The Cartridge-Only philosophising

Exactly

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Go go go !

Digital version +1! Sign me up please!

Kai Life on Mars! digi-buy pledges list:
01 hap
02 mars2000you
03 guiseve
04 mtn
05 turbor
06 sd_snatcher
07 wouter_
08 assembler
09 Oskar666
10 iamweasel2
11 Hrothgar
12 edoz
13 peppo (via private email)
14 chris (via private email)
15 Manuel
16. Meits
17. Creepy.
18. eVuLoPaH

Thx to Meits for poking around!!

MSX 4 Ever!!

Kai Life on Mars! digi-buy pledges list:
01 hap
02 mars2000you
03 guiseve
04 mtn
05 turbor
06 sd_snatcher
07 wouter_
08 assembler
09 Oskar666
10 iamweasel2
11 Hrothgar
12 edoz
13 peppo (via private email)
14 chris (via private email)
15 Manuel
16 mfeingol

I should add that there's one aspect of this conversation that's been in my mind for a while now, and which might be somewhat controversial in this particular thread. And that's the preservation aspect of all the piracy we've been decrying.

By the late nineties, I owned no MSX computers and would probably never have looked back. But with the dawn of the emulator age, along with efforts like TOSEC to categorize all released software, and the availability of binaries on usenet and such, my interest returned. I was able to see games I had never seen before, re-play old favorites, see MSX2+ and Turbo-R games, and so forth. This led me to re-acquire actual hardware, purchase new add-ons like an MFR and a PlaySoniq, purchase real copies of some old favorite games, and so forth.

In addition, over time I've discovered that many people never stopped writing MSX software. There have been lots of new titles for MSX created since the late nineties, and for the most part I'm barely aware of them. Translations of older games sold at fairs, limited-edition cartridges released and never renewed, even free games put up for download and then dead from link rot. In short, things that can't be downloaded at all these days, or even purchased anymore. Things that the internet has in some cases mostly forgotten, although I'm sure some of you remember them or have that one precious cartridge.

I realize that in many cases, this is probably the intention of the original author. They don't have time to sell/support their work, and they've moved on. It's their choice. But it's still a pity, because in a sense those works are lost in a way that the earlier (heavily pirated) games never will be. And in many cases, the more recent games are much better, since they're works of art rather than commercially rushed products.

If there were an MSX app store that sold digital goods (just to illustrate the point), then that would be a fantastic repository for this kind of semi-abandonware, while also providing a storefront for new creations. Retired creators would still receive some revenue and recognition, new creations would have a turnkey sales solution, and casual users would be able to discover and purchase amazing things we've never seen before. That same store might be able to hook up cartridge manufacturers with game developers, which might then make it easier to make physical releases as well. That might lower the bar for creating an MSX game in the first place.

I do realize it's a pipe dream, and it would require a sort of community consensus in a way that seems difficult to imagine, given this thread. But I do think it's worth looking at the bigger picture here. And from a developer's perspective, part of that is to ask where you want your game to be in ten years, and what you want to get out of it.

Almost 20 !

The next goal is 30 !!!