In about six months I will be graduating from the Swedish equivalent of high school. My original plan was to study at the local university, but lately I've been contemplating starting my own game development company, either alone or with one or two friends. I have a fair bit of programming experience, mostly in C++, C# and Python, and I am confident that I can handle the technical side of things. Now, I have to decide which market to target my games at. The games in question will be very simple 2D games that I can complete myself in a few months tops. I came up with the following options: - PC. While appealing in the sense that the upfront costs are zero, what I've heard from others and my own observations indicate that getting games published (and finding buyers!) is very difficult indeed. - Xbox360 Live Arcade. This was the first option I took into serious consideration. The upfront costs are low (around $100 for a Creators Club membership), the language is familiar (C#) and it appears to be relatively easy to get games published and sold through the marketplace. - iPhone. Another option I have considered. Upfront costs seem to be higher here: iPhone/iPod Touch, development kit and a Mac to use for development. These costs are far from insurmountable, though. One downside is that I have to use Objective-C, which I detest. - Android. I know very little about the Android market, so I haven't been able to come to a conclusion as to whether it is worth investing time into. Once again, the upfront costs are a bit higher than the Xbox360 option (I will need to buy an Android phone). Benefits are primarily that I will be able to use a familiar language (Java) and development environment (Eclipse) plus no development kit cost. I would greatly appreciate comments and insight regarding which market to choose. All forms of feedback are welcome. On a side note, I chose to completely disregard Flash games because I simply don't enjoy playing them, and as such I doubt I'd enjoy making one.

In my experience, there is no easy route. I have been looking into this a lot because i'm very interested in working with indie games myself.

I believe iPhone is probably the more lucrative path. They are very accessible to users. I don't think there is much money in PC and Xbox 360 indie games. Just me guessing. I don't have any facts to back it up.

But in general, I think making a living on indie games is tough. But I will embark on that adventure someday. Just have to put together a plan and find some skilled and ambitious people. Currently I work fulltime as a flash game developer, but hopefully I could at least work less.

Thank you for your reply DarkZoulz. I understand that it is difficult. I just figured that since I still live at home I have very little to lose should I fail miserably. Better to take the chance now than later.

I would say that the Indie Games channel on the 360 is your best bet. Ever since they added the user ratings system, it was much easier to get exposure and revenue shot up for some games. Cost of entry is low and it is possible to stand out without having to have a decent following as you do with PC.

Some links for XNA:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22970
http://www.gamerbytes.com/2009/09/xbox_live_rating_system_helps.php

If you are still thinking about making iPhone games, then look at the DragonSDK which allows you to develop apps on Windows. THere are a couple of gotchas with it but it be worth looking into:

http://www.dragonfiresdk.com/index.htm

[Edited by - yaustar on January 22, 2010 8:25:32 AM]

Quote: Original post by yaustar
I would say that the Indie Games channel on the 360 is your best bet. Ever since they added the user ratings system, it was much easier to get exposure and revenue shot up for some games. Cost of entry is low and it is possible to stand out without having to have a decent following as you do with PC.

Xbox360 development is a rather appealing choice to me because it would cost me very little to get started. My primary concern, however, is whether 360 owners are the right audience for the kind of games (simple casual 2D games) I will be making initially. I've got a feeling that the kind of people who enjoy such games buy a Wii instead, while "serious" gamers buy an Xbox or a PS3. :)

Quote: Original post by yaustar
If you are still thinking about making iPhone games, then look at the DragonSDK which allows you to develop apps on Windows. [...]

Interesting! This does cut the costs for iPhone development quite a bit. Thanks a lot! :)

Starting a company is a Business issue, not a Breaking In issue. Moving.

OP, I recommend you read this article:
http://www.igda.org/introducing-games-game-march-2003

I wouldn't get hung up on the Objective-C for the iPhone. I have maybe 3 Objective-C classes that wrap my C++ code and everything else is relatively portable C++.

Where C# means Windows/XBox or bust.

Quote: Original post by Windryder
I understand that it is difficult. I just figured that since I still live at home I have very little to lose should I fail miserably. Better to take the chance now than later.

Definitely do it. Your living costs are low so it it much better to try now rather than when you have a mortgage/family to support. Just be aware that most indie developers make very little money the first couple of years. You usually have to have developed 3 or 4 games before you start to generate enough income to live off. I am not saying it is impossible to have a big hit with your first game but it is far more likely that it will be a slow build. Provided you plan for that you should do fine.

Check out the indie gamer developer forums http://forums.indiegamer.com/. Quite a few indies hang out there and can offer useful advise.

A large percentage of casual gamers are middle-aged woman who play at work or at home. While I can't provide numbers a few developers I know have done quite well doing small casual games and distributing through large web-portals such as bigfish, etc. iPhone is a fairly crowded market, but it is fairly easy to get an app completed and published in short order. Xbox360 is a hardcore platform and most downloadable casual games struggle to become hits. XBLA is essentially closed to indies unless MSFT loves your game idea.

Whatever you decide, commit yourself to completing the games you start. It's a big boost to your credibility if you can show that you took an idea, developed a plan to produce it and executed the plan. Future employers or business partners will appreciate that skill set.

Quote: Original post by kdog77
A large percentage of casual gamers are middle-aged woman who play at work or at home. While I can't provide numbers a few developers I know have done quite well doing small casual games and distributing through large web-portals such as bigfish, etc. iPhone is a fairly crowded market, but it is fairly easy to get an app completed and published in short order. Xbox360 is a hardcore platform and most downloadable casual games struggle to become hits. XBLA is essentially closed to indies unless MSFT loves your game idea.

Whatever you decide, commit yourself to completing the games you start. It's a big boost to your credibility if you can show that you took an idea, developed a plan to produce it and executed the plan. Future employers or business partners will appreciate that skill set.

The PC casual market is where its at to make any kind of living. iPhone has over 100,000 apps now and Xbox indie is filled with lots of crap games. There was an article posted here awhile back about casual portals. While you aren't going to retire to an tropical island by 30 you can do 'alright' having games on BigFish, Playfirst, etc. The casual portals won't just take anything though. There will have to be a fairly high level of polish to them. Whereas I think iPhone/Xbox/Android would be a lot less strict on that kind of thing.

Even if your games don't never go commerical make sure that you finish them. A couple of finished games look better then half a dozen incomplete games.