dEv jAna's blog/site

Broadcast TV and Gaming industry - National/Local Broadcasts analagous to Triple A/indie development?

2011-02-01T07:37:00.002-06:00

So I was watching some basketball the other day. ESPN's national broadcast was so slick in its quality that it is almost overwhelming. The motion graphics, the commentating, transitions, statistics displays, sound, replays, etc... everything was right on the money. After watching the Celtics trounce their opponents (what else is new) we switched over to a local broadcast of the Suns who also won their contest. It was a close game and as enjoyable to experience as the ESPN broadcast. However, the local coverage wasn't nearly as polished as the national broadcast. The commentating wasn't as developed, the transitions were sloppy at times, and the local station's ability to display statistics in a non-boring way was... well... let's call it "challenged" for now. Still I had a great time watching the game.
This brought my mind back to one of the supporting pillars of game development and design. one that is not lost on indie developers today - it is all about the GAME. The presentation is certainly important, but the game itself - in gaming terms the interactivity and the "play" - is the most important. Not not not to be a purist, but what do we know about the presentation of Tetris? It doesn't matter much because it is the game that truly matters. All the posturing in the world wouldn't have made Daikatana a success. I constantly point to StarCraft II ans say that it could be red spheres versus blue cubes and I'd still play it.
This is why I'm more likely to spend my time playing Magicka or Audiosurf than, say, Section 8 or Prototype. The gameplay is what draws me to those smaller titles. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Pototype and I'm looking forward to Section 8: Prejudice (as evidenced by my earlier post) - mainly because of the production level it is making available for an indie price. I'm not expecting anything groundbreaking in the mechanics and I've played games similar to Prototype my whole life. It is the game PLAY that will allow indie titles to stay relevant and that is where the industry is looking for the innovation these days. It is the same reason that we might find a great Grizzlies vs Kings game on local TV that would be as entertaining as a Heat vs. Lakers game - just without Marv Albert and the fancy motion graphics. If it is a nailbiter of a game that goes down to the last minute we'll dig it just as much.

XBox 360 Indie Game Development overview: articles about XBLA and interview with Radiangames founder

2011-01-28T07:40:00.010-06:00

Building on the concept of digital distribution from yesterday, two recent articles shed some light on the XBox Indie Game Development scene. Over on Gamastura today, an article revealed the numbers for XBox Live Arcade's numbers for the 2010 year. couple days ago an interview article with Luke Schneider of radiangames discussed his path and levels of success with XBox indie development.

This Gamasutra included leaderboard stats as well as some sales figures. The article notes that stellar sellers like Plants vs. Zombies don't have a leader board and as such don't show up on the leaderboard chart. However, we see some really strong numbers in the leaderboard chart for popular titles that serve as beacons for the indie development community. These include Castle Crashers, Braid, Geometry Wars, Super Meat Boy, and Monday Night Combat. Existing properties and popular franchises like Dead Rising, Monkey Island, Duke 3D, and even Doritos post some high numbers.

Interestingly enough, some titles like Sonic Adventure and X-Men Arcade are extremely consistent with their numbers (same for each reported period), but even some of the more popular indie titles like Splosion Man and N+ varied greatly from one period to another. This suggests that, while it is possible to generate interest in an indie title, it seems more difficult to sustain that interest. Evidence here suggests that, for many gamers, the property/franchise upon which the game is based has much to do with their willingness to stick around and continue to play.
That being said, the bitmob interview with radiangames' founder (and CEO and only employee) Luke Schneider tells the story of his move away from working on triple A titles and into the indie space.
Radiangames makes some of the best looking and more interesting XBLA titles including Fluid and Inferno. In doing so he has found a niche market that appeals to many gamers' core gaming impulses - not as much to more "literal" gamers who would be more likely to be looking forward to Bulletstorm. As such, Schneider gives us a great view of his experience and candid explanation of the problems he's had. After working at Volition (Saints Row/Red Faction) he wanted to work on more personal projects and have more creative control so he started radiangames. His creative and design focus has been achieved as he is making the games he wants and has creative control, but it comes at the cost of financial security. It is mentioned that some games sell very well, but the market is unpredictable. As the evidence from the Gamasutra article suggests - it is difficult to sustain interest in indie developed games and as such radiangames needs to keep cranking them out. Occassionally there is a big sales month (with launches being the standouts), but the market place's unpredictability makes forecasting difficult. Also, the more titles you release, and the more similar they are, the more you are competing with yourself in an encapsulated market.

