Comments on: A Cautionary Tale http://www.edery.org/2009/09/a-cautionary-tale/ For those interested in the business of making great video games. Entrepreneurial spirit a must. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:07:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephen Knightly http://www.edery.org/2009/09/a-cautionary-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-265339 Stephen Knightly Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:35:52 +0000 http://www.edery.org/?p=1129#comment-265339 I'm still amazed at the number of indie developers who think the Long Tail effect is good news for them. I think they confuse it with 2 other distinct effects: niche marketing and the continued growth of the Internet/digital distribution channels. Many people ignore the hard work of finding a niche and just hope that the Long Tail will save them. I’m still amazed at the number of indie developers who think the Long Tail effect is good news for them. I think they confuse it with 2 other distinct effects: niche marketing and the continued growth of the Internet/digital distribution channels. Many people ignore the hard work of finding a niche and just hope that the Long Tail will save them.

]]> By: David J Edery http://www.edery.org/2009/09/a-cautionary-tale/comment-page-1/#comment-265332 David J Edery Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:13:22 +0000 http://www.edery.org/?p=1129#comment-265332 An additional note for those of you who might be fixated on my "9 original hit limit" estimate. There isn't really a magic number, in XBLA or any other ecosystem. Technically, if every developer and publisher decided to focus entirely on original IP, and if many of them did a good job of developing and marketing the aforementioned original IP, you would most likely see much more than 9 hits. But, as 3rd party publishers continue to take XBLA more seriously, odds are that they'll put more and more effort into established properties like Battlefield and Street Fighter -- not original IP. Development and marketing budgets will continue to rise. This will increase the already significant pressure on indies to find ways of standing out. Consequently, I would argue that 9 is, in fact, a rather *optimistic* number. An additional note for those of you who might be fixated on my “9 original hit limit” estimate.

There isn’t really a magic number, in XBLA or any other ecosystem. Technically, if every developer and publisher decided to focus entirely on original IP, and if many of them did a good job of developing and marketing the aforementioned original IP, you would most likely see much more than 9 hits. But, as 3rd party publishers continue to take XBLA more seriously, odds are that they’ll put more and more effort into established properties like Battlefield and Street Fighter — not original IP. Development and marketing budgets will continue to rise. This will increase the already significant pressure on indies to find ways of standing out. Consequently, I would argue that 9 is, in fact, a rather *optimistic* number.

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