Ignorama Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) I think we had that discussion some time ago, but it seems that the situation is getting harder and harder. We had at least four titles until now, two announced May releases and many more titles to come this years, plus a flash cart and TCG Series. Maybe I am the only one with that problem, but for me its not easy to affort such a bunch of stuff. On the one side its definitely nice to get stuff, but on the other side I dont really like the timeframe to buy it. Often you have just a few weeks, if you are lucky some month, to order something until the sales stop. I am afraid some people have to pass on items they are interessted in, just because they dont have the money when they would need it. This is pretty annoying for collectors and sellers at the same time. If I am really the only one who thinks so I have to deal with it, but if others have the same problem they maybe should show there opinion here too and if (wow, that many ifs...) it shows up that this is a problem for several customers we maybe could find a solution? Maybe a slower frequenzy of releases, or at least longer timeframes to buy them? I know its not so easy to realize that, because we have many different sellers and companies, but it would be nice to consider that. Edited April 16, 2015 by Ignorama 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariBuff Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I hear what you're saying. As a gamer it is easy - buy what you want to play. For collectors it can be tough, as it really comes down on your wallet. Collectors also tend to buy more than one copy (for preservation, for trading, for flipping). But you can't force the creative folk to channel their releases. Some want to see their vision materialise and have their lifeblood invested, some are in mostly for the money, which sadly reflects in poor game testing, cheaper materials, scratched boxes, multiple box variants, using cheaper shipping options to save on shipping (disregarding for what you actually paid). This is when the collector's psychology kicks in: Do I want a complete homebrew collection for my console and bite into the sour apple and say yes and amen to all what's being thrown at me or do I reach a point when I say no. What I have witnessed so far, is that most of the homebrews are available in large enough quantites or they get re-released (ColecoVision homebrews in general). You have to be a bit quicker when it comes to Intellivision homebrews, especially the IntelligentVision ones - Ms Night Stalker, Ms Pac-Man - come to mind. For me personally as a collector and not having monetary constraints, I'm not repelled by the quantity of new homebrew released but I'm becoming more and more repelled when (not cheap) homebrews are thrown at me which have cosmetic insufficiencies (like scratched boxes, dent boxes in perfectly fine shipping boxes, water marks), not working as they should due to bugs or I'm being dealt with like an idiot. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric7100 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I have been wholeheartedly saying what the OP has said all along. The frequency of Intellivision homebrew releases is WAY too often. PLEASE SLOW DOWN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Oberhäuser Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) The inflation of the ColecoVision homebrews has driven me out of collecting CV. I used to be an "all or nothing" collector and simply couldn't keep up to buy each and every limited game including all those box variations. In the end I sold off my CV collection last year. As for my trading cards: They are not limited and will always be available (worst case would simply end up with a higher price), so they won't going anywhere if you would like to have them at a later point. Edited April 16, 2015 by Marc Oberhäuser 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorama Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Good to hear that Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intymike Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Aside from Eric this a very "deutsche" discussion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soporj Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 No one "needs" to buy every homebrew. If you feel this way you need to go home and rethink your life. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I'm guilty here I wrote two games in one year (Space Raid and Princess Quest), I'll try to write only one game per year, or one game every two years Besides I've contributed the IntyBASIC compiler and now... well, there is a whole new batch of games being written with it ... So being fair about it, I'll have to contribute also pitchforks and torchs to everyone chasing me, but you'll have to find me *runs* *runs very fast* 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Just came here to announce that in 2016 Im releasing 2 games per month. All with snow levels. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Just came here to announce that in 2016 Im releasing 2 games per month. All with snow levels. Will they also have snow box variants? Showing the snow level in a blizzard on the back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I'll be releasing a new monthly game series called "The Emperor's New Cartridge" in 27 different releases. Only true Intellivision fans can see the cartridge so that shipping box isn't really empty. