There... if that subject line doesn't get you to click, I don't know
what will!

But I'll be honest; it's pure click-bait. It isn't exactly inaccurate
but it leads you to assumptions that aren't true.

So, the story is that Trip Hawkins is looking into creating "Web3"
games.* Trip Hawkins was the founder of Electronic Arts way back in
the early 80s, but he hasn't had anything to do with the company
since. In fact, his resume since then has been extremely spotty. He
was behind the 3DO, and head such illustrious gaming companies as
"NativeX" and "Digital Chocolate". Haven't heard of any of those? I
rest my case.

So the fact that he's getting involved with "Web3" isn't really all
that exciting. ("Web3" is the less controversial - and less recognized
- name for blockchain-enabled online activities, but it's still
basically just NFTs).

Says Reuters: "Interest for Web3 gaming has risen over the past year
as it is touted to attract more cryptocurrency users. Players can own,
sell, and trade in-game goods in such games." Which is clickbaity too;
arguably there's more interest in the technology today than there was
a year ago, but that's mostly because there is more awareness of it.
Gamers as a whole have loudly rejected the idea. It's only people
looking for a way to make quick money that are looking seriously at
it.

Anyway, Hawkins is joining forces with Animoca Brands (there's
another name I'm sure we're familiar with. No? Hmmm...). I'm sure this
will work out just as well as his last few business ventures. Says
Hawkins, ""Web3 is the bridge to the metaverse," Hawkins said on
Thursday. "And if we're going to make a metaverse, the economy of the
metaverse has to be more like the real world." Because everybody is desperately waiting for the arrival of the metaverse, right?

All in all, I got a chuckle out of this story. Trip Hawkins may have a recognizable name in the gaming industry, but he hasn't much
influence, so this story is - to quote one of my younger relatives - a 'nothing-burger'. This is just a flash-in-the-pan attempt to make it
big on a current fad before people come to their senses and realizes
Web3, like NFTs and cryptcoins - are valueless garbage. Subject-line
aside, Electronic Arts isn't getting in NFTs (at least, not in any way
they've announced publicly).

But it sure makes for fun click-bait.





* read the story here: https://www.reuters.com/technology/ea-founder-trip-hawkins-dives-into-web3-with-barcelona-based-startup-2023-02-24/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 27/02/2023 19:52, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

There... if that subject line doesn't get you to click, I don't know
what will!

But I'll be honest; it's pure click-bait. It isn't exactly inaccurate
but it leads you to assumptions that aren't true.

So, the story is that Trip Hawkins is looking into creating "Web3"
games.* Trip Hawkins was the founder of Electronic Arts way back in
the early 80s, but he hasn't had anything to do with the company
since. In fact, his resume since then has been extremely spotty. He
was behind the 3DO, and head such illustrious gaming companies as
"NativeX" and "Digital Chocolate". Haven't heard of any of those? I
rest my case.

So the fact that he's getting involved with "Web3" isn't really all
that exciting. ("Web3" is the less controversial - and less recognized
- name for blockchain-enabled online activities, but it's still
basically just NFTs).

Says Reuters: "Interest for Web3 gaming has risen over the past year
as it is touted to attract more cryptocurrency users. Players can own,
sell, and trade in-game goods in such games." Which is clickbaity too; arguably there's more interest in the technology today than there was
a year ago, but that's mostly because there is more awareness of it.
Gamers as a whole have loudly rejected the idea. It's only people
looking for a way to make quick money that are looking seriously at
it.

Anyway, Hawkins is joining forces with Animoca Brands (there's
another name I'm sure we're familiar with. No? Hmmm...). I'm sure this
will work out just as well as his last few business ventures. Says
Hawkins, ""Web3 is the bridge to the metaverse," Hawkins said on
Thursday. "And if we're going to make a metaverse, the economy of the metaverse has to be more like the real world." Because everybody is desperately waiting for the arrival of the metaverse, right?

All in all, I got a chuckle out of this story. Trip Hawkins may have a recognizable name in the gaming industry, but he hasn't much
influence, so this story is - to quote one of my younger relatives - a 'nothing-burger'. This is just a flash-in-the-pan attempt to make it
big on a current fad before people come to their senses and realizes
Web3, like NFTs and cryptcoins - are valueless garbage. Subject-line
aside, Electronic Arts isn't getting in NFTs (at least, not in any way they've announced publicly).

