MSXdev09 changes poll down, old magazines poll up

The poll publication scheme is a bit off at the moment, but nonetheless a new poll has been prepared. Prior to going to the new poll, let's have a look at the outcome of the MSXdev'09 poll which ran for the past 3 weeks. What could be changed for MSXdev'09 compared to MSXdev'08? After 40 votes, here is the result:

• Nothing, just let it be like MSXdev08 27.50%
• Something else 17.50%
• Go for six-month time frames 15.00%
• Stick to MSX1 but without further limitations 15.00%
• Go back to average specs 15.00%
• Go back to the smallest specs 10.0%

MSXdev'09 in the style of MSXdev'08 got most of the votes. It's not unthinkable though that people may have wanted to vote on multiple items. Based on the comments in the poll reactions, one can say that opinions are mixed. Ever since MSXdev got wide attention (somewhere during MSXdev'04, which caused MSXdev'05 to become the most popular edition so far), there have been discussions about specifications. Typically there seem to be two camps: the retro-minded MSX1 people, and those who want more RAM, more ROM, more recognition for supported extensions, higher MSX platforms, in short: more meat. The logical solution would be to move the high-specs developers to a different contest, question is whether this will work. There seems to be an odd attraction to MSXdev, which causes people to stick to it regardless of any other contest. This must certainly put the organization into a difficult position. At one hand MSXdev remains the contest aimed at all MSX platforms, although people generally agree that this keeps the core architecture of a game down to MSX1. While formally the term 'MSX1 contest' may not be agreed on by the MSXdev organizers, much more than MSX1+ (MSX1 with MSX2 features such as palette) is probably not something we can expect. On the other hand more and more people are complaining about the lack of games for higher platforms and, in a way, point to MSXdev for causing this. The MSXdev organizers could choose to ignore the requests for allowing higher platforms to compete (or completely free-style as some people have suggested), but there may be the risk that developers choose to leave their MSXdev tradition and just develop an MSX2/+/tR game on their own. This would hopefully still result in the release of a game -which is good-, but may leave the entry count for MSXdev'09 at the low side. On the other hand, the MSXdev organizers may state that there are other contests for higher platforms. There may be a point in that, but other contests may need to prove them self towards the large audience MSXdev already has gained over the years.
All in all it's a complex situation. As someone stated in the comments, it's almost inevitable that something must change. Because, while the entry count of MSXdev'08 was equal to MSXdev'07, there is this feeling that developers were perhaps a tad less motivated during MSXdev'08. Whether there will be changes, and what these changes may eventually be, is all up to the organizers. And with that, enough about this contest!

Do you still read your old (paper) MSX-magazines you collected in the 80's and 90's? And with reading, we mean: pick a magazine on a rainy day or before sleeping, and just read it all over again. Magazines from 1985 reviewing MSX1 computers, magazines from 1987 reviewing Konami MSX2 games, magazines from 1990 reviewing Japanese import, magazines from 1992 reviewing diskmagazines, magazines from any year featuring assembly courses, columns, background stories etc. Are are you like: 'nah, old news', or 'by now I know everything already, or I read it online'? In short, how do you value paper magazines with old MSX news?

As a second question, which you may answer in the reactions, we'd like to ask you whether you would read a paper magazine which follows today's MSX news, be it with a delay of a few months of course. Not as an alternative to any daily updated MSX website, but purely to have something in which you can read back all the MSX news and articles on the couch during a rainy day, in the train or before going to sleep.

May the vote be with you!

If you have an idea for an interesting poll, send your idea to poll@msx.org and we will consider running your suggestion for a month.

Relevant link: Poll results