From: tehyang@aludra.usc.edu (Teh Kao Yang)
Newsgroups: rec.games.video
Subject: Re: sega/snes (Becoming a developer)
Date: 11 Sep 1992 23:50:43 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Distribution: rec
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu
Summary: Developer's kit, licensing, etc...

In article <1992Sep11.4197.23092@dosgate> "louis ghinis" <louis.ghinis@canrem.com> writes:
>Does anyone know how much it costs to purchase either the snes or sega
>software developers kit?  What type of programming language did they
>create it in c,pascal?  If both kits are the same type of languages then
>its very easy to convert to each other just the command names would need
>to be changed only and not the variables or logic.  Also does anyone
>know how much the licensing fee costs and does the snes/sega companies
>take care of the distribution?  I'm a programmer and just curious to see
>how the software developement world for the snes/sega is like and see if
>its worth while to actually create software for those consoles.

I don't know if the subject of becoming a developer has been discussed 
somewhere else before, but this is what I know about becoming a game
developer for Sega (don't know about Nintendo).

I called up Sega asking about becoming a developer, and they told me that
they only sell the developers kit to companies. They recommended that if I
want to write a game I should do it on a PC in 68000 assembly, and then
send the disk to Sega for evaluation. 

Actually, if you want to become a full fledged devloper, you could probably
just get a business license, incorporate, and then you effectively become
the owner of a new corporation. Then you could ask for the developer's kit
from Sega. Then comes the hard part, the distribution. If you have a game
ready and want to start manufacturing it, you better have lots of dough( I
would guess at least half a million). I guess what you do is order the
cartridges to be made through Sega.  Sega would then make the cartridges
for you, and then you better have a warehouse to store your 50,000 cartridges.
Then you have to market it and distribute it!

If this sounds too intimidating, then just programming on PC and then sending
your game to Sega might be the way to go. It makes sense, after all. If you
just want to create a game but not worry about selling it, you can just
do it on a PC and then if Sega likes it, they'll take care of the rest. No
need for you to waste your money on a developer's kit and then making a
bad game. If you want to become a real developer, then you don't need Sega's 
approval for the game but then you have to finance the manufacturing,
marketing, and distribution.

If anyone knows more about this subject, please enlighten us! What I just
wrote above is mostly from my own guesses and inferences, and shouldn't be
taken to be anything else. But I guess it isn't that hard if want to become
a video game programmer afterall!  You don't really need a developer's kit, 
just go get a 68000 assembler for your PC!

In fact, I've been playing with an idea lately... it is no easy task creating
your own game... you certainly can't do it alone! You need artists, musicians,
and lots of time. What I was thinking of was licensing a game from Japan 
instead of making my own game. Hopefully I could work out some kind of a deal 
with the company that wrote the game; like I would help them convert the
game(translating into english), and then market it here in the US, and they
would get a percentage of the profits. In fact, isn't this what companies
like Dreamworks (Target Earth, Wings of Wor), Seismic (Hellfire, MUSHA), and
Working Desings (Cosmic Fantasy Stories 2) do? Of course, I would still need
a lot of dough, but hey, you can't just let lack of money stop you right? :) 

-Tehkao

Newsgroups: rec.games.video