If a Nigerian developer were to create games for PC that are relevant to Nigeria and our various cultures, will you be willing to support them by paying for the games or will you just pirate them the way we do with games developed overseas?

Also what kind of game do you think a Nigerian developer should create that will appeal to you but not require the crazy high cost of a firstperson shooter game or a big huge adventure/grand theft auto/racing game?

It will be difficult for a Nigerian game to surpass the foreign games that Nigerians are pirating everyday, unless the Nigerian game includes elements that are distinctly Nigerian and gives people a stronger incentive to pay for it.

People dont listen to 9ice cos he's nigerian. They listen cos they like his music and he made some money because of that. Any game developer should focus on making a game that people would like. And not waiting for sentiments that its naija made. My people will forever pirate, naija or foreign. Consider online activation to check that. Sudoku and solitaire, have no graphics yet millions play it. Originallity is the key word.

nope,
i ll never support crap!
at least Capcom is making Resident evil 5, Africa based location,
we shouldn't even think of it.
what kind of game do you want to make?
how many people will buy crap,
if you recall GRAN THEFT AUTO 4 total cost was $100 million (app. N12 billion) who's gonna bring that kind of cash?
the programmers?
endless list,
simply just a NO GO AREA!

@vowiski

But surely that is just a strange attitude to take towards games? Not all games are made with $100million dollar budgets and require the latest in high definition 3-d graphics. Like skyope said, people are playing solitaire and sudoku, and loads of people buy the books for the latter. Surely it is possible for us to come up with enough innovation and skill to make a game that is unique and polished?

Don't let the glitz and glam fool you into thinking that all good games must cost heaven and earth to produce. It just isn't true. Check out Braid, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, Pixeljunk Eden, and a whole host of Nintendo DS games to see what I mean.

As for whether or not I would support a Nigerian-made game. If it was good, I would most definitely. But, I also do not think that a Nigerian developed videogame should be targeted at Nigerians. It should be targeted at the global market, and one should look at making their money elsewhere. The level of piracy here is quite frankly scary for a hopeful developer like myself. I also doubt that the market is big enough yet for someone to make their living from targeting a solely Nigerian audience (not that you said you were planning to, but I just thought it worth mentioning).

@Yegwa
you amaze me.
o! you want me to start playing sokudo? and the rest trash. nah, not me and the loads of hardcore gammers we got in this nation
gta4 is not even the most expensive game made. so stop theose things about price.
Nigerians should FARM.
it will always be crap, just like nollywood and hollywood. you can see the massive diference, i can't remember the last time i watched a home video. why? because, the filmmakers don't think. same story over and over. can Nigerians act epic films? how them wan take start? na BEANS?
if you replicate that same thing into the gaming industry , it would be a great disaster.
can they think? go and ask Hideo Kojima  (mgs creator and king of gaming,  with tons of award), he will tell stuff about gaming.
it's not BEANS!
wait, i don't get it.
do Nigerians want to make a game console? info; the PS3 was developed by Sony with $3 billion.( convert to Naira, oh ma gush!,  m bleeding) so it not child's play neither is it beans.
cheers.
think b3yound!

vowiski:

@Yegwa
you amaze me.
o! you want me to start playing sokudo? and the rest trash. nah, not me and the loads of hardcore gammers we got in this nation

Don't be all about graphics and glitz. Sometimes gameplay wins over visuals. I've had more fun playing Advance Wars on the Game Boy Advance than playing some of the crapware 3d games shovelled at us.

vowiski:


gta4 is not even the most expensive game made. so stop theose things about price.

Expensive doesn't always mean 'good' or 'successful'. Shenmue cost almost 100 million dollars to make and sold only about 1.2 million copies.

vowiski:

can they think? go and ask Hideo Kojima (mgs creator and king of gaming, with tons of award), he will tell stuff about gaming.
it's not BEANS!

Hideo Kojima is not the only succesful game developer in the world. and even he can make flawed games (i.e ZOne of the Enders - PS2). There are many devs that make stunning games with only a fraction of the manpower and resources available to him.
Games do not always have to have convoluted (and sometimes confusing) storylines (looking at you, MGS) to be stunning.

vowiski:

do Nigerians want to make a game console? info; the PS3 was developed by Sony with $3 billion.( convert to Naira, oh ma gush!, m bleeding) so it not child's play neither is it beans.
cheers.
think b3yound!

No one said anything about Nigerians making a game console. Which orifice did you pull that idea from?

@dakmanzero
Since you're talking about things relevant to Nigerian culture, i'm not sure of the success of any such game.
First off, Nigerians are enthralled by visuals. it's 3D or nothing. With such a limited budget, i doubt any game made will have cutting edge visuals and hence it'll suffer in comparison to contemporary games.
Add to that the lack of interest from younger gamers in many things pertaining to Nigerian culture and values.
Distribution is another issue. Since it obviously will be PC only, getting an unpirated version may be challenging. Also PC gamers are a far more discerning breed than the shambling zombies that watch home videos, so they'll be a harder sell.

Are you seriously considering this? Expect a call from me soon.

Finally, you may want to consider using any of the available middleware like Unity 3D to develop a simple FPS mirroring key campaigns of the Biafran war. or you could just use the Quake 3 Engine. This scales well on older hardware (ensuring many people can get in - Q3 engine games run well on Intel GMA 900 - 950 and even on Netbooks) and the ensuing furore over such a campaign will ensure many people buy into the game.

Who wouldn't want to frag a young OBJ in multiplayer?!

Lol @ fragging a young Obj in Biafra. There are actually loads of great engines that are quite cheap or at least freely available. One could always start with mods using the source engine or whatever.

