I thought you guys and gals might be interested in a feature on shareware that I just read in the latest issue of PC Gamer (UK) - August issue.

The 4-page article (entitled Independents' Day) spends a little too much time delving into the "old days" of shareware with stuff about Doom, Descent, etc, for my liking, but there are also mini-reviews of 3 recent shareware games - Geneforge by Spiderweb Software (89%), Chain Reaction by Monster Studios/Garage Games (72%) and Pleurghburg which is a freeware title by Gaspop Software (81%).

The article is generally upbeat and includes quotes from Jeff Tunnell at Garage Games and Brendon Reville (The Sydney Mystery). There are also honorable mentions for PopCap and Codo Games (Laser Squad Nemesis).

It's good to see more coverage of the scene, although I would still like to see a return to the days when mags like PC Gamer had a regular Shareware Reviews page. Especially when major game publishers these days seem to be releasing more budget re-hashes than new titles.

Well I just did a quick search of the future publishing sites, but the best I could find were these:

Gaming Goes Off the Shelf? (http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/features/default.asp?subsectionid=204&articleid=57422&pagetype=2)

Gaming Goes Off the Shelf? part 2 (http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/features/default.asp?subsectionid=204&articleid=57424&pagetype=2)

Is the article you mention part of this series?

PC Format used to donate a few pages to shareware titles though each barely got more than a few paragraphs of a pretty scathing review. The emphasis ther should be on the words 'used to' I've not bought a copy for quite a while now, but it was one section I noticed had disappeared when I did last buy a copy.

-Z-

No zoggles, the article I'm referring to won't be online yet as it's in the print edition which has just gone on sale this week. It's not related to the ones you linked to, which are a few years old I think.

lol indeed they are - having just noticed the dates of them.

I didn't pay much attention to that as they came up as search results 1 and 2 on a search for 'shareware'. Just goes to show how much coverage shareware games get these days really doesnt it!

-Z-

Yeah it pretty much sums it up doesn't it!

I can't understand why shareware gets no coverage though, when companies like PopCap and Garage Games appear to be doing very well.

I noticed that PC Gamer's disc has 3 shareware demo's on it, including Garage Games' Tennis Critters, which is something at least - but the titles are only mentioned in one paragraph at the back of the mag.

(see my post about advertising in the glossies for a theory) - I think it's all to do with spending advertising money.

Cas :)

PC gamer UK has been really good to us. They gave both our games a full page review, right in there amongst the other full games. In fact, in each issue where our games were covered, we were the highest scoring game! :)

So, its not so clear cut. I dont really know why they gave us such fine coverage, but they did, and we didnt have to buy any advertising at all.

Ill say this much, those reviews were HUGE for buisiness while the mags were on the shelves.... kinda died down once the next issue was reased though... But, theres no doubting the power these mainstream mags have, especially for us little guys.

Ads can get you coverage for sure, but I think you can get a lot of very useful mileage out of good PR too, assuming the game is good to start with. And contacts are a breeze to come by if you look in the right places, such as www.mediauk.com.

Also, I think mags like PC Gamer turn off when they hear the word "Shareware" - they prefer to hear that you're an "independent" software company which sells its games via download.

If you do a PR blitz on your first title you can do it in 3 or more stages -

1) Announcement that a unique new game is in development

2) Announcement that the highly anticipated game is shipping

3) Announcement that thousands of happy gamers have bought the game and are enjoying it for x, y and z reasons.

Even if your first game release won't get you into the glossies, by the time your second title is out and you embark on PR blitz number 2, these people will have heard of your company and will be more likely to take notice.

One positive thing I have noticed about PC Gamer is that they have started printing the odd (small) news article from leading shareware companies, and these are not companies that are advertising in the mag either. Proof that PR does work.

My 2 golden rules of writing press releases:

1) Determine the Unique Selling Point of your product and get it across in the first sentence.

2) Get your Press Release seen by the right person - make sure where possible that your press release is addressed to the name of the appropriate editor/reviewer. Follow up with a phone call to check that they got the press release OK and if they'd like screenshots, or a preview/review copy of your game.

There are more tips on writing a press release here (please note I've never used this guy's services):
http://www.dpdirectory.com/1howtowr.htm

It can be done...look at Uplink - these guys started off on the web, and got a publishing deal seemingly through word of mouth. I never saw them advertise until that publishing deal came along, and by then they'd already been reviewed in most of the big PC mags.

lol you're too modest Mike, you got good coverage because you produce great games :)

Very true FusionLab!! ... but there are other budget titles out there that are pretty damn cool too..... are there not??

Is it simply a case of original budget titles not being good enough? I mean, i accept that most downloadable sub $20 games dont exactly kick ass.

But then, theres plenty big-time full budget titles out there, that are awfull, but still get the page space.

Originally posted by BongPig
But then, theres plenty big-time full budget titles out there, that are awfull, but still get the page space.

True, but only because the publisher physically sends the reviewer a CD with review code on it and a press release (and occasionally butters them up with a few after-work beers).

If an indie took the time to do the same (OK, forget about the beers!), and had a professional-looking web presence to back him/her up, then who knows?

Mike, did you contact PC Gamer first, or did they contact you?

Now that major publishers are releasing fewer PC titles and increasingly looking to games consoles instead, PC games mags are having to look at the wider picture when considering titles to review. I'm sure it's no coincedence that far more foreign publishers are getting their games reviewed in print these days, something that rarely happened a couple of years ago.

The time is ripe for (r)evolution, my friends. :)