RE: Indie games?

>Not having a whizbang teratexel engine costs you automatically on
>the order of 10 (on a 100 scale) in review score.

Yes, it does, but there's a massive -- and I mean MASSIVE -- 
disparity between reviews and sales.

There is a very strong perception that whiz bang technology is what 
sells a game, or that huge reviews correlate to massive sales, when 
in fact this just isn't the case.  There are many games that had been 
ignored by the gaming media which sold very well -- Zoo Tycoon, RC 
Tycoon, The Sims, Harry Potter -- and there are many well reviewed 
games that simply didn't sell nearly as much as you would have 
expected (Homeworld, NOLF).

I'm not doubting that reviews are important, but solid gameplay, word 
of mouth, and a niche genre really can compensate for a perceived 
lack of cutting edge content and technology.

If you look at the top 10 selling games, almost none of them would be 
considered technologically advanced.  Everquest is the most popular 
3D on-line game in the world, and it uses vertex lighting, 
single-pass technology ca. 1997.  BF1942 and MOH:AA both have sold 
very well using fairly average engines by today's standards.

Computers are getting faster, but many consumers simply aren't opting 
to upgrade.  My home system is a P3/1000, and will probably stay that 
way for some time because I just don't see a compelling reason to 
upgrade.  Many consumers feel this way.

There are strong markets for:

- niche genres
- targeting lower end hardware
- games with lower cost and lower barrier to entry/complexity

We sell _puzzle games_ for $20 and we're surviving quite well.  
Hardcore gameers laugh at us because, hey, Candy Cruncher isn't 
1/10th as cool as Serious Sam, and yet it's the same price.  But our 
consumers DON'T CARE, because they're not buying our games thinking 
"Man, this puzzle game is a rip off because Serious Sam is the same 
price!", they're thinking "Hey, this is fun, I finally found a game I 
can relate to!"

As much as grizzled old game developers really hate to admit, the 
fact remains that gameplay, in the end, is what sells.  Maybe not 
gameplay _we_ find compelling, but gameplay that the average computer 
user finds compelling will sell copies.

I'd bet almost anything that if RC Tycoon 2 had vertex-shaders, it 
would have sold 1/10th the amount.

Brian




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