Digital Distribution of Homebrew Games

[cdoty]

I can trivially add digital downloads to the AtariAge Store.

 

That would be cool, especially if you supported other systems.

 

Digital distribution could open up some possibilities. It would be easy to offer achievements/trophies. The achievements could be tracked by uploading a save from an emulator. This could be an incentive to purchase a digital version. The save could have your personal ID inserted into it by a PHP page; the ID could be set based on a purchase order number. The same web page could track your achievements, and allow them to be shared online.

 

This rewards people for purchasing the game, rather than trying to penalize those that don't.

[Devin]

I have a few thoughts on the topic...

 

Devin gets on the soapbox

 

When it comes to downloads/copies of homebrews, I don't see it as a huge issue.

 

The only person, that I can think of, that has ever made considerable money from a homebrew was Lord British with the Ultima series. And that being said, he only made money after the game was picked up by Origin/EA and it was sold in stores. He could not have realized the eventual popularity of his work in Ultima 1. He wrote it because he wanted to create something - and he created a story with orcs, demons, spells, kings, ... time travel, and spaceships! His goal was to create a fun game, not to make money.

 

But he was creating a game on the state-of-the-art hardware of the day - so all computer users were interested in his work. For homebrewers like us, we write games for hardware that has long passed its day of being on the cusp of new technology.

 

So, for retro-homebrewers, we are not creating games for profit (though it would be nice). We create the games for the challenge (nothing like the 2600 for that), the nostalgia, and the accolades of our comrades.

 

I, personally, don't care who downloads a ROM of anything I write. If someone enjoys it, then that is all that really matters. In my case, the more downloads the merrier!

[+Gemintronic]

Whatever happened to shareware? You tried the full version. You liked. You bought. Pirates and Ninjas continue fighting as they always do. That's background noise.

[raindog]

Whatever happened to shareware? You tried the full version. You liked. You bought. Pirates and Ninjas continue fighting as they always do. That's background noise.

 

What happened to shareware was, a lot of carpetbaggers wanted to cash in on the rising popularity of "shareware" in the early 90s, so they joined the Association for Shareware Professionals and changed the definition of the term "shareware" from "try the full version, if you like it, buy it" to what they loosely call "shareware" now, with time bombs and access codes and limited functionality and the presumption that your customers are thieves.

 

And that's when a lot of us who'd previously done shareware either left or moved over to the free software movement and started selling our services rather than our "products".

[Mord]

 

What happened to shareware was, a lot of carpetbaggers wanted to cash in on the rising popularity of "shareware" in the early 90s, so they joined the Association for Shareware Professionals and changed the definition of the term "shareware" from "try the full version, if you like it, buy it" to what they loosely call "shareware" now, with time bombs and access codes and limited functionality and the presumption that your customers are thieves.

 

And that's when a lot of us who'd previously done shareware either left or moved over to the free software movement and started selling our services rather than our "products".

 

Wow. Shareware has been crippleware/bombware/etc for so long that I forgot about the earlier days. Of course that's why I stay away from shareware and tend to use freeware (Which is closer to the original shareware ideal) and open source wherever possible.

[Cliff Friedel]

I have a few thoughts on the topic...

 

Devin gets on the soapbox

 

When it comes to downloads/copies of homebrews, I don't see it as a huge issue.

 

The only person, that I can think of, that has ever made considerable money from a homebrew was Lord British with the Ultima series. And that being said, he only made money after the game was picked up by Origin/EA and it was sold in stores. He could not have realized the eventual popularity of his work in Ultima 1. He wrote it because he wanted to create something - and he created a story with orcs, demons, spells, kings, ... time travel, and spaceships! His goal was to create a fun game, not to make money.

 

But he was creating a game on the state-of-the-art hardware of the day - so all computer users were interested in his work. For homebrewers like us, we write games for hardware that has long passed its day of being on the cusp of new technology.

