Microsoft game pack in COMPUSA national flier.

[Quixote]

Wayne wondered:

I'm beginning to wonder, in order to get paid, if software authors for the game packs ought to just go straight to Microsoft and cut out the middle man.

;-) It’s all about distribution.  As I see it, Amiga’s role in this is akin to the distribution syndicates for the comic strips that we read in the newspapers.  If you look closely at each strip’s copyright notice, you’ll see that they’re distributed by United Feature Syndicate, King Features Syndicate, Universal Press Syndicate, and so on.

:-? Can you imagine each comic strip’s author trying to sell his work to each paper in which it runs?  Many of them are carried in hundreds of papers nationwide.  It wouldn’t be feasible.
 
8-) Granted, Microsoft is Amiga, Inc.’s only customer so far, (that we know of) but there is the potential for more.

[amimonkey]

@ Quixote

Not only the distribution, but the APIs used in the game have been developed by Amiga Inc - and we're talking about a lot of APIs (see fleecy's earlier comment)! Obviously, some people are prepared to ignore this fact and criticise amiga inc and call them redundant anyway - but there's no change there as per usual!

AmiMonkey

[SyrTran]

Red, Wayne, any others from USA -

Have any of you actually been IN a CompUSA?  The pocket pak in the link is NOT  the 'famous game pack.'  That card is just a collection of games and utilities MS put together from various sources.

I was in the local CompUSA TWO WEEKS AGO (Carousel Center for those who want to guess where) and saw the real Amiga Game Pack 1 with 4 Amiga DE games.  It is a completely different backing card from the one shown in the link.  It is all white with the Amiga logo above the game card, and the MS logo is waaaay down at the bottom of the card (I had to double check to find it!).

From Red's html link, go up one level (click on Expansion Packs in the header) and scroll down until you see BOTH Amiga game packs.

[Argo]

SyrTran:
You mean these:
Amiga® Games Pocket Pak 1 for Pocket PCs
Amiga® Games MMC Pocket Pak 2 for Pocket PCs

I take it you're in Syracuse, NY. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm down there.

[MarkTime]

*EDIT*

Don't back down Wayne.

I'm sure their product is CRAP or they would have it available to the public.

The entire purpose of an NDA like this, is to dodge any fair review.  If they want a fair review, you don't have to ask, you should have been given a review copy.  You do run the most popular Amiga website and it represents just about all we have in terms of fair journalism.

The fact is...I didn't sign an NDA when I bought Borland Turbo C, Pascal...when I installed Java, when I bought Visual Studio .NET, Powerbuilder....and on and on.

This is Fleecy Moss's usual, if one lie doesn't work, lie again.

Lots of developers hate the DE and consider it a joke.
If he want you to review it...he can send you a copy any time.

NDA stands for 'non disclosure'

Everyone else,
Borland
Microsoft
Sun
IBM

they build exposure for their products.
they want reviews
they encourage sales.

is he running a business or a cult over there?

[L8-X]

@Marktime

:whack:

[amimonkey]

Lol! Brief and to the point

[Ilwrath]

This is nothing but good news.

Really?  Oddly enough I was thinking...
"this is news??"  

I mean, really.  Microsoft packaged a game someone wrote.  It did make the mailer, which is kind-of news, but then again, it's so hard to find, I wouldn't have noticed it, if I weren't looking for it.  In fact, in the mailer, itself, I STILL HAVEN'T FOUND IT, looking through the PDFs.  I found the pack in the HTML area, but only after multiple mouse-clicks before figuring out it was listed in the "Accessories" area, rather than the gaming or PDA sections.

I do wish the developers all the best, but is this really going to help?  It half looks like it's being set up to fail!

[Tomas]

After reading the comments, this turned out to be the most

Totally agree there... I even regained some faith in AmigaINC...So now i really hope those rumours about new ceo, amiga inc is totally broke and so on... is just false lies.

[Tomas]

Not only the distribution, but the APIs used in the game have been developed by Amiga Inc - and we're talking about a lot of APIs (see fleecy's earlier comment)! Obviously, some people are prepared to ignore this fact and criticise amiga inc and call them redundant anyway - but there's no change there as per usual!

The problem is that its very hard for US regular non developers to get any info... Amiga INC arent saying anything to the average joe, so its very hard for us to know whats going on behind the scenes.. To me who isnt a AA developer, it seems like the project is buried.

[nicomen]

I'm also an SDA developer and I recognize how hard it can be to see the light in the tunnel when you don't get enough info and you have hords of people with their own agendas or they are simply egotripping blurring the whole picture using the classical divide and conquer tactic.

I'm glad several here felt reassured after reading Onno's, Fleecy's and the other comments by people that actually know what they are talking about.

comments by Wayne about not going directly to Microsoft; Amiga provides lots of services to the developers, instant support, QA of products, providing resources for presentation and development of games, acquiring exclusive deals like the one with Microsoft (I for sure couldn't have pulled that by myself), of course building the easy-to-use and developer-focused APIs taht Fleecy mentioned and more. Hell I've had lots of laughs and good times by just chatting/communicating with Amiga employees and other developers.

[IonDeluxe]

Amiga Anywhere is very much an Amiga product and its potential for the future is very promisng indeed.
It provides a way for those developers that are supporting it to sell thier product not just on the Amiga Platform, but on many others as well.If they only had the Amiga community to rely on, the chances of making profitable products would be seriously reduced to impossible.
This also relates directly to porting existing products to the Amiga.Once again the userbase is so small that making profit from such a venture is difficult.
This brings greater confidence from developers, which means more software available for the Amiga, and thats the key.Without new software the amiga is dead. and AA is a good way to bring that software support to the amiga community.

[redrumloa]

Anyhow Wayne's point is as valid as anyone else's. He calls it as he sees it. Same with myself, I call it as I see it. Sometimes the Amiga Inc fans agree, sometimes they don't.

[nicomen]

I see your point and I tend to agree, although I commented his comment not his person, so I can't see how that would be an insult, I could of course have dropped that adjective and apologize if it was taken as an insult.

However I think Wayne has been pretty well-informed and knowing lots of what has been happening at Amiga and what they have provided and created so I regarded his comment more as a provocation (the reason I addedt the on purpose question in parenthesis)  rather than an sincere question.

My point really is, and  I guess  you too would agree, that  it's obvious this opportunity would've been much harder to get if a developer was to make contact with Microsoft all by herself or even somehow talk TAO into making the framework Amiga has made and are still developing.

[HMetal]

@Wayne

Being one of the first in the chain of support, along with Gary Peake, I can tell you that this is flat out wrong.

I've received hundreds, if not thousands, of support questions and there are very few, if any, that don't get answered.

We have many support maling lists and developer and community forums.  If one chooses not to use them, then that is not Amiga's fault.  If you are not getting support, then you are either asking the wrong questions (e.g. questions about who our CEO is or what time employee X takes his washroom break) or someother strange phenomena is occurring. :-?

If this isn't the type of support you are expecting, please elaborate and I'll tell you where to go, to get the support you desire.

[System]

HMetal name some community forums/etc that are here because of amiga.inc (make like you're pointing us where to get support)