@ texazzpete
you amaze me just as well as u amaze vowiski.
i rest my case.
Nigerians GO TO FARM, BABA has always said that.

@ kosovo

I hope you're just joking when you say that texazzpete is 'amazing' you. Are you a farmer? This kind of defeatist attitude is not good at all. The guys that are doing visual effects for Nigerian music videos and music stations/programs like Nigezie and Soundcity, they should also go and farm right? Obviously they are doing an alright job and can only get better. Countries like India are making money by tapping into computer technology. Did you know that Brazil launched its own console this year? Yes, they are a developing nation like ours.

Programming and digital art (whether 2d or 3d), and music/sound design are all great democratising tools. Anybody can learn them as long as they are prepared to work hard and have the talent.

You and vowiski continue to be amazed oh!

Yegwa:

@ kosovo

I hope you're just joking when you say that texazzpete is 'amazing' you. Are you a farmer? This kind of defeatist attitude is not good at all. The guys that are doing visual effects for Nigerian music videos and music stations/programs like Nigezie and Soundcity, they should also go and farm right? Obviously they are doing an alright job and can only get better. Countries like India are making money by tapping into computer technology.

Programming and digital art (whether 2d or 3d), and music/sound design are all great democratising tools. Anybody can learn them as long as they are prepared to work hard and have the talent.

You and vowiski continue to be amazed oh!

malesia has one of the biggest economies. how?
they borrowed our palm seedlings from NIFOR, and used to develop disease resistance hybrids.of oil palm, while NIFOR rots in Nigeria.

CHINA IS tapping into computers,  yes and yes, i agree. but can china FEED their over 1 billion population, with their own resources, YES THEY CAN,
CHINA DO NOT IMPORT FARM PRODUCE,. and we just 140 million, and importationis the order of the day.
what a nation!

Did you know that Brazil launched its own console this year? Yes, they are a developing nation like ours.

YES I KNOW, like wise NIGERIA lunched her communication satellite about 19 month ago, but the question now is  WHERE IS IT?

Countries like India are making money by tapping into computer technology.

that was after their government developed the youth.
do we have a government? I DOUBT!

You and vowiski continue to be amazed oh!

you had better direct your amazement to our DUMB! president. and not us.

@vowiski
Why are you being so negative. Everything doesnt have to be about textures or graphics to
be honest with you most game digust me why because there is no creativity nor gameplay and this what classic games had ,thats why if you ask a true gamer who has being playing games for more than ten what's the golden year of gaming you will probably hear 1994-2000.

SUPPORT NAIJA GAMERS AND FUTURE GAME PROGRAMMERS!!!

Hmmm some nice replies.

I understand where those who want AAA games are coming from. However we have to understand that all entertainment is based on the 'loss leader' model, where a huge amount is spent upfront and then recouped afterwards.

Naija does not yet have a gaming community large enough to support this model. Also, the majority of hardcore gamers are used to getting high quality titles for free or at low prices (pirated) and as a result, anyone who tries to cater to them is doomed.

I used to look down on low quality nollywood films until I started looking at them with an economist's eye. the audience that laughs at the poor special effects and acting is the same audience that would rather buy a pirated camera rip of the latest summer blcokbuster than pay 1,500 for a world-class cinema experience with multichannel surround sound, LFE effects, high quality projection and a cinematic aspect ratio. Therefore it makes sense that if you are making a movie in Nigeria, you should churn out recyclable stories and shoot as fast and as cheaply as possible. Multiple takes and lengthy character building sessions are wasteful and will stop the film from breaking even. rampant piracy means that your film will be pirated months after release, so you must keep churning out cheap sequels in order to constantly skim a profit off the leading edge.

Applying this philosophy to games, unfortunately is unlikely to work. the sucess of a game is based on its quality, people can sit like zopmbies and watch poorly acted nonsense as long as they are fooled into thinking it is 'what really happens in our culture' but no-one will play a crappy game.

However, people will play a compelling or addictive game no matter how simplistic the graphics or sound quality- for example minesweeper, zuma, peggle, tetris.

The approach I feel a Nigerian developer should take is to focus on the gameplay. Keeping it simple but fun, and create a reason for their existence by being relevant to the Nigerian situation.

So back to the question- if you were presented with a Nigerian game that, while simple and lacking in AAA graphics and sounds, was compelling, fun to play and relevant to the Nigerian condition in some way or form, would you support it?

Of course I will support a homegrown game, but I guess you already know that sha. But, I would like to reiterate that a Nigerian-developed game should not rely on the support of Nigerians but instead look outside.

I also slightly disagree that the people that pirate blockbuster movies do not go to cinema. I am sure a large number of people that purchase pirated dvds and vcds do not go to the cinema, but a lot of people do go to the cinema to watch movies even when it is available freely via torrents or from the street vendors. For some people as well, piracy is the only means they have to watch certain films here. With no distribution network worth a damn in the country, if a film doesn't hit the cinema, your only recourse is to piracy (unless one travels). This group is still too small, and our disposable income not yet large enough, to support the purchase of blockbuster movie dvds, and to get back to the topic, video games, but I think once people start having easier access to these things we might be able to slowly build something.

Maybe I am being too optimistic? awoof > bought for a LOT of people all over the world as can be seen with the rampant piracy affecting all the media that can be put online.

@Vowiski, even amongst game developers, Shigeru Miyamoto is considered the baba, not Hideo Kojima. Don't get me wrong, I also love Kojima, I'm even following him on twitter, but he's not on the same level as Miyamoto. To answer this topic, I will support any DECENT nigerian made game.

Here is a Nigerian developed whot card game for blackberry and nokia, and its free

Blackberry
http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/65745?lang=en

Ovi STore
http://store.ovi.mobi/content/214279