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henniedebeer
20-01-2011, 05:36 PM
With over 48 million people in South Africa, I was wondering just how big a market there is for a South African game. One with a local flavour. And maybe, just maybe, an Afrikaans game?

xyber
20-01-2011, 11:52 PM
Even with an SA flavor you should be able to sell it internationally. I guess it depends on what the game is about. Just have it in English with an option to activate the Afrikaans translation. I'm Afrikaans speaking myself and can't see myself playing a game in Afrikaans - although, I suppose it could work cool for stuff like NPC dialog (was just thinking how weird the menu options in OpenOffice looks in afrikaans for example ;)

dislekcia
21-01-2011, 12:38 AM
With over 48 million people in South Africa, I was wondering just how big a market there is for a South African game. One with a local flavour. And maybe, just maybe, an Afrikaans game?

Of those 48 million people, how many have access to the technology you plan to develop for, then how many of those have the inclination to play a game, then how many of the remainder would choose to pay for your game? I don't have the latest market research, but I'd imagine that's not a super-large market...

edg3
21-01-2011, 08:23 AM
With over 48 million people in South Africa, I was wondering just how big a market there is for a South African game. One with a local flavour. And maybe, just maybe, an Afrikaans game?
All I can say is localisation. As long as you intend on targeting larger language bases at some point (as a safety net if you want to go commercial) then why not give it a try?

BlackShipsFillt
21-01-2011, 02:11 PM
It could make sense as an Advert game, there could very well advertisers who are eager to hit the more tech savvy side of the local market, and if you include some awesome local memes it could very well go viral.

Another reason why developers are not doing this (besides the really small, and possibly disinterested market) is that most South African gamers who speak first language Afrikaans (or Xhosa or Zulu) are relatively well educated and so also speak English.

The kind of game that could be in Afrikaans, and have any success at all, is going to be one with strong cultural signifiers. It can't just be a match3 game in Afrikaans (for example). Everything that happens in that game has to speak to the Afrikaans experience, and then maybe, just maybe, Afrikaaners would spread it around enough for it to be some kind of success.

Although it would probably have to be free (I think anyway). And if free it should probably be Flash.

Unless you can get a company to do some expensive marketing for the game. If you can then you may have a chance (provided they also help with development costs, because you're not going to be making a profit, and the only way it makes sense is that they have some other agenda they want fulfilled).

henniedebeer
21-01-2011, 03:29 PM
Thanks for the replies so far. I was just wondering what the potential would be for a South African game, even if it's in English. Maybe like a Championship Manager clone, with the World Cup stadiums, or (!) Taxi Wars,,,

I work at a school, and we use the Big Boet! software, which is available in English and Afrikaans. Naturallly we use the Afrikaans option most of the time. What I like most about this siftware is that it's been made with South Africans, and local subjects, in mind. So it is easier to use than a free international program.

But the English option is still there. And if you're used to a computer, you will normally choose English. Cause it is "easier".

I reinstalled The Sims recently, and the installation languages are English and Spanish. I wonder how many people actually use the Spanish version, even if they speak it. That's why I don't think it would be that effective to put Afrikaans as an optional language. I know that I would pick English.

dislekcia
21-01-2011, 05:16 PM
Anyone see that Jack Parow game a while back?

africanrhino
21-01-2011, 09:36 PM
Even with an SA flavor you should be able to sell it internationally. I guess it depends on what the game is about. Just have it in English with an option to activate the Afrikaans translation. I'm Afrikaans speaking myself and can't see myself playing a game in Afrikaans - although, I suppose it could work cool for stuff like NPC dialog (was just thinking how weird the menu options in OpenOffice looks in afrikaans for example ;)
have you ever played worms with the afrikaans voices? every afrikaaner has done that :)

africanrhino
21-01-2011, 09:52 PM
Of those 48 million people, how many have access to the technology you plan to develop for, then how many of those have the inclination to play a game, then how many of the remainder would choose to pay for your game? I don't have the latest market research, but I'd imagine that's not a super-large market...
Don't underestimate what the 900 million african consumers have to offer. things smart phones, like netbooks with pre-builtin 3g cards have made the internet accessible to domestic worker level low income groups. the african market is there it just works differently.
check out the book "africa rising" by vijay mahajan , he's sort of an expert into breaking into markets like this and india with astounding results. he makes a pretty good case for localization and points out that africa is just as willing to spend on brands as long as they aren't too western.

