Comments on: Will small publishers still have game?

With rising development costs, the little guys are facing tough choices when it comes to new consoles.

[falcomadol]

Small vs Indie

Small publishers and developers have been under massive pressure for years. Developing under the cloud of buyout by EA or Atari or Activision or NameYourBigPublisher if they do make a hit game, and the threat of bankruptcy if they fail to make a splash.

Meanwhile, the indie development and publishing scene has been growing by leaps and bounds, eschewing the big corporation model of crappy movie tie-ins, league exclusivity deals, and hours of cinematics that players just skip through anyway in favor of classic gameplay, smart game mechanics, and 10-20 dollar online downloads.

Microsoft's X360 is tapping into that indie development scene too. The Live Marketplace has games in the 5 to 10 dollar price point developed by these same small indie developers (PopCap, ABA Games, and others), augmented by classic arcade titles by Midway, Atari, and other majors.

That's the place to be looking for innovations, not the store shelves. Brick and mortar retail is rapidly becoming irrelevant as the gaming population ages (longing for retro games) and the consumer becomes more savvy about their options for downloadable games at budget prices.

[ebrandel]

Casual Gaming

The days of small publishers/developers having their games available at traditional brick and mortar stores is most likely coming to an end. The market that is growing at amazing rates is the casual games market, where the majority of the games are still developed and published by small companies. The games are simple, the graphics are typically good, but within the ability of a small group of artists, and the programming is more basic.

One of the biggest new avenues for these small companies will be platforms like the new Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360. Quick and easy access to small to medium sized games from a wide range of publishers. Nothing to install, the download happens automatically in the background, and everything just works.

Revolution

Nintendo has stated that they are trying to keep development costs down on several occasions. Perhaps this is part of the reason it doesn't support HD?

[Luke_Cage]

Home G. Console 1972?-2010 RIP

Home gaming consoles will be dead in 4 years or at least morph its form. smaller companies need to focus on hits in the portable arena. dedicated game machines will have 5-17 inch screens and sit on your lap like dvd players or laptops, without the huge price tag. the home game will be reduce to a docking station for boost in power and speed. people just wont have the time or the money to keep buying these minicomputers dedicated for game play, portable is the way to go. the nxtgen of teens will be more active then us, out and about, due to health conserns plaguing the youth of today, gaming in the home has to change. interactive game set ups with cameras, elaborate contraptions, will dominate the home play pushing joysticks to the "play on the move" market. downloading games from online or box store on the move instead of renting or buying cartridges or disks. a sort of 2n1 gaming system with the power of a home console but the flexability of a portable. so you dont have to be couped up in the house for hours sitting on your butt. improved sound, graphics, and battery life will dictate how soon this trend emerges, get ahead of the curve.