Could it be an Indie Revolution?
by Brandon Pollet · in General Discussion · 05/20/2005 (10:44 pm) · 30 replies
After a crazy week at E3 I thought I would float an idea to everyone here on GG. I spend the last three days walking around E3 talking to devs, playing games, and talking to gamers only to find that with a few exceptions everything looked and played exactly the same. Everyone was going on and on about how many polys they can push and how many threads they can process but when it comes down to it all that power is just going to let you shoot more bullets at people in another GTA clone. All this me-too game design left me pretty upset, until I went to Nintendo's booth.
When I walked into Nintendo-land I saw people falling all over themselves to play the craziest games you have ever seen. Games about electronic fish, lawyers, doctors, and dogs. There were games on the DS that you will never see anywhere else, partly because they use the unique features of the system but also becasuse more and more Nintendo is about taking chances. I heard Reggie talk a few times about how in the next generation the PS3 and Xbox 360 were going to require 8 figure budgets to make competitive games, a sentiment that was echoded by the third party producers I talked to on the floor. The word from Nintendo is that they are going to be the place for smaller dev teams to get good games and great ideas on a console. You aren't going to need the latest eye candy and 50 artists to make a game for the Revolution.
I snagged these quotes from an interview with Mr. Iwata that was posted today;
"Nintendogs did not require a huge budget to develop but Nintendo is about selling the big idea," Iwata said.
"We are trying to provide small publishers and developers with the opportunity to make their dream come true.
"If only the big title can survive, there is no room for small talent. Without that, the industry will shrink."
I really think that Nintendo might be the place to go for indies looking to move into the console market. Especially with the game download service they are talking about. If they expand it to new small budget titles as well as all their old titles it could be the perfect way to get a garagegame onto a console.
Now that's a revolution.
Iwata interview:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050520/tc_afp/afpentertainmentus
When I walked into Nintendo-land I saw people falling all over themselves to play the craziest games you have ever seen. Games about electronic fish, lawyers, doctors, and dogs. There were games on the DS that you will never see anywhere else, partly because they use the unique features of the system but also becasuse more and more Nintendo is about taking chances. I heard Reggie talk a few times about how in the next generation the PS3 and Xbox 360 were going to require 8 figure budgets to make competitive games, a sentiment that was echoded by the third party producers I talked to on the floor. The word from Nintendo is that they are going to be the place for smaller dev teams to get good games and great ideas on a console. You aren't going to need the latest eye candy and 50 artists to make a game for the Revolution.
I snagged these quotes from an interview with Mr. Iwata that was posted today;
"Nintendogs did not require a huge budget to develop but Nintendo is about selling the big idea," Iwata said.
"We are trying to provide small publishers and developers with the opportunity to make their dream come true.
"If only the big title can survive, there is no room for small talent. Without that, the industry will shrink."
I really think that Nintendo might be the place to go for indies looking to move into the console market. Especially with the game download service they are talking about. If they expand it to new small budget titles as well as all their old titles it could be the perfect way to get a garagegame onto a console.
Now that's a revolution.
Iwata interview:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050520/tc_afp/afpentertainmentus
About the author
Brandon earned a Master's of Science in Computer Science from the University of Tulsa in 2005 before they asked him to leave. Since then he has worked in web development and mobile development all while honing his game design/programming skills.
#22
05/21/2005 (3:43 pm)
Come on Ajari ... The Sims has been all over the place ... outside of the game industry. Bigger than that still ... Tetris! Tetris which is based on old old hardware was probably the single greatest contributor to making games into an art ... if that's what you're all about. GTA may have grabbed more headlines ... but not for good reasons and it only serves to disrespect our industry by making it look infantile.
#23
05/21/2005 (4:02 pm)
@Brandon that is a good point. But there are great games being made for all genres. It's only games like GTA that get press. I've never heard anything outside of the gaming community about The Sims and we all know how big that game is.
#25
05/21/2005 (5:29 pm)
Yeah you too.
#26
My point being that the game didn't need to be as long or complex as it was ... it could still have used the same technology and provide a fun experience for 10 hourse. If they'd done that it would have been cheaper to develop ... because it's not the great graphics or technology that are expensive ... it's the expansive universes that every game is trying to achieve that make the development expensive and out of reach for smaller teams or individuals.
I don't know why everyone wants a million hours of gameplay and a whole new copy of Earth included with every game ... I'd rather play shorter games so I get a very new experience each time and I get the feeling of accomplishment from beating more games.
05/21/2005 (6:06 pm)
GTA III was hellaciously fun for about a week or two ... then I got over it and none of the sequels interest me any more than the rest of the first game which I still have yet to complete. My point being that the game didn't need to be as long or complex as it was ... it could still have used the same technology and provide a fun experience for 10 hourse. If they'd done that it would have been cheaper to develop ... because it's not the great graphics or technology that are expensive ... it's the expansive universes that every game is trying to achieve that make the development expensive and out of reach for smaller teams or individuals.
I don't know why everyone wants a million hours of gameplay and a whole new copy of Earth included with every game ... I'd rather play shorter games so I get a very new experience each time and I get the feeling of accomplishment from beating more games.
