Mario Wynands, Managing Director of New Zealand developer Sidhe Interactive, speaking on a games panel at AnimfxNZ in Wellington last week, discussed the opportunities for game developers to distribute online via download. He says that downloadable content lets developers access a global market, removing the need to find publishers and distributors in every region, sidestepping retailers who are "killing" the retail model by selling second hand games for less than their newer versions.
Sidhe released Gripshift for the PSP in January which has been going "quite well". Mario said that Sidhe will continue to invest in downloadable content, but retailers remain a significant revenue source.
For startup developers he gave the advice that they should be smart in selecting their projects, saying
For my first game I wouldn't be trying to create something better than what a team of 150 Japanese developers took three years to make.