Video Game Revolt
There‘s a revolution under way in the video game world and a young Kelowna entrepreneur is part of it.
While even those casually acquainted with the industry know names like Nintendo, Sega, or Electronic Arts, Andrew Roberts and his new upstart company Cosmic Logic are hoping to give those industry heavy-hitters a run for their money with a more simple approach.
“This is like a punk rock revolution,” said the 28-year-old.
In 2006, Microsoft‘s Xbox 360 allowed you to plug into the Internet. Although challenged in the marketplace by Sony‘s Playstation 3 and Nintendo‘s Wii, the one thing all those gaming consoles share is expensive gaming software, with some titles coming in at $50 or more. On the other hand, gamers can also download software off the Internet, and that is an opening Roberts and Cosmic Logic hope to exploit.
What Roberts sees as the future wave of video games involves not huge studios of game makers that only the big companies can afford, but rather a loose-knit community of programmers and artists, often working on their home computers to develop the next games.
Using the readily-available software called Torque Game Builder, the four independent game programmers who work for Cosmic Logic are each working on developing simple two-dimensional games that will be available online.
According to Roberts, the first one, called Cosmic Lacrosse, is a simple two-player game designed by local programmer Tyler Reid with hand-drawn art by Luke Fimio. Reminiscent of some of the products that first came out in the ‘80s when video games were relatively new, it represents the growing retro trend in the field.
Unlike big studios, which spend untold hours and dollars on each new release, Roberts said Cosmic Lacrosse will end up taking Reid about two months to complete with three hours a day of time invested. He‘s hoping to have it ready for release by early fall at a cost of about $10, and then release the three other titles they are working on after that.
After graduating from Okanagan College in 2006 with a degree in business – he also studied in Nevada and Ontario – Roberts went to work for a big international courier company driving a truck, but he wanted out of that limited opportunity. He looked at things like opening an online art gallery, but hit on the idea of getting into the gaming business first-hand.
“I was thinking of it back in 2004, but at that point you would have had to go to a traditional game publisher,” he said. “At big companies like EA (Electronic Arts), it‘s difficult to get your foot in the door. It‘s like the movie industry, they‘ve lost their passion.”
While Roberts doesn‘t consider himself a hard core gamer, that is the market he‘s targeting.
According to Roberts‘ figures, video game sales in 2007 totaled some 9.5 billion dollars in North America, with 65 per cent of households playing computer or video games. Their figures also indicate that the average gamer is 35-years-old and 45 per cent of players are female – a surprise given the idea of the typical gamer as being the nerdy high school kid in his basement, shooting down aliens and evil foes at his computer or gaming console.
This new revolution of simpler, retro-styled video games produced by independent companies like Cosmic Logic is becoming a force in the marketplace as well. According to Roberts, one game called Castle Crashers from the company Behemoth has already sold close to a million units at $10 each.
While Cosmic Logic prepares for the release of it‘s first title, Roberts has been busy shaking the trees for funding to help with his venture. Based out of his home, he already has 16 people involved in the company, programming games, generating artwork and providing support. But by his own admission, he has been operating with almost no budget.
“My biggest motive in this was to create opportunities for the inexperienced in the Okanagan,” he said. “This concept is really starting to grow . . . I think of myself as like a record label with a network of artists.”
By Daily Courier Staff
Sunday, July 12, 2009