Japanese to buy C=?
16 messages in this thread
I'm doing CD32 development in Montreal for a UK company, and I'm disturbed by
all this talk of the Amiga being bought by a 'Large Japanese Company' ( maybe
Nintendo )
The great thing about the Amiga range is that all the technical info needed for
programming is freely available, and until CD32, no license fee was required to
release software. This has led to the creation of a large number of
developers, large and small, and a huge variety of program types. Compare this
to the world of Sega and Nintendo where only companies who pay huge fees can
develop for their consoles (and only seem to produce platform game after
platform game after….).
History shows that companies such as Nintendo and Sega are only interesteed in
completely controlling the market. They would milk amiga developers for all
they are worth, and restrict access to the market place in the name of 'quality
control'. You can bet your life that if either of these companies aquired the
Amiga, it would be the end of the Amiga as a computer – CD32 would be the only
survivor. After all, they couldn't allow the A1200 to remain on sale because
it makes CD32 development to easy for everyone to do!
I'm sorry if this all sounds a bit paranoid – but I love my Amiga setup; the
CD32 is the best console around, and is the only one that doesn't require doing
development on a PC with Rom emulators etc (yuck!) – a time consuming and
laborious process.
Just got a call from the UK – News from the rumour mill is that Philips are
trying to buy the Amiga rights. I don't know how true this is (its not first
hand) but it appears they want CD32 to complement their struggling CD-i ( CD32
for the games market, CD-i for the more 'mature' audience! ). We'll have to
wait and see….
Mal
Hi Mal,
If you're worried about a Japanese company taking over the Amiga well, maybe I
can ease your worries a little bit. No, I don't have any answers, just more
rumours. However, considering your UK connections (I live in the UK) you might
be interested to know that the big rumours here surround (as you say) Philips:
a CBM exec was supposed to have been at Philips to 2 weeks before the Big Bang.
Then there's an Asian (notice I said ASIAN) rumour. Not so much Nintendo as a
Taiwanese company. That is, the real dark horses throughout this whole episode,
Acer. They ARE, to my knowledge, the Taiwan games industry (they license
software from the USA), big PC suppliers, of course, too.
As a by-the -by, all of the software houses in the UK are very up-beat about
the Amiga's future. Lotsa confidence over here, folks. It looks like Commodore
Germany will be taking care of most of Europe's closed offices. We might see a
power struggle between the UK and Germany or some duel agreement. The jury's
still out on that one.
Finally, I myself have lots of confidence in the Amiga. So much so that I am
editing two new Amiga mags. First issue out this week! (timing, eh?) A serious
mag, called Amiga Pro, plus a CD32/A1200 games mag called, simply, 32. This duo
has a print run of 100,000. I, my writers, my publisher, the companies who
supply stories and advertising, have nothing but optimism on the Amiga score.
Paul
Where can we find these mags?
Paul
Paul,
In the UK or via subscription. Tel the UK on 0206 861 574, Fax 0206 862537 and
ask for the subs dept.
Paul
Paul
Its good to hear that people still have such confidence in the Amiga. Maybe my
note was a bit over anxious – I had just finished ploughing through the huge
pile of messages that had accumulated over the weekend after all!.
I certainly have no plans to drop the Amiga and CD32 – In fact, I have many
more projects in the pipeline which I have every intention of finishing. I
hate programming PCs ( I think I use mine mostly for writing these messages! )
and if there was any justice in the world, Microsoft would be the company going
to the wall for consistently churning out such 3rd rate product (we can all
dream ).
Anyway – the Amiga is too good that no-one would buy the technology, I was
really just voicing my opinion on the effects of a Sega style strategy on our
market..
Good luck with the Mags (are they likely to be available in Canada? Most UK
mags seem to be.)
Mal
Hi Mal,
See my reply to Paul Idol for subs info if required. No, the mag will be a UK
piblication only for now.
I spoke to CBM UK co-MD, Colin Proudfoot today. Again, it seems that a deal is
underway. It _can_ go wrong, of course (see Amiga Pro for his comments <g>).
However, things are happening. At the moment, the big rumour is that
Hewlett-Packard will buy the serious Amiga technology AND use the chipset in a
new range of their printer technology whilst Acer buy the CD32/A1200 for the
games market.
Paul
HP wants the AGA chipset because of its NTSC'ness for their set top boxes.
They couldn't care less about anything else.
Now, should HP aquire the chipset the license it for use in non-set-top
products (ie., a computer), it could be the best of both worlds. But,
this is faery tale thinking.
-sja
Will these magazines be on sale in newsagents in London ?
Peter Wade
Autopiloting from London, England
yes
Malcolm,
I'd venture that it much too premature to panic about any rumored
potential buyers — the rumors are much too varied to put any serious
credence to any (at least to the extent that it affects your nervous
system). Whatever's going to happen will play out over the next few
months, and there will be plenty of time to panic after _hard_ facts are
available, if indeed panic is necessitated.
In the interim, relax and continue with your short-term plans.
– BobR
Bob,
My plans are certainly to support the Amiga and CD32 in more than just the
immediate future – I have projects to keep me going on Amigas for at least 2
years.
I'm sure we'll all know for certain the state of play after a few months – I
just thought I'd voice my opinion on a couple of the rumours that I had heard.
As long as it doesn't get out of hand, this kind of gossip can lead to a
healthy discussion of the way we in the Amiga community want the machine to be
handled. I want to hang on to the open, friendly, free and easy way that is
the Amiga world at the moment.
Bye the way, Commodore UK are definitely still operating – Ive just recieved a
CD32 development board from them which was sent out on Tuesday
Mal
I heard from my dealer that the Phillips rumour was an April Fools gag in
some Euro mag.
Paul
It's PHILIPS _not_ PHILLIPS!!!
"Philips rumour an April fools gag"
Rumours about rumours? Excellent!
Mal