Post by ZXOnline in Zedex Tanks - ZX Spectrum 128K comments

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Hi Juan

Your idea looks interesting and unusual, but I have doubts about who would be interested in it. In fact, the data on this flash drive will almost always be outdated, because you do not assume any online method to update it after the user has received this flash drive, is that correct?

Probably, any of the known online databases of products for ZX (for example, WoS, Zxart, etc.) already contain such a database, and their databases are periodically automatically updated.

Please explain why you think that your product will be in demand?

flopping@gmail.com133 days ago

Hi, my idea is to create a USB drive featuring content creators and the games they want to share. I know there are databases with many games and creators that will be on my USB drive, and in fact, anyone can create their own USB drive with their compilations. My idea is to create a file for each creator, showing their logo, name, avatar, creations, etc. The idea is to give visibility to the creator, not to make yet another game compilation, and to try to keep it updated as new creators emerge. The USB drive will be created specifically for this project. My idea is to include a ZX Spectrum and make it something very representative. Everything would be in a printed box, with the files and maybe something else, a poster or something like that. I have the basic layout, but new ideas can be added to make it something everyone will like. I don’t know if you think it’s a good idea, I hope there are enough of us to be able to carry out the project, at the moment we are 35 people involved in the project and we continue to grow, that’s why I’m getting in touch with anyone who might be interested or think it’s a good idea, since in the end, this is also advertising for content creators and they can have some free games and some paid ones, and it’s a way for more people to know about them and perhaps increase their sales or downloads, that’s also a bit of the idea, let me know something or what you think.

ZXOnline133 days ago

You know, I am the owner of the ZXOnline portal, where many developers publish their developments for the ZX Spectrum platform. The main concept of the portal is to give developers the opportunity to make a profit (or monetary support - call it what you want) when selling copies of their products. To do this, we take various actions, not only direct sales of copies of games, but also all sorts of other methods.

Your method of distributing games is interesting, and this could certainly become another source of income for my developers, but tell me - does your distribution model imply any royalties for game developers? How do you plan to solve this issue? Or do you propose that authors be granted the right to distribute their games free of charge?

Please explain.

flopping@gmail.com133 days ago

Hello, yes I know you have the ZX Online portal and I know it, the idea as I say is to make a database of creators and make themselves known, for this the USB will have a file of each creator, with some data, such as their logo, avatar, project name, website, email, twitter, etc … they can put whatever they want in that file and I want it to be updated every few months, with new creators and other creations, I am not asking for them to give me a game either, it can be a demo, the idea is that for the creators, the USB comes out at cost price and if there is a lot of demand and I recover the initial investment, that this possible benefit is a discount on the cost of the USB, so that it can be free, obviously, no one is forced to buy the USB, it is just in case they want one, or as many as they need, it would be left at cost price, and the users who buy it, would be sold a little more expensive, in order to report that benefit to the creators, I don’t know if you understand the idea a little.

ZXOnline133 days ago

Yes, I understand the idea better now. It turns out that you want to make some database of game developers for Speccy on this USB drive, which will be periodically updated with new data (the mechanism is not yet clear - how this will be done on flash drives that have already been sold, but that's another question). This database will probably not include games that developers are still distributing for a fee, but it may include some other data, like photos of developers' faces and the like.

But I still don't fully understand the value of this information, what will be the key motivation for users to buy this database on flash drives? Could you explain in more detail? How will this information differ from the freely available information that is on WoS, Zxart, and other online resources? Perhaps this information will be a little more "personal", that is, include personal contacts of developers, which would allow you to contact them directly?

Or will this device with developer data be something like a souvenir for a retro collection?

Please explain.

flopping@gmail.com129 days ago

Yes, sorry for the delay in responding. The idea is for the USB to be updated as people learn about it or new creators emerge, through a file posted on itch.io or similar sites. There are some sites where they update games and include some information about their creators. My idea is to also include websites, emails, or any contact information you want, in addition to possible future projects they have in mind, etc. More than a souvenir USB, I want it to be a tribute USB to the creators. If they have paid games or games that aren’t included on the USB, people can access that information and buy or download them from their sites, etc. Also, I want the USB to be something representative of the creators’ work, like a ZX Spectrum model, a 48K, a Plus, or a 128. I don’t know yet; we still have to decide on that among all the members. Well, that’s more or less the idea: to create profiles for each creator with information they want to include and some of their creations, so that people who want to have it can know who’s behind that logo, or avatar, and the games they’ve created.