Thought you would be interested in this even though it's not exactly about our life in Japan... besides, many of you have been asking about it ;)
As many of you might know, I created a very successful video game last year after only taking about 2-3 days to teach myself the necessary programming skills. The game is called 'The Shotgun Princess: Escape Her House!'. It is meant to be part of a series, and during our break in January (part of our life in Japan...), Lindsey and I decided to finish out the rest of the second game. Lindsey was a great help. She helped with some of the design and animation. She is very talented and was very quick to pick up the animation concepts required for the game.
We took about a week of dabbling and got most of it done. For those of you that already knew this, I know you've been a bit confused to see that I haven't published it as of yet. Well, here's the answer... a little bit longer than you might expect:
When I made the decision to make the first game, I had a few things rolling around in my mind. I was taking one of my own recycled live-action screenplays and turning it into a web-animation series. Lindsey and I were low on money at the time. It occurred to me that I could easily keep practicing my animation skills on a video game. I realized that online video games had a large market and stand a good chance of success if done in the right way. I was a fan of a certain niche of games with a STRONG following, but few people making games in the genre. I decided upon my plan of action. I wanted the animation practice, the payoff, and also the chance to learn first-hand the concepts of internet-monetization, internet traffic, and internet marketing.
Since then, I have studied not only my own model, and the outcomes, but have been studying how to better implement strategies for success.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I am working on creating a feature film upon return to the U.S. I have decided to implement certain strategies within the game that will help promote the game while at the same time give me another chance to study the proper ways to promote the film on its own PR/Distribution platform.
If this sounds complicated and/or vague, it's hard to explain everything within the context of this post. To simplify, the adjustments that I've made and hope to implement can mean the difference in thousands of dollars with respect for the game. With respect to the film, it could mean the difference of much more.
All of your concern for the release of the next episode of the game is wholly appreciated. I am glad that you are all in anticipation. I just wanted to explain what has created some of the most recent delay.
By the way, the game should be released pretty soon, and I'll post a link on here when it's up. For now, here's a link to the first episode:
http://www.addictinggames.com/shotgunprincess.htmlThanks again!