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JasonlikesINTV Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I don't really feel like it's my place to tell game developers what and how much to release. I think the 'flood' is doing more good than harm. However, I would be saddened if quality began to drop. That goes for gameplay, testing/bugs, shipping, and dented/scratched/dirty components. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I buy a $60 game in a dirty recycled shell. Please clean it well, remove all dust and glue, and try to get the new label on straight 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Lathe26 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Kidding aside, I live in an apartment. Money isn't a problem but space is. If the rate of homebrews increases, I may be forced to stop sooner than expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorama Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) No one "needs" to buy every homebrew. If you feel this way you need to go home and rethink your life. Of course I dont need to buy every release, but since I am a collector I want to and as I mentioned: If people who want to buy a game just cant do that, its not just bad for the customer, its bad for the publisher too. In fact its even worse for them, because as a buyer I just miss a game, as a seller I miss money, profit and financial rewards for my work. Maybe you should rethink something before joining a collectors forum with such unreflecting statements @ Jason I don't really feel like it's my place to tell game developers what and how much to release. This is not what I wanted to mention. But maybe offer longer timeframes for ordering. Like Elektronite does already and if I am not wrong they have the highest sales (of course they have huge brandmarks, so its hard to compare) Edited April 16, 2015 by Ignorama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberArcade Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I don't think too many games is necessarily bad unless you are used to buying them all and all the sudden you realize you can't anymore. I had to get over the urge to collect them all. I was into ColecoVision and sold off my collection about a year ago too. Just got burned out on it completely. I have since just bought the games that actually look fun to play. Most of the homebrews I sold off I didn't miss at all which made me realize the difference in a good port or original homebrew and a rushed port that was just put out there to pad up the library. A few of the Colecovision games I have since tracked down again. Some were really good. Most were not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorama Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Most of the homebrews I sold off I didn't miss at all which made me realize the difference in a good port or original homebrew and a rushed port that was just put out there to pad up the library. From the games point of view I would definitely not miss Defender of the Crown demo cart, Magic Carousel or Space Cunt. They are unplayable or pretty ... special. But I am not just a gamer, I am a collector too. I dont need two versions of every brew to keep one sealed or stuff like that, but I would like to get as much games as possible to fill my Intellivision librabry. Since its the only console I want to get a complete collection of the original games, I try to make homebrews as complete as possible too (also knowing that I would never pay 300$ or much more for a homebrew on Ebay, so I will never own games like 4-Tris, League of Light and so on). Honestly, every discussion from a logical point of view (like buy what you want to play) stops when a people paid 1000$ for Spiker Spiker is definitely a very good game, but I think we dont need to discuss if the gameplay is worth such an amount of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberArcade Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Yeah, if you are going for a complete collection then you have to be in all the way. If you can focus on just one system then you are probably ok. I want complete collections. I just can't afford it. I also buy current gen games so I get into the struggle of buy this new Wii U game that looks amazing or buy this game for a really old system in a homemade box. It becomes a hard sell. Then you have NES games where you have homebrews, hacks, English translations, and there are lots of good games to pick up, but the amount of stuff people are making available is overwhelming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 You think its hard getting or affording every intv game? Try collecting every amiibo figure! Sheesh.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Well, as a former "all or nothing" or "catch em all" collector of Atari 2600, the Intellivision is really a piece of cake to keep up with, lol. Atari 2600 would have several a month, easily 50+ a year which in the end is why I downgraded my Atari 2600 homebrew collecting to "casual" and decided to be an all or nothing Intellivision homebrew collector, for me personally, it's easier, lol. Had Intellivision not had the amount of Homebrew games coming out recently that it does, I probably would not have switched It seems to have just the right amount to keep up with while not being insanely overwhelming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) http://atariage.com/forums/topic/227397-2015-cib-release-summary/ So far 10 titles for 2016. Im not counting Super Pro Baseball or The Hive multicart until they are confirmed. (Add two more in 2015 for revolution) So, as of right now, is 10 or 12 games per year too many? As a fan/collector myself, I dont think so. Not being a person that drinks or smokes or does crack rock or meth or lottery tickets....i have enough spare "vice" money for buying games! Edited April 16, 2015 by revolutionika 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Well, as a former "all or nothing" or "catch em all" collector of Atari 2600, the Intellivision is really a piece of cake to keep up with, lol. Atari 2600 would have several a month, easily 50+ a year which in the end is why I downgraded my Atari 2600 homebrew collecting to "casual" and decided to be an all or nothing Intellivision homebrew collector, for me personally, it's easier, lol. Had Intellivision not had the amount of Homebrew games coming out recently that it does, I probably would not have switched It seems to have just the right amount to keep up with while not being insanely overwhelming I had wondered how many 2600 games came out in an average year. Really some years hit 50? Now THAT would be too many! