Capitalism and the Video Game Industry

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You all are talking about a video game.

Not about life saving medicine for sick babies!

Jeeze!

If you're gonna indict all of "capitalism" pick something more important than - software that competes with Donkey Kong.

Video games are a big part of the entertainment industry. Much of the industry is Triple A these days. No one cares about Donkey Kong. Video games have the potential to be an art form.

We're arguing how to preserve jobs for talented developers who put their livelihoods in an industry that could let them go for no reason.

The only way to accomplish THAT goal is for those very same “talented developers” to be the sole owners of the companies for which they work -- no outside capital investors (i.e., no banks, no stockholders, et cetera), and no “silent partners” either.

This means that (1) All the profits go into the artists’ pockets, and (2) All the costs come out of the artists’ pockets as well.

Imagine 10 - 20 artistic types trying to reach a consensus on product development while also trying to market and sell their products in a highly-competitive marketplace without any outside help.

Do you remember Solar Engine Games? Not many people do.

I know a lot of indie developers, but Solar Engine Games brings up nothing on any search. Do you have any proof they existed? What did they work on if anything got released at all or at least got a prototype demo?

Solar Engine Games was an ambitious plan by over a dozen game developers to “go their own way” together, using the model I expressed in my previous post. They had a lot of creativity, but little start-up capital of their own, and no idea how to run a business without it. Trying to satisfy everyone’s ego didn’t help much either. They went bust in less than a year, with nothing to show but some vaporware and a few broken friendships.

Needless to say that most people have never heard of SEG.

It's relevant because it's possible to create new wealth instead of coveting existing wealth. I'm not saying it will be easy but you need to stop thinking of this as a zero sum game.

If a company isn't making ALL of the money (including all of YOUR money), business isn't profitable enough so they cry about how production is too expensive wah, wah, wah.