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The Golden Era of Indie Gaming
The Golden Era of Indie Gaming
| Name: | Jay Moore |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Feb 24, 2006 | |
| Rating: |  5.0 out of 5 | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
| RSS Feed: |  or Subscribe with  . | |
| Profile Page: | View profile page for Jay Moore |
Blog post
I think someday we'll look back at this period as the beginning of the golden age of indie game development. For most of the last 4 years I've been living, eating and breathing Indie games and building the movement. As we begin planning our 5th annual Indie Games Con this October 6-8th its hard not to stop and take stock.
GarageGames began a call to arms back in 2000 around the idea with the right technology, community and online market opportunities developers could build studios that could remain independent of the ownership, control and economic constraints that are choking the fun and innovation out of games from the large commercial game publishers.
There have been a number of key milestones for GG that have defined our progress toward building this movement.
Torque launched August 2001
1st Indie Games Con Nov. 2002
Launch of GG Games Jan. 2003
TSE EA version launched June 2004
T2D EA version launched Feb. 2005
MB Ultra #1 XBLA Game Jan. 2006
There have been too many firsts along the way to count, but we're seeing the tech, an amazing community and now online markets emerge that prove that this is a very viable industry segment. GarageGames looks at the Casual Games segment as just one portion of the independent game market (which looks to become less independent all the time). At times seeing our vision of this market potential has been more SDS (shared dilusional syndrome) than proof of concept, but today it appears we're at that cross roads of deciding what we want this industry segment to stand for and I for one want it to be about the games and the players not the money and the selling out to make millions.
To quote a comment I made recently on Dave Myers plan...
Stay tuned we have more in store to announce at GDC, contests, an exciting re-invention of IGC and more products coming than I can keep up with this year. I can only hope one of these announcements might be your game as part of the GG portfolio.
GarageGames began a call to arms back in 2000 around the idea with the right technology, community and online market opportunities developers could build studios that could remain independent of the ownership, control and economic constraints that are choking the fun and innovation out of games from the large commercial game publishers.
There have been a number of key milestones for GG that have defined our progress toward building this movement.
There have been too many firsts along the way to count, but we're seeing the tech, an amazing community and now online markets emerge that prove that this is a very viable industry segment. GarageGames looks at the Casual Games segment as just one portion of the independent game market (which looks to become less independent all the time). At times seeing our vision of this market potential has been more SDS (shared dilusional syndrome) than proof of concept, but today it appears we're at that cross roads of deciding what we want this industry segment to stand for and I for one want it to be about the games and the players not the money and the selling out to make millions.
To quote a comment I made recently on Dave Myers plan...
Quote:
I'm more excited about the values and the mission GG stands for... I've had major players in the game industry introduce me as Jay Moore from GarageGames - "they are the good guys". Even when at times we see people making easier money, it feels good to know, as Mark F. says, "we're all about the games not about the money". Do I want everyone at GG to make boat loads of the stuff? Absolutely, but we can do that and if we don't make the games we have in us and get to empower indie devs to bring their games to reality then what's the big deal... lots of ways to make money in the world.
In a way I feel like we're working at Disney or Apple when they just started and we have no idea how cool this venture will be in 5 years or 50... GG is all about making cool tech, fun games and doing it on our own terms.
We've only begun to rock... 2006 is going to be another wild ride! (I think I say that every year and so far its been true).
Stay tuned we have more in store to announce at GDC, contests, an exciting re-invention of IGC and more products coming than I can keep up with this year. I can only hope one of these announcements might be your game as part of the GG portfolio.
Recent Blog Posts
| List: | 02/07/08 - Life is More than a high Gamerscore 09/15/06 - Launching My New Venture - 07/29/06 - It's been an incredible ride. 04/21/06 - Open Letter to the GarageGames 02/24/06 - The Golden Era of Indie Gaming 11/10/05 - Off the Road for a Minute! 09/01/05 - GarageGames Enjoys Some PAXing 05/01/05 - A Glimpse Behind the Scenes |
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Submit your own resources!| Jason Swearingen (Feb 24, 2006 at 09:13 GMT) |
| Justin Mette (Feb 24, 2006 at 11:31 GMT) |
You know how much I appreciate being first to the punch and GG definately gets props for that in so many ways. We've been one of the fortunate few that have been able to take this 5 year journey with you so far and it's been a wild ride. We are looking forward to the next 5 years with more drive and determination than every before! Who knew we would be growing old together...
See ya in a few weeks.
| Tim Muenstermann (Feb 24, 2006 at 13:09 GMT) |
Thanks Jay!
*gets back to work on "Call of Dooty" - 2D*
-Tim
| Melv May (Feb 24, 2006 at 13:19 GMT) |
- Melv.
| Joe Bird (Feb 24, 2006 at 16:16 GMT) |
I have been seeing this trend for years, which is why I am back in school. I want to be a part of that indie revolution.
| Phil Carlisle (Feb 24, 2006 at 16:24 GMT) |
I'm feeling like the increasing quality and increasing maturity of various developers will help push things in the right direction too.
