After browsing the internet, as you do, and reading some interesting articles about recent indie game successes I realised something. There are a lot more failures out there than lauded award-winners. Countless games that have been made, and made well... They just haven't reached many people, or sold at all well.
Now making money isn't my top concern. So long as I get enough to keep myself alive, and able to make good games, then that's great. But in today's market, where anyone can cobble together some half-baked "Angry Birds" ripoff (which in itself isn't an original idea), you really have to stand out.
And what game did I decide to do? A top-down shooter, with aliens. Hardly an oft-successful format, let alone original. Sure, it might do well if I already have a development history and a fanbase. But I'm new here, and if I want to reach out to people with my games I'm going to need something extra special.
So I'll be working on something else for a while. A game that I feel confident will stand out amongst the countless bland platformers and and ten-minute RPG-Maker titles. I'm not quite sure what this will turn out to be, but you can bet it's going to be cool. And it will kick ass.