 

So, for retro-homebrewers, we are not creating games for profit (though it would be nice). We create the games for the challenge (nothing like the 2600 for that), the nostalgia, and the accolades of our comrades.

 

I, personally, don't care who downloads a ROM of anything I write. If someone enjoys it, then that is all that really matters. In my case, the more downloads the merrier!

 

Starting to homebrew myself, I agree with a lot of what you say. The only thing that would bother me is if someone made carts of the game without asking me and sold it to make profit. The reason for it isn't so much that I am not getting paid as it is that they didn't have the decency to ask me if it was ok. It would also bother me because it wouldn't support sites, like AtariAge, that are supporting me to get the games out in the first place. Finally, the last reason is that it could rob me of an opportunity to do something that could benefit the community at large. For example, I have thought of selling one of the games I am writing (or a special version) on cartridge and giving the proceeds to the Pinball Hall of Fame. If someone comes in and sells pirated stuff, it doesn't take money from me, it takes money from Tim. That means less money for him to help pay for his non profit and less money to the charities he helps.

 

With all that said, if people want to download my bin files and try them out, I am all for it. I like to try before I buy, so I could see how others would want to also. I agree with what someone said earlier too about full version shareware. Time limit it if you are worried about me keeping it, but don't limit my ability to try a specific option. If I like it, I will buy it. If not, I am torching it from the drive. Seems simple enough.

 

Cliff

[Ben_Larson]

Hey sorry to resurrect this dead thread, but I just thought I would weigh-in on some new thoughts I had regarding digital distribution today:

 

So I've been perusing Steam the past couple days, looking over all the games they had for sale via digital download. I noticed all their indie game packs they're selling as part of their holiday sale right now. A little while later I noticed that Sega is now offering ROMs of some old Genesis/Megadrive titles through Steam for a couple dollars each.

 

Then I had the idea that you could basically solve all the problems being mentioned in this thread at once (piracy, reaching a wider audience, adding value) if you packaged a bunch of *embedded* ROMS together of a similar theme (adventure, action, strategy, etc.) *with* an emulator *and* the extras, etc.

 

While it might be a longshot to actually get something on Steam, all they could possibly say is no, and you'd still have the package to distribute elsewhere (i.e. here on AtariAge, maybe).

 

Of course then there's the small matter of licensing an emulator... which I suppose would be the necessary first step

Edited December 29, 2010 by Ben_Larson

[trent]

I can trivially add digital downloads to the AtariAge Store.

 

Even better! I'll PM you the Duck Attack! ROM pack once I'm done adding to it (I keep thinking of new things to add, like a game world map.)

 

The AA store would be the perfect place for this sort of thing.

 

--Will

 

 

I'd like to see AA sponsor homebrew games in the Android market (or any other mobile marketplace that makes sense). Sold in packs or alone - whichever. Homebrewers could do this individually but I'd be more keen to lay down some market bucks on something published by a name I know.

 

Games don't need to be packaged with an emulator - just pack them with a light AA branded front end that invokes your emulator of choice.

[raindog]

Then I had the idea that you could basically solve all the problems being mentioned in this thread at once (piracy, reaching a wider audience, adding value) if you packaged a bunch of *embedded* ROMS together of a similar theme (adventure, action, strategy, etc.) *with* an emulator *and* the extras, etc.

 

"Try Oystron! It's a new original game for the Atari 2600, but you can't play it on your 2600, only on your Windows box using Steam!"

 

I just picked Oystron because it's one of my favorite homebrews, not because I think it has anything to do with this idea. How much do you expect developers would be able to charge for a nostalgic experience minus the nostalgia? The successful "retro style" games have either had more to them than 8- or 16-bit games (e.g. Geometry Wars, Bit Trip) or been tied to a nostalgic license (Mega Man 9) or both (Pac-Man Championship Edition). I think that the odds a developer could recoup his development time and expenses on an Atari, Coleco or even NES/Genesis title through Steam are about as long as the odds that he could recoup them on cartridge sales.

