Slashdot Mirror

cyrus_zuo writes "In an effort to bring more exposure to the many fine titles entered into the Independent Games Festival (IGF) this year DIY Games teamed up with Game Tunnel to bring you a brief look at all 81 games entered into the 2005 IGF. An article on each site covers one half of the games, giving you a chance to look at each title and to make your own decision as to which games deserve to be finalists at this coming year's IGF."

Greg Micek writes "DIY Games has posted another edition of Independent Adventuring, their monthly round-up of the underground adventure game scene over the last month. The latest edition, found here, covers the news and releases for the month of August and includes information on the recently released Brain Hotel, the new title from the developers behind A Case Of The Crabs. When comparing the two titles the writer states that "...the developer came up with a radically different world, story and graphics, and yet succeeded in creating a title that matches or even surpasses the previous game in all aspects." Other titles covered include a depressing tale of murder called Dead City, some bad news for the long awaited Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, and much more. Read the entire issue at this link, links to previous editions can be found at the end of the article."

Greg Micek writes "DIY Games has posted another edition of Independent Adventuring, their monthly round-up of the underground adventure game scene over the last month. The latest edition, found here, covers the news and releases for the month of August and includes information on the recently released Brain Hotel, the new title from the developers behind A Case Of The Crabs. When comparing the two titles the writer states that "...the developer came up with a radically different world, story and graphics, and yet succeeded in creating a title that matches or even surpasses the previous game in all aspects." Other titles covered include a depressing tale of murder called Dead City, some bad news for the long awaited Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, and much more. Read the entire issue at this link, links to previous editions can be found at the end of the article."

Greg Micek writes "DIY Games has posted another edition of Independent Adventuring, their monthly round-up of the underground adventure game scene over the last month. The latest edition, found here, covers the news and releases for the month of August and includes information on the recently released Brain Hotel, the new title from the developers behind A Case Of The Crabs. When comparing the two titles the writer states that "...the developer came up with a radically different world, story and graphics, and yet succeeded in creating a title that matches or even surpasses the previous game in all aspects." Other titles covered include a depressing tale of murder called Dead City, some bad news for the long awaited Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, and much more. Read the entire issue at this link, links to previous editions can be found at the end of the article."

Greg Micek writes "DIY Games has posted another edition of Independent Adventuring, their monthly round-up of the underground adventure game scene over the last month. The latest edition, found here, covers the news and releases for the month of August and includes information on the recently released Brain Hotel, the new title from the developers behind A Case Of The Crabs. When comparing the two titles the writer states that "...the developer came up with a radically different world, story and graphics, and yet succeeded in creating a title that matches or even surpasses the previous game in all aspects." Other titles covered include a depressing tale of murder called Dead City, some bad news for the long awaited Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth, and much more. Read the entire issue at this link, links to previous editions can be found at the end of the article."

Thanks to DIY Games for its column discussing the state of freely downloadable independent PC adventure games for July. The author raves: "I don't think I'm exaggerating if I say that July was by far the best month for independent adventure gaming this year", and goes on to profile titles such as A Very Special Dog ("You play a German shepherd with the task to save a life and find the culprit... you'll sniff objects, bark at people or lick them, all in order to successfully complete the game") and Apprentice II: The Knight's Move ("top quality independent gaming... [with] a very deep story and great character development.") Talking of character development, I'm afraid this is my (simoniker's) last ever Slashdot story post. Read on for details... Firstly, thanks to everyone who's helped make Slashdot Games (as well as my work on the Slashdot main page) a pleasure to edit over the past 18 months (and 3000+ posts) or so. It's been a wonderful experience, and I'm really going to miss it. Unfortunately, this is the final story I'll be posting, since I'm off to videogame trade site Gamasutra.com, which I've written for fairly extensively in the past, to take up a managing editor position.

I believe there will be an announcement about a new Slashdot Games editor reasonably soon. However, I'm sure the other editors will pick up some of the slack in the interim, so hang in there, everyone. In the meantime, please inundate the submission bin with stories about obscure Japanese console re-issues, why the Infinium Phantom is going to trounce the Megaton, and why the Reggielution is absolutely, positively going to be televised. Later, all.

Thanks to DIY Games for its article discussing the possibility of using micropayments to pay for videogames. The author argues: "With the spread of high-speed Internet and some experiments with on-line game authentication, it seems only natural that game developers, especially the smaller ones, take advantage of micropayments", but goes on to point out possible issues, both monetary ("The most obvious argument against micropayments remains the real transaction cost. As the argument goes, each monetary transaction generates certain fees and these fees may be higher than the payment") and technical ("...the regulation of micropayments by European bureaucrats.") Are there situations where you'd prefer micropayments for playing episodic, small, or regularly updated games?

Thanks to DIY Games for its update on last month's free graphical adventure and text adventure releases, as "some older games gained recognition, and some newer ones may soon follow their example." Among the highlights was the previously DIY Games-referenced title A Case Of The Crabs, "One of the rare Flash [graphic adventure] projects... [that] deserves your attention" and which "got first featured in The New York Times Circuits sections, and later became no. 7 in the top 100 on-line games at FHM.com." Elsewhere, "The Adventurers Underground published an excellent article about The Reality on the Norm", a "a series of [graphic adventure] games based around a fictitious town." Finally, and oddly, the Adventure Game Studio software spawned the decidedly non-traditional Mafioso Over Kill, a "rail shooter, reminiscent of the Virtua Cop arcade games."

