I'm Taking a look at Topschach.de, which seems to be the first to come out with Houdini 4 charging $107.(rounded) now down to $100. I would imagine that this is representative of a Chessbase product -which has to go into consideration over pricing. They aren't about to give away the store.kgburcham wrote:Yes Darkmoon, exactly. so will Robert go cheap and sell for same low price as Komodo or does Robert roll the dice and test the market by selling Houdini 4 Pro for $85 or maybe $95. We will know soon.Darkmoon wrote:kgburcham wrote:this is an ongoing issue, growing pains for our sport.Dr.Wael Deeb wrote:Personally,I was so excited when Kim raised this topic here on our beloved forum and I don't mind getting started all over againGraham Banks wrote:Haven't you already hammered this topic to death in a recent thread here?kgburcham wrote:Stockfish is probably in the top three programs for now and is free, totally free, just download and play.
Komodo may be the strongest program for now and was extremely cheap at $30, almost nothing, a family of four meal at Mcdonalds. I send $80 to Saudia Arabia everytime I fill my Dodge pickup but got Komodo almost for free and I got stockfish for free.
So now how will Houdart price his Houdini 4 when it seems stockfish and komodo are just as strong?
it will seem weird getting Houdini 4 for free or almost free at $30.
I have been buying chess programs for years. A lot of money. They are all on the shelf in cases. I always buy the chessbase version when available in the case, so I always pay top dollar not the cheaper download version. I have bought two versions of Komodo 6 and 3 or 4 versions of Houdini 3.
If Komodo is released in a chessbase version then I will buy it and just put it on the shelf.
So I will buy Houdini 4 in the chessbase version even though it just lost a game with white in Tcec against the free stockfish, and it will probably be 3 times what Komodo cost even though it seems to be equal in strength to Komodo.
I will tell my wife that if I die before her, my chess program collection is worth $0 and to just throw it all in the trash. I assume most programs will start being free or real cheap from now on.
Since programs are going to be free or dirt cheap now, I hope chessbase can stay in business.
Oh well doesn't matter right? The cheap has started.
kgburcham
my two threads are minor compared to possibilities of the future of computer chess. The chess computer business needs new young energy, new young talented energy full of ideas willing to experiment. For this we should pay.
But the point of this thread was the new development that some programs might finish ahead of Houdini in the TCEC tournament with Houdini releasing a new version after Stockfish being free and Komodo almost free.
a twisted mess for marketing and sales.
kgburcham
For myself it is a matter of finances.
Komodo has proven to be a viable engine. But, to buy every updated release with small incremental improvements just isn't feasible. Not in these tough economic times.
Robert's releases have been impressive. But clearly , that has changed with the competition right on top of him.
However, that doesn't rule out that Houdini 4's evaluation function will not have been enhanced to make it a desirable package if Houdini wins the nTCEC.
It might be a more tougher sell -but I think he will get what he asks for. I noted that he is already selling to those who are on the fringe of the hobby. Those who pay less attention to stats.
kgburcham
But, buying Houdini as a standalone, I don't know if Chessbase has any influence over that pricing. Judging from the current trend-I'd suggest a moderate reduction in price - perhaps $70 for pro- and maybe $45 for the standard.
This would all depend on how well Houdini preforms -Robert might end up throwing in an update (s) to sweeten the deal for those who buy Houdini 4.