 

Personally, if my goal were to make money at developing little retro games of the sort people develop for the old systems, I'd be doing it for the iPhone and Android, with a lot less time and effort and a little more visual panache, and selling them for a buck or two.

[jaybird3rd]

I still believe that digital distribution of games for classic systems is an exciting possibility that will benefit everyone involved. As I said earlier, flash-based multicarts will allow developers to distribute their games to users of the original hardware more cheaply and easily than can be done with cartridges inside printed boxes, and emulators will allow them to reach people who don't even own the original systems, but who still want to see the best of what the "indie game scene" has to offer.

 

I'm still working on developing my ideas--which I dashed out in an early form in this thread--for how all of this can work, but I haven't written more about them here because I'm not sure a message board is the right place for it. One thing that I think is needed, though, is better emulation technology, specifically for devices like the iPod Touch and the iPad and the newer game consoles and handhelds (although licensing issues might be an obstacle to achieving that). I think it's going to become increasingly anachronistic to sit down in front of a desktop computer to run an emulator when there are so many more convenient alternatives, but the emulators have to be targeted to these platforms' strengths. Recompiling a generic version of MAME or MESS and standing it up on the iPad, for example, isn't going to be good enough.

 

Specifically, I'm thinking of something loosely based on iTunes: a combination of a player and a storefront, in which people can buy games for a platform they like and then sync them up with their multi-carts or play them through emulation, all from within one high-quality interface (which also allows them to view manuals and other supplemental materials).

[raindog]

flash-based multicarts will allow developers to distribute their games to users of the original hardware more cheaply and easily

 

...to an audience of dozens, or at most, hundreds.

[jaybird3rd]

flash-based multicarts will allow developers to distribute their games to users of the original hardware more cheaply and easily

...to an audience of dozens, or at most, hundreds.

What's wrong with that? I've said all along that anybody who gets into developing for an old console or computer for the purpose of selling lots of copies of their games is bound to be disappointed, so we already know the audience is small. Digital distribution is just an alternative way of getting your stuff out there without going to the trouble of making cartridges, printing boxes and labels, and shipping packages in the mail to people halfway across the world.

 

Physical cartridges will always be an option for collectors who want them and for developers who like to make them, but there are also a lot of people (like me) who don't especially care about the distribution media but who want to support the developers' work. There are also a lot of people who are interested in retro gaming but who don't necessarily own the original hardware. In other words, there's a larger potential audience out there than the hardcore collectors who want cartridges and printed packaging, an audience that isn't being served right now, and digital distribution is simply one way of reaching them.

 

I really don't understand the apparent opposition to having more choices.

[Ben_Larson]

I just picked Oystron because it's one of my favorite homebrews, not because I think it has anything to do with this idea. How much do you expect developers would be able to charge for a nostalgic experience minus the nostalgia?

Probably not much, maybe $1 a game.

 

Which is, of course, more than $0 a game.

[potatohead]

It's worth noting that as it is right now, home brew games are small audience, fan produced (from the perspective of the rights holders), and not a source of revenue.

 

There are some nice exceptions, where something really good happens to net some cash, but given the time invested, that's really just a nice "thank you", prolly mad money at most.

 

If it is setup online proper, that perception will be challenged. We have digital distribution right now! There are lots of program images online, emulators, flash carts, etc... If there is a digital store, what does that mean?

 

Dollars is what it means.

 

I have no personal opposition to that. I buy homebrews because they are simply great! The value is high, and having the option of personally interacting with the developer, or participating on a technical level, be it helping with the project, tinkering with the code, or just learning things, all adds to that value. Just want to be clear on that. Buying homebrew games is not a problem. It's not a problem when it's only the physical product, nor is it a problem when there is a digital image out there, because the physical product is part of the home brew art, and in all cases, it's worth it to say, "thanks".

