kimes@cbnewsc.att.com (Kit Kimes) (06/08/90)
From article <30566@cup.portal.com>, by Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com: > (Well, there really isn't much else to talk about.. Atari made a really > dismal showing at CES, and the STe is delayed again...) I disagree that Atari made a dismal showing at CES. They had a nice booth, it was generally as crowded as Sega and Nintendo and at least they were featuring the ST to some extent which is a change from the last couple of years. As to how they did behind the scenes, I don't know. I have no inside information as to deals being struck. A couple of comments on information I was told by James Fisher, Bruce Coleman and I forget who else. 1) The 520STFM bundled package, called "The Advantage", is almost ready. They wanted to push it at the show but there were still a few licensing agreements to work out. There were buttons and signs saying "Atari Advantage" all over the booth, but no literature or press releases yet. Could be as early as the end of the week. 2) There is still some questions remaining on the package. One school of thought is that everything in the package should be low-rez so that people could use their TV and not worry about which programs they can read and which they can't. On the other hand, some of the programs that Atari wants to include require the mono monitor. There might be two packages, one including a mono monitor. 3) There is talk of also offering a bundled package with the STe computer that wouldn't be as complete as the 520STFM package but would offer good value. 4) Both the 520STFM package and the 1040STe should be available in July. That isn't much of a delay from what I have been hearing for the last few months. Kit Kimes AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL ...!att!iwtsa!kimes
Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com (06/10/90)
Kit Kimes writes: >>From article <30566@cup.portal.com>, by Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com: >> (Well, there really isn't much else to talk about.. Atari made a really >> dismal showing at CES, and the STe is delayed again...) >I disagree that Atari made a dismal showing at CES. They had a nice >booth, it was generally as crowded as Sega and Nintendo and at least >they were featuring the ST to some extent which is a change from the >last couple of years. ... Well, yes... it was nice that they were there, and that they didn't have the STs hidden away in the back alley behind the booth as in previous years... And it was nice that the booth said "Atari Computer" in big letters, even though the booth was 90% game machines... And it was nice that it was crowded, even though most of the crowd was playing Lynx video games, and the crowding was due more to the smallness of the booth and the poor layout than to the excitement generated by what was being shown... (the Nintendo booth, easily the largest booth in the entire show was actually *less* crowded than Atari's, even though there were many, MANY times more people in there...) It was nice that there were a couple of STes there, even though they weren't identified in any way... no signs saying "NEW!" or "INTRODUCING: STe" or "Atari makes real Computers!" or anything at all... they were sitting below signs that said "Advantage", which had nothing to do with anything... It was nice that there was a Turbocharger hooked up to an ST, even though there was no sign or anything telling about all the advantages of the emulation available for Atari computers.. it was even running MS-DOS sometimes when it wasn't running games... (In fact, I almost missed that there were STes there at all until I noticed that the XE-Game System light guns were plugged into their left sides... you had to already know that's how the STe hooks up, or you'd never know there was anything special about the computers... Atari sure wasn't telling anyone by the display...) It was nice that they had the ramcard drive for the Portfolio, even if the most notable feature of that display was the Macintosh computer that was sitting next to the Atari PC clone... (no, they weren't pushing the Atari PC clone itself, just the link to the Portfolio) ... That was it for new hardware at this CES... just the ramcard drive and the STe (which they seemed to want to keep as anonymous as possible...) It was nice that they introduced a handfull of new games for the Lynx, a few of them even to be available this summer... of course Nintendo and Sega and NEC were showing literally *hundreds* of new games for their systems, both from the parent companies and from dozens of third-party producers... Oh.. and it's nice that they're still thinking about releasing the Advantage package... someday... >2) There is still some questions remaining on the package. >One school of thought is that everything in the package should be >low-rez so that people could use their TV and not worry about which >programs they can read and which they can't. On the other hand, >some of the programs that Atari wants to include require the mono >monitor. There might be two packages, one including a mono monitor. ...in other words, they STILL don't know what they're doing with it... not the kind of thing to instill much confidence in dealers or distributors wanting to order real products to try to sell... (of course, Commodore had a really nice display of the A500 package they're pushing now...) What I don't understand is that Atari has used the excuse in the past that it can take $500,000 to put on a CES display, for times when they didn't show up... so why, when they do decide to spend the money, don't they use it more effectively, or hire someone who knows what they're doing to do it for them...? OK, maybe dismal doesn't describe Atari's showing at CES... maybe "Ho-Hum... was Atari there?" would be better...? BobR (Hey... contrary to what anyone might think, I'm *NOT* happy that Atari made a dismal showing... I'd love to be able to report that the STe was the hit of the show and that Atari put on a dazzling display to introduce it... but it wasn't, and they didn't, and I came away feeling let down... ...again...)
Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com (06/11/90)
Just one last comment about the 1990 Summer Consumer Electronics Show... Three years ago most of the third-party software booths had Atari STs running demonstrating their programs for the ST... Two years ago, some of the third-party software booths had Atari STs running, demonstrating their programs for the ST... This year none of the third-party software booths had any Atari STs running anything... Let me rephrase that... This year *NONE* of the third-party software booths had *ANY* STs running *ANYTHING*... Sort of gives you a warm feeling for the kind of confidence the third-party segment has in the Atari market... BobR
kimes@cbnewsc.att.com (Kit Kimes) (06/12/90)
From article <30685@cup.portal.com>, by Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com: > Just one last comment about the 1990 Summer Consumer Electronics Show... > .... > This year *NONE* of the third-party software booths had *ANY* STs running > *ANYTHING*... > > Sort of gives you a warm feeling for the kind of confidence the third-party > segment has in the Atari market... I felt the same way, and yet, I was happy to see that most of the 'ususal' ST supporters still were listing new software items in their catalogs. This may be small consolation but I get the feeling that they are trying to keep the market covered for a while yet to see if Atari does really start pushing the ST big time. If nothing (much) changes between now and next summer, I think you will see a whole lot less new software available (at least from US software companies). I say summer, because that is the CES I attend and because that is when software houses are pushing what will be available for Christmas. Actually, the Winter CES in January might be an early indication of things to come. Kit Kimes AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL ...!att!iwtsa!kimes
Metalist@cup.portal.com (Bryan Jones Woodworth) (06/12/90)
] 4] Both the 52oSTFM package and the 1o4oSTe should be available in July. REALLY!? The STe will be available in JULY! Hooray about how much? WEre price estimations buzzing about? thanks! Metalist@cup.portal.com