Some thoughts after the jump, as always.
So you're probably thinking that this article is about piracy. While it's a good article to read if you're interested, it's not really anything groundbreaking - yet another game developer thinks that ads in-game will work, when it's never proven to be effective anyways. I am actually of the opinion that being an indie in video game design (or music) is a good way to become bankrupt - you need a big developer just to have enough marketing to reach "mainstream" (since hardcore gamers will probably also be computer savvy enough to just download it free).
What I am actually more interested in are the comments underneath the article - to me, this is where the best research actually can be gleaned. It's like a free focus group, and it's unprompted. The discussion is complex and lengthy (79 comments in the first thread as I write this) and gives a lot of thoughts on what people think about the industry. Of particular note is that there's a lot of discontent with computer gaming, and not because they have to pay: Their complaint is that they always end up having to buy upgrades anyways, so why bother paying for the game?
I don't disagree, since I don't like the update process much, but it'd be kind of dumb to think that not constantly updating would be much better - My guess is that updates are probably the most efficient way for a developer to actually make money; they know a game is at a certain level of popularity, only legitimate copies would be eligible for the update, it weeds out pirates if there's a multiplayer feature, etc.
There isn't really an available solution that I can see, but I applaud the developer for coming up with a new method of revenue. I hope it ends up as humorous as this.
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