 

Put up a digital store, and the question is going to be asked why? Given the things I just highlighted here, the answer very quickly will be dollars and large audiences.

 

Not bad things. Not at all. A bigger scene would add value for everybody. I don't think anyone really is questioning this part of things. I'm not.

 

But, a lot of rules get bent in the hobby. Projects like MAME, on a larger scale, are tolerated, precisely because there is no revenue, and despite the state of legal things, the value of MAME is well established now as a historical and technical reference / archive, sometimes used by the owners of the works for modern day projects!

 

Homebrew is tolerated for the same kinds of reasons. Technically, it's interesting to see what old machines can really do, and or play "what if?" games with old releases, and to do ports, etc...

 

What if those rules were more rigidly enforced?? Would that counterbalance the value added by having a bigger scene overall?

 

I'm not sure it will, which is why I posted just now. We have digital distribution. What we don't have is a formalized digital market place, and I think there is a line out there in legal, tolerate the happy techies land that needs to be thought through before such a thing is done.

 

How about this?

 

Would the arguments in favor of digital be the same, if it were a members only kind of thing? The only way to the marketplace would be through a invite from one already there? Say we started it by a call for registrants, existing scene members, doors open for a month or two, then closed so that the growth is organic like the current scene growth is.

 

Would that still have merit, or would digital impact the production of physical things, or would there just be more of both?

 

If so, why, or why not?

[raindog]

(Edited to fix broken quote.)

 

I really don't understand the apparent opposition to having more choices.

 

We already have those choices; nothing's stopping anyone from doing these things right now. I think the reason no one's doing it is because it adds friction -- not for people who just want to download a ROM (they'll do that anyway), but for developers who need to add to their development time the time it takes to execute agreements and the restrictions those agreements will impose on them -- and for very little in return.

 

But you can do this already as things stand now; I look forward to reading about it on Wired and IGN.

 

How much do you expect developers would be able to charge for a nostalgic experience minus the nostalgia?

Probably not much, maybe $1 a game.

 

Which is, of course, more than $0 a game.

 

I really think that's still a bit optimistic, but since getting a 360 for xmas I've seen some pretty stupid, trivial things on XBLA for that price (thankfully with trial versions, but I'm sure someone out there is still paying a buck for a prettier take on copter.swf). Knock yourself out. I hope to get in on that myself one day, but I probably won't try to do it with an emulator and an embedded ROM.

Edited December 30, 2010 by raindog

[CGQuarterly]

I didn't read this whole thread, so my post is pretty much a response to the OP.

 

I can count on one hand the number of homebrew games I have purchased. I am simply not into it enough to send $50 on a new 2600 game. I won't even spend that much on a current gen game (I wait for games to get old enough that their price drops.)

 

If the AA store had the option of downloading a game digitally, I would happily pay $5 per game. Isn't this what a Harmony cart is for, anyway? A harmony cart costs the same or less than 2 homebrew releases, so it would be a no-brainer purchase for homebrew enthusiasts who either are too cheap or not in a financial situation to pay for physical copies. Honestly, most of the good 2600 games are dirt cheap, so there isn't much point in buying a Harmony cart to illicitly play them. Therefore, currently the best reason to own it is just the convenience factor. But if it were used as a tool to *legitimately* play homebrew games that were sold for a low price, I think that a lot of us would jump on board. Obviously, I can just download the ROM for any homebrew game that I want to play (much as I can download any song I want), but I would rather pay a reduced price so that I can enjoy the game while simultaneously supporting the development of future games (much as I download songs from Amazon or the iTunes store).

 

Physical copies for homebrews are primarily for collectors, especially limited-run releases. Because of this, the limited-run releases are quickly snapped up by people who want the cart to have the cart (or to resell it down the road). Usually in these cases the developers just release the ROM to the public, because it's going to get pirated anyway if they don't. You might as well have the game ROM available for download in the AA store instead.

