Its the end of an era

Well, yesterday my good friend Jay Moore announced that he was leaving garagegames.
Read it here.

I dont know about anyone else, but to me, it feels like the end of an era. An era where we had big dreams and big plans. The last 4 years have been really interesting, not least because I've struggled and overcome and struggled some more.

I guess change is inevitable and change is usually good. But I've got a sneaky feeling that things are never going to quite have the same spirit they once had.

I'll miss you Jay. And good luck with your next gig!

On another note entirely, I'm feeling a bit out of sorts this month. Maybe its buying a house, but I also think part of it is to do with being active and reading a few forums and websites. Mainly I guess the indiegamer.com forums, but also looking at gametrailers.com and just taking in what is happening.

Indie games are being consumed by the "borg" of casual gaming. If you read indiegamer.com, there are so many indies hoping that cloning a match 3 or a bubble popper is going to make them rich.

Then you look at the AAA industry and theyre all hoping that cloning GTA or Halo is going to make them rich.

Whatever happened to people being creative? Whatever happened to independance or uniqueness in all of this?

I know, its very much in the trends of all media to become some homogenous mass of crap, but I never thought games would become such cynically derivative rubbish. I just hope a few people decide that they, like me, dont want that kind of industry and decide to walk a different path. I guess it compared to M Knight Shyamalans films in many ways. Try and do something different. Not just "pirates of the carribean N" 2 at this point.

Ok, my game might not be overly innovative. But its at least written with love. At least its an expresion of us as developers. At least its not written by committee and created because it makes some accountant happy.

But hey, we carry on. We keep going. We keep creating. Because its what we do, its what we are, its what gives us a reason to be. Even if its unappreciated and uncommercial and lambasted and hell, even if its plain old bad.

So the industry can do what it likes. I've got no plans on paying any attention anymore, its simply too much of a waste of time.