Although I will agree that working with "big" publishers is not smart for indie developers, I wouldn't tell them to "give up", I think the overall message is wrong. Just because big publishers don't want to "waste" their money on an indie title that probably won't gross much money in the mainstream market (and I guarentee you, that's why Spector is saying to drop the idea) doesn't mean you don't have to opportunity to introduce the latest Brain Age.
Oh, you didn't know? Brain Age is technically an indie title. Very small amount of cash went into it, there were a total of 3 (!) programmers (compare that to the usual 20+ on "big" projects) on the staff, and it has grossed a very healthy amount of cash for such a "low profile" project. Granted, Brain Age was lucky enough to be published by Nintendo, but who's to say that the big publishers aren't willing to push indie titles to the main stream? With the Wii, we might even see this, and we've already gotten a glimpse with Live Arcade. If anything, it's starting to become more feasible that indie titles will be available on consoles either through the more simple route of Virtual Console or Live Arcade, or by being published by some risk-taking company.
Indie development is live and well - it can only get better if we push our products to the high standards required by "big" publishers, and at least try to get them published. You never know what can happen if you're persistant enough:)
That's great news that it's finally reaching these shores, particularly since my brother's been holding off on buying a DS until the Lite was released. Although I'm not sure if I'll pick one up since I already own the "clunkier" version, I'm anxious to get my hands on the new stylus! I recently picked up Trauma Center, and while its a blast to play, I have a hard time due to the small regular stylus not being compatable with my monster hands (let me put it this way: the original Xbox controller pwnzers!).
All in all, I almost wish they would have done this off the bat. Improved clamshell design (top screen is stronger, and less "squash-resistant", so are the speakers), impressive lighting (which, although decent enough on the original DS, could use some work), more stylish design, and of course, longe stylus! I've already considered grabbing a Lite when I have the money and then put Linux on my old DS, but I guess we'll see how much my brother likes his Lite. Good thing we live in a pretty remote area...hopefully there won't be too many supply problems over here.
Or, maybe, developers are missing their mark. Some of the games are simply too complex to be fully enjoyed in a cell phone, particularly with the often whacky control layouts. I have Call of Duty on my Motorola V262, and it's a pain to play. The controls are cramped, and its just too complex to be easily enjoyed on a cell phone. Dodging bullets and shooting bad guys just wasn't meant to be on a cell phone.
That's the reason, IMO, that Pac-Man and Tetris do so well. The controls are easy, straight forward, and the games are easy to get a hold on. Let's keep in mind that the average cell phone user probably isn't a gamer, and is looking for an easy-to-play distraction in a game on the cell phone. They don't want something complex. Pac-Man requires use of the little D-Pad (at least on my phone), and that's it. Tetris works with the D-Pad and OK button. Easy! Enjoyable! Sold!
Cell phone developers should look at ways to take games, simplify them to work on the control layouts available for cell phones, and keep things simple. Of course, the people interested in games on cell phones will primarily be gamers, but cell phones just can't handle complex games, and they really shouldn't try to port games like CoD, Splinter Cell, or any of the other kinds. Keep it simple. I'm sure some people would even enjoy Pong, or a simplified top-down shooter like 1942. I would certainly buy one of those games. In short, cell phone developers should K.I.S.S.
Hopefully Halo 3 will at least feature more than a couple of levels on Earth, which, in my opinion, was the biggest thing lacking from Halo 2. Let's face it, everyone was looking forward to kicking arse on Earth, and Bungie played that whole part of the game up, only to have two levels (if memory serves) on Earth before taking us to ANOTHER Halo.
I couldn't wait to take the fight to the Covenant, but with Halo 2 I felt like Bungie couldn't figure out quite where they wanted to take the game, so they just dawdled. The story went nowhere, I barely fought on Earth, the game engine was impressive technically, but had plenty of faults (pop-in, anyone?), and the game just wasn't as cool as its predecessor. It just didn't feel inspired. While the original was full of moments like "Wow!" and "Neato!", Halo 2 was like "Where am I, again?" and "When do I get to play as the Master Chief?" The weapons were better this time around. Marine AI still pales in comparison to Covenant AI (which wasn't near what it was hyped up to be).
Wishlist for Halo 3:
1) Take place mostly on Earth
2) Puh-leaze not another Halo
3) Better AI (particularly with the Marines, they still suck pretty bad)
4) Better level design (I got lost in both games, numerous times)
5) Play exclusively as the Master Chief
Do the above, and I will happily purchase your game. Have a third Halo, or take me off Earth within two missions, and I'll buy the game, burn it, and hold a pow-wow over its charred remains.
After reading the 1UP article, I felt sick. Not sick in the sense that I felt bad for Andrews, but sick in the sense that the whole thing is retarded and has been blown out of proportion.
Do I care if Oz is GLBT? Not really - I'm there to play a game, not to discuss sexual orientation. Do I think Blizzard could have handled the situation better? Yes. Is Blizzard anti-GLBT? Heck no. They just don't want you spazzing out about your sexual orientation, and I all I can say is, word up! It's a game people. The day you lose sight of that is the day you shouldn't be playing anymore games. I, for one, play games to get away from life...people dragging political issues like being gay or transsexual into the game just ruin it for the people who want to sit back, have fun, and try to play enough to justify that $15/month;)
Slashdot Mirror
Although I will agree that working with "big" publishers is not smart for indie developers, I wouldn't tell them to "give up", I think the overall message is wrong. Just because big publishers don't want to "waste" their money on an indie title that probably won't gross much money in the mainstream market (and I guarentee you, that's why Spector is saying to drop the idea) doesn't mean you don't have to opportunity to introduce the latest Brain Age.