 

I wouldn't even bother with inserting little unique identifiers into the code of the ROM, because piracy is going to happen no matter what. Give people the option of buying the game from the AA store, maybe with an offer that the purchase price of the ROM will be deducted from the price of a physical copy of the person chooses to buy the game. Or maybe run some promo that if someone buys enough downloadable HB games, they get something free. Everybody wins.

 

Chris

[jaybird3rd]

Give people the option of buying the game from the AA store, maybe with an offer that the purchase price of the ROM will be deducted from the price of a physical copy of the person chooses to buy the game. Or maybe run some promo that if someone buys enough downloadable HB games, they get something free. Everybody wins.

Thank you. That's exactly what I have in mind, and I'm pretty much in the same place as you are when it comes to the number of homebrew games I'm able to buy. Right now, there are only two established ways for developers to get their work out there: put together a complete deluxe retail-quality package (cartridge, full-color label, printed manual and box, etc.) and charge the $40-$50 per copy from the hardcore collectors who can afford to buy them, OR give away the farm and get nothing by posting the ROM for free. Two opposite extremes. I think there are a lot of us in the middle who can't easily afford to buy the complete package, but who still want to enjoy these games while supporting the developers' work, and my only purpose is to explore ways to serve that portion of the population in a more structured way.

 

I'll have to respond in more depth to raindog's and potatohead's posts later, but I just want to say something quickly about the statement that "developers can do this right now if they want to": granted, they can certainly post the ROM files for their games, here on the AtariAge forums or on their own websites, and they can put up a PayPal button on their website as a "virtual tip jar" if they want to. The problem is that this is very disorganized and very decentralized, and it creates a lot more work for everyone. Right now, if I want to get a ROM for a homebrew game that I like and send a little something to the developer in return, I have to dig for it in a long-buried four-year-old thread or on some website (assuming the author even decided to post it, which I also don't have any way of finding out), download the ROM, figure out how to get in touch with the developer, write them and ask for their PayPal information, and so on and so forth.

 

Do you see how much work that is? Shouldn't we come up with a better way to do this? And shouldn't there be a place where people can see what homebrew games are available (remember that not all homebrew developers frequent the AtariAge forums), search for games by platform or by genre, and so forth? Again, creating more structure is the ultimate goal here; providing some sort of anti-piracy mechanism (and again, this does not mean DRM!) and other additional services would be a separate issue.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Ok, so how much would you pay for some virtual piece of software?

 

Currently a developer gets usually $5/copy sold (at least that's what I get). So, if you want to honor his work, that would be the usual fair compensation then.

Then PayPal grabs some money, so that should be accounted too (a few cents? no idea).

And last, not least, Albert would have to put some work into creating the required infrastructure. (maybe another $1 or $2).

 

So that would sum up to ~$7. Would that be a fair price? Remember you can get the physical carts with manual for $20 to $25.

[jaybird3rd]

Ok, so how much would you pay for some virtual piece of software?

 

Currently a developer gets usually $5/copy sold (at least that's what I get). So, if you want to honor his work, that would be the usual fair compensation then.

Then PayPal grabs some money, so that should be accounted too (a few cents? no idea).

And last, not least, Albert would have to put some work into creating the required infrastructure. (maybe another $1 or $2).

 

So that would sum up to ~$7. Would that be a fair price? Remember you can get the physical carts with manual for $20 to $25.

Certainly. I'd consider $7 to be a perfectly fair price for a digital copy of one of your games, as long as that would be satisfactory for you.

 

It's difficult to name a flat price that would apply equally to all games; I'd pay more for some than for others, and probably even more than $7 for one of yours. But for me, getting legitimate digital copies of three games--along with manuals in PDF format, perhaps--for about $20 would be a better deal than getting only one game with a box and a manual that would sit on my shelf most of the time. That's not to criticize all the workmanship that goes into creating the packaging and other materials, but having those things is not as much of a priority for me as it may be for others.

