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>I'm not sure there is much of a demographic of people who are "indie gamers" , most people who play indie games also play AAA games, so a console for Indie gam

by learc83 14y ago

>I'm not sure there is much of a demographic of people who are "indie gamers" , most people who play indie games also play AAA games, so a console for Indie games only doesn't seem like it would have a huge target market. It looks like they are trying to take the PC indie game market and bring it to the TV. It doesn't matter if indie gamers also play AAA games, the point is (and what I was replying to) that people who play indie games, of whom there are many, are willing to overlook graphics for gameplay. >that huge a deal especially considering there are also ports of android for x86 Almost anything resource intensive is done with the NDK which is in C/C++, if they used x86 almost no Android games would play out of the box. >Couldn't this be mostly done by using a motherboard from a laptop or similar? It could be done, yes. But at significantly more expense. Think about the price of a mobo, CPU, GPU and RAM. You can get an arm SOC with all the above included for less than $25--that's how they're able to sell these things for $99. >Indie developers are unlikely to develop around a platform that does not already have significant user base. That's why the $99 price tag is such a big deal, hopefully it will help them reach critical mass. Additionally since it runs android, developers can develop for it as well as touchscreen android devices with almost no extra effort (for non touchscreen essential games). >...developed around the 360 first because it already had a significant market. X-box primarily attracted indie developers b/c they made it easier for them than any other console. But the PC has way more indie games than the X-box because it is even easier to develop for and distribute (even though there are way more console gamers than PC gamers).

jiggy2011 14y ago
I guess the point is , why would I buy one of these instead of or in addition to an xbox360. Just being slightly cheaper won't really do it. Most indie games don't really sell very well and the ones that do will be ported, Indie games generally also have the advantage of being very easy to port, especially if you use SDL for the graphics. Plus anybody who's into really obscure Indie games probably has a PC already. The advantage AAA consoles have is that they can provide high end PC level graphics for much less money than a high end PC because the are subsidesed. They might have more luck making something for the casual gaming market and consentrate on making an innovating controller that works well for exiting android touch screen games but can be used at a distance from the screen.
- learc83 14y ago
  >why would I buy one of these instead of or in addition to an xbox360 They've just passed $1,000,000 on kickstarter, so it looks like around 10k people have decided to buy one. >The advantage AAA consoles have is that they can provide high end PC level graphics for much less money than a high end PC because the are subsidized. That's not really true except for the first year they come out. After that PC hardware outpaces them, and the only advantage is that it's easier to use and it sits in your living room. Look at the Wii, it wasn't anywhere near PC level hardware even when it came out. In fact the next gen of consoles won't really be faster than top of the line PCs even when they debut. The developer is arguing that the advantage consoles have is TV access (easy TV access). So she's looking to combine the TV access of a console with the ease of development of a PC. And it looks like there is a sizable number of people who agree with her. Look at the sales so far. 10k units presold in a few hours, the X-box 360 only sold 300k units its first month in North America, and that was with a huge advertising campaign and an actual product on store shelves. They also don't need to beat x-box, I'd wager that almost anyone who would buy this will buy it in addition to X-box. From the results, clearly there's a market here. >Indie games generally also have the advantage of being very easy to port, especially if you use SDL for the graphics. Why wait for the game to be ported when this thing is only $99. >Just being slightly cheaper It's half the price of the cheapest 360, and there's no xbox live subscription fee. The average game price will be much cheaper as well. The other thing I think you're missing, is that most of the I know run out of games to play. If this thing is just provided 10% extra content over what they have now, they'd spend $99.

by learc83 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

I guess the point is , why would I buy one of these instead of or in addition to an xbox360. Just being slightly cheaper won't really do it. Most indie games don't really sell very well and the ones that do will be ported, Indie games generally also have the advantage of being very easy to port, especially if you use SDL for the graphics. Plus anybody who's into really obscure Indie games probably has a PC already. The advantage AAA consoles have is that they can provide high end PC level graphics for much less money than a high end PC because the are subsidesed. They might have more luck making something for the casual gaming market and consentrate on making an innovating controller that works well for exiting android touch screen games but can be used at a distance from the screen.

learc83 14y ago
>why would I buy one of these instead of or in addition to an xbox360 They've just passed $1,000,000 on kickstarter, so it looks like around 10k people have decided to buy one. >The advantage AAA consoles have is that they can provide high end PC level graphics for much less money than a high end PC because the are subsidized. That's not really true except for the first year they come out. After that PC hardware outpaces them, and the only advantage is that it's easier to use and it sits in your living room. Look at the Wii, it wasn't anywhere near PC level hardware even when it came out. In fact the next gen of consoles won't really be faster than top of the line PCs even when they debut. The developer is arguing that the advantage consoles have is TV access (easy TV access). So she's looking to combine the TV access of a console with the ease of development of a PC. And it looks like there is a sizable number of people who agree with her. Look at the sales so far. 10k units presold in a few hours, the X-box 360 only sold 300k units its first month in North America, and that was with a huge advertising campaign and an actual product on store shelves. They also don't need to beat x-box, I'd wager that almost anyone who would buy this will buy it in addition to X-box. From the results, clearly there's a market here. >Indie games generally also have the advantage of being very easy to port, especially if you use SDL for the graphics. Why wait for the game to be ported when this thing is only $99. >Just being slightly cheaper It's half the price of the cheapest 360, and there's no xbox live subscription fee. The average game price will be much cheaper as well. The other thing I think you're missing, is that most of the I know run out of games to play. If this thing is just provided 10% extra content over what they have now, they'd spend $99.