Author: Roy Eassa
Date: 07:20:22 05/09/02
Go up one level in this thread
On May 09, 2002 at 01:25:41, John Merlino wrote: >On May 08, 2002 at 18:58:28, Fernando Villegas wrote: > >>John, I am sorry to say this, but since a long time CM does not change more >>than the neccesary amount to sell another time branded as "new version". In fact >>what we have year after year is basically the same product. Not even the engine, >>whose improvemens must be measured with several decimal points. It is amazing >>how much scace of imagination are the guys in charge, the powers-that-are, as >>you would say. >>Yes, I will purchase anyway the stuff because I am sick, as everybody here, but >>in my ocasional moments of mental health I realize I am being somewhat cheated. >>Ubni Soft just wat the money. Probably the guys over there are so interested in >>chess as me in clasical chinese. >>My best to you and wife. >>fernando > >You are certainly not alone in this judgement. It is very difficult to decide >what to put into a new version, let alone to decide what can be accomplished >given our deadlines. And, of course, like with any other chess program, it is >STILL "just chess". Chessmaster 5000, admittedly, probably had enough features >to please today's "typical user". But we keep trying to improve/expand the >program to try to please a few more people with each version. > >Of course, we are probably reaching a point of diminished returns, where each >new feature doesn't add much when compared to the whole. But, the new 3D really >looks gorgeous (far better than we hoped for), and the Blunder Alert and Endgame >Databases and (etc. etc. etc.) DOES make this next program better than the one >before. > >The question is, as always, "is it worth the price if you have ANY previous >version". > >Well, time will tell, I guess.... > >jm > >p.s. Best to you and yours as well. I think my wife might have a few more >amusing little things to send you soon (she was very pleased that you even >mentioned it!) John, I guess I have voted with my money over the years. I bought CM2000, CM2100, and CM3000 even before I owned my own PC. I used them at work and, later, at home on a PC borrowed from work. I bought CM4000 and was BLOWN AWAY by the new GUI (the fanciest ever for any app under Win3) and the very strong new engine. I bought CM5000, CM5500, CM6000, CM7000, and CM8000. I also bought at least 2 or 3 versions of ChessMaster for the Mac. And my fiancee, with whom I live, has bought 2 versions of ChessMaster over the last couple years. (And then there are the friends to whom I've recommended the product...). On the other hand, I *do* confess to wishing for the option to install a much smaller, non-multimedia core subset of the program -- e.g., the only board I need is a 2-D resizable one.
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