[Reprint from my development blog...]

There has been a lot of buzz (again) around Microsoft's attempts to bury anything under their Dashboard that isn't a Zune or Doritos advertisement.

I just don't know what to think about this anymore.  If you've read my post Working for Free then you know that I don't exactly take pleasure in pouring my heart and soul into something without some kind of promise that it will at least payout (even a little bit).  Don't get me wrong I love making video games and that hasn't changed in my 16+ years of doing this, but I can't help but wonder exactly what Microsoft's real intent is with Xbox LIVE Indie Games.

After grinding through a list of ideas, I've come up with a few things that Xbox LIVE Indie Games (XBLIG) is NOT:

(!)A way to promote your name as an indie developer

The fact is that not many people look at this service with rose colored glasses.  It is the bastard child of Xbox LIVE, so much so that they insisted on appending "Indie Games" as if to remind everyone that these are not Real games they are Indie.  Okay, maybe that assessment is a little backhanded but thinking about it.  The title of Indie is both, a way to promote this ethereal concept of cool and not-mainstream while simultaneously apologizing for the crud that sits along side the truly entertaining games.  It was pretty smart on Microsoft to use this title.

To ensure that no one will mistake you for a serious developer, they've gone to great lengths to segregate the Indie games service from the "real" games service.  If you plan to use this service as a way to promote your development skills, be sure to include the 7 step process it takes to find your game.  A video tutorial of navigating the Dashboard menus might help too, oh and a map of Valhalla in case they get lost along the way.

(!)A way to upgrade into "real" games

When I first heard about this service, I started developing games under the pretense that the better quality games are pushed up to the XBLA platform.  Though this is partially true through their Dream.Build.Play contest, it is an event that only happens once a year.  That means that 4 lucky developers out of the hundreds will find their way up to the ranks of XBLA.  Though this is a step in the right direction, I'd like to see a process that would allow more than 4 games per year make an appearance.

(!)A career opportunity

Though there is some weight to saying, "I made a game on Xbox, here's a download code" as part of your resume it doesn't stretch much beyond that.  The skills that you acquire in developing an XNA game are only 5% or less of those you would apply to a true console title.  There are high-level concepts that you don't often deal with on PC, like prompting the user if the controller is pulled out or dealing with the console Dashboard popping up, but the low-down technical knowledge here is not very applicable.

There have been recent claims that the top 50 games have averaged over $100,000 but I am skeptical.  When you have Minecraft clones consuming 50% of the honey pot it doesn't leave much for the other 47 games to fight over.  On top of that, I am certain that the curve on that graph is an exponential decay; meaning the last 30 on that top 50 list have likely made less than minimum wage.  In short, if you are in it to pay your bills and eat food look elsewhere or hope that your Minecraft clone will be ready before the wave has past.

Conclusion

I know that this post sounds like a lot of complaining, but it really is more of a reminder and a warning to those looking to strike it rich whenever they read about some Minecraft clone making $2M or some Avatar abuse game making over $100,000.  The XBLIG market is a fickle ocean of impulse buyers who often follow the trends of whatever happens to be in the top 5 or screaming for their attention through Microsoft promotions.

In spite of all this bashing, I am giving XBLIG one last chance for redemption.  With my book Mind of the Mencist now published on most major marketplaces, I have returned to the Indie games service for one last chance in my latest game.  After this, I just don't know if I can justify my months of gut wrenching effort for a service that doesn't want to know my name.  It is a loveless relationship but, for a dual-stick shooter that uses the full analog spectrum, it's one that is worth giving one last chance before I venture back to the world of PC games...  Xbox analog sticks, you will be missed.