[raindog]

I just want to say something quickly about the statement that "developers can do this right now if they want to": granted, they can certainly post the ROM files for their games, here on the AtariAge forums or on their own websites, and they can put up a PayPal button on their website as a "virtual tip jar" if they want to.

 

Or you can put it up on ebay, as many indie developers already do, or make a deal with Amazon and list it there, or bundle it with an appropriately-licensed emulator as someone else suggested and go talk to Steam or any of the other "content distribution portals".

 

Do you see how much work that is?

 

You have options. Some of them are hard. Making money is hard. But I'm thinking the guy I just bought my Vectrex flash cart from was up to the arduous task of taking my email address down and physically going somewhere to ship my cart, so anyone who can post to a forum like this ought to be able to handle doing the same thing minus the physical object.

 

Shouldn't we come up with a better way to do this?

 

No, the people who see a problem with things as they are now need to come up with a "better way to do this". I was pretty happy with my AtariAge store experience, just as I was pretty happy to get 50 bucks or so in honor-system donations when I posted my very first shareware program to QuantumLink in 1986, before nag screens and time bombs were invented, not to mention online stores. You guys are the ones who can't accept that bits have no value to most people.

[CGQuarterly]

I'd pay $5. Yeah there are paypal fees and Albert fees, but you don't have to put any extra work into a digital copy. You may profit $5 per game for the physical copies, but you had to assemble the game and mail it off. So I think that a bit less profit for a digital copy should be acceptable. Plus I think you would make it up in volume because I think (and I could be wrong) that more people would be down with paying a fiver for the ROM than would pay $30 for the physical media.

 

Ultimately, the price point would have to be toyed with until an optimal price was reached. The higher the price, the higher the profit but the fewer the sales. The lower the price the higher the sales but the lower the profit per unit. You have to find the price that maximizes both, obviously. I said $5 because that seemed like the happiest price for everyone for XBLA games. Now that most are $10, there is a lot more griping (and I don't think that I have bought a single XBLA game since the price has gone up.)

 

But I don't think that the price point is as important a discussion as the general idea. I think that what Jaybird is talking about is having something like steam or the consoles' online marketplaces, but for homebrew ROMs. One central place where this could all go down. And I think that the AA marketplace would be the ideal location.

 

Chris

[+thegoldenband]

Ok, so how much would you pay for some virtual piece of software?...So that would sum up to ~$7. Would that be a fair price?

Certainly. I'd consider $7 to be a perfectly fair price for a digital copy of one of your games, as long as that would be satisfactory for you.

I can't speak to whether $7 is a fair price -- if such a thing as a "fair price" exists in the world of homebrew software, since very few developers are ever fully reimbursed for their time -- but as a viable price point it's too high. Honestly, for VCS titles I think the magic number is $1.00, à la iTunes, but with the option of donating more. You could maybe go up to $2.00, but anything higher and people will start finding reasons not to pay.

 

I certainly would have to think long and hard before putting down $7 on a digital download of a VCS game, but my income is very modest so I might not be the best example. Still, one thing about buying a physical cart is knowing that if times get tight, or if you get sick of the game, you can always resell it.

 

I also agree that a centralized place/site for homebrew digital downloads will potentially be a huge boon.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

The problem is, that $5 (which are unchanged for 10 years now, BTW) are what is usually paid/copy now. And I suppose nobody can say if the sales will be 5x as high as now (at least) if digital copies are sold.

 

Also, with just $1, PayPal will take 1/3rd. So I doubt Atari 2600 homebrews will ever be sold that cheap.

 

But I suppose there are people who just don't want the physical copy and an easy way to pay the royalties to the programmer. For those the $7 I mentioned above should be the alternative.

 

All others can still download and play the games for free as long as they want. Just without having the good feeling of supporting the homebrewers.

