I just don't see it. The web does not have any better discoverability than any store front that proceeded it. What it has is a virtually free cost of entry.
Take the game 2048 that made headlines here. I didn't discover it because of some intrinsic discovery mechanism of the web any more than if I was to just keep watching the games page on amazon.
No, I found it because someone could pop it on github and share with all for free. And, it should be noted, in this case the game is based off of a riff of a popular iphone game. How did that game itself get discovered?
This is not to say that I hate HTML and all it entails. I make my living there. I do, however, find myself finally beginning to question the supposed benefits it is bringing to the table.
For my final point, consider that Steam is allowing me to play games that haven't seen release for years now. In some cases I miss out because I run linux, but their efforts are drastically increasing my ability to play current and past games in ways that I just do not see this approaching.
I'm not kidding. I am definitely old enough to remember the world pre google. I am also old enough that my kids can discover a crapton of stuff walking the isles of walmart.
Even now, I am more likely to discover a good game walking down the wall of gamespot than I am surfing the web. If I really want some discoverability, I go for magazines or similar digital fare nowdays.
Seriously, when was the last time you used google to find a game. Because, I don't think I have ever even heard of someone doing this. What I have done is browsed the lucasarts website hoping for news of upcoming releases. Or pulled up arstechnica's game section to see what is current.
Or, more recently, subscribed to humble bundle to see what they have to offer.
I am not (and can not) claim that the internet has not helped find some games I otherwise would not have found. I assert that this is because it hooked up some developers with a distribution mechanism they did not have before.
And yet, even as I type that I know how bloody stupid it is. I am also old enough to remember dialing in to a BBS in Texas, as they were the closest I could find to download Doom, Jill of the Jungle, Commander Keen... It is not like there were no methods to get games created and distributed pre google.
Seriously, when was the last time you used google to find a game.
Seriously, Google's the first place I turn to to find anything but a game.
It is not like there were no methods to get games created and distributed pre google.
But it did and does seriously help people find almost everything. As far as discoverability of games, I'm not sure what the problem is. I think the sad truth is that most games that aren't the big hits and aren't beloved long tail cult classics just suck. That said, it's kind of hard to make sure your long tail cult classic gets traction in an app store, unless you have the help of an outside community, which is usually helped tremendously by the web and by search engines like Google. (Just as BBS helped back in those days.)
Take the game 2048 that made headlines here. I didn't discover it because of some intrinsic discovery mechanism of the web any more than if I was to just keep watching the games page on amazon.
No, I found it because someone could pop it on github and share with all for free. And, it should be noted, in this case the game is based off of a riff of a popular iphone game. How did that game itself get discovered?
This is not to say that I hate HTML and all it entails. I make my living there. I do, however, find myself finally beginning to question the supposed benefits it is bringing to the table.
For my final point, consider that Steam is allowing me to play games that haven't seen release for years now. In some cases I miss out because I run linux, but their efforts are drastically increasing my ability to play current and past games in ways that I just do not see this approaching.