Quote: "Although, the above post is very vague (probably because it's still a concept)"
Your right, the post is vague because it is a concept.
It also is to give people the freedom to say what they actually want, rather than looking at the suggestions of those putting the idea forward.
I've found that when you make a full suggestion people tend to look at that as your full idea. Then they take a stance on how they feel about the suggestion rather than offering thier undivided opinion on what they are after.
This is what I want to see really, what people would *want* from a service suchas this.
Personally speaking, I find STEAM (VAVLe) & Direct2Drive (GameSpy) facinating as they're taking eCommerce to the next evolutionary step.
At the same time, I like to have hard copies of the games I purchase; mainly because if my hard disk goes down, i'll have to deal with the online system at which point it worries me that i'll have to pay for the game again or not have it.
So, from my own standpoint; having a well thought out system would be key as well as giving the option of a hard copy for popular or particularly big titles.
For a busniess that is primarily online, suchas an eCommerce Publisher; yeah coverage is paramount.
It isn't so much the pure saturation of adverts, but more knowing where to place them to get maximum exposure. That is going to take alot of man hours work right there.
Plus people who have prime locations know damn well they have them, so that is going to make it more expensive.
Although the setup & word-of-mouth is a popular setup, particularly for people like GarageGames; i don't think i've really ever had the want to visit thier site. I remember doing so a good few years back when the Tribes engine source was released, but apart from that not really mainstream enough.
They're known, but really what are they known for? I honestly can't name a single title i've heard of which is published by them, or if i have, no idea it was them who publish it.
EA, THQ, EIDOS, UbiSoft & Konami are probably the only publishers that spring to mind right away.
(Microsoft and Nintendo never register as publishers in my head, they always seem like hardware and software developers. Not sure why.)
So this would probably need to be a key goal to shoot for, getting a name. Problem is, to do that will need title which will also get a name for themselves.
Shareware is good for the 5-minutes punters, can make a tidy living sorting out the particulars. Doing that will never allow growth though.
I think we all know what has to happen for that.
Really what we'd be looking at are, 3 maybe 4 teams who would be willing to work directly for well Annex.
In essentially we'd own those teams, they would do what they were told, give generic titles to specifications, but also would be the teams that make the most profit and would be supported financially.
Case of 'who would be willing to sell thier soul for cash'?
Sad truth but some poor shmucks are going to have to in order to gain the finances to actually allow real games to emerge.
As for the questions:
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How are you going to find a customer base?
- Not going to. As the primary market available is likely to be the BASIC languages (ie DBP/B3D/PlayB/PureB/3DGM/etc...) the best option is going to be letting as many of them know about this.
The technology and everything can be setup, but it would take far too much man-power to chase after people.
When they're ready there will be a simple application online for them to fill in and contact will begin from there.
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How do you attempt to proove you can be trusted towards a client?
- Can't prove trust, it must be earnt.
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How will you find and sign clients?
- Aside from the 3-4 teams that we'll effectively own as part of the company assets, there won't be any chasing unless there is a game in development which we believe would be worth the time, effort and man-power to contact.
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If i we're to sign up would i have to give up my soul?
- Depends on which service you'd want doesn't it?
Shareware developers, will get the highest profit margin - as it will be a case of 80-90% profits. Considering Sharware usually goes for $5-10, then that's a case of covering costs really on our part.
There are possibilities of sponsored development, for more time intensive titles.
I was thinking along the lines of something similar to Microsoft's X-Box program actually.
You sign up, and are given 6months with professional tools.
If you can show that you are dedicated to developing the title fully then you will be given the full unrestricted versions of the tools you want plus a cash advance with which to support the staff on.
Once the title is finished it would be a case of giving the team a choice between a settlement payment or a share of the profits (provided a target number of titles are sold). Also obviously because of sponsorship that title would effectively be the legal property of Annex not the developer.
Basically that option would be roughly what you'd expect from a professional level publisher.
Obviously we'd not expect something like 2million copy clauses and shelling out $4million on budgets heh... but still playing to similar rules of the game.
That said, although would want to make cash, in order to provide better services and have more cash to finance better projects, bigger teams, etc... don't want to screw end customers over.
Well i'll leave this for more comments now.
