crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
i just realized something. christian game developers are always having to struggle to get their games published by secular publishers. Why hasnt some upstarting christian entrepeneur started a christian game publishing company yet? He/she could really capitalize on that, and help the industry. Care to speculate? ------------------ |
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Curry Member Posts: 134 From: USA Registered: 11-21-2002 |
Or if we could form a successful (really successful) online portal that many churches and Christians know about and look for. Curry |
GUMP Member Posts: 1335 From: Melbourne, FL USA Registered: 11-09-2002 |
It is hoped that in the long run one of the member developers in the ICGDA will become a publisher. The real problem is the lack of funding. Now there are Christian book publishers who have showed interest in publishing video games BUT they want to do it on their own terms that are so far unrealistic when it comes to the actual market. |
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crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
bah. what are the most unreasonable conditions commonly faced? ...whatever happened to the young and ambitious upstart... i like the idea of a site that could become well know among developers. there are obvious hurdles to overcome there...but hey, you never know! ------------------ globalrant.tk  [This message has been edited by crazyishone (edited September 07, 2005).] |
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graceworks Member Posts: 455 From: Corvallis, Oregon, USA Registered: 03-03-2001 |
Hey, I've done both what crazy and curry suggest, but kind of born out of necessity. http://ChristianGamesNOW.com - is a site where customers can see some of the titles available. And I'm publishing for myself as well as Stone at Inspired Idea, definitely smaller volumes for now. Another option for publishing is Digital Praise, they have an exclusive through EMI CMG. Hey, I know I made a list at one point. Here it is, let me know if there are other options you know about & I'll add them to the list: Are you being ambassadors for Christian Games? Does everyone at your church (or elders and ministers at bare minimum) know about what is available? Have you talked to your local Christian Bookstore manager about them? Have you bought them from your local Christian Bookstore? God bless, ------------------ |
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GUMP Member Posts: 1335 From: Melbourne, FL USA Registered: 11-09-2002 |
When I'm thinking of a publisher I'm not only thinking of a company that manufactures the product, makes the deals with stores, delivers the product, and does marketing. If you go by that definition then XrucifiX/TGS could almost be considered a publisher (thought only for itself as of now). When I think of a "true" publisher I'm thinking of a company capable of financing projects for multiple studios, that can form a new in-house team for specific projects, that can purchase IP and other game developer companies, and that can arrange further deals based upon IP like movies, TV shows, toys, etc. Now that is one thing no Christian company is capable of acheiving as far as I know. In the long term I'd like to see one of the Christian companies grow large enough to be competitive with the likes of EA, Activision, etc. |
Brandon Member Posts: 594 From: Kansas City, Mo, USA Registered: 02-02-2004 |
I was in a Christian bookstore a few days ago, and I saw the N-Lightning games, Brethren Entertainment, and the Digital Praise games. I'd say they could be potential publishers for Christian Games. But also, I did notice that every single one of those games were on the bottom shelf, at the back of the store.  I'd like to see the games developed by Christians in places like Wal-mart, Game Stop, Best Buy, etc... alongside the other games, on the display signs, banners, etc... ------------------ |
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crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
it only takes one rich guy with alot of ambition...or a lot of not-so-rich people with all of their combined ambition and drive. ------------------ |
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GUMP Member Posts: 1335 From: Melbourne, FL USA Registered: 11-09-2002 |
Brandon, to be able to get in the stores you mentioned you have to be able to afford to purchase shelf space...one thing only the big mainstream publishers can afford at this moment. N-Lightning is actually collaberating with a smaller company to publish a game...but you should email Ralph to get the details. Not sure if he'd be upset by me telling everyone publicly. |
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crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
well, gump, it would be nice to see a christian game publisher be everything you talked about. But, i think the christian gaming industy could use any type of publisher at the moment. Even just a manufacturer/marketer. For some reason I wuld much rather see a publisher be an independant chirstian organization, rather than be affiliated with a "mega-church" or any churhc for that matter. ------------------ |
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nfektious Member Posts: 408 From: Registered: 10-25-2002 |
I have been pondering this very issue for over a year now. I would love to establish exactly what Gump described, but the biggest obstacle I have is funding. I'm currently not working and reside in a less than stellar economic area...along with some other personal issues affecting the situation. There definitely is a need, and I do believe there are ways to collaborate (if that is what has to be done) between various parties to meet the need. ------------------ |
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crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
it would be a real shove-forward for christian gaming. it would also be nice to see soem of the existing games get advertised a little better. As far as the net goes, this IS something we are capable of. So, if we cant start a publishing company just yet, we can always push the existing pu lished games. Ideas people. Lets think of creative ways to get the word out. (Also if anybody has any insight on this publisher issue) ------------------ |
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nfektious Member Posts: 408 From: Registered: 10-25-2002 |
Publishing requires resources other than money too, though money accomplishes obtaining the necessary resources to get the job done. Equipment and personnel are probably the biggest items next to funding. Computers and software to do the various tasks, and the printing/duplication machines to produce the products/the packaging to ship items out, and then the distribution channels (which haven't yet proven easy to obtain). It is possible that the same team that does in-house development can also perform other duties, but eventually you would want to have each employee capable of performing specific roles for the sake of consistency and professionalism. Other issues include business fees, taxes, etc. Some of these business aspects vary from state to state, with other aspects remaining consistent. And this really is just looking at getting started in any given locale (in the US anyway) - not considering being a national/international entity. ------------------ |
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GUMP Member Posts: 1335 From: Melbourne, FL USA Registered: 11-09-2002 |
Business concerns can eat up a lot of time. In the postmortems published in Game Developer magazine I noticed with smaller companies the game design lead, who often handles the business side also, ends up getting mired down in handling all the business stuff which negatively impacts the actual game development. This happened with the developers of Psychonauts, Double Fine, and actually resulted in the entire level design department quitting mid-project. Ouch. |
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crazyishone Member Posts: 1685 From: Registered: 08-25-2004 |
hmmm. there are hurdles to overcome in every business. except eBay stores. those are pretty easy. ------------------ |
