Talk:Video game industry practices

Roll into main article & POV
This is a good article, but I think it should be rolled into the video game industry article. Also, the first and last paragraphs seem a tad POV. I took a shot at non-POV-ing them, but they could still use some work. Anyone interested, please take a shot. What does everyone think about adding this to the video game industry article instead of keeping it a seperate article? &mdash;Frecklefoot 15:23, 3 Feb 2004 (UTC)


 * Tricky one... it's a good article, but terribly POV and doesn't apply universally so probably not ideal for video game industry. What do you do with a good article that belongs in the "opinion" section of a magazine?  Not sure it's good for WP, but also might be a shame to lose it ... no idea.  Mat-C 05:30, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Yes, it is highly POV. Sounds like it was written by a disgruntled video game programmer. Though it is POV, it'd be nice to take a shot at NPOV-ing it and putting it into the video game industry article. NPOV-ing wouldn't be too hard; it would just require putting in "some claim that..." and so forth. This article could then be redirected to the main video game industry article. How does that sound? I'll try to get around to NPOVing it if someone doesn't beat me to it. &mdash;Frecklefoot 16:29, Apr 23, 2004 (UTC)

This is my first time editing the Wikipedia, so someone should probably double check this. I made a lot of edits trying to get a more NPOV (but may just be my POV). And I also added parallels to the music industry. After it's double checked, it can be redirected to a section in the Vide game industry page. -- ktheory 18:34, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Spurious addition
Drbug made a curious addition to the article. I copyedited it and here it is:


 * In the PC games industry, it is easier to create a startup, resulting in many successful companies. The console games industry is a more closed one, and a game developer must have up to three licenses from the console manufacturer: the developer must have a license to develop games for the console, the publisher must have a license to publish games for the console, and also there must be a separate license for this game. In addition, the developer must usually buy development systems from the console developer in order to even develop a game for consideration.  Therefore, the developer normally has to have a publishing deal in place before starting development on a game project.  And, in order to secure a publising deal, the developer must have a track record of console development, something which few startups will have.

While it's accurate, I didn't really think it was relevant to the article. If someone thinks it is, and can work in a connection, please do so. The paragraph is still in the article, just commented out, so you don't have to cut 'n' paste the above paragraph. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 20:40, Jul 30, 2004 (UTC)


 * I agree that my wording is not the best, implying some political non-NPOV, but it seems to me that practices in the PC game industry and the console game industry significantly differ, and this is more worth to be mentioneed than shareware/freeware games that are not a part of the industry indeed. Most text of the article relates to the PC games industry only, and I think it would be good to somehow mention this... Dr Bug (Volodymyr V. Medeiko) 21:01, 30 Jul 2004 (UTC)


 * I'm not an expert in the video game industry, but it seems that the neccessity of this entire page is questionable. A lot of the topics covered in Practices are mentioned in Video game industry. DrBug, I think your paragraph would make more sense on the Video game industry page than here. I couldn't find any other media industries on WP that talked about "industry practices". The topic strikes me as vague. So, I suggest some of the content here could get rolled into the Video game industry page, and then this page can get deleted.

Need new section for TOC
I copyedited the new Japanese section, but, after fixing it, I noticed there is now a Table of Contents (since now there are more than three sections). The problem is, it is way too far down in the article. A new section needs to be added near the top so that the TOC is more properly placed. I couldn't find an elegant way of adding a new section for this better placement. Can anyone else? &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 15:16, Sep 13, 2004 (UTC)
 * It should be in its own article if you ask me. :-) --Tom Edwards 13:46, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Digital Distribution
Shareware and OSS are starting to be joined by online distribution as an alternative to the publisher model for AAA games, a theory backed up by developer rants about the crippling state of the current distribution model being two-a-penny. I would write something myself, but I'm not confident it wouldn't end up biased. --Tom Edwards 07:55, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

Developer-publisher profits
Something else missing is the proportion of game sales that a developer typically receives compared to publishers. --Tom Edwards 13:43, 29 July 2005 (UTC)

How much to produce
An anon user inserted this "question" into the article:


 * I need infomation on how much it costs to prduce a game

I reverted the edit, since that question belongs here. Now, I will wax eloquent:

There is no set price to develop a game: some cost $100's, some cost million$. Most of the games you see on store shelves cost in the $100,000s and low $millions. The cost to develop any game depends on many factors.


 * What type of game is it?
 * What platform will you target?
 * What is your timeline?
 * Who will do the work?
 * What language will you use?
 * How much work is there?
 * What kind of features will it have?
 * Will you use an engine (or several)? What are their licensing fees?

For example, a cutting-edge CRPG can cost in the low $100,000's. A cutting-edge RTS may cost more. A MMORPG will cost in the $millions&mdsah;easy. During development, play balancing must be done, which further augments development time.

For modern games, art is the biggest chunk of the budget (it used to be programming). Developing a cutting-edge game in a timely manner will require a large art staff, programmers to develop or augment tools and a development pipeline. All this stuff is do-able, but not always easy. Some game engines specify the development pipeline, some do not.

But that is professional games. Indie development can be done any old way you want. Have a PC? Have a compiler and some other tools? Have at it! The guys at Popcap Bejewelled made millions on a simple Java game.

If you have a more specific question, you might get a more specific answer. &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 19:12, August 26, 2005 (UTC)

Accidental edit
Apologies to all - I just accidentally changed the categorisation on this article. Please can a bureaucrat revert? 81.86.104.187 08:55, 20 September 2005 (UTC)


 * I saw it an reverted it. It's easy to revert articles.  Just click on the "Page history" link (it may have a slightly different name, depending on your skin).  All the edits for the page will be displayed.  Click on the ones you want to see or the version you want to revert to.  When the version you want is displayed, click "Edit this page."  When the edit page comes up, type in a description for your change and hit the "Save" button. :-)   &mdash; Frecklefoot | Talk 16:08, 20 September 2005 (UTC)

You're merging this into the wrong article
Surely this should be merged into Computer and video game industry, rather than Computer and video games, to which it seems to bear little relevance.

Do I have permission to remove the tag for computer and video games and point this one to Computer and video game industry instead? --82.7.125.142 23:29, 10 January 2006 (UTC)