I played an early build of Shuggy nearly four years ago when some of my colleagues were reviewing Dream Build Play games. Even back then, it was surprisingly cl

I played an early build of Shuggy nearly four years ago when some of my colleagues were reviewing Dream Build Play games. Even back then, it was surprisingly close to a finished game; carrying a coat of polish that was very rare among the other contest entries. It was far and away my favorite game of the competition, so it was hard to watch it from a (pretty far) distance while it struggled to find its way to XBLA. When it finally did land, it didn't make so much as a peep. This is a sad story, but let it serve as a warning: Publishers, just like any party in a business relationship, have their own priorities and motives. You need to understand those of whoever you enter into business with. And furthermore, you need to demand final cut for the key parts of your business, and that includes marketing yourself and your product. If you're not good at something, don't assume that getting another party to do it for you is a panacea. You need to become enough of an expert to know when they are doing you a diservice.