Game Publishing

[TC, Katana Mongoose CEO]

I have a question...

I'm completely new to this industry, and I have one major question to ask. As stated in a post below "one small step gaming", I have a few gaming ideas and nearly finished games to present to this company.

Well, what I wanted to know is what I should do in this situation. i.e. Is it better for me to just try out on my own, or should I trust this company? I have the ideas and I have an artist, and the games just need to be put on paper, is it worth it to go to another company, or is it going to cost waaay too much to even try on my own?

Help me out here, I appreciate it.

Thanks,

TC

[Misguided]

TC, your post is quite vague. Like Gareth, I am not familiar with the other company you mentioned, so I have no idea whether that might be a great or lousy idea. More to the point, what is it that you want to get out of this? Until we have some idea what you hope to achieve it is difficult to give you advice.

[TC, Katana Mongoose CEO]

Then allow me to elaborate.

The company, One Small Step gaming is a very small company originated in Pomona, CA, website: www.ossgames.com. They also publish many of their games in Competitor's Edge.

I found out about them from a flyer at Orccon, saying how they were looking for Playtesters or people to present game ideas. I was skeptical, but without the current capital with which to start my own company, I thought I'd e-mail them.

They quickly responded with an e-mail and a phone call. They told me how many people I had in my gaming group and their ages and such. The guy was extremely friendly, and seemed like a nice guy.

Another call was about the gaming ideas. He had me tell him the basic ideas for each game, and stressed the point that they didn't have the writers at the company to keep a game alive. So when I went over my idea for The WAR as well as Fighter's Arena, (two concept games, one an RPG, the other a tabletop fighting game), he told me how important expansions were and that I would have to be able to come up with more ideas.

I wasn't sure how to take this or evaluate the situation. I would absolutely love to start my own business. And I'm already at an advantage as I am an experienced writer/editor as well as I have experience with Pagemaker, etc. I also have an experienced artist working with me, she has much experience hand-drawing, inking as well as work with Photoshop.

The disadvantage however, is the lack of money to start. I know a printer who would give me a great deal, and as for marketing, I can run that all myself. Running the business isn't a problem, it's just the money.

So I guess that's why I ended up contacting OSS. I had tried a few others, but to no avail. Other gaming companies just aren't looking for people. So I look to rpg.net for a little advice. I hope this helped to expound on the situation at hand.

Thanks!

TC

[Misguided]

My turn to elaborate.

What is it you hope to achieve from publishing your product? What is your main objective in doing so?

There's a difference between publishing a game mainly to see it in print and wanting to get it into stores across the country and developing it into a source of income. What you want may help you decide whether the offer from OSS is a good idea or not. Consider your answers and ask whether OSS will help you meet those objectives.

[TC, Katana Mongoose CEO]

Let me put it simply, I guess

Short term goals-- Get at least one game published, get my name out on the market and in the industry. "get my foot in the door"

Long term goals-- Create a company where I will be able to publish a wide range of games, as well as make a profit from them.

But I guess this is similar to almost anyone...as for OSS, I am still unsure whether or not I will benefit from the situation. I guess there's only one way to find out. If you have any more advice, please let me know.


Oh, and as for the whole Katana Mongoose situation, the name is going to be changed, I just have this name on the boards for now.

[T.C.]

Hey it's me, sans the whole Katana Mongoose thing. As for a company name, i'm currently working with my artist on an animation for a festival and animation series DVD, the company name we use for the animation is the one we'll use for gaming.

So, on to why I'm posting here.

I have the ideas, the games nearly ready to go, the art and artist, a great publisher who'll give me a good deal, and a plethora of playtesters.

But once again, I lack the $$$ to get this company started.

After testing the waters with OSS, I think I may end up earning some capital on my own through a couple other jobs, (and hopefully this animation), and then presenting the ideas to retailers, and hopefully at GenCon (Geez, that'd be nice.)

So here's my new question, Is this a good idea? Do you think retailers would be interested in seeing these new games, and should I talk to the owners? I'm starting to formulate a plan, and supporting ideas would help a lot.

Thanks!

-TC

[Gold Rush Games]

We offer book design and publishing packages for folks looking to publish their games without the hassle of starting their own company, obtaining a block of ISBNs, hassling with shipping and retailer accounts, etc. I invite you to have a look at our web site and see if this is something that might fit the bill.

<p><a href="http://www.goldenpillarpublishing.com/"><img src="http://www.goldenpillarpublishing.com/images/gpp-le2.jpg" alt="Book design and publishing for the independent author"></a>