20150828 - Atari Shock Reloaded?
++ +Maybe this post should just be called "Indie Shock". Interesting graph below posted on twitter of the number of Steam game releases over time. Saturating isn't it?
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+Thoughts From Personal Perspective as a Consumer +
+Engines like Unity and Unreal make it much easier to produce games, +but the games tend to be more similar, staying within the limitations imposed by the these mass market engines. +Same effect happens as independent engine tech all falls into the same local minimum, +or developers limit risk by staying in the confines of well walked genre. +This makes it harder for a consumer to differentiate between titles. +Choice in a sea of noise is random. +It is not as much the content which shapes purchase decision in that case, +but rather how the consumer gets directed by marketing.
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+As it becomes harder to choose, +and as more choices result in failure of satisfaction, +the barrier to purchase increases, +and even the falling price cannot compensate. +The price of free is actually quite high: the opportunity cost of doing something more compelling with one's time.
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+"Nobody Cares" aka the Excuse For Being Mediocre +
+Why bother investing time to achieve greatness? +Proponents of this line of thinking often present justification +in the form that the average consumer cannot tell the difference between low and high quality. +For a producer this is effectively a self selecting choice to continue to swim in that sea of noise. +Some forms of greatness may not be perceived at the conscious level, +may not be something a consumer can articulate in words, +but instead may only manifest in feel and yet have profound effect.
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+Outliners +
+Knowledge of excellence in some aspect which effects only a fraction of the market, +say awesome multi-GPU support, establishes a hint that the producer +cares about the product at a level beyond serving me a microwaved pre-constructed hamburger. +It is very hard to maintain employment of the creative and driven individuals +which produce top content without allowing them to strive for greatness, +even sometimes at the compromise of maximum profitability.
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+As a consumer in a sea of noise, I select for the expression of producers +looking to be the best that is possible. +Who, given the limitation of architecture and time, +choose paths which compromise in a way which allows a unique realization of the ultimate form of their art.
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