To limit or not to limit, that is the question...

[TL]

A great example of what can happen when the supply is limited is Gorf and Battle Sphere Gold for the Atari Jaguar.

Both these games have been known to sell for over $1000 on eBay.

I paid just £25 for Gorf when it came out! 

[Elektronite]

"I disagree when you say that there "has to be way to encourage people to support the significant investment."  Most people don't care whether the game comes in a fancy box or in a paper bag.  They just want to play the game.  Your production is of very high quality, but sometimes the quality is not the sole discriminant for someone to make a purchase decision--especially when your customers themselves treat it as a hobby."

That is no doubt true for you, but when we started selling D2K in cart only, less than 50 were sold......when the box came out, more than 400 have moved....for many people, presentation is very important. Also, I think that most 'homebrews' have such a short window of availablility, that small numbers have been the reality. They are sold out before anyone but a select few find out about it. I know you doubt that it can be more than anything but a hobby, but I am starting to sell numbers that make manufacturing these viable. However, the next 5 releases which are on the verge of being released will be the acid test to see if I move on to more popular systems and leave the Intellivision to the hobbyists or not.

[DZ-Jay]

"I disagree when you say that there "has to be way to encourage people to support the significant investment."  Most people don't care whether the game comes in a fancy box or in a paper bag.  They just want to play the game.  Your production is of very high quality, but sometimes the quality is not the sole discriminant for someone to make a purchase decision--especially when your customers themselves treat it as a hobby."

That is no doubt true for you, but when we started selling D2K in cart only, less than 50 were sold......when the box came out, more than 400 have moved....for many people, presentation is very important. Also, I think that most 'homebrews' have such a short window of availablility, that small numbers have been the reality. They are sold out before anyone but a select few find out about it. I know you doubt that it can be more than anything but a hobby, but I am starting to sell numbers that make manufacturing these viable. However, the next 5 releases which are on the verge of being released will be the acid test to see if I move on to more popular systems and leave the Intellivision to the hobbyists or not.

Willy, you seem to have misunderstood my position.  It's not that I "doubt" that it can be more than anything but a hobby.  I'm sure it can be turned into a successful business.  However, like I mentioned on my first response to this thread, there are certain constraints built into this market that affect the time and the capital required to invest.

Your comments suggested that you were not willing to make those commitments and were looking for ways to force a change of behaviour with artificial constraints.  I said that, if that is your goal--to make money quick, or to see a fast return on investment--then perhaps this is not the place for you.

For example, if I all of a sudden learn that there's money to be made in the logging industry and decide to turn my property into a tree farm, it is on me to make sure that I plan my business in a way that is compatible with the way that vocation works.  If it takes 3 to 7 years for the first batch of usable trees to come out, then I must build that into my business plan.  If I didn't, I cannot reasonably expect to then try to sell acorns because I need the money before that.

You would agree that not many people would jump to that business--even if there is a substantial amount of money to be made.  Likewise, others have done the math for our business and made the same choice.  You think it'll be different, I don't.  Good luck.

Anyway, I really didn't intend to turn this thread into an discussion of our personal theories.

If your question that opened the thread was an honest one, then I gave you my honest answer: I believe it is wrong to generate artificial scarcity, or to exploit your customer base in any disingenuous way, for the sake of turning a buck.

If you posed your question fishing for acceptance for something you were already thinking of doing, then I'm sorry I disagreed with you, and let's leave it at that.

       -dZ.

[DZ-Jay]

That is no doubt true for you, but when we started selling D2K in cart only, less than 50 were sold......when the box came out, more than 400 have moved....for many people, presentation is very important.

That's D2K.  It has a built-in audience that may even span the Intellivision community.

I have never bought a "loose" cart for anything.  Moreover, my game was intended to have a fancy box from the beginning, even before you had your gate-fold box template made.  Remember, many people were discussing the possibility of making such a box in the thread that sparked that effort, including me.

So no, it is not true for me.  My boxed game was intended to be a collector's item, the game itself was going to be free. That was my goal.

There are two types of customers in this market:  collectors and retro-gamers.  The presentation you have aimed at is expensive and of premium quality.  It is a premium and polished product in every regard, and it is understandable that you want to sell it for a premium price.

However, this puts the product outside the reach of the casual retro-gamer.  Not every game commands the popularity of Donkey Kong, and so not everybody may willing to pay for a premium packaging for every single game.  That was what I meant before.

If you have a constant stream of high quality, original titles that people *must* have, then a boutique games publisher could be a sustainable business.  But what happens when the well dries up or when the next masterpiece takes longer than a few months to complete?

     -dZ. 

[Elektronite]

"If your question that opened the thread was an honest one, then I gave you my honest answer: I believe it is wrong to generate artificial scarcity, or to exploit your customer base in any disingenuous way, for the sake of turning a buck.

If you posed your question fishing for acceptance for something you were already thinking of doing, then I'm sorry I disagreed with you, and let's leave it at that."

No, not fishing for acceptance of anything....just wanted people's opinions.....(thank you for giving yours) ....and I agree, that artificial scarcity is distasteful....