Opinion: Game Development Needs More ‘Share And Share Alike’

[In this editorial, originally published in Game Developer magazine’s May 2008 issue, editor Brandon Sheffield calls for more open sharing of technology and tools, pointing to Insomniac’s ‘Nocturnal Initiative’ as a notable step in the right direction.]
Insomniac announced its Nocturnal Initiative to create “an open collection of libraries and utilities for addressing common challenges in game development” back at GDC, adding to its existing Insomniac R&D page, and both are really quite important concepts.
Sharing techniques and technology can only make the industry as a whole stronger, especially now that graphics are coming to a bit of a plateau – or are at least aren’t as much of a talking point for the marketing folks.
I’ve long maintained that a lack of sharing is one of the big elements that has held the Japanese game industry back technologically, and the more we do share, the better the development experience becomes. […]

Original post by editors@gamesetwatch.com (Simon Carless) and software by Elliott Back