A lot of people just don’t get it.

Flash Tactics is a series of blog posts outlining why I believe that Flash is not only a great game platform, but how I believe developers can find success on a platform that is dismissed by so many developers.

Flash Tactics Part 1: The Most Accessible Gaming Platform in the World.

For me, it’s as simple as this – no other gaming platform in the world has the install base, accessibility and reach that Flash has.

As a developer, my goal has always been to get my games in front of as many people as possible. With this goal in mind, Flash became the only real option when I decided to go out on my own.

The Flash Player install base is huge – in most markets, it’s north of 98%, meaning that for almost every player there are no barriers preventing them from playing your game. They simply have to go to a webpage and play the game.

No trips to a store, no logging in, no credit cards, no download or installs – just go to a site and play.

This sort of access is unheard of on all other platforms and it multiplies your audience by a tremendous margin.

Consider that a ‘hit’ PC game will sell 1 million units in the first year of release, before it’s removed from the shelves. Through the long tail of digital download services like Steam and D2D, you can probably tack on another 500K units sold at extreme discounts through the lifetime of the game. In addition, it’ll probably be pirated an additional 2 million times. So if you make a hit PC game, you’ll hit 3-4 million people. Not bad.

Compare that to a good Flash game, which can get 1 Million plays in its first week. A hit Flash game can get close to 1 million plays/day. It’s not unheard of for a hit Flash game to have 50-80 Million plays in a year. And these numbers don’t fade in the way that traditional games do.

A twitter search for ‘Flash Game’ will reveal mentions of ‘classic’ flash games like Desktop Tower Defense and Fancy Pants Adventures alongside 2009 hits like Canabalt and Crush the Castle. People are still discovering these games for the first time and they are sharing them with their friends.

When most games have faded from peoples memories and sales dwindle, Flash games are still out there, building an audience for your game.

Flash is free, Flash is everywhere and new people are discovering Flash games every day.

As a game developer, this is simply too tempting an audience to pass up, and that’s why I chose Flash.

In upcoming Flash Tactics posts I will answer the second most common question I get: “How do you make money giving your game away for free?” (and I’ll try not to quote Chris Anderson’s book on the subject too much…)

Other Flash Tactics Posts:

Flash Tactics #2: Making Money From a Free Flash Game

You get 110 minutes of whatever [adult swim] shows you want. Pick the shows, pick the episodes and go to town. You can mix and match Venture Bros. with Aqua Teen Hunger Force – it’s your call.

Once you’ve got your shows lined up, you can pick the design for the case, disc and insert. Three days later a DVD filled with [adult swim] love is in the mail, on it’s way to a loving home.

And while you are at the [adult swim] store, you can get more insane bad-assery from the one television block that is so awesome, it makes me want to buy a US satellite dish.

It looks at the rise of the independent developer in the game industry, the video game as art and what the future may hold. It’s a terrific read that I highly recommend.

Cory goes to town on how the world of media is changing and it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last.

I read TCJ whenever I can find a copy (easier said than done on PEI). The articles are hearty, opinionated, unapologetic and a far cry from the lighter fair of most comics journalism (thx Wizard). 20 page interviews are not uncommon.

Of course, reading articles of this depth online might be tiresome, but regardless of format/scope adjustments, at least it will still be done with the same TCJ integrity.

Thanks TCJ!

It’s a little known but well documented fact that people who write short stories for a living cannot make a living writing short stories for a living. (got that?)

Valente’s Omikuji is an attempt to make a living at writing short stories by getting her readers to subscribe to her stories. Every month, her subscribers get an exclusive story that will not be published anywhere else. It’s her interpretation of 1000 True Fans.

Think about that? $10/month for a limited, collectible piece of work from your favorite creator.

What happened if someone else did this? Why aren’t more people doing this? Artists, writers, web-comicers, musicians? One small piece of work for $10/month from your fans.

For smaller webcomics, it could be half of one month’s rent (even one fan is $120/year).

For established creators, it could reach five figures easily.

If Penny-Arcade did this, I bet they could close to a million dollars/year – all for doing what they love and giving it to the people who love them for it.

