Whole New Door

Life After Shelf Death

Microsoft has tried to tap this market of small, creative developers through its online Xbox Live Arcade store; the aforementioned The Behemoth is even working on a new game for it. While hits like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved have sprung from the service, the certification process behind Xbox Live Arcade was likened to a "massive, spirit-crushing inertia" by independent designer Jeff Minter, who finished his game, Space Giraffe, four months before it was actually released, thanks to the service's extensive red tape.

Sony's PlayStation Network has received praise from some developers, but the company has not yet shown a particular focus on the service's third-party element, with only a handful of original, independent content available. Nintendo's upcoming WiiWare, however, has been specifically billed to support the natural agility of indie developers, by only loosely restricting content and openly providing development kits. Karthik Bala of Vicarious Visions, convinced that the service would be a gateway for many small developers, praised Nintendo's approach in his session at the 2007 RIT Entrepreneurs Conference. With over 100 projects in development for WiiWare, Bala's statements look like they may have been on the money.

Gaming, Meet Future
There has been speculation that gaming would go digital for years, but only recently has there been a push to make it happen. As more download services spring up almost daily, the possibility of retailers ditching brick and mortar is growing. Before he left Microsoft for EA Sports, Peter Moore said, "Whether it's five, 10, 15, 20 years from now, the concept of driving to the store to buy a plastic disc with data on it and driving back and popping it in the drive will be ridiculous."
It could be as long as Moore said, or longer, but when it does happen, it will bring a very interesting new industry. Is there a downside? Sure, there's no such thing as progress without cost. The feeling of walking into a physical store and browsing its selection is something I personally enjoy, as do many others. But the convenience of an infinite game library seems pretty fun, too, as does the idea of my favorite developers getting more out of the games I like. I'm willing to trade. The question is: Are you?

John Adkins is a freelance writer. He has trouble creating interesting bylines.