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November Indie Game Round-Up
cyrus_zuo writes with this month's round-up of independent game reviews. Leading the pack is World of Goo, a popular puzzle game in which you build structures to get blobs of goo from one place to another. "WoG could have zero personality and still be a good game, but on top of the tremendous technical execution, you are presented with a quirky and odd world that teems with character. WoG has a style all its own and the flair and dynamics of the world just add to the pleasure of losing time with the game." Also scoring high were action RPG Mount & Blade and the third release in the Strong Bad series.
I'm not really sure why Strong Bad is referred to as "Indie". Telltale Games is the new kid on the block, but they are a fully staffed and funded studio. Not really the type of company you would think of as small-time "Indie" developers. Given the fact that they made their name by continuing a popular LucasArts franchise (Sam & Max), I'm even less inclined to think of them as independent.
Or is "Indie" destined to be the shareware company of tomorrow? (Anyone remember when Apogee and Epic were the small guys?)
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I think that these days you'll find 'Indie' means 'not controlled by one of the big games companies'.
This could easily include small, multi-employee, well funded companies.
Besides, the days of one or two people with next to no money producing a commercially viable game are pretty much gone.
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Please!
If I wanted to see just the headline and the number of comments, I would be on Fark.
Climate Progress - Hell and High Water
Besides, the days of one or two people with next to no money producing a commercially viable game are pretty much gone.
This argument may be of some merit in the PC gaming scene, but is somewhat ignorant of the emerging game market: cellphones. In this end of the gaming spectrum it is hard for me to even imagine more than a small handful of people working on a title. There's the guy who had the original idea, a few programmers, and a graphic designer if you feel the need. Yet with so few resources, it will be done in a month. Two people working on games on the scale of Crysis, WoW, etc? Yeah, forget about it. But two buddies can still team up in this modern world and make a buck having some fun.
Independent game development studios are not part of company that publishes games. Since they must go to a publisher to sell their games, they are considered to be independent. Independent game development studios are a subset of third party game development studios.
Indie game development studios are small groups that are often poorly funded if they are funded at all. They generally try to make small games that garner attention by being different in a way that seems novel and interesting. Unlike regular independ game development studios, they rarely attempt to make AAA titles. Still, they are a subset of independent game development studios.
The days of one or two people with next to no money attempting to produce a commercially viable game are still very much alive. Some of them are even successful.
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Besides, the days of one or two people with next to no money producing a commercially viable game are pretty much gone.
Obviously not entirely. See: World of Goo. Also, even though it's not at all indie, MegaMan 9.
WiiWare, XBox Live Arcade, and PS Network are perfect places to showcase true indie games. Rather than dying, it's more apt to say the face of indie games is changing. In fact, with the advent of these online services, it's become even easier for a low-budget studio to release a console game.
the days of one or two people with next to no money producing a commercially viable game are pretty much gone.
Actually that's pretty much the story behind Mount & Blade, one of the featured games.
Another reader already pointed out but I would like to expand upon the story of Mount&Blade's development. Basically, there is only one developer, Armagan (sp?), and a small number of people who are responsible for the art and other aspects. I've been with, as a gamer, not dev., M&B since mid Beta (They had an interesting system that allowed users to buy the game at a discount during beta with full future support; the price scaled to retail as the game came closer to release) and have to say Armagan did a great job. The reviews are basically spot on if you average them out; An insanely addictive battle system (better than any other mount-based system is word on the street) with an overall undeveloped and flaky beta-feel to other aspects of the game. A Sandbox game. Don't come looking for KOTOR-like story. If you call yourself a gamer you need to DL a copy; it's free with a level cap of 7 and I would bet 3/5 people who hit seven will buy the retail. And you would be supporting a real mom and pop indie house. There is a great forum community and large mod movement, so modders will likely fill in the gameplay gaps. Oh yeah and Dwarf Fortress, if you haven't gotten the memo.