But it sure makes for fun click-bait.

It does make me laugh when cryptobros try and shove in crypto/NFT's as a requirement for the metaverse.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Hawkins split with EA entirely in the 3do days.
Not sure what drives him, but it does not really have anything to do
with EA.
Btw. not the first one, Gariott also wanted to get big into the NFT -
Games area that was 2 years ago!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 1 Mar 2023 11:46:20 +0100, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

On 27/02/2023 19:52, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Trip Hawkins was the founder of Electronic Arts way back in
the early 80s, but he hasn't had anything to do with the company
since.

Hawkins split with EA entirely in the 3do days.
Not sure what drives him, but it does not really have anything to do
with EA.

How to say, "I didn't read your post" without actually saying "I
didn't read your post". ;-) ;-) ;-)

But that's okay. I barely manage to get through my posts either ;-)

Btw. not the first one, Gariott also wanted to get big into the NFT -
Games area that was 2 years ago!

Yeah, there are a number of 'old timers' who have become fascinated
with NFTs. It never goes very well for them. I'm just waiting for the
"Colossal Cave" remake (being developed by Ken & Roberta Williams, of
Sierra fame) to start using the blockchain too. Or maybe "Daikatana
II: Metaverse" from Romero. ;-)


I remember lusting after the 3DO after it was announced. I knew I was
never going to get one; aside from the fact that it was a game
console, it was just too damn expensive! Still, it seemed like a
powerhouse of a machine and the design being decoupled from a single manufacturer seemed innovative and exciting (Android phones follow the
same model). Consoles felt so staid, so stagnant while computers were
advancing in leaps and bounds; surely 3DO's model would revolutionize
consoles.

Then the silly thing was released. It was underpowered, expensive, and
lacked exciting titles. Plus, it turns out that neither customers nor developers wanted another platform that could vary wildly in
capabilities from manufacturer to manufacturer. The press and industry
tried to bolster up the 3DO for years, but it was pretty much a failed
venture from release.

But prior to that, the hype for the thing was amazing and I admit, I
fell for it.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Am 01.03.23 um 16:28 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

I remember lusting after the 3DO after it was announced. I knew I was
never going to get one; aside from the fact that it was a game
console, it was just too damn expensive!

You basically named the main reason why the thing bombed as it did...
No one bought it because it was too darn expensive for what it was.

As for Gariott this guy is a category of his own... his game designs
have been how to milk the cows for ages now.
If you are in for a cringe session, just check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V2PbH1GU0c

oh how much fun...

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 01/03/2023 21:47, Werner P. wrote:

Am 01.03.23 um 16:28 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

I remember lusting after the 3DO after it was announced. I knew I was
never going to get one; aside from the fact that it was a game
console, it was just too damn expensive!

You basically named the main reason why the thing bombed as it did...
No one bought it because it was too darn expensive for what it was.

I do sort of vaguely remember it but yeh far too expensive although I
can understand the idea (well it worked for ARM). The one I was more
interested in, and in my price range, was the Atari Jaguar and I think I
dodged a bullet not getting that one. Too be honest though I was pretty
much out of playing computer games by that point and my interest in
gaming was boardgames. Who doesn't like going to the pub then going back
to a friend's house to get out the Risk board and conquer the world.

As for Gariott this guy is a category of his own... his game designs
have been how to milk the cows for ages now.
If you are in for a cringe session, just check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V2PbH1GU0c

oh how much fun...

Ohhh, that video - it's really painful. Not to the same scale but Peter Molyneux has also blotted his copy book with Godus. Raise a ton of cash
from Kickstarter (you have to wonder why he needed to do this), release
the game as early access on Steam and then forget about it to
concentrate on mobile version. To make it worse it's still listed on
Steam even though it's been made fairly clear that the PC version is effectively dead.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Am 02.03.23 um 10:12 schrieb JAB:

Ohhh, that video - it's really painful. Not to the same scale but Peter Molyneux has also blotted his copy book with Godus. Raise a ton of cash
from Kickstarter (you have to wonder why he needed to do this), release
the game as early access on Steam and then forget about it to
concentrate on mobile version. To make it worse it's still listed on
Steam even though it's been made fairly clear that the PC version is effectively dead.

