GP2X Small Gp2x Games Shop

[hitbyambulance]

Why did people fall over themselves trying to pay for a chunk of turned plastic that takes minutes to produce yet resent paying a fraction for software that takes weeks to develop ?

i continually wonder at this. i believe it mostly has to do with the fact that people place much greater value on material objects..

 

[Mr.Jabberwocky]

It is widely (and incorrectly) believed that with software, you get what you pay for. If you don't pay for it, it much be rubbish, otherwise they wouldn't give it away would they?

i continually wonder at this. i believe it mostly has to do with the fact that people place much greater value on material objects..

I think you guys have hit the nail on the head. I think it is also a matter of perception. People talk about what the GP2X can do not about what a dev can make it do. It is as if they imagine all the dev has to do is open some little hatches in the processor and it spontaneously generates a full blown program with graphics, sound and gameplay.
"Somewhere in there is Tetris, you just got to open a couple of gates and let it out."

 

[nickspoon]

This is not a bad idea - open source does not mean free or that a charge can not be made. It seems that generaly homebrew is considered not worthy of even taking a look at by many. Is that because it is free ? Maybe if they have to pay for it more people will take an interest.
Considering the size of the user base and that 90% are only interested in emu's or think the community owes them free stuff, the amount you are suggesting is hardly compensation for the effort required.
However it is still a good idea. Perhaps the policy could be a 'minimum price' allowing the user to pay more if they wanted. I don't think that price point is going to attract professional devs.

Why did people fall over themselves trying to pay for a chunk of turned plastic that takes minutes to produce yet resent paying a fraction for software that takes weeks to develop ? What is more, not only do they want it for free, they expect the same quality that they see produced by commercial teams who take months or even years over development.

I was considering allowing the developer to sell at a chosen price. £2.50 was merely a template, and I felt that that price would overcome piracy issues. The games that would be sold would come without DRM, and as they would go for free anyway, nobody would mind a little piracy, and who would be bothered to pirate anyway, at that price?

The idea wasn't to attract professional devs, though that would be nice. The idea was to get the devs we already have interested in homebrew games and getting a little for their hard work.

And I totally agree about the purchasing reluctance thing. I'm hoping to rectify that somewhat, give a better image to homebrew, maybe.

 

[gaterooze]

Well, I'm convinced now. Go for it.

I like the idea of demo versions, similar to the Vektar situation.

 

[racoon]

The price seems to be OK, altough it could be a little higher if the point stated below is fullfilled, in my opinion.

The games come without DRM, wich is an absolutely positive and important point.

Like I said before, as long as the games (where it's possible) come with an editor, it's a really great idea. Otherwise you wouldn't really be able to change the game if it's not Open Source, so you play through it and... well .

Just think about Warcraft 3 compared to "some other RTS". Of course, W3 is simply a masterpiece, but it wouldn't half half as much online players if you wouldn't have such an incredible world editor.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, what we shouldn't forget is, that most devs (or teams) are capable of doing better games we already have.
Those devs MIGHT do better games if they'd get a few bucks.

However, there will always be games that will be free, because some devs only want to release free games or because these are some small but fun games (like we already have and will surely get more )

At the beginning, there might also be some crap games released for some money... but knowing this community, nobody will buy them and the devs will surely concentrate on releasing better games for a little bit of money

 

[yaustar]

I think this would entice developers to make larger games to be honest. The smaller arcade games like Falldown will probably be free, but more 'epic' games can come under this shop.

 

[Dzz]

Well, what we shouldn't forget is, that most devs (or teams) are capable of doing better games we already have.
Those devs MIGHT do better games if they'd get a few bucks.

However, there will always be games that will be free, because some devs only want to release free games or because these are some small but fun games (like we already have and will surely get more )

Also, most of the stuff being released for the gp2x are ports. In most cases some or most of the code used cannot be made part of a commercial product (even if that product only costs $2). In GPL-ish cases the source has to be made available so charging for the binary would be kind of stupid because all somebody has to do is recompile it and make that version available for free.

So for almost all of the emulators and a lot of the games, donation-ware is the only option available.

So I could never charge for Nethack, but I could have charged for Vektar if I had chosen to do so, and can charge for my future games if I want.

I think this would entice developers to make larger games to be honest. The smaller arcade games like Falldown will probably be free, but more 'epic' games can come under this shop.

Alas, the user base is too small to support "epic" games except perhaps for ports of games made for higher-volume platforms (like Payback).

 

[DavidBeoulve]

EvilDragon & Dzz
Well put. Some programmers operate under the philosophy "I should sell this," some want to feel fuzzy about contributing something (both completely valid and I lean towards the latter while my dad the former).

The GP2X itself is about openess and choice.

My cousin didn't realize it, but he could play Homebrew, Genesis, Neo Geo, or watch DivX - and afterwards he thought he'd get one or a PSP! What the heck?

PSP is crippled by DRM.


Edit: Added who I'm talking to when I say "Well put"

 

[sparr]

In GPL-ish cases the source has to be made available so charging for the binary would be kind of stupid because all somebody has to do is recompile it and make that version available for free.

