Gamasutra Expert Blogs: From Indie Jams To Studio Startups

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics, including indie jam sessions, game clones, and the challenges of operating a startup developer.] In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information about the blogs, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs - Idea Bucket Game (Adam Saltsman) Adam Saltsman describes his recent indie jam session with Rebecca Mayes, in which the two developers created a game from scratch in just eight hours. - Of Hand-Wavey Kinect Discussions (Megan Fox) Despite admitting the Kinect launch games are far from perfect, NetDevil's Megan Fox ponders what the future of Kinect will hold, and how it could be implemented in some established core franchises. - Soapbox: Indie == Cheap? (Benjamin Quintero) Benjamin Quintero examines what makes a game a clone versus an evolution of an established idea, and why relative price has become such an important factor in player's purchasing decisions. - The Gold Master Prototype (Gabriel Lievano) Prototyping is a key element throughout game development, but it isn't often applied to business models. Gabriel Lievano explains how testing for business can help reveal new ways to sell games that lead to more lucrative results. - Lessons Learned: Game Startup In Progress (Kris Morness) After starting a new studio and prepping a new game, Kris Morness explains the challenges the studio faced and the lessons learned as they took on the weighty responsibilities of starting anew.