BlackShipsFillt
21-01-2011, 11:37 PM
Don't underestimate what the 900 million african consumers have to offer.

I think that should really be 900 million fractured, mostly 3rd world, African consumers. Sure if all 900 million wanted the same thing and spoke the same language and played video games then they would have HUGE buying power, but that is not the case.

However, like you say AfricanRhino, there is definitely a demand for non-western brands (and there is the added awesome factor of making something that tells a story that couldn't be told by someone overseas, and I think that overseas consumers could also appreciate such a story).

dislekcia
22-01-2011, 05:07 AM
Don't underestimate what the 900 million african consumers have to offer. things smart phones, like netbooks with pre-builtin 3g cards have made the internet accessible to domestic worker level low income groups. the african market is there it just works differently.
check out the book "africa rising" by vijay mahajan , he's sort of an expert into breaking into markets like this and india with astounding results. he makes a pretty good case for localization and points out that africa is just as willing to spend on brands as long as they aren't too western.

I'm not underestimating the sheer scale and size of the African market, I was talking specifically about the South African market and more specifically typical PC-style games.

I was at a conference in Kenya recently where the topic of discussion was very much exactly what you're talking about: Opening up the markets at the base of the pyramid via mobile tech and smart development choices. Unfortunately games are still a few steps on from the needed services that people are looking for, but we'll get there. I think African markets are going to be big in future, but right now they're still a bit too costly for indie devs to target - mostly due to the difficulty of supporting the wide spread of handsets in use, that 48% penetration came at a price...

hideinlight
22-01-2011, 01:26 PM
Making a Afrikaans only game would be lame. Just look at Far Cry 2, all it needed to make it cool and conversation topic (at least for a while) was a few mercenaries occasionally swearing in Afrikaans.

BlackShipsFillt
22-01-2011, 03:22 PM
Making a Afrikaans only game would be lame. Just look at Far Cry 2, all it needed to make it cool and conversation topic (at least for a while) was a few mercenaries occasionally swearing in Afrikaans.

Yeah, a small amount of localization can be enough without putting off international customers. The game has got to suit it though. While Far Cry 2's gameplay may have been tedious, I really did like the African setting (after I got past the endless brownness), it allowed the developers to tell a story of senseless vendettas and callous manipulation by outsiders, and it felt quite genuinely tragic (for a game anyway).

Shadowrend
28-01-2011, 06:00 PM
Even with an SA flavor you should be able to sell it internationally. I guess it depends on what the game is about. Just have it in English with an option to activate the Afrikaans translation. I'm Afrikaans speaking myself and can't see myself playing a game in Afrikaans - although, I suppose it could work cool for stuff like NPC dialog (was just thinking how weird the menu options in OpenOffice looks in afrikaans for example ;)

I had this idea the other day: a fl0wer-esque game about South African nature and stuff; as in, no dialogue, just visuals and music and sounds inspired/ taken from the natural side of this country... Because tbh, SA is pretty but not much else. Like a dumb blonde with big tits. Don't think too long about that analogy - I certainly didn't.

henniedebeer
29-01-2011, 01:48 AM
OK... Interesting stuff.

I thought about Medal of Honor, SWAT and a few other games that would lend themselves perfectly to an African/South African setting. We've had wars here, and things happen here like in the rest of the world. A war game about the "grensoorlog" or apartheid could sell almost as well as another title in the same group. Or not. It's about the game experience, not the lame (?) setting.

