[PIGMI] Activision Blizzard lobbying for new R&D tax changes

[Kat Black]

Great sentiments, Chris.

Don't really see that our physical isolation is such a big issue
though. The majority of our sales of Little White Book for iPhone are
in the US, but I really can't imagine what I'd do differently if I was
physically located in the US. Sales increase a bit when/if I spend
time interacting with people online, and I guess if I was able to do
personal appearances at Tarot events in the US maybe that would get
some extra sales - but still, the number of people that would access
compared to what I can already access online would be pretty minimal.

Maybe it's different for my product as it's a fairly specific niche?
eg I get offered interviews etc by tarot podcasts, bloggers,
magazines, etc in the US despite being in Perth. I network online -
Facebook gets me closer to fans than isolated personal appearances in
the US would. In terms of professional networking, resources such as X
Media Lab and Linked In have helped me to develop a really strong
Industry network worldwide that I don't think is adversely affected by
my location.

Unless you're comparing Perth to very specific hothouse locations - eg
Palo Alto - I really don't see our location is a disadvantage, unless
you're after specific skills or want to work on big AAA games.

Also, I totally agree that the grass-roots game-dev community that you
were key in developing, Chris, is a huge asset. I've found it really
inspiring to see local successes, inde developers making good.

I know it's a different field, but Pogo is an example of how you can
be working in Perth and develop a huge worldwide following.
http://www.pogomix.net/ He managed to raise over $24,000 toward his
$15,000 goal on Kickstarter recently to pay for his "remix the world"
project, and he has over 100k subscribers to his YouTube. Can't really
ask for better marketing or networking than that, all from a bedroom
in the burbs near Mandurah.

If it weren't for the horrible hot weather, I'd say there's no better
place in the world to be if you want to be an inde developer. Big ups
to you, Nick, Minh and the others who have helped to make that happen
over the past decade or so in Perth.

best,

kat =^..^=


On 10 March 2011 09:46, Chris McCormick <chris at mccormick.cx> wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 09:43:01AM +0800, Chris McCormick wrote:
>> Given this community and enthusiasm and the high standard of easy living, Perth
>> is probably one of the best places to be an indie developer.
>
> The significant downside of course being how insulated we are from the rest
> of the world physically. That makes marketing and networking harder.
>
> Chris.
>
> -------------------
> http://mccormick.cx
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