Adventures on the Ground Floor In the summer of 2012, I was down the pub after an Android meetup, talking to this guy who reckoned OUYA was a big deal. This was two or three weeks into their kickstarter campaign and whilst I’d read about it, it had kinda passed me by up till that point. Next day, I gave it a lot of thought, properly checked out their kickstarter campaign and decided to give it a shot. Back then, I’d already been an indie game developer for over a year, struggling away making a game for Android in my own home-built java/openGL engine. Yes you may laugh, but I’d…

Exactly one year ago, I got my hands on a shiny clear plastic OUYA devkit. Through making a game for the new console, I learned a lot about game development and the wider games industry. In the Beginning… In fact, my OUYA journey started in November of 2012. I’d gone indie straight off the back of a computer science degree a couple of years before, but the game I’d been working on in that time was a master class in how not to design a game. (Hopelessly large scope and flawed core mechanic). I’d backed OUYA on kickstarter at the developer tier, quite late in the campaign, and in doing…

Dedicated devkit devices are overkill, and their cost puts off many developers in a world where competing platform holders strive to attract content creators I previously blogged about how even if you don’t play the games, owning a retail console or device for your target platform can have many benefits. Now, consider a devkit and retail kit come as a single package, at a price that ordinary consumers can afford. That represent really good value for money for developers looking to see which console they want to target. Add in free software development tools such as Unity3d and it’s even better! Devkits are usually more than just a retail box,…

The big three console manufacturers have all been making lots of noise recently, espousing their indie credentials and how they are now open to all comers. Having just successfully released my first game on the OUYA, I was keen to find out how genuine a contender for title of “most indie friendly” they each were. Both in competing with OUYA, and as possible targets for my own game heading cross-platform. So last Friday, I headed down to London, to the headquarters of UKIE, for the “Indie Collective” event, where each console maker set out their respective stalls and pitched their platform to the 100 or so assembled indie devs. (I…

Games that require always on internet provide immense benefit to both game developers and customers, but the case for their use is not being made The recent controversial tweeting by one Microsoft executive about the prospect of an always online console was not what lost him is job, but rather the attitude it displayed. It is one reflecting a deeper frustration amongst those in the game industry with consumer resistance to games and platforms that require a constant internet connection. There are of course a multitude of excellent reasons why game developers would want or require an internet connection for single player games, or those that do not use the…

What Indie developers really need is a finishing service Another take away from Richard Nash’s excellent (if rather long) take on the state of the literary/book publishing industry is that publishers (especially editors) actually perform multiple roles that add value, and while some of those roles are now obsolete, others are absolutely still relevant. Perhaps even more so in a world flooded with digital content. Chief amongst the tasks of an editor is ensuring that manuscripts are up to standard and ready for market. In other words, that they are polished and have had all their rough edges smoothed out. Translating this to games, I’m not talking about finding bugs…