More hidden gems
However, Derrick Morton of GameHouse Games, who are best known for Super Collapse! 3 and Tumblebugs, notes that shareware “is still a hits-based business. Only one in four games you make — if you’re good — will ever make their development money back.”
Upstart pipsqueaks?
The big companies dominate the retail shelves, but there’s more room for competition in the online distribution model, where a game is merely a mouse click away. Whether that flatter playing field makes larger companies nervous, though, is a matter of debate.
“The large publishers are definitely threatened by upstart pipsqueaks,” says Willliams.
“The big publisher is not worried about a handful of people raking in a few million per year,” counters Don Walters, president of PopCap Games, best known for the puzzle games Bejeweled and Alchemy. “The larger companies create highly polished entertainment with the kind of value that multi-million dollar production budgets can buy. People will pay top dollar for this type of entertainment.
“Of course, people are also willing to spend less money to buy a really good game without the multi-million dollar production values, and so shareware publishers can exist in the same universe.”
Andrew Welch, who has published everything from the arcade game pop-pop to the strategy title Uplink while serving as el presidente of Ambrosia Software, adds: “At the end of the day, what people care about is whether a game is a quality product and does what they need it to do. Just because you’re cheaper doesn’t mean they lower their expectations or needs.”
Ambrosia has been around a long time and often serves as an inspiration to
up-and-coming shareware publishers like Phelios,
which produces arcade and puzzle games like Doulber Gold, Bud Redhead and Rock And Roll.
“At the end of the day, what people care about is whether a game is a quality product and does what they need it to do. Just becuase your’s cheaper doesn’t mean they lower their exprectations or needs.”
- Andrew Welch, el presidente, Ambrosia Software
Digital crystal balls needed
Margaret Wallace, CEO of Skunk Studios, who are best known for the irreverent arcade game Tamale Loco, expects the sheer amount of games available as online shareware downloads to increase significantly over time as a greater number of developers, licensors and publishers discover the benefits and relatively low risk associated with releasing their products online.
Sveerz Deluxe Trailer
Watch the Skunk Studios trailer for Sveerz Deluxe — the musical arcade puzzle game that bounces to the beat. Sveerz cruise the galaxy in their bass powered ship, singing tunes that you must repeat.
“The quality of games will probably go up as more and more developers and publishers strive to grab the attention of casual gamers everywhere. Simply because players are defined as ‘casual’ doesn’t mean they don’t have sophisticated tastes. More than ever, developers will need to foster a reputations for creating great, high-quality games in order to make an impact in this market.”
But not everyone is sure what the future holds. “If I knew what was going to be big five years from now, I would be retiring seven years from now to my own private island,” says Walters. “I imagine, though, that shareware business models will change and evolve as people’s interactions with the Internet and other media change and evolve.”
Paths to take
In the meantime, look through a list of the best Mac demos available on the Internet for games you’d like to play. MacGameFiles is also a good site to visit on a regular basis to see what’s new (there’s always something new). ChezMark is another good source for new shareware games.
And if we’ve inspired a creative streak in you, check out the uDevGame contest, held by iDevGames every year. Shareware Mac game developers compete for prizes and display the fruits of their labor for all to download.
If you don’t have much of a programming background, check out our featured game building tools. When you’re done, pass your game around to friends, post it for download, and enter it in a contest. Who knows: you might have the nascent talents to be another John Carmack, Sid Meier, or Will Wright.
Next page: So You Want To Be A Star?