[jaybird3rd]

Or you can put it up on ebay, as many indie developers already do, or make a deal with Amazon and list it there, or bundle it with an appropriately-licensed emulator as someone else suggested and go talk to Steam or any of the other "content distribution portals".

 

You have options. Some of them are hard. Making money is hard. But I'm thinking the guy I just bought my Vectrex flash cart from was up to the arduous task of taking my email address down and physically going somewhere to ship my cart, so anyone who can post to a forum like this ought to be able to handle doing the same thing minus the physical object.

Fine, but imagine if the indie music scene worked this way. One artist's work is only available on cassette tape and you have to send a check or money order to get it, another artist's newest album is only available in a box of Cheerios, another artist's work isn't available anywhere but he'll send you a copy if you ask him nicely in an e-mail, and so forth. Do you think there would be nearly as many people listening to indie music? I'd say no. Instead, the entertainment and technology industries recognized a need, and created a way in which artists can all concentrate on creating their music, and can then post it on iTunes and let Apple handle the sales, distribution, indexing it in their search engine so that people will know that it's available, and targeting customers who would be most likely to want it. I'm not saying that it's currently impossible for people to get what they want, but as the others have said, there's a value in having one place to go to get it, and I think that can only widen the audience for homebrew games.

 

 

No, the people who see a problem with things as they are now need to come up with a "better way to do this". I was pretty happy with my AtariAge store experience, just as I was pretty happy to get 50 bucks or so in honor-system donations when I posted my very first shareware program to QuantumLink in 1986, before nag screens and time bombs were invented, not to mention online stores. You guys are the ones who can't accept that bits have no value to most people.

If you're a homebrew developer and don't want to use digital distribution, and if you think everybody should have to pay a premium for your game because you only want to distribute it as a physical cartridge in a nice box, nobody's saying that you shouldn't have that option. But I think that you'll be cutting yourself off from a significant number of gamers who might have been willing to pick up a digital copy, if they'd been given that alternative.

 

I can understand why someone might want to make that choice for their own game, but I can't understand why someone would oppose the whole idea of an organized mechanism for digital distribution. It's working well for movies, music, and video games for modern systems; why not use it for homebrew games for classic systems also, especially now that we have enormous flash cartridges that are large enough to hold the original game libraries for these systems several times over?

 

Finding a way to make this idea work will require a lot of experimentation and a lot of input from many different people (finding agreeable price points, finding agreeable terms for the developers and the users, among many other things), and that's just what this thread was intended for. If you're happy with the way things are now, so be it, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us shouldn't try to find better methods. Besides, how would any of this affect you, anyway?

[jaybird3rd]

I can't speak to whether $7 is a fair price -- if such a thing as a "fair price" exists in the world of homebrew software, since very few developers are ever fully reimbursed for their time -- but as a viable price point it's too high. Honestly, for VCS titles I think the magic number is $1.00, à la iTunes, but with the option of donating more. You could maybe go up to $2.00, but anything higher and people will start finding reasons not to pay.

I understand what you're saying, but I think there are valid reasons why a homebrew game should command a higher price. The money an artist might get selling a hit song from one of their albums for $1 on iTunes does not represent the whole of their income: there's the sales of the original album, royalties from radio, and all kinds of other ancillary markets that a homebrew game doesn't have. But even that is a flawed analogy because it implies that homebrew games should be treated as commercial ventures, and as I've said before, I think that's the wrong way to approach homebrew development; the potential market is too small to do it for any other reason than the love of video games and the love of the creative process involved in making them. But creating even relatively simple games takes a lot of work--more work, I daresay, than it takes to dash off a simple love song--and I don't think it's unreasonable to send someone a few dollars if you derive enjoyment from a game they've created. For developers to know in an abstract way that somebody out there likes their games is one thing, but finding a way to put some money in their pockets is something else entirely. Even if it only adds up to enough to buy them and their spouses a nice dinner, that can still be a powerful expression of gratitude, and a powerful motivator for them to create more.