Am I the only one who thinks that the internet hasnt even made a dent on the games industry market from a developers point of view? We all know how we would LIKE it to have helped us - we can communicate with gamers anywhere in the world, draw on a vast range of development information (like here at gamedev) and can even sell directly to the gamer. In practice though, I increasingly find that the biz side of games development is the same as if I was selling fridges or bananas. Most of the publishers and journalists (even some web site news people) will ignore communication by email. It dosen''t matter if you have a website showcasing your Quake3 beating game thats fully funded and complete, these guys will only listen to people they know who phone them. In this respect its exactly like the music biz. It dosen''t matter how good your product is, its who you know that counts. I would have thought the internet would have changed all this, I would be happy to spend my times developing games, not sat on a transatalantic phone line listening to Greensleeves because the ego-mad-publisher is too busy to talk to me. Is it not about time that game developers voted with their feet, stopped crowding around the ''Big'' publishers like infatuated schoolgirls, and actually either a) sold directly to the gamer, cutting out the ego-mad publishers entirely or: b) Made better use of the few publishers who DO want to hear from small indie developers. For example, I hear lots of people knocking Andre La Mothe, but email him your game and you know he will look at it. Now try the same with Eidos. Glad I got that off my chest..... back to VC++... http://www.positech.co.uk

Well, I haven''t really gotten anywhere near to a publisher or anything, but I can understand how you feel. It took me a while to get to play on a soccer team because I attended a private school instead of the local public school. I had to talk my neighbor into asking her coach if I could have a try out (co-ed, thank God ).

Finally he agreed and I got the position and hae been playing ever since. But, once again, it ends up as who you know. Once I''m 16 I plan on trying to get a job at the local EB just to study the games and what people buy, and maybe even make a few connections of my own. Company phone numbers ect.

Do you live near a major game developing company? Try getting a job or an internship there. You just might make a few friends that could be useful. I would do this if I lived near a game developing company.

My 2 arrays.

............
Guardian Angel Interactive

The Internet/World Wide Web has allowed for changes in the "traditional" value chains, but it certainly doesn''t *force* anyone to exploit those possible changes.

There are numerous businesses, including game publishing, that are taking advantage of the new connected reality of the Internet. But change is almost never sudden. It occurs more as an evolution over time.

The Glacial Pace of Business is still alive and well, and probably always will be.

As for game developers still "crowding around ''big'' publishers", that''s only to be expected. Unless a game development company has somehow accumulated a "warchest" of funds sufficient to carry a title to completion, or is willing to work at a subsistence level (AKA, "No pay, minimum food") they have to find the money somewhere. And there aren''t a lot of options other than publishers.

And even if a game development company *can* complete the game without publisher funding, there are still the issues of marketing and distribution of the completed title.

So why do game development companies keep crowding around the big publishers? Because that''s where the money is. Without outside funding, it''s doubtful that their projects will ever reach "gold master" or be seen on store shelves.

There will *always* be independents, though. People who operate on the fringes and manage to succeed even without (and often refusing to accept) help from the Corporate Overlords. I would say the Internet is more of a tool for these fringe players than the "suits", and it will be the independents who innovate and show the Establishment how business will be done in the future.

DavidRM
Samu Games