Bow Gray
Mr. Wells
English 0302
10/08/13
A Plethora of Video Games
Why are there so many different video games on the market today? I remember a time when it seemed like their just wasn't enough titles to choose from; especially in my genre. Now I'll never be able to find enough time to play them all. This explosion in game tittles seems to stem from a phenomenon labeled as the “Indie Movement,” and its contributing factors.
The indie movement is a term that refers to to the recent rise in indie developers. Independent video game developers who tend to either work by themselves, or in groups; usually no larger then ten. Indie developers are their own boss; now longer plagued by the trappings of game development in the past. Where to see one's creation reach the public a developer pretty much had to start their own publishing company.
Some of this is due largely in part with the ease in which a game developer can distribute their product. Besides the multiple shareware networks on the internet now. Major game console companies are starting to make things easier on the small time developer as well. For instance X-Box Live has a creators club where game developers can create and sell their wares. The membership is offered free to students via the Dream Spark program. Even the ever popular smart phone platform Android is open source and offers universal access to manipulate, or program software with a free licenses.
Even still, the production of a complicated game with high end graphics can be quite costly. Fortunately, for those game developers that dream big they're able to utilize the invention of crowd funding platforms like Kick Starter and Indie Gogo. One such game developer, Brian Fargo; who was unable to find a major producer willing to risk financing his vision. Was able to find strong financial support to back his project thanks to Kick Starter. Brain was able to raise over 3 million dollars for his game Wasteland 2.
As you can see....