Would you pay for a new AAA Amiga Title?

[direktorn]

AAA game running on an A500? LOL

I'd pay for a OS 4.1 game running PPC and P96 that I'd could run from WB, nothing else.

[OlafSch]

Originally Posted by direktorn

AAA game running on an A500? LOL

I'd pay for a OS 4.1 game running PPC and P96 that I'd could run from WB, nothing else.

"or a OS 4.1 game running PPC and P96"

me not

[desiv]

Silly question really.. ;-)

If its a great game, it's worth paying for.
Doesn't matter if it's for a console or a PC or a phone or a retro system.

I buy new games for my Vectrex and Atari 7800, so for the Amiga, sure..

Of course, price will make a difference.

There are great games available for the Vectrex that I won't buy just because they cost too much for me. Now, I'm not saying they aren't worth it. They are incredible looking. But I don't pay that much for games on any system.

However, if a game is fun, good quality and in my price range, it'd be silly to say "well, I know I'd enjoy it, but since it's on the Amiga, I'm not buying..." ;-)

[amigapd]

What is the motivation for charging for the game - if it is to make money then it is highly unlikely to be a commercial success as even if the game is of good quality it is still only likely to sell in small numbers possibly double figures but not in the 100s or 1000's. This might not even be financially viable if the game is to be packaged in a box on real disks with manuals etc.

I think it is unlikely there will ever be a true AAA game such as SWOS - Chaos Engine - Turrican - Lotus made for the amiga now as those projects needed large teams working on the game for 6 months to a year - such projects are not financially viable and if you are reliant on hobbyist their commitment levels cannot be relied on over such as long period of time.

The only games most likely to be completed on the amiga now are going to be simple 5 min mobile phone type of games such as fruit ninja or greedy mouse or updates of old arcade games such as root beer tapper or drop zone. These games are either free or charged at under a £1 to download for a phone so it would be unlikely Amiga gamers would pay even historic budget prices of £4.99 to £9.99 for these type of games.

It would be fantastic to have new AAA games - but when was the last AAA game released on the Amiga 500 or Amiga 1200?

I guess the more interesting question is would you pay £x for this game - then you would know if it is worth continuing with the project as a commercial one.

The brilliant Alien Fish Finger game has currently raised £174 over 2 / 3 years on its just giving page - which is worth considering when thinking about pricing and quality of game individuals are happy to pay for.

[Calabazam]

AAA, is it not the chipset that should have come after AGA?

[dlfrsilver]

with money everything is possible.

[Paul_s]

Calabazam is right... 'AA' or as better known 'AGA' game. AAA was never released commercially!

[mikrucio]

Originally Posted by amigapd

What is the motivation for charging for the game - if it is to make money then it is highly unlikely to be a commercial success as even if the game is of good quality it is still only likely to sell in small numbers possibly double figures but not in the 100s or 1000's. This might not even be financially viable if the game is to be packaged in a box on real disks with manuals etc.

I think it is unlikely there will ever be a true AAA game such as SWOS - Chaos Engine - Turrican - Lotus made for the amiga now as those projects needed large teams working on the game for 6 months to a year - such projects are not financially viable and if you are reliant on hobbyist their commitment levels cannot be relied on over such as long period of time.

These days yes, teams of 50 -100

but not for such a simple system such as the Amiga.
Even the biggest games on the Amiga were only made up of about 5 guys.
over about 1 year. don't forget Another World was made by ONE guy. over 2 years.

[TCD]

Yes, but those people were working on their games every day. If you're working on the title anyway, but you have nothing to show, why you start a poll about who would pay for it without any information about the game itself? That's like asking if I'd pay for a new kind of food without telling me if it's served hot or cold, meat or vegetable, spicy or sweet...

[amigapd]

Originally Posted by mikrucio

These days yes, teams of 50 -100

but not for such a simple system such as the Amiga.
Even the biggest games on the Amiga were only made up of about 5 guys.
over about 1 year. don't forget Another World was made by ONE guy. over 2 years.

Yes but what is the motivation for charging?? - although 42 people have said they would pay - this would probably drop to 20 at best when game is released - if sold at £15 would give you £300 total sales revenue.

