Escaped the Plantation

So, when I started making games 25 years ago, there was no such thing as an "indie scene", every game was done by "small teams" and almost every game was "innovative", because there was no one pointing their pretentious fingers stating otherwise.

As time went on, games got bigger, teams got bigger, budgets got bigger, but I'm not sure if every part of games got better. The games I was working on in particular seemed to be ever increasingly focused on "popcorn moments", big spectacle that's largely non-interactive. I spent the majority of my time on my last game, as a cinematographer. The "powers that be" didn't care about the "game" part of the game, they mainly cared about epic moments and schedules. Then, when they did care about the game, they decided they knew more about tuning a game than a 20-year vet who's mainstay was tuning million-unit sellers. The game turned out okay and of course got unfairly slammed by the press, but that's a subject for another blog ("When Producers and Publishers Get in Their Own Way" and "Reviewers, Jaded and Loving It")

Another game was a license where, sure on the surface it seemed like you could make a game of it, but in reality, if you were to do the license justice you wouldn't be making some cliche-riddled shooter. I never wanted to be on this project, and said as much, but inherited the mess and tried to make a go of it. When it was obvious that it was gonna be a lot of hard work and end up being "okay" and slammed by the public (because that's what asshole smarty-pants reviewers and sniping little pricks on forums do), I had to get away from that. (Heh, another article, "Wasting Your Time Making Other People's Properties Great")

Feeling quite burnt from the past 6 years at The Collective, with perpetual crunch, no appreciation for the effort and obviously nothing interesting or exciting coming down the pipe except more B-level licenses, I thought, "well, might as well go back to a big publisher." Enter Rockstar San Diego, an experience so non-eventful, I don't even put it on my resume, even though it was 8 months out of my life I'll never get back. (Granted Midnight Club: LA looks like it's coming along).

Completely discouraged by what games and game development had become, I thought, "must be time for me to get out." It's a sad thought, but it happens to people all the time. Many a talented (and even more untalented) people "give up" on the videogame buisness, every day.

• Some people leave because it's not all fun and games, like it looks like from the outside.
• Some people leave because it's not the safe haven for wanna-be novelists, directors, Pixar animator wanna-be's or the "I have an idea, I can do that better" people who have been "playing games for years".
• Some people leave because they realize their time is up. They're out of ideas, have no passion for the work and just want to "move on".

Most people leave because the machinery that runs the "business" side of the videogame business is broken. It's run largely by people with the wrong understanding of games and a total reactionary approach towards customer service. Notice I didn't say they had the wrong motivations. Anyone that doesn't think the business should expand and make money is an IDIOT. Yes, you with the need to be this bullshit "starving artist martyr" are an idiot. The very thing that you love would go away if it weren't for its expansion into "casual" or "sports jocks" or whatever genre that's mass market that you don't like. You wouldn't be able to sustain an enviable lifestyle if it weren't for the EA's of the world, so STFU and let them do what they do, as long as they don't impede on what you do...

(deep breath)

So... where was I? Oh yeah, quiting the biz. So, there I was, thinking of doing the deed, when it occurred to me; I made games by myself before. I'm not some chump that needs a giant team to make a game. But how can I sustain a wife and twins on the way in Orange County off of some side project?

Enter XBLA.

Seeing "little games", "indie games" flourish on a console was just the light I needed... the path was shown to the Underground Railroad! Freedom was ahead, just head for the river, go north and don't look back!

So, I contacted a friend of mine, Simon Hallam, programmer-extraordinare, ex-RARE dude and come-to-find-out, an inventor/designer/producer. His game, Wik: Fable of Souls, was on XBLA (as well as PC), and was doing pretty well. Well enough for the 360 to be a viable platform for Reflexive. My intention was to get advice from Simon, but it ended up being beneficial for all parties to join Reflexive and help bring their next project, Axiom Overdrive, to XBLA.

Here we are, 18 months later and I'm still "indie". It's been eye-opening to see a different side of the biz. It's also been rejuvinating to see a lot of "little ideas" pan out for people. It has made me realize that "there are no small games, just small minded people at publishers". I'll be chronicling some of the development of Axiom and other indie games, as well as some of the tirades eluded to in this post here at The Factor.

In the meantime, I've thrown down the cotton, escaped the plantation and hopefully, will never look back...

-Twitch