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First, that's to get your own binary get signed with the default installed Microsoft key, so it's meant for distributors, not users who can add/remove keys without any cost.

Also, if you think Microsoft is trying to make any money from the $99 you're sorely mistaken.

Read this and I hope you have enough reading comprehension skills to under the reasoning behind Microsoft's fee.

http://indiegames.com/2012/09/valves_solution_for_steam_gree.html

If there was no fee, every Russian malware author will apply thousand times to get boot keys defeating the whole thing, not to mention the money can be tracked down in the future if the key is maliciously used.

In other words, another bog standard stupid uninformed kneejerk karmawhoring typical retarded Slashdot anti-MS post from you. lurn2read. Don't you feel stupid making such idiotic posts?

Theres some flash games that did this.

One of then was this humurous game:
http://www.indiegames.com/2009/08/browser_game_pick_you_only_liv.html

Other was this touching one:
http://www.indiegames.com/2010/12/browser_game_pick_one_chance_a.html

Theres some flash games that did this.

One of then was this humurous game:
http://www.indiegames.com/2009/08/browser_game_pick_you_only_liv.html

Other was this touching one:
http://www.indiegames.com/2010/12/browser_game_pick_one_chance_a.html

No, not PETA, the developers of Super Meat Boy.

After hearing about this game I was curious as to whether a Linux version was available or in the works. I ended up at http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/10/indiegamescom_podcast_5_super.html, and a commenter put a link to a podcast with the developers here: http://www.levelfortytwo.com/2009/12/talk-is-cheap-12-21-09/

The relevant bit starts at 43:55. Basically, they think that a Linux version would mean it would have to be open source, which obviously it doesn't. To quote one of the developers: "Linux can fuck off as far as I'm concerned." Gee, thanks. I don't mind if you're not going to bother making a port to Linux, but to not even bother to understand what people are asking and instead resorting to profanity shows these guys are a bunch of closed-minded dicks.

Small error with you link: fixed that for you ;)

If casual games cost $10-15, yeah, I'd buy them.

Uh. What are you talking about? Yes they do. May I redirect you to the $10 and below section of the games sold at Steam? There's a ton of gems in there.

May I also redirect you to the Mega-Love Indie Bundles: which pack in these excellent indie casual games: Aaaaa! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, Brainpipe, Captain Forever, Cogs, Saira, Space Giraffe or And Yet It Moves, Auditorium, Aztaka, Eufloria, Machinarium & Osmos for $19.99 or all 12 games for $29.99?

Finally, check Steam Game Sales which lists all the recent promos/sales/discounts on Steam, Direct2Drive, EA & Impulse, updated daily. Look! Stuff's up to 85% off right now!

Funny how you drooling console fanboys always seem to miss the large number of PC game releases by only focusing on mainstream crap and games that have television commercials.

You'll find hundreds of PC only games at the following sites.

TIGSource
IndieGames
SourceForge

Is this one of the early firsts in the new genre of video game mashups?

ROM Check Fail is another awesome little mash-up, well worth checking out

Like indie developers?

Knytt_Stories

Peaceful 2d jump&run with great art and level design

review

One of the more fiendishly clever flash puzzle/platformers I've encountered, Shift has the same "Pick up and Play for a few hours" with simple game mechanics that made Portal so fascinating.

There's a couple sequels out there, too. I'd gladly pay for a longer, more complete version of this game.

• The games are cheap or free
• It's all legal
• They're usually easy to pick up and play, with a focus on fun game mechanics over action-movie style production
• You find new, creative ideas all over the place

I cannot guess who is on that list - Seumas McNally would be one to deserve a star there, though. No idea who that was? Start here: http://www.indiegames.com/about.htm
or here:
http://www.treadmarks.com/

Where do the new ideas go if we can't have games like...Shenmue...?

In the case of Shenmue, hopefully into the garbage. Someone at Sega seems to have confused "innovative" with "boring," "pointless," "repetative," "plot-free," and "wildly unrealistic."

Anyway... back on topic...

The editorial is off base. As any creative industry grows the core of the industry becomes conservative, unwilling to take the risks necessary to create truly innovative work. But just because the core does doesn't mean that everyone will. Some companies will realize that you don't need to sell millions of copies to be successful and will happily make modest profits with smaller markets making truly innovative games. The original Counterstrike was just such a case, it popularized the modern SWAT style game and refined into the basis of many multi-player games. Pop Cap Games has done phenominally well with their little games, most notably Bejeweled Something genuinely original? How about surprisingly addictive game about building bridges, Chronic Logic's Pontifex . How about a hard to explain that can only be inaccurately described as action puzzle play matched with turn based stategy, Moonbase Commander . Check out the Independent Games Festival for bunches more of genuinely new and interesting games.

Of course, certain genres are completely unreasonable for small publishers, like massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Or are they? How about a MMORPG without any combat? A Tale in the Desert . A puzzle based MMORPG? Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates .

Thanks to internet distribution, it's becoming more and more economical for a smaller company to reach out to a global audience.

So, there is lots of great new game ideas. Sometimes they even escape from big, conservative companies. So why don't we see them? Why aren't more people aware of them? The problem isn't that a lack of new ideas, the problem is the journalists themselves! By focusing on the big budget rehash games, spending time giving us pointless "preview" coverage over and over ("We still haven't actually played the game, but boy, it sure does look neat. We look forward to its release in forty-eight months") instead of seeking out and publicizing great stuff from small companies. It wouldn't take much to get the general public looking for these games, helping to encourage further innovation. Because the journalists hype them so, the game industry is still stuck in the idiot "Big budget, big payoff" gamble that the movie industry is. With a few small budge success stories we could see big companies realizing that quarter or half million dollar risks don't have huge rewards, but they also lack the possibility of becoming catastrophic failures.

If you're worried about the lack of innovative games, go looking for them, they exist. Point them out to your friends. And if you're a journalist, don't just bitch, tell your readers about what gems you do find!

Not to be overlooked are the winners of the 5th Annual Independent Games Festival competition, which were also announced at the GDC awards ceremony.

The festival included ten innovative and often offbeat titles, such as Teenage Lawnmower (a mowing simulation that manages to incorporates issues such as domestic violence, unplanned pregnancy and alcohol abuse) and Pontifex II (a game that lets you design your own dream bridge, and hope it doesn't collapse). The competition's grand prize was won by Wild Earth, a beautifully animated game that sends players on an African safari to take pictures of wildlife. (Wild Earth also won two awards in the IGF for Game Design and Visual Arts).

Hmmm...

I have (actually we have) been creating a game for next year's Indie Game Festival, and we've created a small language for it called Kool. We've had it named that since Dec '98. Any chance we can get Microsoft to cease and disist it's actions because of copyright infringment? Or something like that.