Hi there... I just want to ask you guys two things... First one: Does size matter? I think that most of the gamers out there believes that "shareware" games is always little games (in size, for easier download). Is it possible for "large" (> 50Mb) games to sell through the shareware path? What do you think for a first person shooter for example, 200Mb in size and $20 price? Second : What do you think about mail orders? If a game is available through mail order only, will it sell some pieces? Thanks in advance.

Yes it will sell but not nearly as much (in both cases).

The key to shareware success is to make it as easy as possble for as many people as possible to get your game and then to pay for it. A big download will limit your potential customers to broadband users or very patient people. Mail order would reduce your market further (probably to almost nothing). Shareware is an impulse buy. It needs to be reasonably priced and easily available. Not many people will want to wait to get a CD through the post.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions

quote: Original post by Someg
Does size matter?
I think that most of the gamers out there believes that "shareware" games is always little games (in size, for easier download). Is it possible for "large" (> 50Mb) games to sell through the shareware path? What do you think for a first person shooter for example, 200Mb in size and $20 price?

It's easy: I had a 33,6Kbps modem, and I wouldn't waste my time downloading a game that I only know some screenshots... If the game is smaller (2-5Mb), I'll download it, because it'll be faster to download... And no, I'm not the only guy in the world usign dial-up connection... So try yo get your game as small as posible, and more people would download it...

[edited by - roka-tarat on August 25, 2002 6:55:25 AM]

1:
If you have made a name for yourself or have a game that you know will be favorably reviewed by major game review sites then you may get away with larger than normal downloads but that does not stretch to > 50MB... larger than normal is still probably less 30 or even less than 20MB.

Otherwise you should really be aiming at less that 5MB at least for the demo version, you can probably get away with the full version being up to 20MB if the demo is less than 5 IMO.

2:
Why would you use mail order only when there are many companies on the net that will process credit card payments for you for a fairly cheap price? They will also take money orders.


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Jai Shaw
Dreamstars 3: A space combat game with depth?!
http://icarusindie.com/Dreamstars

If you want to distribute your games over intenet then they have to be small. Else you can contact some magazines which provide free cds full of demo software. In that way you can get to some audiences for you game.

Also you can check RegSoft.com and Kagi.com for their services of providing Online Payment Processing. You can easily setup them. I personally use regsoft.com

Harish Save
www.harishsave.com