A conundrum for indie developers. How do you define yourself and your work without oversaturating your market while creating financial sustainability?
Radian games recently published an article on how to achieve some of the stylistic properties Schneider uses. The market for such an article is clearly other indie developers. This is the new market for indie developers - other indie developers... and I love it. It isn't like we are competition. We are all on the same team.

Check out the articles and extrapolate for yourself what they have to say about the state of indie game development on and off the XBox 360:

The bitmob.com interview article with Schneider
The Gamatsutra Article on XBLA 2010 Sales
The radiangames style article

Gaming as a Service not a product - Portal 2 and Section 8: Prejudice

2011-01-27T17:47:00.006-06:00

Gabe from Valve said something at E3 last year that really stuck with me. He said "We are in the middle of transitioning from games as a product to games as a service." I don't know why it didn't seem to stick with anyone else as much as it did with me, but it is absolutely true. Almost a year later we are seeing some really innovative things with how Portal 2 will be distributed (buy the PS3 version and get the PC version also) and Section 8's sequel (Prejudice) will be a full featured title, only available as a download, and priced at a MODEST $15. This is going to become the new norm and big budget developers should take note of the fan's reactions.
Loyalty for Valve is already through the roof and Section 8 developer Timegate is looking to generate critical mass of gamers on their servers and also generate brand/developer loyalty. When Disney Interactive lays off about half of their 700 employees on the heels of selling 1.3 million copies of Epic Mickey, but indie developers like Markus Person, Jenova Chen, and Adam Atomic are sitting upon sustainable, profitable careers with tremendous user loyalty I can't help but think that things are going to change in a very Daikatana way very soon for the big dogs.

New Sea Snake available, The Last Portal: Defense coming soon

2009-04-24T14:34:00.004-05:00

The new version of Sea Snake has hit iTunes - more levels, more enemies, more pickups, and more music!

Also, our next iPhone game (The Last Portal: Defense - a tower defense/RTS project) is coming to completion. I just received the final GUI files from tthe designer and it is smokin'! Here's a preview:

After a brief meeting last night where I showed the gameplay off, I'll be adding some different play modes, but the majority of the game's gameply is done. Should launch next week on iTunes!

Garage Games Interviews me about Sea Snake

2009-04-17T21:54:00.001-05:00

Check out the interview Here!

Sea Snake watch...

2009-03-31T10:04:00.002-05:00

Peaked at #70 on the iPhone Arcade Games charts. I'll video myself doing a dance and upload it to the net if it gets in the top 50. New version is uploaded and expected to be released soon!

Sea Snake keeps climbing!

2009-03-29T22:55:00.002-05:00

Well, Sea Snake has climbed to number 74 on the top Arcade Apps for iPhone... I'm truly in awe that we are ranked higher than Space Invaders!

Sea Snake 1.5 coming soon

2009-03-28T06:48:00.002-05:00

I just finished working on the new version of Sea Snake - featuring 10 new levels, new music (the first I recorded with my new reorder), more enemies, and more pickups! Look for it soon on iTunes.

Incidentally, Sea Snake continues to climb the ranks of iPhone (and iPod touch) apps - moving above LEGO Batman: Gotham City Games in the top Arcade apps.

Sea Snake - on the top 100 Arcade Games on iTunes!

2009-03-27T02:40:00.001-05:00

Right below the LEGO Batman iPhone game!

Sea Snake - an iTunes Staff Favorite!

2009-03-25T18:16:00.003-05:00

Our newest iPhone game "Sea Snake" is an iTunes Staff Favorite!

Thanks to everyone who played, ranked, and enjoyed the game! We're planning an update soon with ten more levels!

Get Sea Snake Here(will open iTunes)

Sea Snake available on iTunes

2009-03-03T03:51:00.002-06:00

Our new iPhone and iPod touch game "Sea Snake" is available on iTunes now! A classic snake game with modern flourishes, including accelerometer support, Sea Snake is a truly fun and addicting game. Please check it out (only 1.99) and rate the app. The post mortem for Sea Snake will be available here soon.

GeoTones 1.1 postmortem

2009-01-29T13:57:00.002-06:00

With the release of GeoTones ver 1.1 I was originally planning on posting the postmortem here, but it was pretty dull. Look for the post mortems on our other projects soon.

