Thanks a lot for your replies! This is very helpful. I had my suspicions about the difficulties getting Xbox360 players' attention, so I guess I'll drop that idea entirely given what most of you have said about it. iPhone still sounds somewhat promising, but I will definitely have to consider PC again now that I've had a look at Bigfish.

Quote: Original post by Windryder
- 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 can't find the study now but someone did a financial comparison of return vs expenditure for all of these. I can't find it now but maybe you'll have better luck.

You can probably consider doing iPhone & Android based apps together. As some people have mentioned they merely wrap their C++ in a few Objective-C functions/class to make it portable. I believe the Android market is smaller at the moment but it also means that it's a lot like the early days on the iPhone when there were less Apps. Which means that a good one can still stand out. The iPhone seems to have reached an amazing saturation where it's difficult to find anything!

Couldn't you emulate during your initial development for the iPhone/Android handsets as well? It's trickier but would mean a lower initial cost until the handsets come down in price and you can will be able to get used models from eBay. If you're emulating you will need to watch you're memory and processor usage carefully but that's all.

The PC (trying to remember from the study) came out favourably because you don't need to sell as many units as the other platforms to reach the same amount of profit due to the higher price of PC games.

Xbox360; If you're writing for this then you can start on the PC as well. For free. The subscription is only if you want to deploy to the Xbox360 itself. You develop on the PC, then when you think it's time you can get the subscription and begin porting/fixing-issues that are relevant.

Good luck.

Andy

Quote: Original post by NineYearCycle
I can't find the study now but someone did a financial comparison of return vs expenditure for all of these. I can't find it now but maybe you'll have better luck.

Is this what you're referring to? http://www.jeffongames.com/2009/07/is-there-money-to-be-made/

It looks like PC is where it's at for indie startups. Other platforms seem to be a popularity contest.