This would be £60 per person for a team of 5 for a years work
Or £12.50 for each month for an individual taking 2 years to make a game

All the above figures exclude cost of making manuals / boxes and printing on physical 3.5 disks and postage costs -

If the game is available only a digital download then very unlikely to receive £15 for the game.

If there is a game in development it would make more sense to follow the old shareware model of releasing a playable level and then ask for payment for extra levels or the complete game. Even this model is probably not commercially viable otherwise there would still be lots of new shareware games being made for the amiga.

If the aim is to make money - then making games for phones is probably a better option.

If the aim is to make a great game for the amiga out of love of the system then making it free and changing the game based on feedback from the community would seem a more realistic option.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by amigapd

If the aim is to make a great game for the amiga out of love of the system then making it free and changing the game based on feedback from the community would seem a more realistic option.

I think you could even charge some money for such a game, but you should better expect that you won't make much money with it Your aim should clearly be to make the game, not money A kickstarter is still an option if you're not sure about the 'financial situation'.

[dlfrsilver]

i'm sure kickstarter would make it.

[mikrucio]

Meh it probably should have been a who's got what system quiz.

I know that I have to make my game Amiga 1200 compatible now. lots more
A1200 owners out there than I thought.
Iv got an Amiga 500.

[turrican3]

t-zero - napalm - unreal -brian the lion cd32 -flink - kid chaos -leander - z-out - disposable hero - settlers - slamtilt - lotus 3.
thnigs like that but all with cdda, big intro, big style.
i gave you 12 , 3 is not enough.
ps : chaos engine and turrican serie. nearly all these games have good game play, good music and good intro, this is the minimum for a AAA.
you did a game with this quality and i'm ready to buy any one.

[gimbal]

Games developed for such an old platform are developed out of love for that platform and not for commercial purposes. I wouldn't understand it at all if you would put a price tag on it, I'd expect you to make it free and more easily spread the love.

If you want to make money, do so on current platforms. There is a whole generation of gamers out there that are actually ready to play the old style games, give them the ability to do so!

[Marcuz]

Seriously, Mikrucio's question may be upside down, but I do not understand equally people "expecting" a new game to be free because whatever.

Is it work to create it? Yes it is. So it completely in the right of its developer to decide if his work can be monetized or better spent doing something else if it cannot be.

But if one decides that he wants to do the work on a obsolete platform, even out of his love for it or because some specific reason inherent the platform or its public, I fail to see why it should be give necessarily freely based on the obsolescence.

Of course to hope to become rich or even cover the work expenses is a bit too much, but to be expected to provide work for free, no matter who mikrucio is or what the game would be, is really demeaning.

[gimbal]

We'll just have to agree to disagree We'll have a group hug later.

[discomeats]

Personally I don't see any problem with charging money for a game. There's quite the cottage industry for various systems.

Now I have seen some utterly optimistic things sold when better things are given away free, and also some fairly idiotic nonsense, but still; I can't imagine the sales for any old system are enough of an income to warrant going to AAA production values. You got more chance trying to score micropayments on iOS/android or whatever.

But who knows, maybe someone is working on an amazing title right now but keeping secret till it's done

[Marcuz]

Agree to disagree? all right, no prob, but still I have not heard a reason behind your (and other people) position, that doesn't revolve around: since it's dead, it's free, and to ask for money is a rapine.

And sorry if I'm going OT, but I guess this was more or less OT from the start...
I do employ my time (also) on developing a game, with a coder, for contemporary platforms.
The coder works on the engine since a couple of years I guess and I since roughly a year.
I do design, story and actual graphic, so narrative, which happens to be also the content of my profession, but it could be not and it would not change anything with the game getting out, as still it, the game, would be valued, or not, and tied to whatever perceived pricetag, because of what it would be and not because of what I may do.

So I put tons of hours in this game and tons still are required, not because it's a cash cow, because it will be not, but because I really want to do the game, right. Does that mean that I should give my time for free? I don't see how, in whatever way my interest in the game or the platform for which the game is intended factor in the equation.

Ok, offer and demand balance: so if the demand is limited the work should be free? Demand don't even exist yet before the desire for a product is created!
On this very board there are news about products sold in 2013 for emulators only! And people evidently spend money on that!

Yeah I agree to disagree, all right...

[alkis21]

For the record, I totally agree with Marcuz. Whether you want to pay for something or not is your right, but you cannot expect from anyone to give you something he worked for for free.