Being an Indie App/Game developer in India

No, it’s not a trending topic on Twitter. Why? Cause, it’s Indie. These Indian Indie developers make games are and thus called ‘Indie Gamers.’ I’ve been following Indie game development for a while in India. There are absolutely dedicated and hard-working developers who have made some excellent games. But, most of the work that I get to see is derivative of ‘popular games’ like Subway Surfer, Temple Run or Candy Crush. A lot goes into developing games and as the trend goes… The west glorified their Indie Game Developers into demigods with a documentaries. While we left our Indie developers starving in the sun.

These movies though insightful borderline on chauvinism as most of the Indian game developers have been facing the same issues but at a larger scale. At least with a western audience you stand a better chance to earn back the capital that you invested. But, not all game developers are that lucky and most of them would be Indian. A simple reason for that is Indian’s don’t pay and for these developers to crack it foreign markets requires a mix of great PR, marketing, amazing concept and development to get some attention. Working with an App development company for the last three months has helped me understand the problem better.

Some of the key issues are:

1) The Indian audience is not mature enough yet

Most of the Indian consumers still do not buy apps. As much as we like to boast of our gold-plated iPhones and bathroom tile Samsung’s… We do not see the value in buying a $ 1 app. Why because we do not see the effort that the developer has put into it.

2) The misleading perception that apps are easy

This could not be farther from the truth. Apps are ‘not’ easy to make and like one of my colleagues, Gokul, rightly points out, “smaller screen does not mean lesser code.” There are some glaring misconceptions. To cite an example: HTML 5 website is NOT all you need to make an app, even with default template pulling RSS feeds is not a 20 minute job and NO, we won’t work for food. Wondering how much your app should cost, try it here.

3) The media covers only the ‘wonders’

The mainstream media’s editorial team can never keep pace with the technological advances. They need a sure shot way to milk the whole shebang before they invest their time in it. What that means is that, advertisers with vested interests get more mileage than the real players. This is what has been the scenario for eons. If at all, they cover a story on an app developer, it would be about a whiz kid or something just as outrageous. They do not want to see the normal starving game/app developers cause that’s not really news.

Indian blogs or websites on the other hand have a few players that take the effort to cover relevant issues and games/apps but these are too far and in between. The other aspect these web portals cover are success stories but again the parameters to qualify for a story are plain ludicrous.

I’ve seen the perseverance of the game/app developers in India and I applaud their work. I would particularly like to congratulate Shailesh Prabhu of Yellow Monkey Studios for bagging the game developer of the year and (Huebrix) best game of the year award at the NASSCOM Game Development Conference.

Here is Shailesh talking about his journey with NASSCOM and the Ping Network:

We the people & media must realise that we have left a huge vacuum that if utilised well would change the face of our game and app industry for good. Just that someone has to take that first decisive step. The quality of apps and games developed in India is tremendous and we are fools to ignore it. The mainstream media is playing catch up but we as bloggers can make a dent. To prove my point, I am going to publish a series of games/app YouTube videos and you post in the comments as to which is the Indian V.s Foreign Developer.

Twitter ruined my retirement plans

Listen to this song first:

There are a only a select few I’ve a long conversations with and love it. One of them is Sriram Sharma, Editor, Technoholik and believe me you, he is a pleasure to talk to. During one of our routine long conversations he said to me, “Dude, the internet is flat.” And it struck like a bolt of Usain (Who is Usain?) my retirements plans have gone for a toss. Damn it!

Retirement plans at the age 23? Sounds wrong, eh? Here is the real deal, I’ve been saving in pension funds, life insurance and health since I was 17 and continue to do so. The idea was planted by dad like every other Indian parent, he used to say to me, “Nothing is free, start saving.” So, what was my retirement plan? It was a pretty small and ambitious one – Start a cafe with a comfortable leather cushioned chairs and sofa’s, antique furniture and well-stocked library by a fireplace. I thought of it as Intellectual Masturbation copy of Hard Rock Cafe. (Why Hard Rock Cafe?) HRC has a collect of Rock n Roll memorabilia, I wanted to create a huge cache of conversations that should be preserved. I know what you’re thinking… Podcasts! No, ‘real’ people in the ‘real’ world who are ‘talking.’

In comes Twitter with its fancy 140 characters status update that can read minds. The endless FourSquare check-ins with the schmancy add-on perks and all that jazz. The retweeting of random thoughts of the prolonged thought leaders. Don’t get me wrong, I love Twitter. But the fact remains, I do not want to ‘screenshot’ the amazing conversations and quite frankly I cannot compete with the ‘flat’ internet structure.

