Red_Avatar: I've been subscribing to Retro Gamer for a few months now and read tons of interviews of people who made games "back in the days" (i.e. 1980s and early 1990s) and they ALL mention the same thing:
When publishers interfere with a game, it's BAD. I already believed, for years, that small developers could make better games that have more "soul" and these interviews confirm that. The success to a great game is a smallish team with a vision. They won't mind doing long hours, they'll be driven to create a great game and they'll do things their way. Many if not most of the best games in our history were created that way. Syndicate Wars, Monkey Island, Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, Dizzy ( love those), Civilization, etc. etc. Heck, even Deus Ex was made by a relatively small core team which is why the game had such a strong focus. But when you get these massive developing companies which are put under immense pressure by publishers on top of the chaos, then you'll find that few games released this way feel unique because there's no shared focus, no shared vision. Everyone does his bit and the result is that it all feels pretty generic.
No wonder so many indie games feel like a breath of fresh air: new and original approaches, amazing artwork and lots of love and passion pumped into them. I can totally see why people leave and want to start their own studio - it must be great to get to do your own thing again.
Independent and mobile development is where it's at. Agreed 100% -- big is bad. I'd take a hit in graphics if it meant a healthy industry. It's really not that important. Hm, Valve and Stardock are good examples of this. They're all about "creative design" -- I don't know about Valve's stuff, but Elemental I believe is made by a relatively small team.
Of course, the other solution is publishers just act sensible. I feel EA is a good example of this. DICE and BioWare for example seem very happy under them.
