Comments on: GDC is the new E3 http://www.intelligent-artifice.com/2007/03/gdc_is_the_new_.html Games & interactive entertainment: design, production, industry and related topics Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:00:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: -=Stitched=- http://www.intelligent-artifice.com/2007/03/gdc_is_the_new_.html/comment-page-1#comment-1006 -=Stitched=- Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:31:52 +0000 http://intelligent-artifice.dreamhosters.com/2007/03/10/gdc-is-the-new-e3/#comment-1006 I find it funny that we still use the model of annual/seasonal events to dictate what gets revealed or released, in the this day an age, for gaming. When I was younger, in the 80's, Christmas was the big push, and games/platforms relied on Christmas to hype-up and sell units. In the 90's, it was shows like Comdex and traditional gaming magazines to push from. Now, here, today, it's game blogs and gamer sites and shows like E3 (defunct), GDC, or PAX, to drive the hype. But why? Why be slaves to cyclical, annual shows to promote and drive your product? Why not develop the game at the pace dictated by the creators (It's ready when it's ready) and let the quality dictate the promotion. I read an article, somewhere, that 4000 titles are released a year and nearly 51% of those titles sell around 10,000 units(!!!) This translates to either a LOT of niche titles (unlikely) or that there is a lot of crap being generated due to our invariably flawed investment, development, marketing, and distribution model that we have been death-marching to for the last 20 years. There are glimmers of hope (GoD now Gamecock, Steam, companies like Immersion and Popcap games, etc...) but they are few and far between. I find it funny that we still use the model of annual/seasonal events to dictate what gets revealed or released, in the this day an age, for gaming.

When I was younger, in the 80′s, Christmas was the big push, and games/platforms relied on Christmas to hype-up and sell units. In the 90′s, it was shows like Comdex and traditional gaming magazines to push from. Now, here, today, it’s game blogs and gamer sites and shows like E3 (defunct), GDC, or PAX, to drive the hype.

But why? Why be slaves to cyclical, annual shows to promote and drive your product? Why not develop the game at the pace dictated by the creators (It’s ready when it’s ready) and let the quality dictate the promotion.

I read an article, somewhere, that 4000 titles are released a year and nearly 51% of those titles sell around 10,000 units(!!!) This translates to either a LOT of niche titles (unlikely) or that there is a lot of crap being generated due to our invariably flawed investment, development, marketing, and distribution model that we have been death-marching to for the last 20 years.

There are glimmers of hope (GoD now Gamecock, Steam, companies like Immersion and Popcap games, etc…) but they are few and far between.

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