This is entirely not true. If such a site is well designed then the simple convenience of using the site might be worth 50 cents a game. Perhaps games could be physically shipped pre-"installed" on SD cards, a $50 SD card with a dozen games on it for $60. Or maybe non-Free documentation or media, such as skins or level packs, could be provided. There are many many ways to make money 'selling' 'free' software, and a good site would leverage them all.

 

[Dzz]

In GPL-ish cases the source has to be made available so charging for the binary would be kind of stupid because all somebody has to do is recompile it and make that version available for free.

This is entirely not true. If such a site is well designed then the simple convenience of using the site might be worth 50 cents a game. Perhaps games could be physically shipped pre-"installed" on SD cards, a $50 SD card with a dozen games on it for $60. Or maybe non-Free documentation or media, such as skins or level packs, could be provided. There are many many ways to make money 'selling' 'free' software, and a good site would leverage them all.

Archive.gp2x.de is pretty convenient and free. I'm sure somebody will upload an open source game there if it becomes available through another outlet. But you're right that if a website is somehow so amazingly better than archive.gp2x.de that people will be willing to pay to download from it, it could work.

The point is that the developer who ports a GPL-ish game isn't going to make any money from his effort through a software shop.

A level pack (which isn't a port of a GPL-ish game, the topic of my post), could be sold obviously if it was original. Similarly, a book or a song about a game, or a picture of fruit could be sold if people wanted to buy it.

 

[nickspoon]

Dzz: Though the majority of programs are ports, I agree, some of them are very good homebrew games written specifically for the GP2X. Things like Vektar, Beat2X, TileMatch, etc. are commercial quality, and something that people would certainly pay a couple of pounds for.

 

[Dzz]

Dzz: Though the majority of programs are ports, I agree, some of them are very good homebrew games written specifically for the GP2X. Things like Vektar, Beat2X, TileMatch, etc. are commercial quality, and something that people would certainly pay a couple of pounds for.

I agree completely and support this effort. It may even encourage more originality.

 

[bacteria]

Dzz: Though the majority of programs are ports, I agree, some of them are very good homebrew games written specifically for the GP2X. Things like Vektar, Beat2X, TileMatch, etc. are commercial quality, and something that people would certainly pay a couple of pounds for.

I agree completely and support this effort. It may even encourage more originality.

Great - so presumably we can buy your Vektar game for £2.50 then, rather than ten times this amount??

 

[PokeParadox]

I like this idea, it is, in a sense, an organised donation portal.

I agree with whomever mentioned the "mininum price" idea. The prices should be a token price, but the downloader can pay more if they wish, to show appreciation.

To be honest, I'm not so keen on the PayPal, NoChex, donation thing... as sometimes it just looks like begging.
"Please give me some money, I spent a lot of time on this."
I don't deny that a lot of time is put into some projects; That's not what I'm getting at. But maybe this "shop" idea is a better way than donations to get a little something back.

 

[nickspoon]

Just been notified by EvilDragon that shop.gp2x.de runs on osCommerce and supports download tickets. So it's likely that the shop will be a part of shop.gp2x.de (probably the existing games section, which is currently empty). Just waiting for the go-ahead from ED and I'll post a topic about it.

 

[Dzz]

Dzz: Though the majority of programs are ports, I agree, some of them are very good homebrew games written specifically for the GP2X. Things like Vektar, Beat2X, TileMatch, etc. are commercial quality, and something that people would certainly pay a couple of pounds for.

I agree completely and support this effort. It may even encourage more originality.

Great - so presumably we can buy your Vektar game for £2.50 then, rather than ten times this amount??

My Vektar game is free. You're welcome.

Perhaps you are referring to a game being developed by gp2x.co.uk. I have no control over that.

 

[SunSpire]

This really moves away from the open source nature of the community. One of the big selling points of the GP2X is "free games."

Whenever I find a game or application I use/play a lot, I usually donate at least that amount to the author -- but I prefer to have the freedom to try things out on my own without paying first.

Just my opinion -- I'm not saying devs don't deserve reward (if they desire it), as they most certainly do.

Agreed.

 

[Vynx]

This really moves away from the open source nature of the community. One of the big selling points of the GP2X is "free games."

Whenever I find a game or application I use/play a lot, I usually donate at least that amount to the author -- but I prefer to have the freedom to try things out on my own without paying first.

Just my opinion -- I'm not saying devs don't deserve reward (if they desire it), as they most certainly do.

Agreed.

Seconded. Extra game content I would pay for, but I don't think i'd be really happy about games that were planned to be free ending up being sold instead.

 

[Orkie]

Seconded. Extra game content I would pay for, but I don't think i'd be really happy about games that were planned to be free ending up being sold instead.

In which case, you simply would miss out. They wouldn't be expensive, and nobody has to give you anything for free anyway. In some types of games (e.g. puzzle games), what could you possibly sell other than the game? If levels are randomly generated anyway, you don't have level packs.