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I guess I shouldn't tell anyone my ambitious plans for the next few years.....I'll never hear the end of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+intvsteve Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 We've discussed all this before, specifically regarding inventory. Quality-of-game issues aside (whole different topic there), those who produce and sell these games take on financial risk as well as practical problems: (Please note: I'm totally making up numbers. They are for illustrative purposes only.) Scale: it may cost $7.50 / box for 100, and $5.00 for 500, but the printer offers nothing in between. If you expect to sell 200, do you spend $1500 or adjust prices higher, and get 500 boxes for $2500? You then have ~300 extra boxes just in case over the next few years another 20-30 copies sell? Will you still sell 200 copies at a slightly higher price necessary to cover the additional $1000 of risk and inventory you assumed? How long do you hold onto those extra boxes? Similar arguments / different numbers for labels, manuals, overlays, boards, shells, etc. I.e. juggling the quantities so you can have at least "X" full sets of materials. How do you compensate developers? Testers? Or is it all volunteer-driven? (The testing angle has been discussed in other threads as well.) Practical issue: Just storing all the materials! Even flat boxes and stacks of manuals and overlays take up a lot of space when you have hundreds of them. Then multiply that by the number of games. I don't intend to beat that dead horse again -- any more than I just did. But from the game seller's perspective, these are incredibly important issues and require tough decisions. Most sellers likely wish anyone who wanted one of their games could get one, but it simply may be impossible to grant that wish. When someone reenters the scene after 10 years away, it's unreasonable to expect inventory to be easily found. As to the growing number of games being published on cartridges... I have the same sentiments others have expressed here: It's exciting to see lots of new development and games - my inner 12-year-old leaps with joy! Honestly, they do not all need or deserve the CIB treatment - my grumpy old man persona sees things more cynically Sad as it is, sometimes people will need to 'sit one out' As Lathe mentioned - where the heck do you keep all this stuff? And what happens to it when you're gone? My life is getting much more expensive as my older children start driving and going to college. It's likely (and sad) that despite my ... unhealthy ... obsession to collect for and play games on this console, I probably won't be able to keep up. I barely have time to play the games I have for fun, and never as much as I wish. Most play-time has been devoted to testing recently, and it's different then. I try to keep current, but have been mentally preparing myself for this tipping point. Really it's such a silly 'first world' problem. And in those darkest moments, the thought of just tossing it all and walking away does surface. There are a lot of other things to do, too, and doing that does eliminate a lot of fake "problems." (There's the cynic...) Hopefully when LTO Flash! releases and reaches a wide enough audience, some of the pressure to push everything as CIB will be relieved. We can see a blossoming of easily distributed games. The environment and community is different than back in 2006/2007 when the CC3 was last available. More people are writing and sharing their games. More people have taken on the task of establishing the channels to get boards / boxes / etc. for making games available on cartridge. Personally my hope is that the best games will have people clamoring for a full treatment and that we'll find the sweet spot of plentiful content and let the best rise to the top. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) I have to agree with soporj that it's not much of a complaint, but I freely acknowledge that I am a gamer, not a collector per se. If I see a homebrew that looks like I'll enjoy playing it, I order it. If it doesn't interest me, I could care less. There's no way I'm going to be able to get a copy of every homebrew that comes out. In a world where people are dying of starvation or warfare, I feel quite priviledged to have something like not being able to buy all the games I want as a worry. Edited April 16, 2015 by ls650 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Climber Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I had wondered how many 2600 games came out in an average year. Really some years hit 50? Now THAT would be too many! Well, it also depends on what you classify a Homebrew. Atari 2600 has tons of hacks and prototype reproductions and such Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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