> Hello,
>
> I apologize in advance for the nature of this post -I know that this group
> is primarily for technical discussion.
>
> By way of introduction, I live in Sendai, Japan and cover console news for
> CoreMagazine (http://www.coremagazine.com), a reasonably diverse console
> gaming site.

-- snip, snip -- irrelevant text stripped

> Again, any information would be greatly appreciated.  Of course,
> contributors would be credited in the article (unless they wish to remain
> anonymous).
>
> Cheers,
> Walter Wyman

Hello Walter,

I wish you great success in your article.  Your question about independent
developers and NetBSD shows you understand our goals.  The whole point of
porting open source operating systems and development tools to the consoles
is to make our own games!

Of course, getting a decent NetBSD or Linux workstation for $150 is not bad
either.  ;-)

I am a member of the mailing list, but I am not a kernel hacker.  I am
professional programmer, but not at the operating systems and tools level.
I have much to learn.

So do not take my comments as those of the NetBSD/Dreamcast porting team.
What I am is someone interested in using NetBSD to develop software for my
Dreamcast.

I would like to point out that there might be some opposition from Sony and
Microsoft for porting NetBSD, or any other open source operating system, to
their consoles.  They make their revenue from what another member of the
mailing list called the "Sony tax."  This is a license fee that "legit"
developers have to pay to get development kits.  The "tax" also comes out of
the revenue from each licensed game copy sold.

If otherwise "legit" developers have free tools and free operating systems
at their disposal to make compelling content, they will not have to pay the
"tax," and the console makers will lose revenue.  They may fight our
efforts, maybe even legally, to protect their interests.

The months ahead will prove whether I'm right or not; development on the
Sony PlayStation 2 has only just begun.  I am thankful Sega was willing to
help the homebrew developers that started this effort, and saw no threat in
our curiosity.

You probably have already heard of Indrema, so please excuse me if I bring
up the obvious.  This company is creating a console with an open source
operating system built-in, right out of the box.  The platform will be
completely open.  Indrema has no interest in attracting established game
developers and publishers with million dollar marketing campaigns and the
like.  They simply will put their console out, get developers (indie and
otherwise) the tools they need for free, and let the games begin!  Visit
their website, and read the latest issue of the US magazine Next Generation
for more details.

I believe the Indrema will sell well with indie game developers, and with
other homebrew developers such as myself.  I will definitely buy one! ;-)  I
am willing to bet other operating systems will be ported to it.  But I don't
know whether Indrema's business model makes financial sense.  I wish them
much luck.

Again, Walter, I wish you luck with the article.  Let us know when it comes
out!!!!

Later,
RC5Stint

PS - You may quote me as you like.  RC5Stint is my alias.  You get bonus
points if you know what RC5 is. ;-)


_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com