A few weeks ago, I promised to compile a list of articles about how to start a Game Studio. After some searching around, I have found a few very nice articles that are out there.
I will update this list as I stumble over more good articles, but keep in mind that I actually read them before posting them, so it might take some time

Anyway, let’s get on to the list!

Starting Your Own Game Company[^] – by Gregg Man. It’s aimed primarily against starting a professional Game Studio, and he has a lot of good advice. But it’s all applicable for an Indie Game Studio too.

How to start and run a computer games company[^] – by Matthew Stibbe. It’s quite old(written in 2001), but it still holds great advice for starting a Game Studio. He focuses mostly on publishing, marketing and finances and what to think about while starting up. A good read for a starting studio.

How To: Create your own game company, Part One[^] & Part Two[^] – by Victor Agreda, Jr. Part one deals mainly with some different resources you should consider when starting up. Lots of good suggestions there. Part two deals with the business part of starting up. Both parts are good articles and he lists tons of links to other related articles and the resources he mentions.

Five Realistic Steps To Starting A Game Development Company[^] – by Jeff Tunnell. A very good guide of how it is to start up as a Game Developer. He starts from the hobbyist stage and work his way up from there.
Be warned though, this article is just a teaser for his upcoming ebook, can’t wait till it’s finished!

The birth of a new game studio[^] – by Daniel Sánchez-Crespo Dalmau. Another 2001 article, but a very good read with loads of good advice. It’s more an account of how they started a game studio than a howto, but that doesn’t make it less valuable.

How to start your own games studio part One[^] & Part Two[^] – by Mark Morris. Part One deals mainly with the decision to start independently and the process of Idea generation, with lots of good advice around how to go about the process. Part Two extends the idea generation and talks about making the prototype of your game. I am looking forward to any future articles in this series from Mark.

An excerpt of what I myself have learned from reading all these articles.

• Use free software where possible, but if you can afford a game engine, it’s highly recommended to buy one. It will save you so much time, it’s without question worth it.
• Build a solid idea and then make a prototype of that idea. It’s while making the prototype you really will discover if this is something you want or are able to do.
• Learn team-building. There are tons of good articles and books about team-building out there, and if you want to start your own studio, you will need all the advice you can get.
• Get someone who knows his/her economics, or try to strike a good deal with an accountant.
• Marketing. You can do viral marketing while building your network, but again, this is usually not too easy without a prototype to show off. I would also recommend joining gamerelease.net[^], it’s cheap and it dumps you right into a already well-developed network of game contacts. And it gives you a way to publish press releases to blogs, RSS feeds etc.
• And last but not least, you need to dedicate your life to this. Game developing takes ALOT of time and resources. You can do it as a hobby, but if you want to make a living from your game studio, it will take most of your free-time. And as Jeff Tunnell put it; Don’t quit your day job!

Hope this list will help you as much as it did me. It’s quite the nice compilation of advice for starting up a game studio. So if you’re still set on starting up, good for you and best of luck to you! And welcome to the life of a game developer.

Gamecareerguide has posted a new Ask the Experts feature post: Ask the Experts: Console vs. PC Development[^] that I find very informative for anyone who wants to start developing indie games.

Consoles might be a nice platform to develop for, when it comes to possible profits, but as Jill Duffy points out, it’s usually alot more expensive to develop for them. In addition, you need to get access to the development ki, which means another money sink AND a meeting with the company making the console; Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft.

Our [Kybernesis] games will be made primarily on PC, and maybe ported to consoles when we can afford it. Cause I have the same philosophy as the panelists mentioned in the feature points out in the end. Keep costs to the minimum… At least in the start-up phase!

Gamasutra has also posted a Postmortem: How Puzzle Quest Saved Infinite Interactive[^] which gives some very good insights into developing Indie games, specifically a casual puzzle game. But their experiences could very well fit any kind of Indie developed game.

There’s an essay @ Gamasutra about gameplay patents[^] by Ernest Adams. Well worth the read!

I agree on the points he make, the US patent-system just don’t work as it is today.. It restricts freedom of creativity which in my opinion is synonymous with restricting creativity. Cause there can’t be any *real* creativity without freedom!

Imagine if everyone and their cat patented all the innovative parts of their game…. On one side, it would demand innovation in games, no matter what! On the other side, it would kill all indie-developers, since only the big companies would be able to afford the extra cost from using someone else’s patent.
Or it would kill all innovation whatsoever! Cause all the big companies would patent their innovations and stick to them, never straying from the patented path. It would be even worse than it is today…

I’m glad it isn’t like this though, and I sure hope they will remove the possibility to patent gameplay in the future.

Oh, and don’t forget programming code!! As Ernest points out, if the creators of all the sorting algorithms that we programmers use today, had patented them.. There would be no effective programming. I shudder at the mere thought…

Gamasutra has posted a talk from GDC: Dave Jones talks about APB[^].
This guy has some really good points!

