No more bemoaning the lack of "shareware game publishers", please. It hardly makes sense to be doing this on a forum devoted to *independent* game developers.

Yes, it can be a big, scarey Internet out there, but it's easier to self-publish your indie games *now* than at any previous time.

Have faith in yourself and your ability to learn and adapt. Don't be worried about all the things you don't know right now. Do what you know to do, and do it as best you can. Focus on improving incrementally, a little here, a little there.

See the possibilities. They truly are endless.

-David

PS Is it obvious I've been reading The Book of Five Rings (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0595230067/davidrmsoftwa-20) lately??? ;)

Well, I think there's utility in exploring a number of different options. If tweaking your games to get them right is good, then tweaking your delivery mechanisms, product mix, production process, marketing methods, and long-term strategy is even better. Delivering one game via popcap, for example, could potentially pay for the development of several more that you sell on your own site.


In somewhat related news, there are some interesting results (http://www.angusreid.com/media/dsp_displaypr_us.cfm?id_to_view=1738) out from a survey done by Ipsos-Reid, a global marketing research firm. In part, their findings indicate that in 2002:

- 72% of American adults reported having gone online at least once in the previous 30 days (up from 59% in 2000 and 1999);
- Globally, 68% of Internet users report having sent or received pictures or videos;
- Nearly two-thirds (62%) of Internet users have purchased a product or service online, up dramatically from 36% of respondents in 2000;
- 44% report having downloaded a music file;
- 38% played a video game online (up from 31% in 2000 -- interstingly 59% of South Koreans and 58% of Chinese played online in 2002);
- 37% conducted an online financial transaction.

To me, this says that both finding content (games, pictures, etc.) and buying things online are quickly becoming mainstream. 37% may not seem like much, but it's well within the "everybody's doing it" territory (for example, when "everyone" sees a movie like Jaws or Star Wars, the percentages of people who could have seen it and actually did are typically in the 30-40% range).