I'm not comparing the genres, I was concerned with sales potential. Many on here seem to be preoccupied with the fact that a cricket game must be third-rate because realtively few people are interested in the sport - my contention is that the sport already has a fan base, before release, that other games do not.
Well, you were comparing it to several different RPG/FPS so I assumed you expected a cricket game to be on the same level of quality. I haven't seen anyone mention that people aren't interested in the sport--quite the opposite. Most people have suggested that the markets that are most interested in the sport are quite unfortunately also the smallest ones for the game to be successful in. The only reason for that is price--both of the game and of the console. This will change as the middle class emerges, but things will definitely take precedence over purchase a video game console. Things like better houses, better food, better clothes--in short things that are actually pertinent to everyday life.
My point with regards to the comparison with other genres was that a genre such as RPG games or FPS games are not marketed on a per-game basis but a per genre basis. There have obviously been a few series' that have built up popularity (such as Call of Duty or GTA) but by and far we see single games with interesting storylines and quality graphic-work. It may be useful to think of it as analogous to comparing a sports magazine with a novel. A sports magazine comes out regularly and the content and writing style are quite hampered. Yet, people may subscribe to keep in touch with the latest news. Comparatively, novels are one time affairs with no precedent set.
What I'm basically saying is that you can't hold an RPG's popularity despite having a preset fanbase as a reason for cricket games to be really, really good because a fanbase already exists. Cricket games
can be compared to other sports games, however, and in that regard they have been below the curve for a while, which is why I stopped buying them (especially when they required me to buy a console for which I have no need).
You may, or may not, be correct about the spending power of Indians. The issue I was making is that they have no truck in buying the latest mobile phones for example; another gadget, albeit of the luxury kind would be well within the price range of many.
Again, I think you're not looking at the correct market-space. Those who buy high-end phones are not necessarily in the middle class. Furthermore, those who buy high-end phones are probably adults, and the culture of gaming as an adult in India is just taking off now. Furthermore, most high-end phones in India are purchased via the black-market which is why the prices adjust based on supply and demand. Finally, there is the whole aspect of India not being a consumerist economy (although this is changing). Many purchases are carefully evaluated based on need, and a high-end cell phone would go a long way in increasing work productivity, compared with an Xbox360/PS3 which is purely for entertainment.
If any high-quality cricket game is to be produced, releasing it on PC is a must, although piracy is a concern.
Piracy is the concern that has driven games off the PC in the first place. Quite simply, the only way they will be able to succeed in the Indian markets is by slashing prices, stamping out piracy or waiting a few more years until the middle class has ready access to and demand for high-end technological devices. It appears that most companies have chosen the last of these three options since the second is impossible and the first would interfere with their bottom line.
As I stated, even if the proportion of those considered middle class is low, there will be a hell of a lot of them. Having been to that part of the world, I can say that is truly the case.
I've lived in India for a little less than 50% of my life, in North America 25% and elsewhere in Asia for the other 25%. Without a seed of doubt, there's no arguing that the North American middle class has the most consumerist society of the 4 countries I've lived in (I don't intend to suggest that this is a bad thing). The reason for this is straightforward--the measure of middle class is relative to the purchasing power parity of a given country. Essentially, it's comparing how far a rupee will take you in India to how far a dollar will take you to the US (this is of course a simplification). The problem here is that the Xbox360/PS3 and their associated games are all imported goods. In essence, we are now trying to measure how far a rupee will take you in the US or in Japan, which is quite a bit less than how far it would take you in India.
I agree about the difference between a good programmer and a cheap one. The difference in India is that a good one will, in relative terms, be cheap and that is an advantage. Whether or not this Trine game is real remains to be seen, but would be a step in the right direction if that was the case.
It is an advantage if you assume that all the good programmers will stay behind in India to work for less money. Demand for a better job and a better salary must be played into this equation as well. There's also the related idea of whether the educational system in India really prepares potential computer scientists to creatively attempt to start a game studio. There are no large Indian game studios to my knowledge, which means that we are looking at mainly start-ups. While start-ups can have obscenely low operating costs, you'll be sacrificing quite a lot in return.
I think many North American Asians expats are somewhat confused, not assimilated and, in my experience, do love cricket in many cases, not so much the Indians, but that Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans.
When I moved to the US for college, I'd say the overwhelmingly large percentage of cricket fans were people in my shoes--first-generation visitors. Of the second generation friends of Indian subcontinent-origin I had, only a handful were even interested in watching cricket, let alone play it. This is of course something that will differ from nuclear family to family, but in my experience, the vast majority of second-generation immigrants of Indian-origin were far more interested in American sports than in cricket (my conclusion is based on a spectrum of nationalities as well--Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and even a lone Bangladeshi).
