Tired of me-too space marine shooters on the 360 and PS3? Love the Wii but can't stand tedious mini-game collections? Think you can do better? Gabe Newell from PC developer Valve thinks there could be a model for getting fans involved in funding a game that may have been ignored by a traditional publisher.
"What I think would be much better would be if the community could finance the games. In other words, 'Hey, I really like this idea you have. I'll be an early investor in that and, as a result, at a later point I may make a return on that product, but I'll also get a copy of that game.'"
In practical terms there would obviously be problems. How would the designers on, say, Half Life 3 ever get anything done if there was a rabid, and financially committed, community giving feedback every second. But maybe this potential model could work for a smaller download game?
What do you think then? Willing to stump up to get the game you want? Or happy to let the professionals deliver?
