I was telling some of you guys about Wii-Ware, the Nintendo downloadable mini-game service they launched last week to compliment Virtual Console. This looks like a way to develop and distribute (small) games with a low barrier to entry.
I am sure we have all fantasized in some way about developing games...but all accounts of the industry is that it's a real grind. Wii-Ware, and the Xbox/Playstation equivalents, seem like the ‘indy-film’ version of gaming.
I downloaded a couple of the Wii-Ware launch games for between $5-$7 and thought they weren’t bad. Here is the web site to one of the developers:
http://www.nnooo.com/home/nnooo.html
I read his story in a blog, and it is literally a 2-3 man operation out of Australia. He has a history in the gaming biz, so he wasn’t exactly starting from scratch, but it’s doable. He had good things to say about the Wii Ware development tools, especially in comparison the Xbox equivalents. He said he has to sell 30k copies to break even, and that the split with Nintendo is %65-%35 (that him-Nintendo). This is about $137k Australian dollars, but I think AU$ is within 5% of US$ right now… There are many millions of Wii’s out there, so I think he shouldn’t have a problem breaking even. (Being a launch title has to be a huge boost!)
I have an (admittedly lame) idea for a game along these lines. I'm sure we could come up with half a dozen other idea's over beers in one afternoon. We all know how to code and we have a built-in supply of beta testing in our all our gamer teens (andrew, neil, sean, little big jay etc...)
-Morgan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment