Akalabeth Mentioned In PCWorld
PC World posted an article a few days ago about John Romero’s response towards the Ouya, a Kickstarter project for the development of an Android-based gaming console which has already raised over 5 million dollars.
In it, PCWorld quotes Ouya’s CEO Julie Uhrman’s belief that their open development platform harkens back to the days of the Apple IIe, when developers could create their own games and bring them to market themselves. The PCWorld article goes on to mention how Richard Garriott originally got his own start in computer gaming much the same way.
“In the early days of gaming, you could take your Apple IIe, write your own programming, and take your game to market,” said Ouya company CEO Julie Uhrman in the console’s Kickstarter pitch video. After all, the Apple II, the first product launched by Apple Computer Inc. in 1977, was good enough for Richard Garriott: he sold his game Akalabeth, the predecessor to the Ultima franchise, in little plastic baggies. If an open development platform worked for him, why not others?
Even though John Romero seemed less than impressed by the project, believing that piracy would doom any Android-based gaming console, it is an interesting discussion.
Check it out and discuss!
Even though PC World was correct stating Richard Garriott started off selling Akalabeth by himself in plastic bags, he never actually made any money until he sold Akalabeth to California Pacific Computers, a much larger distributor.
“In the early days of gaming, you could take your Apple IIe, write your own programming, and take your game to market”
It’s not about how much he made, it’s that he could do it. You’ll always do better if someone is focused on distributing it, than if you have to do all the steps yourself. But having the choice to do so is what counts. And with steam and Kickstarter making progress in that field, you barely even need them anymore. The only hurdles now are being put in place on purpose.