Slashdot Mirror

Cool link (comicbookfonts.com) - and the site reminds me, if there were a video game award for "best use of fonts", I'd have to give it to Freedom Force...

No im not ;) , Im living in germany and im from Scotland . In Germany we just have dodgy political decisions on baning the posesions of WW2 memorbelia , yet allowing Neo-Nazi scum to march .

Which reminds me of this. Owning WW2 memorobilia is against the law, but they're gonna let a game featuring Nazis be published? Are games all games where you kill Nazis allowed?

I still don't get why game developers feel like they need publishers in this day and age of ubiquitous Internet connections and BitTorrent file distribution

Developers wouldn't use publishers if it didn't cost so much to make a game. A typical AAA title coming out in the next couple years will have a budget of anywhere from $5million to as much as $20million or more. No small independent developer has that kind of cash sitting around. Typically, all the money a developer gets from their previous titles is spent making those titles; 99% of developers never see any royalties.

Because retail is still king Hence developers need publishers.

Actually, you don't need a publisher to get your games on the shelves at retail, you just need a distributor. Of course, most publishers are also distributors.

For Freedom Force versus The Third Reich, we funded the development ourselves, and are self-publishing online, and are using VUG only for distribution onto retail shelves.

[Disclaimer: I work for Irrational Games, but the statements above represent my own opinions and do not in any way represent the opinions of Irrational Games or its constituents]

I still don't get why game developers feel like they need publishers in this day and age of ubiquitous Internet connections and BitTorrent file distribution

Developers wouldn't use publishers if it didn't cost so much to make a game. A typical AAA title coming out in the next couple years will have a budget of anywhere from $5million to as much as $20million or more. No small independent developer has that kind of cash sitting around. Typically, all the money a developer gets from their previous titles is spent making those titles; 99% of developers never see any royalties.

Because retail is still king Hence developers need publishers.

Actually, you don't need a publisher to get your games on the shelves at retail, you just need a distributor. Of course, most publishers are also distributors.

For Freedom Force versus The Third Reich, we funded the development ourselves, and are self-publishing online, and are using VUG only for distribution onto retail shelves.

[Disclaimer: I work for Irrational Games, but the statements above represent my own opinions and do not in any way represent the opinions of Irrational Games or its constituents]

To avoid this, some small independent developers (Irrational Games, Bioware, Valve, etc) are trying to move towards self-publishing. This lets them not only retain more control over their products, but also fund the games that they want to make rather than the games that fit a slot in a marketing spreadsheet. This means more quirky, intelligent, and innovative games like Freedom Force, System Shock 2, etc.

If you feel strongly about the self-publishing model and the potential it holds for supporting creativity and community in future games, please consider buying from these developers.

To learn more, check out these articles about Irrational's adventures in self-publishing, and if Freedom Force versus the Third Reich sounds like the kind of game you'd enjoy, feel free to order it directly from Irrational Games.

Articles:
"Adventures in Self-Publishing"
Bioware-Irrational self-publishing collaboration article

Ordering FFvTTR directly from the developer:
The Freedom Force Online Store :

To avoid this, some small independent developers (Irrational Games, Bioware, Valve, etc) are trying to move towards self-publishing. This lets them not only retain more control over their products, but also fund the games that they want to make rather than the games that fit a slot in a marketing spreadsheet. This means more quirky, intelligent, and innovative games like Freedom Force, System Shock 2, etc.

If you feel strongly about the self-publishing model and the potential it holds for supporting creativity and community in future games, please consider buying from these developers.

To learn more, check out these articles about Irrational's adventures in self-publishing, and if Freedom Force versus the Third Reich sounds like the kind of game you'd enjoy, feel free to order it directly from Irrational Games.

Articles:
"Adventures in Self-Publishing"
Bioware-Irrational self-publishing collaboration article

Ordering FFvTTR directly from the developer:
The Freedom Force Online Store :

I've been skimming this thread and I didn't see many replies from other users with disabilities. I also use a type of headmouse because of a neuromuscular disability. I've had this type of setup since I was 16 (I'm 31 now and work as an attorney). I've always been a gamer and I tend to gravitate towards games that don't require twitch reflexes. I'm a big RPG fan and most of these are mouse-driven. Check out some of the classics like Baldur's Gate or Planescape. Planescape is especially brilliant. A more recent game I really enjoyed was Freedom Force, a rpg/strategy game that is also mouse-driven. Does your headmouse allow you to hook up separate switches for the left and right mouse buttons? These switches work really well if you have limited movement.

If you do play games that require a few keyboard commands, check out Game Commander. It allows you to program voice commands for games. It has a pretty customizable interface and you can even program macros.

If you have an on-screen keyboard, you can always go old-skool with text adventures from Infocom.

Stop by my blog if you have other questions. I've seen other disability-related questions posted on /. and the quality of the responses tends to run the gamut from troll to somewhat helpful. I hope other users with disabilities will see this and offer more ideas.