New People Building Exterior. Photo by Ryan Sands, http://samehat.blogspot.com

Shopping in Otaku stores in Tokyo is like getting lost in the most disorganized comic shop on the planet – it’s all about finding treasure in a dark corner.

Regardless of who you are – it’s a decidedly nerdy endeavor – the dark stair cases and chaotic shelves will put off all but the most dedicated of Otaku.

Contrast that with New People. A clean, crisp and open space. The Apple Store of comic shops.

Hopefully this will bring new people to the wonderful nerdings of Japan, and needless to say, a trip to SF suddenly went up on the priority list.

When Toho sued Pink G-dz-ll-, an incredibly cool games and geekery shop in Seattle, they changed their name to Pink Gorilla – I can’t think of a better way to announce the new name.

I met Corey at Emerald City comic-con 4 or 5 years ago – and all I could think was “WOW! This guy LOVES making comics.” Full of energy and love for the medium and the craft.

The best part of Reyyy’s work is that the passion he has can be seen in his work. His art and stories have the same frenetic pace and style that Corey carries with him every day.

More Corey Lewis:
Corey’s Homepage (pure brilliance!)

Seedless Webcomic

Twitter:@kenby
Sharkknife:

As any indy creator knows – every revenue option requires some work. Ads are easy, t-shirts are harder and getting set up to process and manage micro-transactions – well, before Mochi Coins, you needed a whole team for that.

Basically – Mochi Coins is to independent digital content developers (movies, music, comics, games, art) what eBay and Paypal were for Beanie Baby Collectors. This literally changes everything.

Have a song playing in the background of your movie? Let people download it for $.99. Want to see a making of video for a video game? Unlock it for $.99. People want an HD version of your webcomic? They can unlock if for $.99.

Tracking whose account has what, dealing with payments and multiple credit cards, etc – that’s all handled by Mochi.

The iPhone App Store just came to the Internet – and I’m surprised more people aren’t excited.

In a brilliant showing, as Mochi-Coins grows, the developers at Mochi are keeping their ear to the ground and are addressing concerns and questions as they come up from the development scene and have addressed these in a recent blog post.

For those unfamiliar – Worldcon is the annual gathering of fans and professionals in Sci-fi and fantasy literature. These are the people who write, publish and read SF and Fantasy novels and short stories.

When con-goers first started appearing on the streets a few days ago – I saw what I expected to see. People in their 40’s and 50’s – men with walking sticks, long beards and hair that can only be described as ‘frazzled’. They were joined by women rocking pants-to-high, hip packs and long straight hair (renfair braid optional).

These people are the dedicated core of the SF and Fantasy audience. They are the people you see, all the time, in your book store and used book store. These are the people whose backs the current SF/Fantasy publishing industry was built off of.

These are the people who are worried about the future of their passions. With the print publishing industry shrinking daily – the niche and fringe work of midlist SF and Fantasy authors will soon be impossible to find unless the authors publish it themselves – and many quickly poo-poo the thought.

It doesn’t take Perception + 10 (4th Ed rules) to see that these people are worried. Very worried.

What I didn’t expect was the gap between the Hip-Packs and the the next generation of fans.

There are a surprising number of people here in their 20’s. And while most of them will score a 10/10 on the geekometer – they are also very hip. Hip to the tools and ever-changing available media platforms.

They have an energy, a lack of fear and a solid grasp on the media before them. A grasp that can only be felt by someone who can’t remember a world without e-mail.

They ask questions that make geek-prince Cory Doctorow say ‘Hrmm’ with a knowing smile.

They are meeting people in the halls who they have only met online.

They are working on bold projects and are not waiting to be discovered – they are creating works that demand attention.

The panels at Worldcon are almost exclusively manned by print publishing crowd – the old watch. Some panelists, visionaries like Neil Gaiman and Doctorow, are presenting options for the future, but for the most part, the print publishers come bearing warnings of doom and gloom.

I wonder if Worldcon would be better served by turning the tables around and having the young, self-published (or online only published) brash hipsters share their thoughts?

They are the ones who aren’t waiting for the SF/Fantasy publishing industry to recognize them, they are too busy re-inventing it.