Console makers embrace indie game developers
NEW YORK (AP) - June 23, 2008 Conquering space or politics might have been easier. Besides a
good idea, game developers have needed a distribution deal to get
their work on consoles like the Xbox or PlayStation. And over the
years, the industry has been shrinking to a handful of big players
that use large teams of in-house programmers.
But Silva is a one-man game maker for the Xbox 360. He's among a
growing number of independents working to distribute their games to
Internet-connected consoles with the help of game box makers
seeking to meet demand for titles beyond the usual shoot-'em-ups or
big-budget sequels.
Microsoft, Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co. have all opened up
digital distribution channels to their consoles. The financial risk
is low, and it helps console makers keep an eye on up-and-coming
talent and ideas. Is also boosts the number of exclusive titles for
each machine.
"They understand market dynamics, how platforms work. They see
how indies can get in there and disrupt things," said Corey
Bridges, a veteran of Netscape's early days who co-founded
Multiverse Network Inc., a platform for developing virtual online
worlds.
The growth of digital distribution parallels consolidation among
video game publishers. It takes many years and millions of dollars
to develop a hit franchise like "Grand Theft Auto." With so much
invested, companies are reluctant to take risks on new games and
rely instead on established franchises and sequels.
This year, Silva, a former restaurant dishwasher who lives in
Utica, N.Y., became something of a poster child for Microsoft's
developer tool, XNA Game Studio. After winning Microsoft's
"Dream-Build-Play" contest last year, Silva's game, "Dishwasher:
Dead Samurai" will be published on the company's Xbox Live Arcade
network later this year. The action game features a dishwasher who
sheds a lot of cartoon blood in a dark, zombie-filled underworld.
Creating a successful game, however, is still a huge
undertaking. Silva has been working on "Dishwasher" for more than
a year.
"A lot of kids that set out to make games try to make a rival
'Halo,' rival 'Warcraft,' something really ambitious, not realizing
that those games are made by hundreds of people," he said. "It's
not an era where one person can go out and make the next 'Halo."'
Microsoft, in 2006, was the first console maker to offer a
version of is professional development tools for people without a
serious background in programming.
XNA Game Studio is free, but to publish a game, developers must
pay $99 a year (or $49 for four months) to join Microsoft's
Creators Club and have it reviewed by their peers. If a game passes
muster, it will be made available to Xbox 360s later this year.
Microsoft says there is no way to tell how many games have been
created using XNA Game Studio, but it's been downloaded about a
million times since its launch.
Silva said the software - which still requires some basic
programming skills - "takes care of the ugly, cumbersome stuff"
developers need to do to make games.
But while Microsoft is helping game designers, in the end it's
still geared toward pushing indies through the company's publishing
channel.
"They have seen the barbarians at the gate and they are trying
to channel them through the right gate," said Bridges.
While Sony does not offer a light version of its development
tools, it has made space for indie developers at its Santa Monica,
Calif. studio so they can create games for the PS3. The titles are
available through the PlayStation Network, the console's online
community.
Nintendo, meanwhile opened its popular Wii system to indie
developers with WiiWare in May.
"These days a lot of games at retailers are big budget games
that can't have simple graphics," said Sam Kennedy, editorial
director at gaming Web site 1UP.com. "But gamers are still looking
for that. They can't spend $50 or $60 on (such) a game but they'll
download it for $5."
Rusty Buchert, a senior producer at Sony's Santa Monica studio,
says digital distribution is in some ways winding back the clock in
game development by 13 to 15 years. It opens the doors for more
risk, more innovation, but without "burning down the company," he
said.
Sony, he added, is benefiting from its relationships with indie
game creators because it's seeing new approaches to game
development and design. Still, there's the image of Sony being
"the man," Buchert said.
"But we are showing no no no, we are here to work with you,"
he said. "They get more freedom compared with (developing) a
bigger game. There is not as much money at risk and as such they
get a lot more freedom, and this freedom helps makes games
better."
Nintendo says WiiWare is to the Wii as indie films are to
Hollywood. Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary game designer behind
Nintendo's "Mario" and "Zelda," said in an interview earlier
this year that, over the years, video game producers have gotten
more conservative.
"What I'd like to see is ... those companies give their young
designers the creative freedom to create the new and unique ideas
of this generation," he said.
Bridges thinks digital distribution will mean the eventual death
of game software publishers, which will no longer be needed.
"It's a lot easier pushing bits than pushing atoms," he said.