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Indrema No More
Captain_Frisk writes: "According to videobusiness.com - Indrema is officially dead It's a shame, but was there really room for it anyway? The article basically says that they ran out of money, and had to jump ship. The founder has found employment with a Japanese electronics company, and plans to create a similar device, without game support. They said they would release their code if they went under... wonder if this changes any of those plans." And it won't be the last time that a company with seemingly cool products expires people even get to sample those products. We've had a few stories about Indrema before, including an interview with CEO John Gildred. What I'm curious about now is what happens to the games in development, and whether the SDK is useful for producing non-Indrema Linux games.
I believe it was better that this console died now, instead of facing the grim market reality it would have brought itself to: the fact that no one would buy it, because they've never heard of it.
Forget that the company was just started. Forget that they are using a "controversial" operating system. Forget that they were going to use an entirely new model for their business. Forget that letting any developer in the world develop for a console.
But don't forget that they would be competing against Microsoft and Sony. And, don't forget that they would be competing with both companies on two fronts: developers and consumers.
Note that I didn't count Nintendo due to the intended audience. I doubt many games targeted toward a young audience would have been developed for Indrema, since they are typically large-name labels (i.e., Pokemon and other cartoons).
Developers want a system that's easy to code for, sure. I mean, what's easier than a system where you have access to the operating system? However, developers also want a box that's basically proven to have a large user base (Sony) or proven to have the muscle to have a large user base (Microsoft + $500 Million marketing campaign == Xbox shoved down everyone's throat).
That brings up consumers. If you went up to the average person on the street and asked what a Playstation is, I'm sure you'd get a good response. Ask them what Xbox is, and maybe you'll get a good response (not as much as Playstation though). Ask them what Indrema is, and they might think it's some vehicle for space flight or something like that.
Make no mistake: Indrema would have died on the shelves of average retailers, who have tons of promotional material for other game consoles. If Indrema didn't show them some love as well, they may not even have gotten shelf space.
It was a great idea, it just had no market feasibility to make money.
From their IESDK description:
I'm willing to bet that they can make good on their bet to release everything the developed as open source...there's probably nothing to release.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
Indrema - the only video game system that requires you to know the refresh rate of your TV to install :)
Bwahahahaha. Why do you think they went under?
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"Watch these suckers jump when I get Administrator."
Sony loses money on every Playstation sold; Sega was almost dragged under by the Dreamcast. TiVo and WebTV have mandatory service fees. Remember the fuss over the i-Opener hack? You can't sell consumer equipment without guaranteed way to make back the losses.
Indrema had no guaranteed revenue stream. Their income was from game royalties; however, they didn't have any big-name titles lined up. And to attract serious developers would require a sizable user-base, meaning that the consoles would have to be sold underprice (just so they can be competetive) for a long time before the money started coming back in. I can't imagine that anybody would risk investing in a company which guaranteed short-term losses and had only a marginal shot at ever making money back.
Yeah, yeah, you can tell me that you and your friends would have all bought Indremas, but do you really think that these boxes stood a chance at attracting a large number of users? If you were given the choice between a PS2 and an Indrema at the same price, which one would you honestly pick? And if you factor in the brand-name recognition of Sony or Nintendo (in the eyes of Joe Average at least), there's just no hope for the Indrema. (BTW, the only reason the Xbox might succeed is that Microsoft can afford to hemorrage cash for years -- not to mention their serious marketing power.)
So it was a nice idea, sure, but there was just no way it was going to work out in the end. Nobody wants to invest in something that might not ever make money.