Hello and happy new year! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dave Gilbert, and I've been running a small indie game studio for almost four years now. My studio is basically a laptop, which I lug around to various cafes in New York City. Most of the games you'll see from me have been written and programmed from cafes, from the zero budget Shivah to the higher-budgeted Emerald City Confidential.
I am not all that new to the blog scene, as I used to write ad nasuem about my life on my old personal website, but maintaining the wordpress software became too much of a bother. You've got to keep it updated or it gets attacked by spyware, and it was too easy to let it slide. So I've decided to move house and set up camp here on Blogspot. The Blogspot site is hosting my stuff and the system gets updated automatically, so I don't have to bother doing it myself! Delegation, baby. That's the key to success.
Anyway, back on track. It's been said that indies like me are bottom feeders, taking the crumbs that the big developers miss. And while a few games like World of Goo and Braid have reached major mainstream success, there is some truth to that analogy. We don't do this for the buckets of cash, but because we love it. Myself, I count myself as one of the lucky "bottom feeders" who have managed to eek out a living doing this full time. I'm not rich by any means, but I've somehow managed to keep this company going even during these Dark Economic Times, so apparently I'm doing something right.
Like most indie developers I have many opinions on games, game development, and anything in between. As time goes on I plan on talking about the New York game scene, funny things that occur while working in cafes, and my own thoughts about the games I (and others) make. I also hope to offer some insight or tips for fans or other aspiring indie game developers. I'm a total moron, so if I can do it anybody can.
Thanks for reading this far!
-Dave
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It is humbling to know that such an amazing set of games were created mostly in New York cafes! I don't know if you have another Blackwell planned, but if so, I await it with baited breath. I got all three over Thanksgiving and devoured them in a week.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in reading more about east coast indie game development, being that I only really know about the northwest.
And thank you for your comment!
@Insert Pseudonym Here
ReplyDeleteI suppose if you have to devour something, Thanksgiving is the time to do it! I'm glad you like the games, and yeah there will be more of them.
Great, another interesting Indie Game Blog :) Puzzle Bot looks nice so far, I'm even a bit angry with myself that I missed the opportunity to check the Beta.
ReplyDeleteI featured Puzzle Bots in a recent posting about eight of the most exciting projects in 2010 on my weblog. You may try to decipher it here (it's in German): http://u.nu/5dcf4
A prosperous new year and good luck with your upcoming games!
Daniel
Wait... isn't this the decade of the indie developer with the power of the app store? Haven't the new forms of distribution substantially leveled the playing field?
ReplyDeleteOut of the last 10 games I've purchased I can only think of one that was purchased from a traditional brick-n-mortar store, from a major publisher, and in a physical package.
@Daniel
ReplyDeleteThanks for the write-up! I'm afraid I've got all the beta testers I need for now, but that could change as I like to get new people to look at it with fresh eyes once in a while. I'll be sure to post about that if/when the time comes.
@Edward Dinovo
You're totally right. I never would have conceived of doing this ten years ago. It just wasn't possible. Current technology makes it easy. It's certainly turned my life around.
@DJ_Link
Definitely. :)
-Dave