04-16-2003, 12:39 AM
I've been gaming since '81, and have seen a lot of clones. Consantly rehashing old things isn't just a big-market strategy. It's just plain easier to design. We had genres of clones back in the old days too, like adventure games, shoot-em-up's, DM clones, platformers, etc. People just get sick of it eventually at different times, and then remark how there's no originality. But in the long term, the amount of initiative vs unoriginality hasn't changed much.
Main thing in consles vs. PCs, as metioned before, is standardized hardware. The early days of home computers were much closer to this as well. You didn't have tons of different parts for your Texas Instruments, Atari STs, Amigas, Apples, etc. So things like word processing, programming, etc. are not necessarily sinonymous with the modern hardware headache. Would be curious if someone knows a bit of the history as to why the customizable PC eventually took off and wiped out these other competitors.
Main thing in consles vs. PCs, as metioned before, is standardized hardware. The early days of home computers were much closer to this as well. You didn't have tons of different parts for your Texas Instruments, Atari STs, Amigas, Apples, etc. So things like word processing, programming, etc. are not necessarily sinonymous with the modern hardware headache. Would be curious if someone knows a bit of the history as to why the customizable PC eventually took off and wiped out these other competitors.