GeoTones update now available - more projects coming soon

2009-01-28T02:28:00.002-06:00

GeoTones her 1.1 is now available on iTunes. The update allows for new options - toggle music, shape movement and cascading tones. This really adds a lot of depth to the app. Also, it is now $0.99. Of course, the update is free if you have already purchased the app previously.

We've got some new projects in the works also. Stay tuned to notunfun.com for more info.

GeoTones iPhone/iPod Touch app now available

2009-01-21T22:14:00.003-06:00

Our first iPhone/iPod Touch app "GeoTones" is available now on iTunes.

Read more about GeoTones and purchase GeoTones in the iTunes Store (will launch iTunes) or on the web at notunfun's GeoTones site or here or here or here.

I'll be posting the postmortem for GeoTones on this blog soon.

A few other iPhone Apps in the works as well!

Double Rainbow and funky tree

2008-11-26T21:08:00.006-06:00

There was a sweet double rainbow today in the afternoon. Pic taken from the Collins College parking lot outside of the Swanson Building where my office is. Big ups to our Provost Tim Dosemagen for coming into my office and telling me about the weirdness in the sky.

Also, yesterday I was walking my dog and came across this sweet tree just a few paces from my front door. Don't know how I ever missed it b4:

Halloween... what is it?

2007-10-22T12:23:00.000-05:00

What the HELL is Halloween anyway?
Originally posted on 10-15-2006

Halloween is a weird holiday, is it not? I mean, for one day of the year, things go totally wacky. Little kids think skeletons and headstones aren't scary. They mount bizarre get-ups and WALK THE STREETS AT NIGHT SO THEY CAN ASK STRANGERS FOR CANDY!!! How did things get so mixed up? Aren’t those all things we try to get kids to NOT do the other 364 days on the calendar?

What we know as Halloween started out a the Celtic festival of the dead. Before Jesus walked the Earth, this holiday was scheduled for what matches with November 1st on our calendars today. It was the most important Celtic holiday. Taking place at the beginning of Winter, Samhain (as they called it) was believed to be the time of year when the dead were able to intermingle with the living.

In 601 AD, Pope Gregory I directed Christian missionaries to use the rituals of the native people they were trying to convert. This way the customs of these other cultures could be used to reinforce, instead of contradict, the systems of Christianity. The supernatural overtones surrounding Samhain skewed the holiday’s meaning towards paganism. So the Christians attached a connotation of evil to the Celtic idols and they eventually rolled over into being instruments of the ultimate evil in Christianity – Hell. Eventually, those who remained faithful to the Celtic idols were viewed as witches.

In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved the celebration for all martyrs from May 13th to November 1st. This holiday eventually moved on to honor all saints, not martyrs, and taking the name All Hallow’s for Hallowed saints. The night before being All Hallow’s Eve – eventually truncated to Halloween. The movement to coincide with the Celtic holiday was meant to draw faith away from the Celtic Samhain, eventually replacing it with the Christian All Hallow's. The overlapping of the holidays saw the Celtic deities being demoted to the leprechauns and fairies of the more contemporary Halloween.

Christianity wouldn’t let these former Celtic gods, from a pagan celebration of supernatural origin, remain devine – or even benign. While the membrane that separates the living and the dead was still at its thinnest at this time, the dead and any supernatural activity was viewed as evil. This developed into the belief that if you were to dress up like the dead, you could confuse them into believing that you were not of the living.

Halloween came to American shores in the mid-nineteenth century as millions of Irish came to America on the heels of the potato famine. There’s not much written about Halloween costumes on American soil prior to the turn of the 20th century. Halloween costumes began cropping up in stores in the 1950s when Trick or Treating became a staple of society as well.

Halloween became big business in the 1990s. It seems the consumer mind set from the 80’s had bled over to the holidays of the 90s as home made costumes and lawn ornaments gave way to crappy rubber band behind the head Spiderman masks, inflatable jack-o-lanterns, and styrofoam headstones. And the commercialism of the holiday continued to balloon. Halloween is one of the most profitable holidays in the US. According to the National Confectioners Association, 80 percent of adults planned to give candy on Halloween in 2005 and 93 percent of children planned to go “Trick-or-Treating”. That's a lot of cavities.

I shoulda been a dentist...