The Escapist Issue #9

[Evil Avatar]

Issue 9 of The Escapist (http://www.escapistmagazine.com), “The Gamemasters,” focusing on the electronic entertainment industry’s roots in the tabletop RPG business, is now available. It features the second part of Greg Costikyan’s two-part manifesto, “Death to the Games Industry: Long Live Games!”

In addition to Mr. Costikyan, columnist Allen Varney discusses the presence of former pen-and-paper designers at all levels of the electronic entertainment industry in “Our Games are Built on Paper,” while resident contrarian John Tynes shows how tabletop designers impact the design of present and future PC and console games in “The Contrarian: Roll the Dice.” Costikyan, Varney, and Tynes have all contributed extensively to both tabletop and electronic gaming.

[Varsity]

I'm not entirely sure what is so contradictory in this week's contrarian.

[Hellstorm]

I'll listen to Costikyan when he finally makes a game most people have heard of or played. If the industry is so screwed up, get off the soapbox and do what you say to do and prove to everyone it can be done, anyone can sit there and say, "this is what we should do." Well do it.

Game industry changes and the designers can either change along with it, like Miyamoto, or they can refuse to change and become dinosaurs, like Lowe, Crawford.

[Draft]

I'll listen to Costikyan when he finally makes a game most people have heard of or played. If the industry is so screwed up, get off the soapbox and do what you say to do and prove to everyone it can be done, anyone can sit there and say, "this is what we should do." Well do it.

Game industry changes and the designers can either change along with it, like Miyamoto, or they can refuse to change and become dinosaurs, like Lowe, Crawford.Problem with that being the games this guy wants to make can't get published ;)

But I agree with you, to an extent. Standing up on a soapbox and shouting doom and gloom accomplishes nothing. What the industry needs are small developers to figure out a business model that keeps overhead, production and distribution costs low, which will in turn allow them to turn a profit on a $20 title moving 50,000 units.

[mister_slim]

But I agree with you, to an extent. Standing up on a soapbox and shouting doom and gloom accomplishes nothing. What the industry needs are small developers to figure out a business model that keeps overhead, production and distribution costs low, which will in turn allow them to turn a profit on a $20 title moving 50,000 units.
Steam perhaps? Ragdoll Kung-Fu?

We'll see, I guess.

Maybe Mark Healy will be able to just make crazy games for the rest of his life.

[Draft]

Steam perhaps? Ragdoll Kung-Fu?

We'll see, I guess.

Maybe Mark Healy will be able to just make crazy games for the rest of his life.It is clearly a step in the right direction. But really, Mark Healy is not an "independent" developer. He may have done most of the work on Rag Doll Kung Fu, but he also has access to tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, not to mention professional peers to help him do things he can't do himself.