Thanks to DIY Games for its update on last month's free graphical adventure and text adventure releases, as "some older games gained recognition, and some newer ones may soon follow their example." Among the highlights was the previously DIY Games-referenced title A Case Of The Crabs, "One of the rare Flash [graphic adventure] projects... [that] deserves your attention" and which "got first featured in The New York Times Circuits sections, and later became no. 7 in the top 100 on-line games at FHM.com." Elsewhere, "The Adventurers Underground published an excellent article about The Reality on the Norm", a "a series of [graphic adventure] games based around a fictitious town." Finally, and oddly, the Adventure Game Studio software spawned the decidedly non-traditional Mafioso Over Kill, a "rail shooter, reminiscent of the Virtua Cop arcade games."

An anonymous reader writes "The full download version of PC indie game Skools Out is now available from the official Mucky Baby site - there's also a bunch of new screenshots and a playable demo available." There's an interview with Mucky Baby's Simon Keating, himself an ex-Mucky Foot developer, over at DIY Games, describing the "PC action adventure title", influenced by classic Spectrum title Skool Daze. The article notes this as another example of "the world of independent game development... becoming populated with more and more developers that have left the business of big name game development and struck out on their own."

Thanks to DIY Games for its story noting that Introversion Software, "creator of the critically acclaimed hacker sim Uplink", has announced its next game: Darwinia, a "...monstrously fast [PC] shoot-'em-up, influenced by Cannon Fodder and Syndicate", according to PC Gamer UK. There's a very basic official site with the first screenshots, but fansite Darwinia Warfront has some further information on the early-in-development title, quoting PC Gamer as explaining you'll be "playing as a gamer, inserted into the network of retro videogame consoles... you're shooting sprites, stick men, and space-invaders - objets d'art from the annals of videogame history."

Thanks to DIY Games for its story noting that Introversion Software, "creator of the critically acclaimed hacker sim Uplink", has announced its next game: Darwinia, a "...monstrously fast [PC] shoot-'em-up, influenced by Cannon Fodder and Syndicate", according to PC Gamer UK. There's a very basic official site with the first screenshots, but fansite Darwinia Warfront has some further information on the early-in-development title, quoting PC Gamer as explaining you'll be "playing as a gamer, inserted into the network of retro videogame consoles... you're shooting sprites, stick men, and space-invaders - objets d'art from the annals of videogame history."

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Veryzon writes "DIY Games has posted their 2003 Game of the Year Awards in which they name the best independent games of 2003. In addition to the standard categories such as action GOTY, adventure GOTY, and so on they also have a few fairly unique awards going to leaders in such areas as 'Copyright Infringement,' 'Most Controversial,' and 'Most Overrated.' In the end they hand out 17 awards in various categories. Here's a quote on the most controversial category winner: '...Dada Stagnation In Blue. Technically, Dada is a brief freeware adventure game that will be over almost as soon as you finish it, but those 30 minutes in between are sure to stay with you for some time. True to its Dadaist theme, Dada can be very unsettling for those who might be unprepared to see suicide, domestic violence, and dead fetuses addressed in a game. And if that doesn't mess with your mind then the bizarre environments and disturbing Anne Sexton prose are sure to keep you up a little later at night.'"

Thanks to DIYGames for their two-part series discussing the problems independent game developers have with distribution channels, and possible ways to stop these distributors taking all the profits. The articles explain the positives of online sales: "Building customer awareness for a game took time and energy... [but] with the advent of the distribution channels like RealOne Arcade, Shockwave, and the others, indies now have access all the customers of the distribution channel virtually overnight", alongside the negative fiscal aspects: "In most cases the indie must agree to give up 60-70% of their game's profits for the privilege of having instant access to the distribution channel's customers." The piece ends by discussing alternatives, pointing out that "A [thriving game-related] community is as viral a selling tool as any, and it helps preserve the life of the game in the marketplace."

Thanks to DIYGames for their two-part series discussing the problems independent game developers have with distribution channels, and possible ways to stop these distributors taking all the profits. The articles explain the positives of online sales: "Building customer awareness for a game took time and energy... [but] with the advent of the distribution channels like RealOne Arcade, Shockwave, and the others, indies now have access all the customers of the distribution channel virtually overnight", alongside the negative fiscal aspects: "In most cases the indie must agree to give up 60-70% of their game's profits for the privilege of having instant access to the distribution channel's customers." The piece ends by discussing alternatives, pointing out that "A [thriving game-related] community is as viral a selling tool as any, and it helps preserve the life of the game in the marketplace."

Thanks to DIYGames for their article showing surprising results from an independent game developer who offer games for sale directly on their website. According to the piece, "Every other visitor to the website is given an alternative page for each game that does not give them the option to download a demo of the game. The idea is to see how sales are affected by not giving users a free demo." So, while the article points out that "the results are less than scientific", 43.3% of total dollar volume came from 'demo available page', and 56.7% of the dollar volume from the 'no demo available page'. The developer concluded by working out that "not offering a demo increased sales revenue by roughly 31%." Does not offering a demo increase the sales of a game, sometimes, or is this just crazy talk?