I am writing this article because there are certain groups in the gaming world who favor cheaper games (the commercial ones that is) but not at the expense of quality. I came up with a few suggestions that I hope developers will take note of.
1. Bring in advertisers/sponsorships. By this I do not mean advertising for one's own products. If multi- million dollar corporations realize that the next hip thing is in the gaming arena, then supporting it can bring in the dough too! Yes, yes, some of you are already SICK of ads on TV but hey, which is better: more affordable games with ads or cut-throat prices for the current games we get? Ads can be either before a certain games start, while waiting for the hard disk to load the next phase of a mission or even be incorporated into the game very much like that in Monkey Island 1 (and it might even be funny too!). With the CD-ROM revolution inevitable, storage space is not really a problem so it might as well be used fill in ads and help make games more accessible to us poor general public.
2. Write games in chapters rather than an entire full game. This applies particularly so with adventure games. Instead of having to crack ones' brains to develop a very good storyline, programmers can concentrate on what they do best: programming. With such a modular approach, programs hopefully will be less buggy since programmers have smaller modules to program leading to better quality programming etc., etc., etc...This also allows gamers to participate in the development of the storyline and so help shape the game as it goes along. After all the gamers are the ones who determine what they like, so why not give them what they want? User feedback is the key here. Since games will now be like mini series... developers can decide if they wish to continue with the story based on popularity ratings. If gamers do not respond too well to the first "screening" then the game can be "canned". It also saves users a lot of money shelling out for a full game, then discovering they don't like it after all. Besides, its a good way to gain customer loyalty and kill piracy.
3. While on the subject of modules, why not cut costs by outsourcing certain functions like music or sound effects? If music or sound effects properly placed in modules, developers can outsource the development of music to the professionals. The users then have a choice of what music they want for their games (e.g. the interchangeability of MOD files) and developers can charge a small fee to these third party developers for providing the source code to develop the music etc... go figure! Amateur musicians eg. can even provide their services for free thus reducing costs while producing higher quality products. Users then can't complain about horrendous music etc., etc., etc. Again, the main aim is to stop wasting time/effort doing flashy intro. sequences, inappropriate music etc. and concentrate on the main aim: to develop addictive, playable games (not to mention at realistic prices: ever noticed how games are getting more and more expensive these days?)
4. Push the medium of storage to CD-ROM only. Fight piracy by making CDs at very competitive prices so that pirating CDs is not worth the trouble. Forget about bulky, thick manuals that are not only costly but usually a pain to go through. Make instructions within the game and also the bulk of the documentation should be in the game too. That saves paper plus the cost of printing. Also this will force designers to make intuitive controls and interface which can only increase the value of a game. Also, stop wasting time with unwanted copy protection schemes which are a real pain to go through. Besides, sooner or later a crack will be available break the code. Lower Costs, Charge Less.
Anyone care to comment?
This article is Copyright (C) 1994 by Kevin Tan for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.