This is something that occurred to me about a week ago, but has been rattling around in the back of my mind ever since and refuses to go away. Games Workshop are the Apple of the wargaming world, which would make Warhammer the iPhone.
Before you bite my head off, think about it for a minute.
Both diverged from their previous offerings to release a couple of products that went on to define their new market.
Both are now struggling to keep pace with new innovations from a raft of competitors who didn't exist five years ago. In both cases, they started struggling when the original innovators left (or died) and the money-men took over.
As a result, both have taken to releasing updated versions of their existing products with just enough new features to keep their fanboys happy and just about keep pace with the competition.
Both have made unsuccessful attempts to diversify from their core offerings. In some cases these failed due to lack of corporate support, in others because the market simply wasn't there. In the latter cases, the corporate support is still there and refuses to let the idea die.
Both have a nasty habit of launching a lot of unnecessary lawsuits.
Both still have a legion of enthusiatic fanboys plus enough supportive journalists to keep them in business for a long time to come. And both have their detractors who slate anything they come out with as derivative or overpriced or both.
And here I am, ready to support one and slate the other. What does that say about me at the end of the day?
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