Le Club Macintosh de MontrƯal Publication: InterFace Issue: Unknown Author: Eric Tremblay Series: None Title: Will you open the NeXTwindow of opportunity? ------------------------------------ Will you open the NeXTwindow of opportunity? Eric "E.T." Tremblay Having a NeXT computer opens many new possible opportunities. As a programmer, I see many markets that are still untapped. The market I see great potential for development is games. This might seem unusual to associate a NeXT workstation with entertainment software. Yes, it is true that games are not the reason people or companies purchase the NeXT, however, games have a place within the NeXT market. Just because someone bought a NeXT for work does not mean he would not like to play a game on his machine, especially if the NeXT is the only machine there. Everyone, including owners of NeXT computers, needs a break and a some entertainment once in a while. The reason why I am interested in games for the NeXT is that the market is still virgin in that area. There are at this writing only three commercial game offerings for the NeXT. These games are Culture Shock, which is a shanghai type card game, Void, which is an arcade-style game, and Ragnarok, which is based on an old Viking board game. So this leaves a lot of space for a small developer to market a game and get instant recognition for his product, unlike other platforms which have such intense competition that it is very difficult for a small company or developer to distinguish his product from the others. It is interesting to know that there are rumors circulating to the effect that Maxis will port SimCity to the NeXT; the Sun version will be out soon, giving this rumor a lot of credibility. What triggered this interest in games for the NeXT? The first reason is my personal quest for entertainment. The second is a statement from a salesman at NeXTConnection saying: "There is a huge lack in games for the NeXT. The demand is there, but unfortunately the products are not there to take advantage of that demand." The point of this article is to simply make the reader aware that there are great opportunities and potential with the NeXT computer - both from the user's point of view of running great software, and from the developer's point of view of having a powerful tool with which he can create excellent applications and market them with relative ease compared to the other platforms. There are many unfulfilled opportunities that smart people will take advantage of in the near future. The first smart thing to do is purchase a NeXT. The second one is to make money with it. Are you ready and willing to open the NeXTwindow of opportunity?