They say that the time of the small publisher is no more. As videogames become increasingly important, overcoming things like film and music, and selling an insane amount of games with each new big game, the industry has been moving towards a sort of big-time mentality.
Not Every Game Can Be Grand Theft Auto IV
To do over the stunning experiences and 45 hours worth of shockingly good gameplay that you find in a game such as GTA 4, squads of legions of game developers are necessary. Budgets are gargantuan, and profits are expected to be just as massive. While games like this are great, they constitute a strangely gigantic part of the market, just like Hollywood ‘event’ films do, and they often pervert the rest of the industry in strange directions.
Films are a helpful comparison here, because it boils down to the same thing: a good film is a memorable movie, apart from budget, and the same goes for games. There are dozens of independent top games out there that basically don’t have access to the top distribution methods. And how many crappy movies or crummy videogames—from big companies—have you seen or bought in your life?
The Danger of Applying the Hollywood Style to Big Video Games
One of the primary issues with publishing videogames on the blockbuster model is that a vision of good, enjoyable gameplay gets lost under all the other obligations that have to go into a big title—just like the narrative of a gigantic summer movie can often be obscured underneath layers of special effects. With a small team of developers, this doesn’t happen—it’s all about the game itself, the quality of it all—whether or not it’s great to play, made well, and gives its users endless fun is truly all that means anything.
The fact is that just because it’s widely advertised in the store doesn’t mean it’s stupendous. And so the issue is: how do we get to those independent titles, those mid-sized game-makers doing quality, classic titles that aren’t being publicized on the internet or continuously chattered about?
Is There a Place for Indie Games Online?
The net remains the top option. You can find publishers selling indie games that are developed on real concepts: like classic gameplay that keeps you coming back again and again. Without the gigantic budgets, official trademarks, and huge teams that the conglomerates have, small game designers are making video games that don’t have the luxury of impressing the end-user through excessive visuals alone: they need to be great to play above everything else.
Although a few big companies have realized this, and have started fostering small teams of designers to go crazy with their crazy dreams, most of the best, small, endlessly replayable games are being released by developers you’ve never noticed before.
Don’t Throw Away that Brick-and-Mortar Store Just Yet
While everyone talks of new distribution channels, the ones that are already established are still completely important: many of the best, most passed over indie movies can still be located at your neighborhood DVD shop, and many of the most enjoyable, small-developer games can be tracked down online, coming to you at very low prices—you get all the benefits of a box, a booklet, something physical in your hand, but you aren’t paying insane prices.
Next time you’re hunting down a memorable video game, don’t just look for the same old places. Remember that the big conglomerates put out their proper amount of high-priced crap, and that indie studio you’ve never heard of might have just created your next all-time favorite videogame.
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