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Wither Shareware? Today's gamers are more discriminating than ever. Back when I was young we were happy to see more than 16 colors on the screen at any one time, but modern gamers expect a lot more. They want to have games with dozens of hours of gameplay, full-screen movies, realistic graphics with lots of detail, and more. All of these features require people with the expertise, the software, and the time to work their magic and create the polished games that are currently in demand. Given all of this, do shareware games still have a place in the current market? Do people still enjoy playing shareware games? To answer these questions, I will give you the opinions of several key figures in the gaming shareware industry and then present my own thoughts.
The Experts Opinions I emailed four people from four companies who have had a large impact on the quality and quantity of shareware games and asked each of them five questions. David Dunham from Ambrosia Software (makers of Ferazel's Wand, Escape Velocity, Cythera, and more), Zachary Black from Z Sculpt Entertainment (makers of the upcoming Dark Castle 3), Colin Lynch Smith from Freeverse (makers of card games and Deathground), and Lane Roathe from Monkey Byte Development (makers of many arcade games). They graciously took time out from their busy schedules to answer them and gave me a better understanding of the shareware business than I did before. A big thank you goes out to all of them.
First Question The first question I asked is "Is it harder or easier to make a living writing shareware games as opposed to writing commercial games?". Lane Roathe answered most concisely by saying "both" but thankfully further clarified his answer. He said that it's harder because "it is more difficult to a) fund titles, b) market titles, and c) make money on titles. Easier because you a) don't have to deal with publishers, b) have complete freedom of development, marketing, etc., c) collect a much larger amount of $ per sale, and d) don't have the high costs associated with commercial titles." Colin Lynch Smith agreed that the hardest part is making money on titles and said "It's really about distribution and despite the promise of electronic distribution, most of the money from games is made on shelves at CompUSA."
Second Question The second question is "Do you find that people have different expectations of shareware games as opposed to commercial games? If so, does that help or hinder you?" Three of the four men agreed that people either associate shareware with junk or simply expect shareware games to be of a lower quality than commercial games. Colin Lynch Smith said that some Mac magazines have told him that they have a policy of not reviewing shareware and he's had to "argue that shareware is just a distribution method and says nothing about the quality of a given program. That's what reviews are for!" He went on to explain that the line between shareware and commercial is blurring because you can "download a demo of many commercial programs and then pay for a code to unlock them." Does that make them shareware? Is SoundJam shareware or Stuffit Deluxe? In many ways the term in meaningless today." Zachary Black said that "we strive to make our shareware games just as sharp and polished as their commercial counterparts." On the other hand, Lane Roathe says that "the average consumer expects all games to be AAA quality, whether they have a $1,000 budget or a $1,000,000 budget. In some cases, most notably the types of games big publishers don't do, consumers will expect less but even their expectations are constantly rising." So on one hand, people have low expectations of shareware and yet they also have a high standard for shareware. Could it be that people are expecting too much from shareware?
Third Question The third question is "What is the biggest hindrance in writing shareware games and what is the biggest strength in writing shareware games?" They all agreed that the limited budget is the biggest hindrance, but that can also be a strength as well. David Dunham said "Most commercial games have teams of programmers, artists, musicians, and major ducats dedicated to marketing and distribution. This is a two-edged sword though, in that a single programmer has a hard time bringing his dream project into realization as he envisions it from the start. All of those teams have to answer to someone, and that someone is usually a lot more interested in the bottom line than in staying true to a designer's original idea." Colin Lynch Smith agreed by saying "Our games were made by people who enjoy playing card games, while some of the commercial card games were obviously made by guys who would have much rather been working on Quake XII." Zachary Black says that his biggest hindrance is the Mac OS and that he spends between "70% - 90% of our time wrestling with the operating system" and his biggest strength is also the Mac OS because "On the outside, the Mac operating system is simple and inviting, which makes it an excellent platform for game development."
Fourth Question The fourth question is "Do you have more freedom in what kinds of shareware games that you can write?" David Dunham said "Absolutely. We can produce the games we want, the way we want them, and we can produce and publish games the way the designer/programmers want them. While we don't have the resources of the big commercial houses, we don't allow projects to be buried under the bottom line."I certainly agree with him since I doubt any other commercial game would feature a guy on a swivel chair as in Ambrosia's Harry the Handsome Executive. Lane Roathe agrees by saying "No licenses, marketing, or producers getting in the way of our idea. Of course, there is also no license to help sell the title, no marketing department to market it, and fewer people to come up with cool ideas for the game." While those who responded agreed that the benefits of creative freedom outweigh the disadvantages, Zachary Black says that he probably doesn't have more freedom because "Most commercial production is done by teams of specialized employees. It has taken us years to develop a stable 2D game development environment just for a couple of basic $15-$20 games."
Fifth Question The fifth and final question is "Do you think that the shareware games industry is on the rise, staying the same, or falling?" Colin Lynch Smith and Lane Roathe both agreed that the industry is holding steady. Lane Roathe clarified by saying "It was take a new marketing method or delivery technique before it fails or grows. The single biggest worry I see is in adware, which has a very bad tendency to be grouped with shareware, which I think is a bad thing for the shareware model image." Colin Lynch Smith said "The future depends in large part on the technology. If games get to the point where they really are technically beyond the ability of one or two programmers to create, then shareware, (small developers), will disappear. As long as a lone wolf coder and his brother the artist, can make a game that's fun, shareware will survive." Zachary Black says that he thinks the industry is rising because "With the introduction of OpenGL, a standard framework for 3D gaming, there are thousands of young programmers trying to jump into game development."
Erica's Opinions on Shareware Games I think that shareware games are under-appreciated and not given enough credit for the hours of fun that can be had with a $20 game that can be downloaded in less than an hour and paid for in just a few minutes. Oh sure, I've played shareware that was obviously someone's first attempt and others that just didn't make any sense at all, but a great majority of shareware games are worth trying out. I think that everyone should change their negative view (if you have one) to viewing shareware as simply a distribution method without any bearing on the quality of the game. After all, QuickTime Pro and SoundJam are shareware because you download a limited version and pay over the Internet to get a code that unlocks the full version. Yet they are both listed as commercial in all of the places I've seen. So if you know a gamer or are a gamer yourself, visit the web sites of the people who answered my questions and see what games they're selling. Buy some for your friends and family for Christmas or just because. If they don't have the kinds of games that you're looking for, then send me an email and I'll point you in the right direction. And of course, starting this issue, Rocco J. Carello is introducing us all to the world of shareware products in his first Warehouse column. Look for that to be an invaluable resource for all shareware products too.
Who is Erica? What is this column? Hello everyone! My name is Erica J. Marceau and I am the resident Game Expert of the Mac OS Journal staff. When I'm not playing or thinking about games, I attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and will be graduating this December with a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. My other hobbies include watching animé and reading manga, learning how to program and make web sites, and traveling in the lands of Puddleby in Clan Lord as Jeanne. Every month I'll cover a different topic, from interviews with important people in the gaming industry to ideas for the perfect game, and everything in between. And if there is a topic of the Mac gaming industry that you'd like me to talk about, please email me at: erica@macosjournal.com or use this feedback form.
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