Feature: 'Adapt Or Die'

In today's Gamasutra feature, Blue Fang Games art director J.D. Alley steps up to the Soapbox with his story of avoiding self-extinction in the game biz, by finding a way for veteran developers to "change the nature of the outcome." Alley explains the exact thoughts behind his change of pace as follows: "Let me begin by saying that I believe the single most critical adaptation we must make in our business is to raise the level of the discourse with product and process. Let me explain. Much like the leading edge of a tsunami, real change in the interactive entertainment (read: PC and console games) business often goes unnoticed until all that energy hits the shore line and you are staring at a wall of water that threatens to overwhelm you very quickly. Studios like Blue Fang have been surfing that rapidly growing wave of change for some time now, and they are well positioned to accelerate themselves into a commanding leadership position in the world wide development community. The old saw that “ideas are a dime a dozen” has never been more relevant. Rapid changes in technology, platform and rising production costs, coupled with a genre driven market and limited retail channel, have created the perfect storm of an exceptionally demanding and acutely constrained environment for developers of interactive entertainment. Your hot idea is meaningless if you can’t deliver it to the market place on time and on budget. The continuing contraction of the traditional Big Box market place, a shrinking demographic of 19 to 34 year old males, and the consolidation of control for both publishing and platform have conspired to create a real “adapt or die” situation for independent studios. If you are just now noticing that approaching wave of change, it may be too late to do much to alter the inevitable outcome." You can now read the full Gamasutra feature on the subject, including much more from Alley's intriguing point of view (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).