Cool 360 1.0

Editorial: Xbox Live Indie Games – not built as a money maker

It seems to be a recurring issue of late — Xbox Live Indie Games developers worried about poor sales. Who can blame them when the marketplace is crowded with fart machines, controller vibrators, and cheesy games about picking up women? Even if a game is good, it often gets flushed off the list of new releases too quickly to get noticed. There’s also the glaring issue of very little front page advertising for these games. The Indie Games channel is much more accessible than it initially was in the most recent system update, but even then some developers feel that’s not enough.

What you’ll find after the jump is my opinion, and mine only. It doesn’t represent our staff as a whole, and it’s certainly not meant to offend. Please stay objective as you read, and if you need to vent please take it out directly on me in the comments below. Again, I try to stay objective and neutral, so any stings are unintentional.

Billed as a teaching tool?

When Microsoft first introduced XNA 1.0 back in 2006 it was geared as a framework that would help weekend warriors learn about programming without having to dive head first into a pile of C++ code. XNA was manageable, structured, and supported Microsoft’s robust C# programming language. For the first time people’s own consoles could be used to test their games without any hardware/software modifications. In 2008 Microsoft announced that aspiring developers would be able to share these games with the world. This service, then dubbed Xbox Live Community Games, would open the world to developers and allow them to make a little money in return.

But that’s the thing: a little money. When it was released it felt more like an exploratory thing, something that let us test our mettle and see if we’re any good. Wikipedia cites Xbox Live Arcade’s David Edery in saying it’s “a way for programmers to bring niche experimental games to wider attention without justifying the cost of a full Arcade title with only a limited audience, while still potentially earning some money for the effort.” (their words, not his) But could it be a potential way to make a bankroll? Well, I’m not so sure about making a living, but potentially speaking it could certainly could fund a hobby quite well and maybe pay for some upgrades to your development rig.

The red headed stepchild?