As for localising a game: that would be so cool. Africa sure has a lot of content, and cellphone games are a start. Localised games can start out cheap-ish to enter the market - a game doesn't have to cost R250 for me to even consider buying it. Try out some of the games at the Pick'n'Pay checkout counters. Cheap entertainment.

I'm sure an Afrikaans game could work somehow. Yes, it is for a smaller audience and it will not make you millions, but I am sure it will sell. An English game about the Voortrekkers would be stupid. Stupid example, but...

Warmonkey
29-01-2011, 08:48 PM
IMO Far Cry 2 is the game which came closest to a South African feel with many NPCs speaking Afrikaans and small tail-tail references to South Africa.

But I believe an Afrikaans game would be EPICALLY lame (I am Afrikaans myself, no hatin' XD). It should be completely English so that the larger markets could understand without having to read subtitles. IMO a police-based game would be best for South Africa with the high crime rates. A war game COULD work, but I dunno... the wars we had here won't really work very good... and many people would just whine about a game based on Apartheid. Maybe just make it a fictional setting in South Africa. A fictional city in South Africa being attacked or something.

xyber
31-01-2011, 02:22 PM
Maybe just make it a fictional setting in South Africa. A fictional city in South Africa being attacked or something.


... like maybe aliens in joburg :P

edg3
31-01-2011, 03:54 PM
@Warmonkey: I believe the emphasis is more on a game specifically targeting South Africans as opposed to just being about South Africa (although this doesn't affect the main goal).

More OT: I was thinking, games in Afrikaans that have some element that helps you learn from them (not guerrilla learning as such) could be useful, if you built your game in such a way that it made the player have to practice their Afrikaans you could market it to schools as a learning tool. I would have enjoyed learning Afrikaans at school more if there were better aids available. Anyway, its just a thought, although it could work well as a puzzle game, or a story based game where the player has to read Afrikaans, hear is pronounced, etc. I mostly learnt from being around my Afrikaans family, so the game could be seen as a substitute? [/end of random thoughts]

henniedebeer
31-01-2011, 11:27 PM
Yes, @edg3, you are on the right track. It must appeal to South Africans, because I don't think Far Cry 2 did. Well it did, but to a lot of other mindless people too. Something unique to this country and its people. Edg3 is pretty good at making original games, maybe he can figure something out. This "search for the Kruger millions" thing on KykNET, for instance. It doesn't have to be about apartheid, there is more to South Africa than that. Please people, it's been almost 20 years. Grow up.

And these Afrikaners who think that a game in Afrikaans would be lame, f*ck you. A small experimental game, for a small audience. Not intended to make big bucks, not to set any records, nada. Just to test the water and move on. You know, there are Spanish-only and German-only games that almost nobody knows about. Except for those people, of course.

Fengol
01-02-2011, 05:40 AM
I suspect if you really wanted to reach a mass South African market your best bet is a rhythm game on the lowest spec mobile device you can go featuring local, black artists and gospel music.

edg3
01-02-2011, 08:42 AM
I suspect if you really wanted to reach a mass South African market your best bet is a rhythm game on the lowest spec mobile device you can go featuring local, black artists and gospel music.
I just realized that you have a very very good point! :O

Target the MXit platform, 85% (probably more) of the South African youth use MXit, and the platform is ideal for word based games (whether you do text based or graphical MXit applications). Perhaps we should get a talk on targeting the MXit platform for games at a community meet somewhere.

Also, look at TiXi (http://www.mxit.com/content/ap/en/tixi), people mostly play it in English (some people do play the Afrikaans version from what Ive seen), but because of the way it was designed it doesn't "force" the player to learn new words or learn anything for that matter. (You can play TiXi for free on MXit once [maybe more times] a day).


Off Topic: I'm going to go get werewolf on MXit quick...

dislekcia
01-02-2011, 11:25 AM
I just realized that you have a very very good point! :O

Target the MXit platform, 85% (probably more) of the South African youth use MXit, and the platform is ideal for word based games (whether you do text based or graphical MXit applications). Perhaps we should get a talk on targeting the MXit platform for games at a community meet somewhere.

