Will console games help indy game developers?

[Vinny]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Howdy!
Been readin various game dev blogs all day. Almost all of them had an
entry somewhere about how pc gaming is taking a back seat to the consoles.
At least in the retail stores. Well, i have seen this myself in the local
stores here. What i haven't been able to put together is what changes are
coming and what the impact is gonna be.
I am one of the many indy game programmers who is wandering thru the
dark allies of cyber space in hopes of his next meal. Ok, sorry, its not
quite that bad. Anyways, I am getting my website ready for an alpha test of
my current project, and will start here in this newsgroup asking for folks
to help soon. My focus is on windows based pc games and i know almost
nothing about consoles or thier games.
My question is this... Will the shift of money from pc games to
console games help or hurt the indy market? See, i think it might help the
indy guys. For one thing, there might be less pc games on the market made
by the big guys. Might be, sone say there already is a decline in the
number of big titles. But the guys who were buying the pc games didnt all
run out and get consoles did they? Maybe there are more folks then ever
right now looking for the next great or decent pc game?
Well, in closing, this could be the time an indy developer can get
the pc gamers attention. I mean, it's like the circus has up and left town
and us indy guys are all thats left. So I think indy guys might get more
folks interested in thier games today and for some time. How much more
attention is beyond me. Have any of you been wondering about this? After
reading blogs all day i end up a little emotionally numb sometimes. Well,
have fun as often as possible,
Vinny (vecgames).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Vinny <noemail@this.com> once tried to test me with:

> My question is this... Will the shift of money from pc games to
> console games help or hurt the indy market? See, i think it might help
> the indy guys. For one thing, there might be less pc games on the
> market made by the big guys. Might be, sone say there already is a
> decline in the number of big titles. But the guys who were buying the
> pc games didnt all run out and get consoles did they? Maybe there are
> more folks then ever right now looking for the next great or decent pc
> game?
> Well, in closing, this could be the time an indy developer
> can get
> the pc gamers attention. I mean, it's like the circus has up and left
> town and us indy guys are all thats left. So I think indy guys might
> get more folks interested in thier games today and for some time. How
> much more attention is beyond me. Have any of you been wondering about
> this?

Basically, I agree, having fewer mainstream titles to swamp the market
could make it easier for indie games to get noticed. Then again, it
probably won't make much difference. The people who are interested in indie
games have always gotten them and probably always will, and the people who
don't like them will probably just break down and get a console rather than
switch to indie games. But it's possible there could be an increase in
sales for indie developers, who knows.

I can tell you one thing, there is a dire need for some good indie RPG
games that are turn-based, party-oriented, and have at least decent
graphics (Fallout-quality lets say as a minimal), with strong stories. The
traditional RPG market has all but been abandoned on the PC, and there's a
lot of RPG fans who need something to play...

--

Knight37 - http://knightgames.blogspot.com

Once a Gamer, Always a Gamer.

 

[Jab]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Vinny wrote:
> Howdy!
> Been readin various game dev blogs all day. Almost all of them had an
> entry somewhere about how pc gaming is taking a back seat to the consoles.
> At least in the retail stores. Well, i have seen this myself in the local
> stores here. What i haven't been able to put together is what changes are
> coming and what the impact is gonna be.
> I am one of the many indy game programmers who is wandering thru the
> dark allies of cyber space in hopes of his next meal. Ok, sorry, its not
> quite that bad. Anyways, I am getting my website ready for an alpha test of
> my current project, and will start here in this newsgroup asking for folks
> to help soon. My focus is on windows based pc games and i know almost
> nothing about consoles or thier games.
> My question is this... Will the shift of money from pc games to
> console games help or hurt the indy market? See, i think it might help the
> indy guys. For one thing, there might be less pc games on the market made
> by the big guys. Might be, sone say there already is a decline in the
> number of big titles. But the guys who were buying the pc games didnt all
> run out and get consoles did they? Maybe there are more folks then ever
> right now looking for the next great or decent pc game?
> Well, in closing, this could be the time an indy developer can get
> the pc gamers attention. I mean, it's like the circus has up and left town
> and us indy guys are all thats left. So I think indy guys might get more
> folks interested in thier games today and for some time. How much more
> attention is beyond me. Have any of you been wondering about this? After
> reading blogs all day i end up a little emotionally numb sometimes. Well,
> have fun as often as possible,
> Vinny (vecgames).


An interesting acticle related to this topic ...

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html

 

[nostromo]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

Thus spake Knight37 <knight37m@email.com>, 27 Mar 2005 07:04:32 GMT, Anno
Domini:

>I can tell you one thing, there is a dire need for some good indie RPG
>games that are turn-based, party-oriented, and have at least decent
>graphics (Fallout-quality lets say as a minimal), with strong stories. The
>traditional RPG market has all but been abandoned on the PC, and there's a
>lot of RPG fans who need something to play...

Oh yes, most definitely. If console games used a mouse & keyboard & I could
play them on my new 19" 8ms LCD, I might even consider buying one. Nah, just
kidding! ;-)

--
Replace 'spamfree' with the other word for 'maze' to reply via email.

 

[Shadows]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic (More info?)

On 2005-04-01, Jeremy Reaban <jer@connectria.com> wrote:

> I have no idea who originally said that, but I really don't think that is
> the case. PCs are now for the mindless kiddie games, it seems, while the
> consoles are skewing for the older demographics.

From what I've read at Totalgaming.net Stardock's Galciv sold
150k units since its release. This is both retail and on-line
downloads. I don't think the market is bad for well designed PC
games that are meant for an older demographic.

Mind you the game is still selling at a respectable price so the
revenue must have been quite good.