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Bernard Lamers <bernard(_en_)iii(_punto_)u-tokyo(_punto_)ac(_punto_)jp> wrote
on 16/05/02 8:39:20:
Hi all,
It has taken a long, long time, but the way things look now, the MSX
Player is going to be released very soon -in fact it is planned to be
released tomorrow.
Part of the delay was caused by the difficulty in obtaining licenses
regarding all MSX copyrights. The whole enterprise actually was only
partly successful. One of the copyright-holders did not agree to free
distribution of MSX roms; only commercial distribution is an option
for them. All lobbying efforts proved fruitless, and in the end the
MSX Association has decided to release only a commercial version of
the MSX Player for now.
This commercial version of the MSX Player will only be available as
part of a software package which will also include a game. Examples of
packages which will become available tomorrow include Laydock + MSX
Player and Fray + MSX Player. Distribution will take place through a
firm called Egg (http://www.soft-city.com/egg/), and prices for
software packages will be around 600 yen.
So why should you buy this software when you can also obtain it for
free at Funet? Good question. Leaving issues of legality aside, I
think that the MSX Player in its present form is only of limited
interest for most of the people reading this newsgroup. The software
package Egg sells is aimed at computer owners who just enjoy playing
with their machine, but do not want to be bothered with 'difficult'
settings as diskimages etc. Installing and playing the games mentioned
above can be done with a few mouseclicks when using Egg packages. At
Egg, you thus pay for convenience.
Another reason for buying these software packages is that the money
the MSX Association makes with it will be invested again in other MSX
related projects. At present, they are mainly thinking of giving the
one-chip MSX project a financial injection. You thus sponsor a good
cause.
Quite a few people might think that 600 yen is horribly
expensive. However, giving the pricelevel in Tokyo, 600 yen sounds
quite reasonable for such a service to me. Egg has been selling
similar software packages based on other older Japanese computer
systems, and has been quite successful at that. Given that the price
of MSX software packaged do not really differ that much from for
example PC9801 software, I see no reason why the MSX versions would
not sell.
For those non-Japanese users who still want to give the MSX Player a
go even if they have to pay for it, one problem remains. In order to
download the software packages, you have to become a member of Egg,
and in order to become a member, you have to go through a procedure
outlined in Japanese. For the adventurous, registration can be done
at: http://www.soft-city.com/regist/regist.htm
Also please take a look at Egg's catalog. You will see -if you can
read Japanese that is- many names that will ring a bell: MicroCabin,
Falcom, T & E Soft etc. Egg has finalized contracts with all these
firms concerning re-distribution of their MSX software. While the
MSX-related software packages may seem low in number at the moment,
this may change in the near future.
Last but not least, to conclude this message, please note that
tomorrow May the 17th is the PLANNED release date. All necessary
contracts have been finalized, and all MSX software packages have been
thoroughly beta-tested, so most likely the packages will be released
tomorrow. However, given all the experiences the MSX Revival Project
went through, I won't be surprised if something unexpected intervenes
again.
Regards,
Bernard Lamers
bernard(_en_)iii(_punto_)u-tokyo(_punto_)ac(_punto_)jp
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