:)
Oh, you didn't know? Brain Age is technically an indie title. Very small amount of cash went into it, there were a total of 3 (!) programmers (compare that to the usual 20+ on "big" projects) on the staff, and it has grossed a very healthy amount of cash for such a "low profile" project. Granted, Brain Age was lucky enough to be published by Nintendo, but who's to say that the big publishers aren't willing to push indie titles to the main stream? With the Wii, we might even see this, and we've already gotten a glimpse with Live Arcade. If anything, it's starting to become more feasible that indie titles will be available on consoles either through the more simple route of Virtual Console or Live Arcade, or by being published by some risk-taking company.
Indie development is live and well - it can only get better if we push our products to the high standards required by "big" publishers, and at least try to get them published. You never know what can happen if you're persistant enough
That's great news that it's finally reaching these shores, particularly since my brother's been holding off on buying a DS until the Lite was released. Although I'm not sure if I'll pick one up since I already own the "clunkier" version, I'm anxious to get my hands on the new stylus! I recently picked up Trauma Center, and while its a blast to play, I have a hard time due to the small regular stylus not being compatable with my monster hands (let me put it this way: the original Xbox controller pwnzers!). All in all, I almost wish they would have done this off the bat. Improved clamshell design (top screen is stronger, and less "squash-resistant", so are the speakers), impressive lighting (which, although decent enough on the original DS, could use some work), more stylish design, and of course, longe stylus! I've already considered grabbing a Lite when I have the money and then put Linux on my old DS, but I guess we'll see how much my brother likes his Lite. Good thing we live in a pretty remote area...hopefully there won't be too many supply problems over here.
Or, maybe, developers are missing their mark. Some of the games are simply too complex to be fully enjoyed in a cell phone, particularly with the often whacky control layouts. I have Call of Duty on my Motorola V262, and it's a pain to play. The controls are cramped, and its just too complex to be easily enjoyed on a cell phone. Dodging bullets and shooting bad guys just wasn't meant to be on a cell phone.
That's the reason, IMO, that Pac-Man and Tetris do so well. The controls are easy, straight forward, and the games are easy to get a hold on. Let's keep in mind that the average cell phone user probably isn't a gamer, and is looking for an easy-to-play distraction in a game on the cell phone. They don't want something complex. Pac-Man requires use of the little D-Pad (at least on my phone), and that's it. Tetris works with the D-Pad and OK button. Easy! Enjoyable! Sold!
Cell phone developers should look at ways to take games, simplify them to work on the control layouts available for cell phones, and keep things simple. Of course, the people interested in games on cell phones will primarily be gamers, but cell phones just can't handle complex games, and they really shouldn't try to port games like CoD, Splinter Cell, or any of the other kinds. Keep it simple. I'm sure some people would even enjoy Pong, or a simplified top-down shooter like 1942. I would certainly buy one of those games. In short, cell phone developers should K.I.S.S.
Hopefully Halo 3 will at least feature more than a couple of levels on Earth, which, in my opinion, was the biggest thing lacking from Halo 2. Let's face it, everyone was looking forward to kicking arse on Earth, and Bungie played that whole part of the game up, only to have two levels (if memory serves) on Earth before taking us to ANOTHER Halo. I couldn't wait to take the fight to the Covenant, but with Halo 2 I felt like Bungie couldn't figure out quite where they wanted to take the game, so they just dawdled. The story went nowhere, I barely fought on Earth, the game engine was impressive technically, but had plenty of faults (pop-in, anyone?), and the game just wasn't as cool as its predecessor. It just didn't feel inspired. While the original was full of moments like "Wow!" and "Neato!", Halo 2 was like "Where am I, again?" and "When do I get to play as the Master Chief?" The weapons were better this time around. Marine AI still pales in comparison to Covenant AI (which wasn't near what it was hyped up to be). Wishlist for Halo 3: 1) Take place mostly on Earth 2) Puh-leaze not another Halo 3) Better AI (particularly with the Marines, they still suck pretty bad) 4) Better level design (I got lost in both games, numerous times) 5) Play exclusively as the Master Chief Do the above, and I will happily purchase your game. Have a third Halo, or take me off Earth within two missions, and I'll buy the game, burn it, and hold a pow-wow over its charred remains.
After reading the 1UP article, I felt sick. Not sick in the sense that I felt bad for Andrews, but sick in the sense that the whole thing is retarded and has been blown out of proportion. Do I care if Oz is GLBT? Not really - I'm there to play a game, not to discuss sexual orientation. Do I think Blizzard could have handled the situation better? Yes. Is Blizzard anti-GLBT? Heck no. They just don't want you spazzing out about your sexual orientation, and I all I can say is, word up! It's a game people. The day you lose sight of that is the day you shouldn't be playing anymore games. I, for one, play games to get away from life...people dragging political issues like being gay or transsexual into the game just ruin it for the people who want to sit back, have fun, and try to play enough to justify that $15/month ;)