Reading Games and Playing Books - Dr Souvik Mukherjee, Presidency University: NGDC 2012 from NASSCOM

Of course, for the regulars in the industry, this post must seem to be irrelevant. Everything that could have been said has been said already. However, one likes to replay old games once in a while. This is such a reload. This year's theme was the rise of the Indies. Despite all the euphoria and the promise, I don't know how much of a 'rise' theirs has been. The stories I hear are still those of one-room offices, bit-work for third parties and teams getting smaller; however, it is my indie friends that give me hope when they tell me that they look for art in games, that one does not need to be born a coder to be able to make games and that passion and not downloads in the Android Marketplace can still be a factor to respect. I met many of the famous people in the Indian industry here - indeed, that was my main reason to go to Pune. Somehow, against all prevailing wisdom I still obstinately want to believe that the mobile phone is not the be-all and end-all for gaming in India; consoles and pcs have a future too. I also believe in the importance of good stories in gameplay and I believe in the day when arthouse games will be a reality.