Steel Swords and Grass Roots

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 7, 2011

As I’ve said before, I reject the notion that computer RPGs have been “evolving.” I will stop short of saying that a devolution is taking place, as the mainstream game companies continue to design for the lowest common denominator. I actually think there’s a bit of a good thing going on there, as while said […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

Indie Game Pricing – Minecraft Creator Weighs In

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 25, 2011

So how much SHOULD an indie game cost? There’s a fun interview interview with the indie dude who’s made perhaps the biggest splash on the indie scene since a bunch of guys released a game called Doom on the unsuspecting public 17 years ago. You can check it out at Gamasutra: Markus Persson on Bringing […]

Filed Under: Biz - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

What Does a Game Producer / Manager / Leader Actually Do?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 23, 2011

When I was in the trenches of game development early in my career, I was lucky enough to have some producers / managers who were pretty good at their job. Later on, in other jobs (including many outside of the games biz), I wasn’t always so lucky. A couple of days ago, in response to […]

Filed Under: Biz, Production - Comments: 9 Comments to Read

R.I.P. Guitar Hero

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 9, 2011

Okay, so I haven’t played Guitar Hero since GH3, so I can’t say I’m really gonna miss it all that much… Activision Dissolves Guitar Hero Business Now I feel a sudden urge to dust off the PS2 controllers and rock out to the original. It had a good run. Not like the original game-maker Harmonix […]

Filed Under: Biz, Mainstream Games - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

What Minecraft Did Wrong But Didn’t Matter. And What It Did Right That Did Matter

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 26, 2011

So at this point, Minecraft is a phenomenon that is like Doom or Bejeweled for the new decade.  It’s captured the mainstream game industry’s attention, and of course every indie in the world is thinking, “Wow, could I be the next Minecraft?”  At least for those who aren’t wondering if they could be the next […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

Welcome Back, GarageGames

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 20, 2011

I really didn’t like the name “TorquePowered” anyway. Looks like they’re back, they’ve got funding, and they have returned to the original core values from a few years ago. And for a little while, they are offering all their engines for the sub-$100 price point. Good news across the board, I think: Welcome Back, GarageGames […]

Filed Under: Biz, Game Development, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Attack of the Clones

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 19, 2011

I don’t have issues with certain things that are called “cloning” games. Everybody copies / borrows game mechanics, UI layouts, control schemes, and whatnot from successful games. If we had to reinvent the wheel every time we made a game,  we’d lose the advantage of standing on the shoulders of giants. Great ideas are meant […]

Filed Under: Biz, Casual Games - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

Matt Chat Interview with Brian Fargo, Part 1

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 17, 2011

Brian Fargo, founder of Interplay, gets interviewed by Matt Barton (author of “Dungeons and Desktops”) this week. Discussion primarily revolves around the early history of his involvement in the games biz, including discussions about who was the best Dungeon Master at Interplay, the development of Bard’s Tale, what made Wizardry such a strong title back […]

Filed Under: Biz, Interviews - Comments: Comments are off for this article

The Race to the Bottom

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 7, 2011

A fellow developer observed the following the other day: Back in the 1980s, we used to dump quarters into arcade machines to play just a few minutes of a game. Now, gamers grumble and agonize about whether or not to pay a few quarters to permanently own a ridiculously sale-priced indie game. Painfully true. Even […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 17 Comments to Read

How to Revive a Legacy RPG. Or Not.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 27, 2010

The newest game in the Wizardry series is apparently entitled Wizardry: Town of the Imprisoned Spirits or something like that. According to what I could glean, it is something of an upgrade / sequel over a previous release subtitled Dungeon of the Imprisoned Souls. It’s a budget, downloadable release in Japan that has a chance […]

Filed Under: Biz, Design - Comments: 18 Comments to Read

Making Big AAA Games: Not the Dream Job (Anymore)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 17, 2010

Cliff Harris talks about working in the AAA games biz at Computer And Video Games. He’s done it, I’ve done it. I’ve even interviewed a bunch of mainstream games industry refugees gone indie and wrote an article about it a couple of years ago. I was reflecting on this a bit earlier when talking about […]

Filed Under: Biz, Mainstream Games - Comments: 15 Comments to Read

My Former Boss to Wear an Orange Jumpsuit?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 15, 2010

My former boss, from back when I was working on the Tale of Despereaux game: This Game Developer’s Next Project is 18 Months in Prison I could come up with all kinds of snark on this.  But I’m not sure I feel like it. While long-time readers may have grasped that I wasn’t too happy […]

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Expanding My Horizons – Traditional Game Expansions vs. DLC

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 2, 2010

I think the first-ever commercial “expansion” I ever bought for a game was Wing Commander: The Secret Missions. Followed soon thereafter by The Secret Missions 2: Crusade. It was a novel concept that I was all too ready to get behind. I mean, when you really love a game, at the end you want more. […]

Filed Under: Biz, Mainstream Games - Comments: 10 Comments to Read

So Maybe You Can’t Sell a Million Turn-Based RPGs Anymore, But…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 26, 2010

I really do admire the CDProjekt guys, and their attitude overall towards RPGs, even though they are going even more action-oriented. I was going to come up with an awesome retort, though, to Tomasz Gop’s recent Eurogamer interview, where he explained their rationale. And amusingly ribs Mass Effect a little. So I was gonna say […]

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Progressive Pre-Order Pricing

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 16, 2010

I’ve noticed a trend among indie game devs towards this whole pre-release “Buy now at reduced price, and we’ll let you play the version in development” thing.  (Sorry, Craig, your announcement was what triggered this post.) I’m not saying this is bad or anything. If anything, I find it praiseworthy. And I’ve pre-ordered a couple […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 8 Comments to Read

GarageGames / InstantAction / TorquePowered Closing Doors?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on November 11, 2010

Looks like InstantAction – including The Company Formerly Known As GarageGames – is now shuttered and looking for buyers. Don’t think I can afford it. 🙂 InstantAction Ceasing Operations, Looking For a Buyer… Dang. Kind of a bummer, but not totally surprising. I blame Unity. That sucker is pretty much taking over indie development (the […]

Filed Under: Biz, Indie Evangelism - Comments: 13 Comments to Read



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