He talks about how the level grind of the old days-MMO is absolete, or in his own words:

One MMO concept Jones also eschews is the traditional level grind. “How will people be playing this in six months? What’s going to keep them playing again and again and again?” He asks. “How long will I have to get all the cool stuff and level 99? …I think that’s wrong, it’s broken.”

I couldn’t agree more! There are so many other things one could incorporate into a MMO that don’t involve endless, boring grinding of some sorts..
Like player generated content, player-made stories, player-made communities. Put the player in control, and stop forcing them to blindly play with [the company's] content.
Like he mentions too in his talk:

So Jones eliminated the concept of character levels for APB. “I didn’t want any grinding. It’s a very broken instrument to drive gameplay. It’s customization that’ll drive players.”

The day [Kybernesis] makes a MMO, we’re gonna focus on the same.. Customization, player-created content, making the world so the players make it their own world. And not giving players access to a static world of [Kybernesis'] design.

All MMO’s today brag about being dynamic, persistent, listening to their community.. Granted, MMO’s are persistent, but not all dynamic.. The only dynamic today is when the company decide to release a content-patch or an expansion. Then it just goes back to be static again… Ugh!
It has to stop!

Gamasutra have posted a really interesting interview with Team Blizzard form the 2008 DICE summit in Las Vegas on their site; “DICE: Team Blizzard On Building Its 17 Year Success[^]“.

Coming on Blizzard’s 17th anniversary as a company, the lead team — co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime, game design senior VP Rob Pardo, and product development executive VP Frank Pearce — got together at the 2008 DICE Summit in Las Vegas to reflect, and to discuss how small steps on a long journey helped create a game industry giant.

A lot of good insight and tips in that interview ^^

BionicBadBoi talked earlier about using different kinds of peripherals to manipulate a game in his post; Big Mac versus Microshaft[^].

Today I stumbled over a post @ Gamasutra[^] which peaked my interest considerably, so I ended up on Emotiv’s main site @ Emotiv systems[^].
Take a look at their little video going on the lower left. Now start imagine a game where you have this thing on your head, and a Wii-mote in your hand. Then put yourself inside a game like The Force Unleashed. See where I’m going with this?
Just imagine for a second, the possibility to “think” force powers while fighting with your lightsaber(Wii-mote), and the powers actually activate!

And this is just the first example that dropped into my mind. If this is as real as they say it is(and it sure seems that way) , they might revolutionize gaming completely.. And not to mention everyday computer-use et al.
This is science fiction come real *drool*

With todays different peripheral technology, I’m picturing a future where computer use is controlled mentally and by touch. We already have multitouch screens, and obviously now also a brainwave pattern reader. Who would really need a mouse, joystick, keyboard etc. anymore? Of course, there will always be a need for more conventional peripherals too, like the wii-mote. I at least would appreciate having something to have in my hand while waving around a sword or lightsaber or whatever in a game

Looking forward to see what the industry will do with this! Just hope it won’t be another VR. A short big fuzz and then die away…

I just read this article @ gamasutra; Sony, Activision Skeptical Of In-Game Ad Potential[^]. And I just have make a comment about In-Game Ads(Mostly ranting, not really related to the article;)) …

I have always been pro In-Game ads(dodges the incoming rotten eggs & tomatoes). A lot of peeps don’t really share that view with me. But bear with me..
What I mean with In-Game ads is not ads for “Always Coca-Cola” on the loading screen, or a Huge Ronald McDonald in the background of every splash screen in the game.

My idea of In-Game ads is to incorporate them just like real life ads. On billboards, TVs, public transportation, tagging etc.
I know what most of you will say to this.. “But that don’t fit in my new innovative fantasy game, Lobster of the Kings!!” And I agree… It could work if you were selective with your ads and managed to incorporate some of it into your fantasy world. E.g. In the faraway land of Nike, they make these incredible magic shoes that make you run faster and longer!!
But then you would have to customize your whole game after ads.. It could work for a little while, but then peeps will be very tired of the magical Nike shoes shoving up in ALL fantasy games in the future.
I guess in fantasy the best option is to put it on a flash screen while the game is loading or something.. Or just scrap that Tolkien-clone#999999999999 and make a Sci-Fi or something new instead

Anyways.. Kybernesis will focus mainly on making Sci-Fi games set in a dystopic Cyberpunk setting. And in this kind of setting, billboards and other kinds of ads are perfect!
Imagine walking around in a Cyberpunk world with huge animated billboards showing ads about Coca-cola or McDonalds. And shortly after you actually see a Coke machine or a McDonalds Restaurant which you can actually interact with. Buying yourself a coke or a burger.

Now that’s what I want with In-Game Ads. And it wouldn’t break any illusions or immersiveness on the players part at all!!
It’s kind of Google AdSense. You can customize the ads so it will fit your website, why not do the same with In-Game ads?

So as I said earlier… I don’t think the In-Game Ads idea should be scrapped, as long as you include into your game cleverly, instead of making it an annoyance!