Below is my topic, ripped right from my .doc file that I turned in.
"A little closer to my personal interest in a field I’m knowledgeable about. The increasing number of independent game developers and the problems they face. Including but not limited to: overcrowding of store-fronts like Steam and the Apple Store, viability, or lack of, for indie funding, and drawing the line between artistic direction and what is profitable.
Sources: Justin Wolf co-founder of JustGO!, Johnathan Blow CEO of Number None Inc., Martin De Ronde founder of OneBigGame, Derek Yu owner of Mossmouth, James Silvia the entirety Ska-Studios. All are reachable via public e-mails or their community managers."
I was asked about the publishing location. I was going to submit it to several popular websites that promote and publish user content including Destructoid.com, Bitmob.com, 1up.com, and a website I wrote for, for a good year, Beefjack.com. All but BeefJack are essentially blogs on these various sites, but they all edit, promote, and get great user stories in the spotlight, and I'm hoping for that.
As for the sources I plan to use the above companies, but I've been thinking of branching off into other developers and to get their thoughts on what they think the problems are without presenting the obvious problems. I'm also thinking of reaching out to the studio behind Darwinia, who originally said they wouldn't cow-tow to any corporate influence, but later conceded and said that they just had to make money.
For why I think my audience will read it I think that people don't see any problems with indie games, or even see the games at all (which is a problem). Most people who follow gaming news might know that these problems exist, but not the extent they exist. Hell, I may be the one who doesn't realize how small or large these problems are, but I'm going to find out.
I find it interesting because these people are creating experiences that you just can't get from a development team of hundreds of people. A game about a cat on a quest for milk didn't come from a 150 person team, the game about a time-travelling man in a suit didn't come from Infinity Ward, and the love-letter to 8-bit games wasn't manufactured. These people make some of the most unique things imaginable, and the problems they have are real.
Also, if anyone has any comments about potential studios they think should be covered go ahead and post. I'm open to suggestions!
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I'm very uneducated when it comes to this topic, but am also very surprised to see all the problems in video game developement that the teams face. For people who play video games, this could be a great story for them and would answer a lot of questions regarding the field!
ReplyDeleteGrade: 10/10
ReplyDeleteKevin - I hope that you've not only narrowed down some possible publications, but that you've also contacted them to see if any would be interested in the story once it's completed.