I hope to be part of the movement! I know GG will be at the leading edge there! We got yer back!
I agree with Justin btw.. stud.. hahaha..
| Adam deGrandis (Feb 24, 2006 at 16:39 GMT) |
Good plan, Jay.
| Vashner (Feb 24, 2006 at 18:07 GMT) Resource Rating: 5 |
| Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314) (Feb 24, 2006 at 21:38 GMT) |
| Chris Calef (Feb 24, 2006 at 22:07 GMT) |
Quote:
4 years I've been living, eating and breathing Indie games
Hey wait, how many indie games _have_ you eaten, Jay??
| KevinG (Feb 24, 2006 at 23:50 GMT) |
We may think it's tough spending long day on our dev machines programming
or in a 3d app, but the life of a road warrior is equally tough if not harder.
To be in Asia, but have your body stilll on Eugene time---then to mastermind
a wetware(people) deal...successfully. It aint all 1st class airfare and roses.
Nor do all negotiations go the way we'd like. I can just delete this character model
if it gives me a hard time and work with somehting else. In marketing we dont always
have that luxury.
For what you've done to grow GG and it's products, all the hands shaken, all the
crappy road meals eaten, all the "NO's", all the "un-good guys", and all the bloody miles
it takes to post this kinda track record---- Thanks.
Your next 12pack of Dr.Scholl's Comfort-Step Insoles are on me!!
| fireVein (Feb 25, 2006 at 01:52 GMT) |
During that whole time, before joining this community that is, I never heard of an 'Indie movement' or 'Indie revolution'. Hell, I never even heard the term 'Indie' before coming here. I had very little knowledge about markets, very little knowledge about indepth workings of game engines. Very little knowledge about the industry in general. And just enough knowledge to know that I _could possibley_ make my own 3D games.
In a lot of ways, this should speak for itself. There is a lot of things that GarageGames has provided, and still is providing that can't be found anywhere else. And its not just GarageGames, its the community too. I have never been more proud to be a part of a community. I know I'm not as active in posting and such as other people in this community, but the first thing I do when I wakeup and get off of work is check out GarageGames.com and see whats new, what other people are doing, and what bits of information I can pick up from the forums and resources. Hell, I have this website set as my home page(I'm sure a lot of us do :))! GarageGames truly is a cornerstone.
Like Phil said, things are going to explode. I feel it in my bones. I feel it in my heart. With every little advancement that I see someone make in this community or within GarageGames; it gives me hope, and it gives me strength. The huge advancements that have been made are almost like a straight shot of adrenaline(yum).
So, on this path that we Indies have chosen, full of its hardship, problems, quirks, strange rendering artifacts(that was a joke... hahah.. okay fine, dont laugh), and most of all: the fun; when we are showered in the golden light of an era that we are all pushing to happen, we will eventually wonder why theres a strange golden light hovering above us.. and realize, its GarageGames holding an fxLight to guide us on our way.
The movement is now. The Era has begun. A Golden Era of Indie Gaming, indeed.
-Jase
| Jeremy Alessi (Feb 25, 2006 at 02:21 GMT) |
| Jay Moore (Feb 25, 2006 at 17:40 GMT) |
@Phil - I know we'll have hit the tipping point when GG gets a game to publish from the Phil Carlisle.
@Chris - it wasn't so much which ones I ate, but breathing them can be a real b*tch.
@Kevin - 1st Class??!! oh my sides still hurt from laughing. At first when you said wetware - I thought it was a drinking and deal making gambit (not that I resemble that remark). I was out on the road almost 20 weeks last year. In Seattle next week, then Vegas, then San Jose, then Pasadena... don't forget how much my wife likes it when I travel (NOT!). If anyone wants to donate to a road warrior cause buy my wife some fonts - she's the graphic designer that does most of the logos you see around GG.
@Jase - I've been saying 3 major barriers to indies exist in presentations for years... 1) World Class Technology - check 2) Game Dev. Community - check 3) Markets for Indie Games - still working on that... I will say I should add a 4th, and Phil don't take this personally, but the biggest barrier is really GETTING A GAME DONE - scoping to the resources available even if its just a free game when you put it out their is so important to learning what you can only hope to learn with a game in the hands of players. The reason people can make livings with Casual Games is that they scope to the level an indie can produce, make fun and make a living off the market that exists.
| Anton Bursch (Feb 26, 2006 at 21:45 GMT) |
20 weeks last year! I think that means we all owe a big debt to your wife. Tell her we all said thank you. And thanks even more for the graphic design work. I have only been apart from my wife for 1 night in 5 years and I know it must be insanely hard to be gone for 5 weeks. I imagine you've quite the phone bill. :P Enjoy your time here in Seattle next week.
And the biggest barrier is really getting a game done... so, then the one thing that I can personally effect the most is the one thing that is most important for me to do. OK. I can do that.
Edited on Feb 26, 2006 21:46 GMT
| Christopher Dapo (Mar 02, 2006 at 16:45 GMT) Resource Rating: 5 |
Rock on Indies!
- Ronixus -
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