Play – Page 406 – StuffWeLike

Licenses Are Sweet Deals

Pirates of the Caribbean 2: The Legend of Jack Sparrow currently has a 66% average rating on GameRankings.com. The game is horrible but what’s worse is that the game could easily sell 1 million units over its lifetime.Â

A few weeks ago Majesco reported that Jaws Unleashed sold over 100,000 copies!Â Consumers buy what they know. It’s a smart business if we are able to obtain a license deal to make a video game. You pore in a couple million in development roughly 18 months and you’ve made a profit. It doesn’t really matter the quality of the game. What really matters is whether or not the IP has a large fan base in which some are gamers.Â

Will the quality of movie titles ever increase? The Lucky 8-Ball says No. Why? Why should developers take their time on a product that will sell no matter the quality? That’s the answer. No consumers will never learn. They will think twice if the game costs more then $50, but usually games with 18month development cycles can be spared from the high-end price point.Â Â

If you really want to own a licensed game, particularly from movies, wait until the game is in the bargain bin for $10-$20 unless the game is actually good. Save yourself some money and screw the developer that put out this title.Â

Movie licensed games usually haveÂ less time on store shelves because the games themselves are created to coincide with the movie’s release. So you are likely to see the price lowered in a few months after its launch.

Business time

http://www.legalzoom.com/

Â If you are serious about selling your game, you will probably be using this domain or others alike. You must form a company whether it be Sole, Partnership, or Corporation. If you don’t know which one is right for you I highly suggest that you do not make a company. Of course you can always look it up on Google. I hope you know at least that much…

Life or Games

Choose now before you join the industry. If your life is games then you’re a perfect canidate, but if you have a life that does not revolve around games think twice. For months if not years, you’ll be eating pizza and donuts, working late at night, and dreaming about the game. If this doesn’t sound fun to you… goodbye.

Yep

‘Yep’ is the evil word. If you have time to say it during the development period, you’re not working on something that you could be doing. ‘Yep’ signifies boredom. Figure out what you can work on and do it!

10 Games on the Indie Games List

Yes the magic number 10 has finally been reached! Considering this blog is only a week old I’d say 10 definitely is a great number. Anyways keep on submitting them and maybe the list will reach 100 games in 9 more weeks… who knows…

Reviews shouldn’t be needed

In the perfect world there would be no reviews. With games specifically it’s rather easy to tell which ones are going to be good or bad. All you have to do is read the description to tell if the game is the genre that you like. Watch the gameplay videos and make sure that the game seems fluid and not choppy. If the game is choppy you should automatically be warry of the game. Either the developer did not take the time to polish the game or potentially the graphics are too powerful for the system.

One of the most important steps is to actually play the demo! Games are meant to be played. Your final judgement should always be based on the demo. Watching videos on the New Super Mario Bros is rather boring but when you sit down and play the game you’re probably playing the most fun video game in years.