Notgames Forum

The developer knew that but he thought it was the best way to portray the hardlife of the cartlife.

While he can have a point, in the game there are some strategies to make the game easier (but pretty much not a single clue), and the feeling of always being loosing, or that I'm doing everything wrong turned me off.

Some people got the "poetry" of making it that hard, I didn't, just a matter of perception and opinion I guess.

I don't have a problem with cart life (except the music ) ...

my point was that (in general) the consumption of any game requires you to jump some hurdles (mechanics, controls, installation etc). That make games a hard sell to the "masses". There must be a really good reason for me to start a new game...

These look interesting

Kairo
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=600

Lone Survivor
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=547

Molto Vivace
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=1047

I think I will try at least the demos ...

Please do say any recommendations. I have been going over the list a few times but I can miss things

Not too charmed by the amount of games which I would actually care to play, sadly, but then, 'twas ever thus. A handful games worth voting for, this year, but I miss that tingling sensation of 'this is new!' Of course that is my own fault by having played quite a few of my favourites already, some in previous form.

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/12/06/valve-to-offer-igf-finalists-steam-distribution/#more-134557

At first, it sounded good that IGF Finalists could get distributed with the help of Steam/Valve...
But if I think of it, I am not convinced at all that it is a good idea.

Since I make my games without a buisness model in mind, they can get very off-mainstream and are really not
suitable for a steam distribution. Steam is gamers land!

How does that decission influence the judges? They might think, hm, that stuff is not suitable for steam,
it should not become a finalist?

Am I exaggerating here? Maybe...

I liked Valve much better when they just curated Steam.

Whether the games will or will not be published on Steam literally has no influence on me.

I also preferred them to curate Steam or to have Greenlight as a 2nd option if the game is not selected. Though to be fair I suspect Dinner Date only got on Steam because of the IGF to begin with.

Greenlight is yet another way to make popular things more popular. Which is the exact opposite of what civilization needs.

Even random curation would be better than letting the masses decide on everything.

I played Kairo until the very end, although I can't quite vouch for it being anything other than a competent, atmospheric procession of puzzles whose combined meaning eludes me still. Last I heard, and given the turn taken in the discussion here, the developer was also struggling to have his game on Steam using that bulwark of democracy they call Greenlight. I'm fairly certain that he hasn't yet. Somehow I'm convinced that a few years ago, and with the old system, Perrin would have made the cut.

I think so too.
I hope Valve soon sees the error they have made and cancels Greenlight.
Otherwise we need an alternative.

At first, Steam educated their clientele on the specifics of a certain philosophy of game playing/consuming which showed them the threshold of what was considered acceptable to that platform. By transferring the power of choice to users, after presenting them with a foolproof example, they have no doubt smoothed the crude edges of their discernment, the same weaknesses - from a corporative viewpoint that is - that enabled certain games, however unusual or unsuccessful in the end, to rub shoulders there with the best-sellers and games-of-the-year. In one fell swoop, the option to create a user-sustainable system alleviated the company itself from any form of risk taking, which so far was an integral part of any form of business, except for the contemporary banking practices; and made it more appealing to users who, unwillingly, began giving away for free the best form of market probing and research there exists, meaning the system itself establishes which products are sought-after the most in order to, again, lower the risk factor and expenses to a record minimum.

As such, throwing developers into the lion's den - which at times may not seem that wild an analogy if one cares to look further - is deemed acceptable for the sake of elevating and perfecting their profit turning mechanism. Greenlight or no Greenlight, the necessity for an alternative seems as urgent today as it did before: not necessarily one of proportionate size or growth rate, but one that can ensure stability for both ends, meaning developers and online retailers, to reach a juster agreement.

That is a truly remarkable point, Bruno!

Arguably the reason Steam takes a share of the profits is more than just the maintenance costs; it is because it is a curator of sorts and it takes risks on games as well as taking time and effort to select them. But they are now here, as with the Team Fortress hats, becoming a 'marketplace' which takes a heavy cut for providing rather than managing. I am all but certain they themselves see this as a great positive.

Curating the list would be important but is difficult with the wild-growth of games. It would befall small authors (such as your good self) to advice; but the audience to be reached with that is microscopic next to being in the featured box on Steam. Audience wisdom of the field could also help but is a pipe dream.

To be fair we regularly discuss this. I think a 'notSteam' and a 'notAudience' are like a chicken and egg scenario where we have chicken nor egg to begin with.

As is yours, my good friend. Perhaps there is a reason why we return to this tired question over and over. Even if we're to meet some form of resolution to this predicament in times to come, that doesn't seem to be of much reassurance to those who could do with some help at the moment. In this business, for the lack of a better word, the time is always now.

Realigning myself with the topic at hand, I hoped to find mention of Cheongsam at IGF this year, although I realize it must still be too soon for a working prototype to be delivered. I trust all is moving swiftly through the course?

Cart Life won the grand prize. Gratulation!

http://igf.com/2013/03/gdc_2013_cart_.html

Oh well... it figures. Cart Life is right up that sort of crowd's alley. At least they got the nominations right for the most part this year, so I can't complain. And good old Kentucky earned some deserved recognition.

The question remains: who won the "Best Narrative" award?