It is a first draft. Don't forget that. Points taken. I had planned to re-name the types of buyers. Got any replacement names in mind?
SOS
I hear you, this is more an inspiration kind of thing. I hope to inspire more indies to take the chance. Making a clone might be 'safe' but it also has no realistic high potential. It is kind of like the difference between putting your money in the bank at 2-4%, a mutual fund that averages more like 10% and playing the stock-market which has crazy-high potential. The safe bet isn't really the right choice for most people, but neither is the risky one. The right bet is the mutual fund, which is still a gamble, but which isn't a particularly crazy gamble.
You can argue till you are blue in the face that a tetris clone can make you a fortune, the odds of this are so slim that it isn't worth even considering. At the same time, something really off the wall, experimental and costly isn't a great bet either. But doing "some" of what I laid out in the article is better than doing none of it.
If you are going to make a tetris clone, at least add some new features. Give it something to set it apart. And find a new way to make money off it. Perhaps the idea is to build a really slick and smooth flash version, one that is really smart and not clunky like 99% of all the flash tetris-clones I've played. Then make your money off ads. Advertise in a new way.
Also. I will agree about magazine demo-discs. But I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about walking up to people and telling them about the game, saying you made it, and giving them a demo or 'beta' version. I like the 'beta' thing cause it seems more interactive to regular people. They feel like they might be able to help out somehow.
Alternatively. You could risk minor law-breakage and leave copies of the disc in places for people to find... For example. Label them in sharpie with "Top Secret. Pre-Beta -name of game- disc." Or something like that. Walk into bestbuy and install it on all the PCs, then load it up and leave. Or do the same in other places that have internet access on their in-store PCs. (One of the ways I am promoting www.omgwtflmao.com is by loading it onto the machines in apple-stores, radio-shack and other places and then leaving.)
These things are 'limited' in their initial scope, but build a base of fans that don't feel like they were advertised to. They feel like the found it. They feel ownership in that. This is what viral-marketing is all about.
SOS
I hear you, this is more an inspiration kind of thing. I hope to inspire more indies to take the chance. Making a clone might be 'safe' but it also has no realistic high potential. It is kind of like the difference between putting your money in the bank at 2-4%, a mutual fund that averages more like 10% and playing the stock-market which has crazy-high potential. The safe bet isn't really the right choice for most people, but neither is the risky one. The right bet is the mutual fund, which is still a gamble, but which isn't a particularly crazy gamble.
You can argue till you are blue in the face that a tetris clone can make you a fortune, the odds of this are so slim that it isn't worth even considering. At the same time, something really off the wall, experimental and costly isn't a great bet either. But doing "some" of what I laid out in the article is better than doing none of it.
If you are going to make a tetris clone, at least add some new features. Give it something to set it apart. And find a new way to make money off it. Perhaps the idea is to build a really slick and smooth flash version, one that is really smart and not clunky like 99% of all the flash tetris-clones I've played. Then make your money off ads. Advertise in a new way.
Also. I will agree about magazine demo-discs. But I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about walking up to people and telling them about the game, saying you made it, and giving them a demo or 'beta' version. I like the 'beta' thing cause it seems more interactive to regular people. They feel like they might be able to help out somehow.
Alternatively. You could risk minor law-breakage and leave copies of the disc in places for people to find... For example. Label them in sharpie with "Top Secret. Pre-Beta -name of game- disc." Or something like that. Walk into bestbuy and install it on all the PCs, then load it up and leave. Or do the same in other places that have internet access on their in-store PCs. (One of the ways I am promoting www.omgwtflmao.com is by loading it onto the machines in apple-stores, radio-shack and other places and then leaving.)
These things are 'limited' in their initial scope, but build a base of fans that don't feel like they were advertised to. They feel like the found it. They feel ownership in that. This is what viral-marketing is all about.