If you take the world of novels, for example, a lot of best sellers certainly were not created through marketing and targeting to special kinds of people.
A lot of authors just have inspiration, and write about the world and the story they want to write about, and it just happens to be so good it sells well.

A game is not necessarily that different from a well-written book, except it also requires 3D art, a rendering engine and an implementation of game mechanics.
As an indie you can't really compete on the graphics and rendering quality, but you can surely compete on the universe, plot, and mechanisms, without trying to jump on a specific gap in the market.

It's true, though, that bits of marketing can't hurt. I personally wouldn't like to alter my story to add an homosexual subplot just to add potential buyers, however.

Is there really a thing as too much marketing? I am not trying to be sarcastic, but am really asking.

I have been the victim of not enough marketing, and incorrect marketing (wrong market), but the only downside I can think of too much marketing is wasting money.

I would like to add to the lists above that some games with great graphics have some great features. However, they then have you repeat those same features over and over for 20 hours, which is a bad thing. It is funny people still complain about a game being great, but too short. The fact of the matter is if that same game was longer, people would probably not bother completing it due to repetitiveness.

Don't underestimate the power of good graphics. I agree, everything has to tie-in nicely to be good...graphics, story and gameplay... but first impressions mean alot... if a game "looks" good i will give it a shot by downlaoding a demo... even now with HD and BLU-RAY... I will give movies and shows a shot just because they're HD or on BLU-RAY... but "looks" good is an individual preference. We are attracted to attractive people... imagine a sci-fi show without the token hot-chick or hunky-dude or no visual appeal in special effects...

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Original post by loufoque If you take the world of novels, for example, a lot of best sellers certainly were not created through marketing and targeting to special kinds of people. A lot of authors just have inspiration, and write about the world and the story they want to write about, and it just happens to be so good it sells well.

But the problem I often see from indies is the reverse: there's a fear that they are aiming too niche, and they should change their game to aim more for mainstream tastes. I'm saying that would be a mistake.

But there are cases where I think it would be wise to at least consider who will want your game. If you're making a tradional graphical adventure game (like the Lucasarts or Sierra ones), it's probably wise to drop that hardcore action sequence in the middle, or at least give the option to skip it.

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A game is not necessarily that different from a well-written book, except it also requires 3D art, a rendering engine and an implementation of game mechanics. As an indie you can't really compete on the graphics and rendering quality, but you can surely compete on the universe, plot, and mechanisms, without trying to jump on a specific gap in the market. It's true, though, that bits of marketing can't hurt. I personally wouldn't like to alter my story to add an homosexual subplot just to add potential buyers, however.

Well, I consider actions like shoehorning in extra subplots that don't fit to be an example of bad marketing decisions. You would be sacrificing a strong marketing point - a single cohesive artistic vision - for a bland mishmash driven by a superficial understanding of how the market works. Not that it doesn't happen all the time [rolleyes].

I certainly don't think you should compromise on your core vision for a game. But there's plenty of softer decisions in making a game that won't affect that. If you're making a story strong game it probably won't hurt to make a decision like "I'll aim for DirectX 7 since I think my customers won't have fancy video cards, and I don't have time to play around with graphical effects".

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Original post by vetroXL Don't underestimate the power of good graphics. I agree, everything has to tie-in nicely to be good...graphics, story and gameplay... but first impressions mean alot... if a game "looks" good i will give it a shot by downlaoding a demo... even now with HD and BLU-RAY... I will give movies and shows a shot just because they're HD or on BLU-RAY... but "looks" good is an individual preference. We are attracted to attractive people... imagine a sci-fi show without the token hot-chick or hunky-dude or no visual appeal in special effects...

I still argue "it depends on who you're going for". Good graphics are certainly nice to have, but you have to weigh up the costs. Every dollar or day you spend on graphics is a dollar or day you could have spent on something else.

Spiderwweb Software's RPGs are not much to look at, but they still make enough money for them to survive full time. Jeff Vogel from Spiderweb mentions this decision in his blog. The argument basically is he's decided not to complete on graphics at all. He could spend a fair bit more money making his functional graphics a bit less rough around the edges, but the people who care about graphics will still find it ugly, and the people who don't care, won't care either way.

nice, finally we have a real discussion going on here, exactly what I wanted :D

I have to agree with almost everyone here, everyone states what in my opionion are valid points. Graphics can determine potential try outs, they can improve the polished feel of your product, and they even can supplement when a game has a bit less gameplay wise. But in terms of being an Indie Developer those are not the main reasons I guess, its cost and time, which sound like very valid points. Time is needed, and there is very little of it. Production cycles are shorter, and need to be shorter, time is money, money is not very abundant for Indie Developers, it is something they do not have, at least not as much as EA or the next.

Marketing is always needed, alas in a more focused way because Indie developers dont have the mass money to throw away on this like other big companys can and will do.

thk - Thanks for your link, I will read it and get back to it ASAP. Am at work now but in dire need of a break ;) Thanks!