Also, look at TiXi (http://www.mxit.com/content/ap/en/tixi), people mostly play it in English (some people do play the Afrikaans version from what Ive seen), but because of the way it was designed it doesn't "force" the player to learn new words or learn anything for that matter. (You can play TiXi for free on MXit once [maybe more times] a day).

If you're keen to make stuff for MXit, I can get you in touch with their developer relations people. They're quite keen on local content, games especially :)


A small experimental game, for a small audience. Not intended to make big bucks, not to set any records, nada. Just to test the water and move on. You know, there are Spanish-only and German-only games that almost nobody knows about. Except for those people, of course.

Honestly, if you're so dead set on it, start making it then. You're wasting time talking when you could be prototyping. Just know that you're not going to turn that into a career overnight - you'd have to build up a cultural phenomenon over years before you could really monetize the market you're talking about. Good luck, post playables here :)

edg3
02-04-2011, 02:43 PM
I think this is worth a minor necro: Extra Credits: Gamification (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2985-Gamification)

So, what about making a game that targets the youth of SA, that is essentially guerilla learning, but that works through a mobile game by the "gamification" of the learning tasks.

eg. Math homework - Do these 10 math excercises - Reward, 25exp - A teacher checks the next morning and the kid uses their phone with those tags (pictured below) to be given their reward. (ie. a teacher becomes a quest giver, and the pupil "avatar" in the game) You could then also allow people to register for other quests, like if a company wants to hire high school pupils to clean a local park, they could list the quest publicly, and for every bag of trash the kid picks up they get some experience value. Tie it in with some RPG element they can play from home (perhaps a non-combat game? (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2633-Non-Combat-Gaming)), and find some sponsorship (or if you charge a small fee for the service, use a percentage to give prizes to students) and you could be onto something. (Might even prototype some of this during my holidays coming up and then see if anyone is interested in backing it, if it works it could be a great way to get all the social-centric kids in schools working harder again).
http://d2eosjbgw49cu5.cloudfront.net/mobile-weblog.com/imgname--mobile_bar_codes_coming_to_us---50226711--images--qrcode.png (I found this with google search, I take no responsibility for what it represents when scanned...)


Also, another thought or two, you could take the guerrilla learning a bit further and as part of the non-combat game they can play have "classes" they can attend, or puzzles that require things they've learnt in school (tracked through their achievements) like to get into a certain area you have to answer trivia questions on WW2 because you did a project on WW2.

Also, just following my thought train a bit more, from this we can track student progress, see who is struggling, who needs that little bit extra help in class, and so on. It also means that I can play the game, on my "current achievements" see I have a math test coming up, and enter the "math dungeons" or something where to unlock the chests for rare loot I have to answer math questions that will be found in that test.

Granted, this requires a student to have a phone with a camera, but it would be a start I think (as you could have english, afrikaans, zulu, xhosa, etc as your "languages" and have it switch between them every now and then, with a system for you to check meanings of words, etc, then maths, science, biology, etc) having all the current high school curriculum available to them from an actual game that ties in to their real life studies.

(Also, I need to get putt-putt and magic school bus games again, they were the best so they would work great for reference when trying to decide on the puzzles. I had other games too, but only vaguely remember them right now)

Flint
06-04-2011, 01:17 PM
So.. it may not be made in SA (that I know of), but it doesn't get much more 'local is lekker' than this:

SingStar Afrikaanse Treffers (http://www.kalahari.net/games/SingStar-Afrikaanse-Treffers-Mic-Wired/3610/41046664.aspx)

Krummelz
06-04-2011, 08:32 PM
I love the idea edg3! Brilliant!

Otherwise, that Taxi Wars sounds like something I would definitely play :D I think it would be very entertaining!

edg3
05-05-2011, 06:59 PM
Oh, and new Extra Credits: Gamifying Education - sweet addition to all of the above :P (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/3167-Gamifying-Education)