From: rauser@fraser.sfu.ca (Richard John Rauser)
Subject: Re: lets face it
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 05:42:43 GMT

vcsc1090@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Dionicio Lazo) writes:



>1. Atari does not advertise. When was the last time you saw an
>advertisement for the Lynx or its cartridges (bessides Batman)?
>I am sure you haven't.  Sega and SNES advertise on the radio and
>television all the time and the result-> stores will sell their
>products.

    How true. Although, in Atari's defence, I think it should be said that
they probably can't afford to advertise. Given the success of the Lynx
and the STs, I'm amazed Atari isn't chapter 11 by now. Hopefully the 
Jaguar and Falcon can breathe new life into her.  
 
>2. Atari is living in the past. 99.9% of Atari games are
>translations form its video game. Simply put, if we played joust or
>road blasters at the arcade, why would we want to play them at
>home? You would get tired of them very fast!  This leads to:

   This is only partially true. Yes, Atari does recycle their games
at a notorious rate (Robotron 2084, Joust, Ms.Pac-Man, Road Blasters,
Checkered Flag {read: Pole Position}) but on the other hand, look at
all the new games on the Lynx: Batman Returns, Shadow of the Beast,
Toki, Dracula, Dirty Larry...overall, I think there's far more "new"
games than recycled. 
 
>3. Atari does not make any new or intersting games that people want
>to play! Look at gameboy which has Megaman, Terminator 2, etc.
>Atari does not even have a Role playing game out onthe market.
>What Atari needs to do is to get 3rd party programmers to develop
>new games with imagination.

    I traded my Lynx in for a Game Gear for this exact reason: I didn't
like the games Atari had to offer. But I think this is largely a 
personal preference. As for 3rd party programmers, don't hold your
breath. Most companies don't want to jump on Atari's bandwagon because
they don't see it as being profitable.
   
>4. Atari does not release enough games. Each month, Atari releases
>1 game or 2! Thats it!! Compare that with Lameboy or Game Gear
>which release 6 or more a month.  Atari's first RPG, Guardians,
>Storm Over Doria was given a release date of Nov-December of 1992
>and they still have not finished it!  What are we supposed to do,
>just sit and wait!
 
   Absolutely 100% true. Perhaps Atari, as I said earlier, simply
can't afford it. Sega they aren't.  
  
>5. Lynx does not use it fullest potential as a 16 bit machine. I
>have seen Game Gear games which look and play better that Atari
>games.  If the Lynx is a true 16 bit machine, why can't they
>achieve the clear crisp graphichs like the Genesis or SNES. The
>screen has nothing to do with it because the smaller the screen,
>the better the picture.

    I agree with half of this statement: Yes, there are Game Gear games
(quite a few, really) that look and play better than Lynx games. No,
the Lynx is NOT a true 16 bit machine. It has a 16 bit graphics engine,
and an 8 bit (EIGHT BIT!!) CPU. So it's something like the TG-16, which
can't produce graphics like the Genesis or Super NES either. Another big
limitation on the Lynx is it's low-resolution screen, which makes even
the nicest graphics seem blocky. (In the GameBoy's defence, it should be
said that the GB has a higher res screen than the Lynx, as does the Game
Gear). 
  
>In conclusion, what you should be doing is writing Atari and tell
>them to get their act together. Tell them to advertise more on tv
>and radio, develop more RPG's and shooters, use the 16 bit to its
>fullest potential, and come up with its own magazine! 

    Nah, why bother? Just jump ship and get a Game Gear! ;-)   

>I love my Lynx but if things keep on going as they are, then I fear
>the Lynx will follw the path of the 2600.         
>What do you think?

    I think the Lynx will keep going along as it is now, surviving without
too much trouble but never threatening the Game Boy or Game Gear for sales
or number of units. Why? I think the bottom line is that Atari is either
(a) too stupid to properly support and promote their machine or (b) too broke
to properly support and promote their machine. It's probably (b), but frankly,
sometimes I wonder.


-- 
Richard J. Rauser        "You have no idea what you're doing."
rauser@sfu.ca            "Oh, don't worry about that. We're professional
WNI                          outlaws - we do this for a living."
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"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." -Dr.Banzai