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Draginol
Draginol
Join Date 03/2001
+137

Games need more channels, less glory

Looking at PC gaming as a business

March 14, 2005 12:57:19 AM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Many game developers think the sky is falling when it comes to the direction of the game industry.  They talk about how the new mega games having budgets of $10 million and how that is making publishers risk adverse which in turn stifles creativity and takes the romance ouf of game development.

But is that really the case? Or is it more of a matter of game developers liking the "old days" where a small team could make "Game of the year" on a shoe-string budget.  So is it really about economics or is it about glory?  It is incredibly unlikely that I will ever make a game that becomes a house-hold name.  But my games do make a profit and I get to make really fun games.

I recently saw some of the final Galactic Civilizations retail sales, roughly 140,000 sold worldwide (nearly all at full price). That was an indie game done on a shoe-string budget. Were the DOS games of the glory days typically selling those numbers? No.

You can still make good, innovative games without spending $10 million. But they won't be the "biggest games of the year".  Or in other words, it's not profitability you sacrifice by not spending big bucks, it's glory.

On the other hand, I do think we need more distribution channels for games.

Movies get to have multiple lives -- first they're at the theater. Then they go on DVD. then they end up on cable TV. Then on regular TV.

Games just go from retail into oblivion. On TotalGaming.net one of the things we're struggling with getting publishers to let us put some of their games that aren't at retail available for purchase. I've been trying to get Atari to let us put Total Annihilation on www.TotalGaming.net for months but it's taking forever.

If games could have a second life beyond retail, I think the risk could be descreased substantially. And combine those classic "big name games" that aren't at retail with a fresh stream of new indie games and you create new venues for game developers to get their stuff out, take more chances, and be decrease their risks.
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Draginol
greywar
Join Date 05/2003
+4
Reply #1 March 14, 2005 3:03:40 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
The resurrected Atari is a great example of a brand name that is not backed by quality business gamers. They have bungled and mishandled so many products that is is sickening. You need look no farther than their involvement with MOO3 to see how idiotic management can kill a games profit margins. That Atari is taking a long tim to work out a deal with Stardock for TA is unsurprising even given that it should be a total no brainer. TA right now is earning jack squat for them. TA on TGN at any price = more profit than they have now. Maybe their MBA's are getting in the way of the blindingly obvious?
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Draginol
historyishere
Join Date 06/2004
0
Reply #2 March 14, 2005 3:16:42 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
I think alternate methods of distibution are always going to ensure that the smaller game developers will at least have a seat at the table, and fans of certain genres of games will always have someplace to turn to. It is a model I've seen your company most successfully develop, and I've noticed other companies are starting to employ the same methods(like Paradox's announcement that if you buy one of their older games through direct download, if you lose your files, you can redownload them if you provide the right information).

Why does that sound so familiar? hmmm... I wonder.
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Draginol
Efthimios
Join Date 04/2003
0
Reply #3 March 14, 2005 5:20:37 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
Please delete this, mistake on my part.
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Draginol
Woodbridge
Join Date 05/2002
0
Reply #4 March 14, 2005 6:49:49 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Another excellent example of indie developer on a shoe string budget, but still coming up with the goods is Introversion who have recently release a game called Darwinia. I've been playing it for the past two weeks and I'm loving every second of it.

They are planning to offer a web downloadable version of the game as an alternative to buying it in the shops or ordering it direct from them. Maybe StarDock should contact them and see if they'd be interested in TG.net?
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Draginol
Stealth
Join Date 01/0001
+13
Reply #5 March 14, 2005 9:03:32 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Atari...the arch-nemesis of all people at teh TAunivese.com.

As much as I'd love to see TA on TG.net, I highly doubt the chances of that. People at TAU have been asking for the source code of this wonderful yet OLD game for years now and Atari continues to brush off the community (I think...the only community left).
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Draginol
Efthimios
Join Date 04/2003
0
Reply #6 March 14, 2005 4:22:04 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
Why is it Atari's fault for the MOO3 monster? Quicksilver is responsible for making a horible horible game. For once it wasn't the publisher's fault.
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Draginol
relswick
Join Date 10/2004
0
Reply #7 March 14, 2005 10:41:37 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Sell your TotalGaming.net subscription at Blockbuster or Family Video or elsewhere....

It would probably work out quite well if you use Tokens... sell a subset of you rintended 10 token subscription.
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Draginol
Paguma
Join Date 04/2003
0
Reply #8 April 15, 2005 11:23:53 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums
I think the token system will attract more game companies, that is good. However, I also means the people will be less likely to try a game that is on the network.

For example, I have Drengin.net or TotalGaming now. I have downloaded every game on it because, well they were free. I tried all of them, unfortunately, I have only played two of them for more than an hour. Those were the GalCiv expansion and Political Machine. The latter of which, I probably played for a grand total of 3-4 hours.

Would I use my precious credits on games I am unsure of? No. So I would never even try most games put on the system.

Of course, maybe with more game companies willing to put games on the system, I would get access to games I'm more likely to enjoy.

P.S. You should talk to whoever owns the rights to Jagged Alliance 2. That was an awesome game, and they had distribution problems. Of course, it's quite old now, but I still enjoy playing it.
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Draginol
TAFan
Join Date 01/0001
+13
Reply #9 September 8, 2005 6:02:50 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
To this day, I _still_ play TA. Played it just yesterday, in fact. I do still buy new games occasionally, but they rarely remain installed once I've finished them.
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