definitions and differences. by aidin zolghadr aidin@aidinzolghadr.com

Definitions and differences.

By Aidin Zolghadr

www.AidinZolghadr.com

Aidin@AidinZolghadr.com

Indie & Casual

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Software Engineer.Garshasp.Hasan Kachal and Secret of The Red Apple.Black Elixir.

About.

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in·die/ˈindē/Adjective:(of a pop group or record label) Not

belonging to or affiliated with a major record company.

(of a movie) Not produced by a major studio: "she's landed herself the lead in an indie horror movie".

Indie, definition.

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There is no exact definition .(McDonald 2005)Individuals or small teams or small indie companies.Usually smaller than mainstream titles.No publisher support and have little to no budget.Lack of money doesn’t affect decisions.Smaller team -> innovation, creativity and artistic

experimentation.Indie doesn’t mean focus on innovation.Is not hobbyist game dev.

If it's cool, creative and different, it's indie! :]

What is indie anyway?!

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Latter half of 2000s.XBLA, Steam, OnLive, etc.Tools such as Flash, XNA.Software Packages: Game Maker.

Rise of indie games.

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Indie as a culture

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Innovation.Freedom.Creativity.Get in the industry.Hobby.

Why would one want to be indie?

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Publisher.Mainstream.Repetition.Lack of creativity.Safe side of the road.Build with business in mind.

Casual

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Game development is NOT easy.Game development is NOT for everyone.Indie game dev is EVEN harder.Competition.Sacrifices.

Some F.A.C.T.S.

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Limbo.Super Meat Boy.World of Goo.Braid.Fez.Minecraft.VVVVV.Nifflas.

Success stories.

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Flash game.840,000 views.Attention of Microsoft and Nintendo.Steam and Xbox 360 versions had sold over

600,000 copies combined.

Super Meat Boy

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Based on sketch of a “mood image of a secret place”.

Personal budget + Danish government grant.Attracted but ignored large publishers.Ignore outside advices to keep the vision.1,000,000 copies sold.

Limbo

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Made the games 4 times.Planned for 2007, released in spring 2012.

Fez

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Narbacular Drop, DigiPen school.Enters Valve."they had actually carried the concept

through“ – Newell.

Portal

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Based on a collection of concept art by one of their employee

Developed the game without a publisher.They have since made enough money, making

them even more independent.Budget … $100,000!

Angry Birds

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Persian.Development expectancy 1 month, actually

took …3 months! :]Post mortem on Saturday.Trailer.

Black Elixir

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Flash: FGL.iOS: Apple Store.Android: Google Play.HTML5: Starting to grow.

Monetization.

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Super Meat Boy.Fez.Braid.

Indie Game: The Movie.

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The only stupid question is the one not asked. – Einstein.

Q&A.

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Consulting.Want help? (Financing, technical, business,

etc)www.AidinZolghadr.comAidin@AidinZolghadr.com

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