On The IGF Awards And Defining 'Indie' Gaming

Thanks to GameTunnel for its editorial discussing the outcome of last week's Independent Game Festival awards, as previously covered on Slashdot Games, and part of a comprehensive GameTunnel IGF section. The writer is particularly concerned that the relatively high-budget, but still publisher-less Savage: The Battle For Newerth won major awards: "IGF has this year shown that a team's ability to raise money is as important as innovation itself. Consider this, if Savage was done on a $50,000 budget instead of a $1.5 million dollar budget, how would it be different? Would things that are in the game have been left out? I believe that the clear answer to this question is yes." What defines an 'indie' game for you, and should there be a maximum budget for IGF-entered games?

Comments

Re:They are like adults beating up children

[Anonymous Coward]

Very true - Savage and a couple of others were obviously just looking for free publicity and in NO WAY needed the prize money. Whereas these guys obviously need the prize money, check out the guys trashed car on one of those pictures :) I don't care how the rules are changed ($100k budget cap) just get it sorted so the money goes to those that need it - jeez.

congratulations

[The Evil Couch]

Personally, I'd rather see people like you guys get heavy recognition. While other indie games can compete with you for ingenuity or fun factor, sheer polish sets you apart.

By promoting you and others like you, hopefully other financial backers will think about joining leagues with other indie studios and finally realize that amazing games can come from unassuming backgrounds.

I would love to see a bunch of indie games out there get the cash that they need in order to raise them to the level that they deserve. Not to mention the funds to allow those guys to support themselves developing, full-time.