hardcore portals? [Archive] - Indiegamer Developer Discussion Boards

bvanevery

08-13-2007, 08:58 AM

I really can't stand casual game portals. When I look at such things, 99% of the products are stuff I don't want, and the marketing is all geared towards gamers a helluva lot less sophisticated than I am. I've been playing games for 30 years. There's the odd game like Oasis (http://www.oasisgame.com/) or Strange Adventures In Infinite Space (http://www.digital-eel.com/sais/) that I think is cool, but I'm simply not willing to hunt and peck through casual game portals to find a diamond in the rough.

I could swear I read an article on Gamasutra about a company that was going to create a hardcore gamer portal. But now I can't find it.

I found something from WotC called Gleemax (http://www.gleemax.com/) but that looks like it'll be for WotC games.

Anything else out there?

Bmc

08-13-2007, 09:08 AM

manifesto games perhaps? http://www.manifestogames.com/

Jesse Hopkins

08-13-2007, 10:21 AM

manifesto games perhaps? http://www.manifestogames.com/

I was very impressed with them, but then I was a little sad to see lack of developer activy there over time. There seems to be more hardcore indie ventures for XBox Live. Maybe I am wrong, just seems like it.

Load"Jesse",8,1

bvanevery

08-13-2007, 11:27 AM

Yeah that was it, here's the Gamasutra article about Manifesto Games (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14597)

Pyabo

08-13-2007, 01:50 PM

Steam?

Stardock's site?

rioka

08-13-2007, 03:46 PM

Try Gametrove (http://www.gametrove.net/).

Jesse Hopkins

08-13-2007, 06:10 PM

Try Gametrove (http://www.gametrove.net/).

:eek: It's gone.

bvanevery

08-13-2007, 06:24 PM

No it's not. Must be your net connection.

Spore Man

08-13-2007, 08:48 PM

Umm, technically a hardcore gamer portal is www.fileplanet.com and similar sites.

Maybe you meant hardcore "small under 10 megs simple like a casual game" portal????

mrkwang

08-13-2007, 10:56 PM

Manifesto Games, maybe yes.

We Pig-Min did an interview with CEO of manifesto games. :)
http://pig-min.com/tt/580

Jack Norton

08-13-2007, 11:01 PM

First you should define "hardcore". It is a complex wargame? or just a soccer management simulation is already hardcore? then my games are hardcore.
You don't need any portal to sell hardcore. Just find another site who sells similar content and affiliate your games.
Last year I partnered with www.newstarsoccer.com letting him sell my sports games, and was a very good move.

Surely, the sales aren't comparable to the casual games portals, but at least I get the emails and a decent amount of money per sale :D

cliffski

08-14-2007, 01:08 AM

I think the original poster is like me, they aren't looking to sell their games, they are just looking for serious and interesting small games they aren't aimed at the casual audience. What i really like are hardcore serious strategy games, that just happen to be small and quick to get playing, like Lux basically.
Although I love the super graphics of 'triple-a' games, AND have anew PC with an awesome graphics card, the thought of downloading demos that are over a gig in size, and stuffed full of FMV and adverts just puts me off.
manifestogames *should* be the portal in question, although they carry possibly more 'casual' games than they need to.

Bad Sector

08-14-2007, 05:03 AM

For me is Steam and then Manifesto. Mostly Steam though. Too bad that Steam doesn't include the latest and greatest and only stuff from a few developers.

I don't even visit other portals...

Yarlen

08-14-2007, 07:00 AM

We carry some casual games on TotalGaming.net, but I tend to aim for titles I'd want to play myself (I'm certainly a hardcore gamer). Hopefully we'll be able to add more hardcore games in the future, but it's a long process to get such titles from mainstream publishers.

KNau

08-14-2007, 07:02 AM

I suppose everyone is already aware of Matrix Games (http://www.matrixgames.com/) and Shrapnel Games (http://www.shrapnelgames.com/). Good strategy selection covering most genres (fantasy, modern, sci-fi) - unfortunately they're premium priced and not always downloadable versions.

I've noticed the dilution factor on Manifesto as well. It's not a huge issue but there is just so much already wrong with the site that it stands out as another example where they've dropped the ball.

cliffski

08-14-2007, 07:23 AM

they don't do demos either...

KNau

08-14-2007, 07:50 AM

Yeah, I love how Matrix Games has screenshot packs as their "downloads". You can get demos from Shrapnel, though. They are on the bloated side - 200MB for the Air Assault Task Force demo (and it certainly ain't the graphics). Clearly, hardcore developers haven't learned the fine art of optimization.

bvanevery

08-14-2007, 11:44 AM

Ok, I'll clarify what I'm asking for. I'm not asking about where to sell my game. I don't have a game yet, and when I do, it could be a mercenary gesture to make money. I just want to get that part of the discussion out of the way, I'm not interested in that.

I'm asking about where to buy a game I'd like. I'm not my Mom, I don't give a rat's ass about match-3 games and the usual Casual drivel that has been done 3 billion times to death. Nor is wading through the offerings of the mainstream game industry my idea of a good time either. I'm an indie game developer, firmly in the "originality and innovation" camp.

So where do I find those products, other than going straight to the developers' websites?

Maybe there aren't many people out there like me, who have what I will call "taste." Maybe there isn't enough money in people who have taste to have such a portal. But Manifesto certainly talked like they were trying to be that.

I'd say Matrix and Shrapnel are doing an excellent job of targeting "people who have taste in wargames." That's an easier problem because it's more specific though.

zoombapup

08-14-2007, 05:17 PM

How about gametunnel? I usually read the review and then download the demo of any games that sound interesting.

Jesse Aldridge

08-14-2007, 06:21 PM

Tigsource (http://tigsource.com/) is the only place I ever download games these days.

I really don't think there are enough "tasteful" independent games to support a portal just yet. The places already mentioned are as close as one can get.

I myself have been getting my fix renting DS games through GameFly.

Promaginy

08-28-2007, 10:34 PM

...it is a growing affiliate site. Perhaps with future success and luck it might become the portal you're looking for.

Hard core can be in reference to either gameplay or to setting. All of the games on Hero's Path Games are hard core in relation to setting. Using the theme of a heroic journey, it is possible to capture tactical/action games, rpgs, and strategy games.

I am up to 40 games and have in the queue another 30. I don't ever to expect to have the multiple hundreds of games the portals have since my purpose is to focus only on those games that fit the heroic journey theme.

MrPhil

08-29-2007, 06:46 AM

I am trying to morph my "no focus" website into a strategy game portal. Lately, I've been trying to figure out what community features the strategy market needs or is missing. Have an suggestions? (And yes, I realize I have a LONG way to go, but I can only take one step at a time and my day job take up like 40 of my steps ever week!)

Promaginy

08-29-2007, 10:30 AM

McPhil, you got the right idea. Life is a cinch if you go by the inch - or something like that. :p

You need to decide what strategy means to you and the customers you are targeting. Is it management simulations? Is it Civilization type games?

I would also suggest you rebrand your site (which is nice looking btw) to state exactly what you are selling. What does Mr. Phil Games stand for? The name is too ambiguous. A company like Shrapnel games gives you an inclination that its focus is on war games.

Find a theme that represents a niche and do that. Otherwise you are competing with every other affiliate site and portal that is out there.

MrPhil

08-29-2007, 06:25 PM