Gaming isn’t the way it used to be, that’s for sure. Back when the first games were made it was by nerdy little lads in basements tinkering with primitive computers in an effort to create a game that didn’t involve using a board or a die.
These days it’s all about the money, that much is a given and as consumers we’re all aware that the companies who produce our gaming products exist to make money. We understand it, we accept it.
That being said, it’s not all rosey and it’s actually quite a horrid business to be in, well, according to Renegade Kid’s co-founder Jools Watsham.
Watsham recently took place in a live show with the lads over at Nintendo Enthusiast where he gave some insight into what it’s like trying to just get your game onto a store’s shelf, never mind actually making it.
“I like retail. As a customer I love buying games in boxes, always have and always will but I know the reality of what goes on behind the scenes and what it takes to get a game on the shelf and it’s ugly and it’s really lame.”
Watsham continues by saying that “it’s some person at Walmart or Target who knows very little about games, or maybe they know a lot, but it’s still just some person deciding what games go on the shelf, not the players who decide what goes on the shelf, it’s someone else.”
He then goes on to state how ridiculous the state of gaming is and that it’s not fair that gamers aren’t the ones who dictate what they buy, but instead it’s all down to the retailers to decide what games are given precious shelf space.
“It’s ridiculous that someone else is deciding what we’re allowed to buy in the stores and it’s the same at Gamestop and it’s really annoying because I love buying games in boxes, but, it’s an ugly business so it’s not surprising that it’s dying because it’s a disaster, always has been, always will be.”
To be fair, it’s not hard to see where he’s coming from. Sure, it’s got to be depressing to see that a store has only ordered a handful of your games because the pre-order numbers aren’t through the roof, but on the other hand, retailers are in the business of making money, too.
Watsham goes on to say that he thinks that the indie revolution that the industry is experiencing is a good thing and that by being able to self publish across multiple platforms, these indie developers are becoming more “legit” and are starting to take the place of traditional third-party publishers as more and more of the big-boys move towards mobile.
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