The pessimistic schizophrenic tells me that, “It’s futile now. Get a better plan to retire.” And I thought to myself, “Hey, Why not?” Maybe buy a piece of land in an isolated location with wind farms to power and satellite connections. I need to be on Twitter right? Well, I can do that from there. But, I revolted violently at such a thought. Pseudo company is the last thing I wish for. I much rather not be online and venture out in the real world and explore. The cafe will happen, the talks will take place, there will be cozy wine by the warm books and yes I’ll be there. I’m one of the rare people who loves what he does and has done that from the word Go. Do I glean over my past with a soft smile, of course. 23 years and I won’t change nothing for anything. I’ve learnt, fallen, risen, hurt, torn but it’s been with the people who have been there, physically.

What is this random rant?

Well, Information overload that’s what it is. Do not update your Facebook status and tell me what you say… No, don’t. Treasure that story, marinate it with lucid memories and anecdotes. Let’s bring the personal touch back and let’s stop hoping or even wishing for a better social network than Twitter or Facebook. Let’s meet and share some ‘real’ words.

TechStreme Interviews: Co-founder of Stareboob.com, Mr. Hooterberg

By: TechStreme unpaid reporter

During the annual ‘How did this happen’ meet-up, where whose who of everything but mostly nothing land up… We met up with the co-founder of Stareboob.com. He was candid throughout the interview (and why not… he was drunk) He spoke on length on the inception of Stareboob.com and answered some ‘hard’ questions! Stareboob brought about a revolution in the first anonymous webcam industry. Suddenly, the perverts of the chat-rooms could communicate in a formal way. Hallelujah! Our unpaid reporter talks to Mr.HooterBerg after a few pegs…

That is Shakespeare

• All the users of Stareboob.com want to know is what was the initial idea for the website, were you pervert before or was it unintentional?

Well, it was truly unintentional. I do not deny that the fact that; yes I had a telescope in my room. But, I really did look up into the sky till I was 15 years old. Then I realised the presence of Internet and made my first invention to ‘share easily.’ The software was an out-and-out hit but I released it as an open source… What is the use if people are ‘charged for it?’

• Before the existence of Stareboob.com… Internet was anonymous and there is a school of thought that believes that it was better that way! Your views?

I understand you are not paid and obviously frustrated. But, remember this you have to be objective and to all the naysayers I want to say, ‘I gave those puppies a name!’

• Mr. Hooterberg where does the name Stareboob.com come from?

(Shrugs) I and the people I am forced to call my co-founders… wanted to keep it simple (it was all my idea!) The idea is very simple; people stare and stare at obvious things. It was a tradition in school and remains fresh till the very old age. By doing this, we never alienated any audience. That is one of the reason for our runaway success.

• Why not charge people for using Stareboob.com? I am sure now that people have been hooked on to it, they will pay!

Well, that is simple. Why charge them and lose my edge?

• What is that exact edge?

(Smirks) I have all their data… I can sell amazing advertising with it! Hey, wait… I did not mean that was off the record. Can you erase that? I do not want more anti-trust cases against me and my company.

• I think, the story is pretty much done but I have a list and might as well ask you rest of the questions.

Sure, My lawyers will deny it anyway as drunken blabber!

• Moving on, sir the LBGT group is very miffed about the name, content and the way you use the data. They absolutely feel neglected… Your comments?

D*mn reporters, don’t you people ever do your research? The L, B and T are the largest audience we cater to on Stareboob.com. It is only the G that has the problem! And truthfully I cannot keep everyone happy. Even I need to earn my caviar and champagne.

• One final question, What are your plans for the weekend?

Haha, very simple try to figure out ‘How did this happen!’

Always a hoot to talk to, thank you sir for your time. Mr. Hooterberg was a jovial mood this meet and I am sure he will be the same next time we talk to him. So, make sure you leave your questions in the comments. Fan-boy and hate mail is always welcome but we do not have an email id due to no budget. So, everything goes into the comments.

TechStreme Comics: Mobile Wars! Part – I

This is an Old comic we had lost in the attic and it was edited by Shriram Sharma. Now, we feel sad that Symbian is dying a slow death, but they are.

MeeGo, the much awaited OS is their last hope to catapult back into limelight!

The Real me, the start

Over the years, I have heard/seen perceptions of me. Absorbed most of them. The strongest perception of me is the one that is the hated. I really do not know, how I made that possible but true story. Then there is my family. My support, everything to me. There have been varying variants of who I am. But at the end of the day, what matters is what do you think I am to them. A son, nephew, brother, heck even an Uncle.

What I am trying to say is, there are days I feel like a corporate and nights where I am a hippie. Times I feel I should be a poet, times just to be a journalist. This confusion of mine is eternal with every generation. The basic question to me is who am I?

If you say, I am Aditya Kshirsagar, the question that comes to my mind is, did I ask to be Aditya Kshirsagar.

The thought troubling me today: When was the last time you just took a walk. When was the last time some-one just out of the blue said something beautiful to you. When was the last time you broke the pattern. I guess that’s what this blog is all about.

Did you ask, to be you?