Author: Uri Blass
Date: 12:40:15 06/07/02
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On June 07, 2002 at 15:10:57, Dann Corbit wrote: >On June 07, 2002 at 14:53:37, Uri Blass wrote: > >>I guess that today programmers earn less from chess programs relative to the >>past because of the fact that computers are too strong. >> >>I guess that today it is possible to earn more from go programs than from chess >>programs but I have no idea if I am right? >> >>Am I right in my guess? >>If not then what is the thinking game that can help programmers to get the most >>money from it(I do not consider things like building a better interface but only >>the engine)? >> >>Is go the thinking game that is the easiest for humans to beat programs? >> >>Are there programmers who consider to leave chess for other thinking games >>because they believe that they can make more money from the engine in other >>thinking games? >> >>I know only about 2 programmers of commercial chess programs who developed >>programs for other thinking games. >> >>One of them is Johan de koning (the programmer of chessmaster) and I remember >>that his program won the world championship in another thinking game but I do >>not know if he sells another playing program except chessmaster. >>Another one is the programmer of chess system tal chris Whittington. >> >>Are there more programmers of commercial chess programs who decided to develop >>programs for other thinking games? > >There is money to be made by game programming, but it is in video games, not >board games. The cerebral types who want to play chess against a machine are a >microscopic fraction of the computer market. > >The problem with computer chess programming is that you have to write something >idiot proof, it has to run on every possible Win32 platform (imagine a million >different hardware/software combinations) and you have to get shelf space. I >think shelf space is the hard one. It is also why ChessMaster is so dominating >in sales. Go to the Fred Meyer or the Walmart or some other large store that >happens to stock some software and you are likely to find ChessMaster, but not >any of the others (except in those "Bargain Bins"). > >The same thing is true (even more so) for other games, I think. No other board >game will have the same appeal in the US (Go is not very popular here). You >might find a lot more adherents in Europe -- not sure. At any rate, how are you >going to convince people to put it on their shelves? They want the space for >"Murderous Mayhem -- Neck snapping, spine ripping destruction"[*] instead of >"Cerebral Checkers" or "Joe's Go". It is possible to try to convince the players of the game. There may be more chess players than go players but this is not relevant. The relevant question is if more chess players are interested in buying a better engine relative to go players. The fact that go is not popular in the US is also not relevant for making money because it is possible to sell a good engine for other countries where the game is more popular. Uri
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