Chris Deleon (@HobbyGameDev) deserves props for being so active in trying to stir up the independent game making community, with a focus on hobbyists (the people who don’t have 40, 50, 60, 7×24=168 hours a week to make games)
http://www.hobbygamedev.com/int/lost-levels-at-gdc-2014/
Absolutely. With the independent video game gold rush that seems to have sprung up since Steam brought the PC game market back to life, the focus has shifted from “making things that are fun” to “making things that sell”. Reminiscent of the Atari cash grab that nearly destroyed the video game industry back in the 80s, the haystack is growing huge with unloved product threatening to bury the needles that developers have put their heart and souls into. The reality is, like with any industry, the darlings and big hits stand out in the media, while the thousands of unknown titles don’t get any attention. Like a miner finding gold in the 19th century, everyone strikes out to be the next winner, but something is lost in the process. A game should be a work of passion first, then if it happens to sell, fantastic, if not, at least it’s still special.