more flamboyant siblings, the A500
     has not enjoyed the attention it deserves.  Much of the time it
     seems only entertainment software publishers have recognized its
     true nature, creating dazzling games that show off the Amiga's
     hidden beauty.  How desparately we want things set right.
 
     As entertainment publishers, we can and want to play a crucial role
     in achieving  that success.  We want to participate as partners,
     not as afterthoughs, in this effort.  GAMES HELP SELL AMIGA
     COMPUTERS, and our products are essential to ensuring the success
     of the A500 consumer sales effort.
 
     The Commodore Cinderalla Manifesto:
 
     First: Recognize and acknowledge that entertainment is an integral
     part of the appeal of the A500.
 
     Second: Communicate.  Let us know what is going on.  Developer's
     conferences and the developer support group at Commodore are
     helpful, but they are geared primarily to technical development and
     the higher-end applications.  We need marketing information. Tell
     us about your sales organization.  Assign responsibility for
     communication with recreational software publishers to one high
     visibility person in the sales group.  We can furnish demo disks
     and other collateral materials.  We can formulate special game
     buy-in programs for new customers...
 
     Third:  [....]
 
     Fourth: Tell your customers about entertainment software and
     provide more information about the availability of other software. 
     Include a catalog, demo disks, or information package in the box
     with each and every A500.
 
     Most of us chose to produce software for the Amiga because we
     thought the machine's superior design would make it an overwhelming
     success in the marketplace.  That hasn't happened yet, but we've
     continued to produce products in the hopes that circumstances will
     change.  Unless this latest effort and the efforts planned in the
     near future for the introduction of CDTV turn things around, many
     of us will have to accelerate our efforts to produce products for
     other platforms.
 
     His recommendation:  Recognize our value, ask for our help, utilize
     the resources we can put at your disposal.  Make us yourpartners
     and take us to the ball, and we will work tirelessly to create
     products that will sell Commodore computers - and we won't vanish
     at midnight.
 
 
     It is interesting to also note that in the same magazine, Scott
     Horan, who "played an important role in the formation of the
     Association of Authorized Amiga Dealers" makes a few interesting
     comments:
 
     1.	Many of us sell on the PC side.  We now have Windows 3.0
     environments that are no longer expensive.  They are slick and
     comparable to a 2000HD in cost (My windowing 386 VGA system is
     $2100).  
 
     2.	Many programs written for the Amiga seem to understand the
     graphic interface better and implement it well on the Amiga.
 
     3.	We are still the only effective marketers of Amiga software and
     peripherals.
 
     4.	The Amiga is still a better multimedia machine, but are we doing
     a better job marketing it than MAC/PC dealers?. 

 
     My comments:
 
     These articles are over a year old, but they really ring true
     today.  These authors are not pimply faced college kids or Unix
     gurus - they are the keys to the success of the Amiga, the leaders
     of companies that could invest more $$$ than CBM does into the
     development of USEFUL software for the Amiga. We have heard the
     doom and gloom stories time and time again, but the Amiga is still
     standing.
 
     -- 
     Mike Schwartz 1124
     Fremont Ave.  
     Los Altos, CA 94024 
     ames!zorch!amiga0!mykes or [email protected]

    And yet still, no one mentions that it multitasks better than IBM/MAC,
    and has since its creation.
    
    There's the biggest strongpoint in my mind.
    
    Mike

If you didn't notice, tho writers were all from game companies - or at
least companies that produce primarily games. So is the person who posted
the collection to usenet. They probably couldn't care less about the OS.
In fact, the poster quit doing Amiga games so he didn't have to listen to
people complaining that his games weren't hd-installable and didn't
multitask (he doesn't believe in using the OS).

People who think the Amiga is a 16-bit game machine with floppies instead
of cartridges have a different perspective on the market than people who
think it's a low-end workstation or a Personal Computer.

	<mike