Fun stuff with Gariott is, he carried that game design over into Shroud
of the Avatar after promising an Ultima successor...
It endet up in a milking the whales game...
Same game design different genre!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Wed, 1 Mar 2023 22:47:46 +0100, "Werner P." <werpu@gmx.at> wrote:

Am 01.03.23 um 16:28 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

I remember lusting after the 3DO after it was announced. I knew I was
never going to get one; aside from the fact that it was a game
console, it was just too damn expensive!

You basically named the main reason why the thing bombed as it did...
No one bought it because it was too darn expensive for what it was.

While price was unarguably the biggest reason for its failure, it
wasn't the only one. By the time it came out, it had essentially the
same performance as a mid-range PC that you couldn't upgrade. While it
had acceptable 3D performance (for the time), still it struggled with
anything beyond simple flat-shaded polygons, so its games lacked the
visual pizazz of its competitors. It's larger size didn't help sales
either (especially with space-conscious Japanese customers). The
uncertainty caused by multiple manufacturers were another issue. And
when the next-generation of consoles came out, they absolutely blew
the 3DO out of the water in performance.

Had the 3DO come out three or four years earlier, it might have
survived, even at its outrageous price point. But by the time of its
release in '93, it didn't look or feel much more advanced than the
SegaCD and so people - and developers - avoided it. Had the 3DO lived
up to all its hype, it might have survived, even as a niche platform.
It worked for the similarly-priced NeoGeo, after all.

A stock 3DO in 1989 would have been amazing; similarly, had the 3DO
equalled aa Pentium PC with 3DFX in 1994 it likely also would have
done gangbusters. But the lackluster product released in 1993? It
wasn't just the price that scared people off.


TL;DR: it wasn't just the big number on the sales slip that killed the
3DO, it was that the price didn't reflect the machine's performance.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Am 02.03.23 um 17:04 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:

Had the 3DO lived
up to all its hype, it might have survived, even as a niche platform.
It worked for the similarly-priced NeoGeo, after all.

NeoGEO was way earlier and was at the peak of 2d technology when it came
out.
The high price also caused it only to sell a million units roughly
worldwide but given game prices of 300 dollars this was relative.

SNK was using successfully a milking the cows scheme and did not expect
huge sales anyway.

SNK however was one of the companies which did not survive the 3d
transition, they were relying on their knowledge and superiority in the
2d arena too much and then were too late to the table regarding 3d.
Their NeoGeo successor never made it because the 3d hardware they wanted
to use NeoGEO style with modular arcade systems and a high priced home
console was dead on arrival surpassed already big time when it came out.
Also 3d does not lend to a unified control scheme (at least not until
Nintendo and Sony figured it out controllerwise)

The NeoGEO business model would not have worked anyway due to the swift advances in 3d technology at that time. NeoGEO only worked because 2d technology at the time when it came out already to some degree was
stagnating. Give a system enough memory that you can use a good
resolution and tons of colours and you basically were set at that time
for years (at least for TVs which have had yet to make the transition to
higher resolutions at that time)

So SNK sort of was lucky that they got the ideal time window to pull
this off and unlucky because they never really got 3d on the radar until
it was too late!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Sorry I meant "milking the whales"

3do, they might have survived a few years earlier, but probably also
only if they would have priced the games in a similar area as NeoGeo,
and only during the timeframe the NeoGeo was around!
Once 3d took off the change was too rapid to pull such a business model
off. It might work nowadays again however, but again, 3d is so advanced nowadays that you cannot really pull anything off which is so much
better than what a good pc can deliver with low game prices!
That time is over!

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 03/03/2023 08:06, Werner P. wrote:

Sorry I meant "milking the whales"

3do, they might have survived a few years earlier, but probably also
only if they would have priced the games in a similar area as NeoGeo,
and only during the timeframe the NeoGeo was around!
Once 3d took off the change was too rapid to pull such a business model
off. It might work nowadays again however, but again, 3d is so advanced nowadays that you cannot really pull anything off which is so much
better than what a good pc can deliver with low game prices!
That time is over!

As an aside when you get to the really high end of what PC's can do with graphics I don't really understand why some people get so excited about
it especially given the prices of recently released GPU's*. Does it look
nice, well yes but for me it's really about how it plays as a game
that's important.

*Whatever happened to the principle that the price of certain items
never changes (this seems particularly true in consumer electronics) but
what changes is what you get for your money.

I've even noticed it with books so a hardback will cost around £20 which
is basically the same general price as some of the ones I bought thirty
years ago.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)