~Bunbunmaru News~ > Front Page Headlines
Dungeons & Dragons: ZUN Edition - 2011 Update
helvetica:
--- Quote from: Edible on February 14, 2011, 05:56:50 PM ---I think the article phrases it wrong.
The way I understand it, you just can't only sell a product digitally - you need to offer a physical copy as well.
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Why? Why do I have to waste the time and money to provide a physical copy? I'm not a AAA vendor I'm just trying to get my game out into the public nameshare.
--- Quote from: Master Bigode ( eωe) on February 14, 2011, 06:07:18 PM ---You're still allowed to sell your stuff at doujin shops.
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Oh how convenient, I can only sell my stuff at Comiket and Reitaisai (events over in Japanland of course), or in doujin shops like himeya/etc I have to beg to carry my product physically. The "traditional doujin" distribution system is a joke, period. Outside of being in Japan your game will go nowhere, and even in Japan your game will end up on Share/PD in minutes and noone will buy it outside of collectors. Look how big Recettear got just by being on Steam.
--- Quote from: MANSTUFF on February 14, 2011, 07:48:12 PM ---TSO, if you're trying to make money off a touhou game then you're missing the point. He doesn't want fanworks to be motivated by profit.
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Noone said anything about being motivated for profit. Some people just want to have the fruits of their labor be worth something, or even just cover their costs and break even. And note he lumped both commercial and doujin in the same category, so I get the feeling he wasn't thinking about profit when he wrote that.
I'll be honest, the vibe I get is he wanted to add an artificial barrier to distribution in order to limit the potential number of sales doujin groups could generate. By forcing doujin groups to resort to physical distribution only, he's forcing a huge cost and barrier to entry. Not only that, on a lot of the platforms he forbade, there ARE no physical distribution options, digital is the only way. I can't reasonably make a 360 game and get it pressed. I can't make a physical copy of an IOS or Android game.
Stuff like Steam and Impulse and other digital distribution platforms are amazing for indy developers, as they no longer have to worry about distribution and marketting costs, it's all just part of the system. It lowers the barrier to entry immensely, and gets their game out to a much wider audience. His restrictions scream "I don't want you to be successful".
Kips McKipzerson:
Well, sorry TSO but I guess you cant sell it just yet. Are you sure theres no way you can make it in a physical form, even if its just some coupon or whatever?
Edible:
--- Quote from: ♪ Tesoro Corporation ♫ on February 14, 2011, 08:21:38 PM ---Why? Why do I have to waste the time and money to provide a physical copy? I'm not a AAA vendor I'm just trying to get my game out into the public nameshare.
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Uh, not being a "AAA vendor" doesn't prevent countless tiny doujin circles from producing physical material.
I have no idea why you're so up in arms about this, it's not even remotely a big deal.
helvetica:
The whole point of digital distribution is to empower the developer to be able to distribute without the hassle of going around and appeasing retailers and the traditional publishing chain. The whole idea of doujin/indy work is to embrace the developer peddling their wares without having to go through any of that shit. Doesn't digital distribution kind of, I dunno, embody that spirit and empower the devs even moreso?
Digital distribution is one of the single best things to happen to indy developers. It means they don't have to worry about the expenses of pressing their own discs or maintaining a website and bandwidth costs. It means they don't have to waste a bunch of time wooing doujin shops or advertising their game. And yet Lord ZUN has declared this against his wishes.
--- Quote from: Edible on February 14, 2011, 08:26:51 PM ---Uh, not being a "AAA vendor" doesn't prevent countless tiny doujin circles from producing physical material.
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It doesn't prevent them, but it also means they'll never see more than a pittance from their efforts. I'm up in arms because it essentially screams to me that kind of hipster attitude "you have to remain underground, you can't make it big!". Not only that, digital distribution is the way of the future and in some cases, the ONLY option for distributing on certain platforms. It's fine and admirable in a lot of ways he's trying to essentially retain creative control of his creation, but at the same time it just feels like only he's allowed to get successful, noone else.
In the end it doesn't matter, he's shown to be absolutely inept and pathetic at enforcing these restrictions anyways. I'd like to see him try to stop someone from making an IOS/Android Touhou game. I respect the guy for what he's done but at some point you gotta say he's just being a stick in the mud for no legitimate reason.
FinnKaenbyou:
In terms of 'please stop making money out of porn of my characters', I think ZUN's entitled to crack down on that a little. Likewise for people making an anime with his characters with the intent of making money - note that he specifies commercial anime products.
What I DON'T get, though, is the clamping down on releases through things like Xbox Live. What would something like that do other than make the series more popular and well known? Wouldn't a legitimate, easy-to-reach method of purchasing the games bring around a significant reduction in piracy? I can't understand it, and it seems honestly like he's trying to stop Touhou getting any bigger than it already is.