Well- Casual Connect is over.  What did I learn? As Mike Peronto of Wild Tangent tried to explain with this disturbing Power Point Slide, there are many business models in the game industry.  Exiting this conference, I have realized that the game industry is no different than any other industry.  There are proven models that work if you follow the formula and spend millions of dollars.  These proven models will work even if your talent is mediocore and your ideas are lackluster.  However, there are other paths that rely on bright people working at their peak efficiency and following their dreams.

Fortunately for consumers, the big players in the market are taking notice of these highly talented small teams and are rapidly lowering the barriers for them to enter the market place.  There are more options for idie publishing than ever before.  Although this mean more competition, it also means it’s never been a better time to be an idie dev.

Overall, I enjoyed the conference very much, learned a great deal, and would recommend it to anyone in the industry (especially if you are local).  Oh, and if you can’t read the caption in the image, it says, “If you don’t buy this, we’ll kill the dog.”  When this slide came up, you could hear the air being sucked out of the room as everyone collectivley recoiled in horror.  I don’t think Mike got the reaction he was looking for.