So after watching the latest Jimquisition episode about the upcoming age of full digital distribution. I posted a comment with the question of whether the Games Industry as we know it is going full circle as we speak.
It was an idea that popped up as I was seeing how large the indie games industry was getting, as it reminded me of the stories of how teenagers were making their own games and building companies, particularly in the UK with Codemasters, Sensible Software and even some big gaming visionaries such as Peter Molyneux and Richard Garriot began their careers and businesses by making a game or two in their spare time and selling them with whatever advertising they could get, just like indie companies and developers are today, except they didn't have an internet as such.
Then in the 90s and 00s, this old indie movement was slowly dying out and the Games Industry got bigger, Console Manufactures were growing over computers and copyright decided to grow out of the industry like the tumour that it is, and the industry became the corporate world.
Suddenly, as the years were nearing 2010, a new indie movement was growing, maybe because of Steam, or Microsoft with their Indie Games market, or even Wiiware with its promise to give small devs an opportunity to make games for their system. New teenagers and young adults were making games from their homes that were now competing with the big name companies. Look at Minecraft for example, an indie PC game with blocky but colourful graphics was gaining attention from the players of high-res graphics and realistic colours, and was earning millions while still in its beta form!
I didn't even explain the possibility that video games have gone through this circle before, when it started out as a few MIT students messing around with a super computer, growing into an industry hailed by Atari before the crash happened.
So do you think it's possible?
It was an idea that popped up as I was seeing how large the indie games industry was getting, as it reminded me of the stories of how teenagers were making their own games and building companies, particularly in the UK with Codemasters, Sensible Software and even some big gaming visionaries such as Peter Molyneux and Richard Garriot began their careers and businesses by making a game or two in their spare time and selling them with whatever advertising they could get, just like indie companies and developers are today, except they didn't have an internet as such.
Then in the 90s and 00s, this old indie movement was slowly dying out and the Games Industry got bigger, Console Manufactures were growing over computers and copyright decided to grow out of the industry like the tumour that it is, and the industry became the corporate world.
Suddenly, as the years were nearing 2010, a new indie movement was growing, maybe because of Steam, or Microsoft with their Indie Games market, or even Wiiware with its promise to give small devs an opportunity to make games for their system. New teenagers and young adults were making games from their homes that were now competing with the big name companies. Look at Minecraft for example, an indie PC game with blocky but colourful graphics was gaining attention from the players of high-res graphics and realistic colours, and was earning millions while still in its beta form!
I didn't even explain the possibility that video games have gone through this circle before, when it started out as a few MIT students messing around with a super computer, growing into an industry hailed by Atari before the crash happened.
So do you think it's possible?