#27
05/21/2005 (6:09 pm)
... unless we're talking multiplayer then I can play a lot longer due to the social interaction. However, multiplayer games typically don't require huge amounts of content to be fun ... because the fun is in playing with other humans.
#28
I also hate backtracking to a room only to find it empty, but I know that not every room can have important items in them. Any game made by me will have a point A to point B level design with maybe a few alternate paths for veriety and replay value. But I am glad that both types of games exist because I do like exploration in my games sometimes too. Speaking of which Fable has opened or at least multiple branching paths that has a map telling you exactly what path to take so theres no guess work involved. I just don't have time to be lost in games anymore. I've got a job, my own projects, and a girlfriend that is always demanding attention.
As far as GTA, it's the strangest thing. I never really could get into the other ones but GTA:SA really grabbed me somehow. I live in southern California so it's a very familiar world to me. I also liked the relationships Carl has with his brother and friends and how they join you in the missions. I felt in the other GTA games I was all alone in this generic world with a nameless faceless personalityless character that just didn't seem real enough for me to care about. And if you really get into GTA:SA you realize what it's about. The way of life in that part of LA at that time and the relationships they have with each other.
Hit very close to home with me, but without the drugs and violence. The main character in the game, Carl, while quick to whoop someones ass doesn't smoke weed or do drugs and is a very moral person, well during the story cut scenes anyway. That's something I can't say for some of his friends. They even have a mission where you have to kill drug dealers after you find one of your old friends strung out on crack or something. Other than that the game is pretty wild and still a lot of fun.
-Ajari-
05/22/2005 (1:55 am)
I had to come back for what you said Jeremy. I agree with you about game developers trying to recreate a whole planet. Every magazine review I've seen of a game that is linear like Kill Zone gets a bad review because of it though. I know Kill Zone had other issues but I distincly remember a reviewer complaining about the lack of open ended gameplay and exploration. I don't mind being directed sometimes. I hate the feeling of getting lost or stuck because I missed a key card earlier in the level. One of my favorite genres is 3rd person shooters like Star Fox and Panzer Dragoon so I don't mind being damn near on rails. I also hate backtracking to a room only to find it empty, but I know that not every room can have important items in them. Any game made by me will have a point A to point B level design with maybe a few alternate paths for veriety and replay value. But I am glad that both types of games exist because I do like exploration in my games sometimes too. Speaking of which Fable has opened or at least multiple branching paths that has a map telling you exactly what path to take so theres no guess work involved. I just don't have time to be lost in games anymore. I've got a job, my own projects, and a girlfriend that is always demanding attention.
As far as GTA, it's the strangest thing. I never really could get into the other ones but GTA:SA really grabbed me somehow. I live in southern California so it's a very familiar world to me. I also liked the relationships Carl has with his brother and friends and how they join you in the missions. I felt in the other GTA games I was all alone in this generic world with a nameless faceless personalityless character that just didn't seem real enough for me to care about. And if you really get into GTA:SA you realize what it's about. The way of life in that part of LA at that time and the relationships they have with each other.
Hit very close to home with me, but without the drugs and violence. The main character in the game, Carl, while quick to whoop someones ass doesn't smoke weed or do drugs and is a very moral person, well during the story cut scenes anyway. That's something I can't say for some of his friends. They even have a mission where you have to kill drug dealers after you find one of your old friends strung out on crack or something. Other than that the game is pretty wild and still a lot of fun.
-Ajari-
#29
For me I am looking for a good human interface. An xbox with remote controls.. that still basically are
designed for smaller peoples hands not big adults.
Still a 2 dollar made in china plastic kiddie controller...
Another thing is that the companies seemed to have copied each other in form factor and design of
the consoles. Sony is very agressive as far as spying on it's competition and replicating stuff.
Hum 3 little silver consoles.... BOY that's original! (Sorry someone had to be the anti-console spoiler).
05/22/2005 (3:01 am)
If anything Gaming PC's got left out (of media hype).For me I am looking for a good human interface. An xbox with remote controls.. that still basically are
designed for smaller peoples hands not big adults.
Still a 2 dollar made in china plastic kiddie controller...
Another thing is that the companies seemed to have copied each other in form factor and design of
the consoles. Sony is very agressive as far as spying on it's competition and replicating stuff.
Hum 3 little silver consoles.... BOY that's original! (Sorry someone had to be the anti-console spoiler).
#30
05/22/2005 (3:09 pm)
The revolution is black actually, although they were showing multiple colors, and it kindof looks like an SD memory card.
Torque Owner Jeremy Alessi
I'd much rather see small teams cranking out fun games rather than have all this bloated garbage repeated over and over and over. When I first got into game development it was because I read about many of the early people and how wonderful it was for them to come up with a great elegant idea and put it into a game that people had fun with. They could do this solo ... or in small teams and make a lot of money doing it. That's what I've wanted from my career in this industry since I was young. Luckily, there are other people who think the same way.
I'm not even saying that I don't appreciate some of the larger games ... but I don't think it's a better industry at all because of them ... it's worse from where I stand. I don't want to be a drone in some 300 man team ... I want to be an integral part of a game's soul and I want my essence to be visible in the game. With these large games most of that is down the tubes.