How much do the Dreamcast "Set5" Dev-kits cost?

[AZ101]

Dear All

How much do the Dreamcast Set-5 development kits cost nowadays and where can you buy them from? Also, with recent titles like Border Down being released in Japan, is it still possible to have a successful operation developing titles for the Dreamcast?

Thanks

[PoV]

Success? Outside Japan, no. In Japan? I'd have my doubts. As much as I love dead consoles, there's perfectly good living consoles with opportunities on them. Like anything, it all depends on how serious and capable you are about it.

As for cost, I think I saw a Katana kit go for $500 not to long ago. However, there are pleanty of functional independant tools available for the Dreamcast (Lik Sang carries a serial cable you can use with a boot disk to send binaries to the console). And it can play standard burned CD's (with the correct headers and cd layout). The magic word for any underground console development is "dev". Combine that with your console of choice, and Google will help you find where to get started. In some cases (Gameboy), the underground tools are significantly better than the professional tools.

(edit: New member Steve Rabin!? Oh no, I didn't just piss of NOA with that tool remark did I. :D)

[AZ101]

So what consoles would you recommend that allow a small devco to release "groundbreaking" titles for it and ensure that one can be successful...

I was thinking GBA, DC, Revolution...

[Robert Cummings]

The best you can go for is xbox live.

[AZ101]

The magic word for any underground console development is "dev". Combine that with your console of choice, and Google will help you find where to get started. In some cases (Gameboy), the underground tools are significantly better than the professional tools.


So I just type in "dev gameboy advance" for GBA?

[electronicStar]

As POV said if you want to go through all the hassles of commrcial console devellopment, just go for the latest models, you will only waste your time with a dreamcast.
Now if it is just for fun , then go for it,I'm sure you must be able to find Dreamcast dev kits "for free" on teh internet.

[AZ101]

As POV said if you want to go through all the hassles of commrcial console devellopment, just go for the latest models, you will only waste your time with a dreamcast.
Now if it is just for fun , then go for it,I'm sure you must be able to find Dreamcast dev kits "for free" on teh internet.

So how much does it cost to set up a small studio geared towards making and developing interesting/groundbreaking games?

I'm thinking of studios such as Mitzuguchi's Q as an example...

[Hiro_Antagonist]

So how much does it cost to set up a small studio geared towards making and developing interesting/groundbreaking games?
There's no hard-and-fast answer to that question, of course. If you're looking for the most cost-efficient platform to develop for, it's PC (and/or Mac) -- no question.

If you're determined to work on a console, I have no idea why you'd want to do the Dreamcast. The skills you learn would be throwaway, and I can't imagine you'd make your money back, even with a Japanese release. Besides, it's not like the Dreamcast is any easier to program for than anything else. Just because it's obsolete doesn't make it easier...

GBA, Xbox Live, and the upcoming Revolution online service are the most small-team-friendly platforms you can get. But for all of those platforms, you still need to go through the cert process, and that isn't trivial or cheap. I assume that even for GBA development you'd need to buy an official dev kit before you ship -- can anyone confirm that?

But the thing is, I believe this whole conversation is moot. From my experience, if you have to ask these questions on a forum like this, then you simply are not positioned to be able to do console development successfully. I seriously doubt that any successful console game ever made started off with someone asking for platform advice on forums like this.

My advice is to start with a PC title to build up your chops, cred, and capitol pool. There can be decent money in PC titles if you do a good job, get the right publisher/distributors, and make a product that people want. And then you'd be better positioned to move into a more challenging platform.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[AZ101]

GBA, Xbox Live, and the upcoming Revolution online service are the most small-team-friendly platforms you can get. But for all of those platforms, you still need to go through the cert process, and that isn't trivial or cheap. I assume that even for GBA development you'd need to buy an official dev kit before you ship -- can anyone confirm that?

My advice is to start with a PC title to build up your chops, cred, and capitol pool. There can be decent money in PC titles if you do a good job, get the right publisher/distributors, and make a product that people want. And then you'd be better positioned to move into a more challenging platform.

-Hiro_Antagonist
I was thinking of self-publishing... Steam style...

Would it not be possible to release a PC title and then port it over to the X-Box and Revolution afterwards (that's assuming that I do a good job on my initial title).

That way, the cert process could be taken care of...

Also, it also means that one can move into MMORPG

[AZ101]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/computergames/story/0,11500,1555412,00.html


Back to the bedroom

There's still life in the independent videogaming developer, reports Rhianna Pratchett

Thursday August 25, 2005
The Guardian

Many top videogame developers started their gaming careers hacking and programming in their bedrooms. Due to spiralling development costs, however, and the seemingly unshakeable power wielded by both publishers and distributors, the bedroom coder has become an endangered species.

But while they may be down, they're certainly not out. This is especially true when it comes to Britain's independent development scene, which is leading a burgeoning undercurrent of small studios that have found success away from the publishers' glare. But what's making them take the road less travelled in a climate that's unstable even for the big development houses?

"The royalty deals that publishers offer you are rubbish," reveals Mark Morris, director of Introversion Software, a three-man company that has won critical acclaim for its two self-published titles: the hacking simulator Uplink and, most recently Darwinia, a game that revolves around a futuristic virtual world overrun by killer viruses.

Uplink was conceived and written by Introversion's lead designer, Chris Delay, while he was still at college. Delay, Morris and their college buddy, Tom Arundel - who is now their main marketing man - each put in £200 of seed funding, built a website for Uplink and went into self-distribution. Getting the word out through the internet helped generate initial sales, but Delay admits that they did most of the initial spin themselves. "We faked it completely," he says. "We went into forums and posted that there was this really quirky new game out and people should give it a go."

"I think you're only really going to have the creative freedom to work on your own game ideas when you run your own business."

Introversion is of the view that it's not as hard as people think to start your own games company. "People have a lot of assumptions about how the industry works," explains Morris. "They automatically assume that they have to go and work for a big developer, or that if they start their own company they need a publisher. You do need capital but you can do a lot of your own distribution online."

"The most important ingredient in creating a successful indie developer can't be bought or sold, yet often gets overlooked in the profit-grabbing scrum - and that is sheer talent. Add to that a good deal of online nous, plus a few family members who are willing to stamp-lick, and fortune really can favour the brave".

[Hiro_Antagonist]

I was thinking of self-publishing... Steam style...

Would it not be possible to release a PC title and then port it over to the X-Box and Revolution afterwards (that's assuming that I do a good job on my initial title).

That way, the cert process could be taken care of...

Also, it also means that one can move into MMORPG
Actually, some people are doing PC titles and then, if things look promising, porting those to systems like XLA (and presumably Revolution's online service if it lives up to Nintendo's statements.) I myself hope to eventually port a product to these platforms in the next 2-3 years.

A steam-like app is definitely out of the question for you to develop on your own. Sure, you can self-publish, but you'd most likely do that by putting your game (or at least a demo) up on appropriate portals.

MMO's are unrealistic for the most part for an indie, unless you are a tremendous developer with an awesome team and years of programming experience. No offense, but many of the newbies starting in indie game dev talk about making an MMO, and they don't really know what they're talking about. They are absolutely massive projects requiring huge budgets, teams, and support efforts.

I suggest following the lead of most people here and working on a small, managable product. Look at the small indie teams that started where you are now, and see what products those sorts of people have made that were successful. That should give you some scope guidelines to work with.

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Abscissa]

So I just type in "dev gameboy advance" for GBA?
No, you type in http://www.gbadev.org for GBA ;)