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Indie Gaming Gets 2004 Mid-Term Grades
Thanks to Game Tunnel for its 2004 mid-term report card on the independent PC gaming scene, rating what "is turning out to be one of the most impressive years yet in the Indie world." Among the approved-of titles include action games such as Hamsterball ("a wonderful surprise that plays a lot like Marble Madness would play [if updated]"), platform adventures such as Gish ("[starring] a ball of tar [whose] goal is to find his girlfriend who was taken down... the sewer"), before looking forward to interesting hopefuls that include Oasis ("takes all the strategy of a game like Civilization and then turns it into a 3 minute experience.")
Well, it seems that the indie development scene can produce games that rival budget titles from the big boys, and that's a step in the right direction, but I just can't say that I'm all to impressed.
I was hoping to see more out of the independents. They have that unique position of being able to really do something that nobody has ever done before and they haven't stepped up yet. All of the games in the article were explainable with a statement like "Well, it plays like Popular Game A, with a little bit of Popular Game B and C in it." That's not what I wanted to see. Where's the games that can pretty much be defined on their own? Where's the games that take the independent developer into the big leagues?
The independents look like they can do what others do pretty well now; the fact that they've come that far is encouraging. But still, I have no compelling reason to buy their titles over a cheap title from a tried and true developer or publisher. Wait, shouldn't I support them because they're indie? Nah, I'll support the companies that make something that interests me regardless of size. If an independent can give me something that hasn't been done before and is fun at the same time, they'll be sure to see my dollars.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.