Amazon Debuts Multi-Platform Indie Games Store

An anonymous reader writes "Amazon today announced an initiative to help indie game developers promote and sell their games: the Indie Games Store. The dedicated storefront is a new category in Amazon's Digital Video Games Store, designed specifically to help indie games for PC, Mac, and the Web get noticed. The store appears to be US-only, but if you don't live there you should be able to get away with just putting in an American address. Most of the games are Steam downloads, so where you are in the world shouldn't matter too much."

Comments

Humble

[telchine]

It's like the Humble Bundle but not humble and not a bundle!

Re:Humble

[slim]

The first product I became aware of through this service, was a bundle of Double Fine games. Not humble. But a bundle.

Pretty good too, $9.99 for Brutal Legend, The Cave and a bunch more.

I already own The Cave, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle etc.

Re:Humble

[Enfixed]

I second this, The Cave is awesome.

Re:Humble

[hairyfeet]

Personally I think its great and is just one more example of how now that the consoles are all going to online only DRM boxes that PC gaming is the way to go. Thanks to good old fashioned competition there is MUCH better prices, the indie devs get more of a percentage than the consoles, you have a huge choice in places to shop, the hardware has never been cheaper (hell I've built machines that game great for less than $350) and you of course control it, I'd say its just a better experience all around.

Oh and speaking of Humble they now have weekly sales with big name devs, this week is the entire Serious Sam series so anybody who doesn't have those should check it out.

Do not want. Or need.

[snarfies]

I don't buy games with any form of DRM, Steam included. Most of the last few games I've bought have been through the Humble Bundle Store, and not just the bundles - I bought FTL through the store, for example.

PC, Mac, and Web games?

[pecosdave]

Not indie enough for me, I use Linux. I'll stick with the Humble Bundle, which gives me direct downloads, Ubuntu Software Center and Steam.

I've been assured by many vendors that once I put Linux on it, it's no longer a PC - so I just shut off my brain and think on those terms.

Re:So... redudant to the steam store

[slim]

An indie record label is one that's not owned/controlled by a major corporation. If its records are stocked by HMV, or Amazon, the label is no less independent.

By analogy, if an indie games developer gets their product stocked by a corporate retailer, that doesn't stop them being an indie developer.

Indie?

[JohnG]

The first five games I see when I go there are from Microsoft, Sega, and Warner Brothers. If that is who us indies are competing with for space in Amazon's indie store, I'm not sure what they are calling it indie.

Re:Indie?

[slim]

I didn't check past the first two, but Mark of the Ninja and The Cave are both written by indie developers, and published by large publishers.

Although Double Fine might be getting too big to count; as if Creation was an "indie" record label when Oasis were at peak popularity.

Re:Indie?

[geminidomino]

and published by large publishers

I think that's stretching the definition of "indie" unto meaninglessness.

on the contrary

[Anonymous Coward]

I love steam. It means I can keep my game catalog as I upgrade my machine, switch operating systems, switch platforms... my games are mine. While I can't sell used games, I always try them out non-steam first before I decide I'm going to purchase them. Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer. To me, it's the best DRM out there, and the benefits outweigh my dislike for DRM.

Re:on the contrary

[geminidomino]

Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer

Unless you have the unmitigated gall to object to any change they might decide to shove into their TOS. If that's the case, well then fuck you, peasant. Eat it, or kiss your library goodbye.

Steam is certainly "DRM done right," as so many love to parrot: You do what they say, or they take your games away. That's what DRM is supposed to do, after all.

Re:on the contrary

[tlhIngan]

Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer

Unless you have the unmitigated gall to object to any change they might decide to shove into their TOS. If that's the case, well then fuck you, peasant. Eat it, or kiss your library goodbye.

Steam is certainly "DRM done right," as so many love to parrot: You do what they say, or they take your games away. That's what DRM is supposed to do, after all.

Or a more common case - the game is no longer able to be distributed. I have stuff in my steam library that cannot be downloaded. They don't show up anymore. I can install them from backups (a good idea to backup your library), but if you don't download and back up your library regularly, you can find yourself with the inability to play games you bought.

Yes, you own the license, but you just cannot reinstall it from Steam via download. You can restore a backup and authorize it against your account, though.

Anyhow, I did come across something interesting - people were dissing the Xbox One because of the used game fees and saying they're going to get a PC and play on that. Of course, used gaming on PCs is dead since Steam doesn't let you transfer purchases (without account trickery, that is). Which made things interesting - you don't want an xbox because of the used game fees, so you get a PC and buy games new?

Re:on the contrary

[Xest]

"I love steam. It means I can keep my game catalog as I upgrade my machine, switch operating systems, switch platforms... my games are mine. While I can't sell used games, I always try them out non-steam first before I decide I'm going to purchase them. Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer. To me, it's the best DRM out there, and the benefits outweigh my dislike for DRM."

A long time ago, in an age before Steam, we had these things called CDs, DVDs, and Floppy Disks. We could buy games on them and they tended not to come with any DRM, and guess what? We got to do all the things you mention but without the second hand sales restriction you also mention.

Remind me again what the benefit of Steam is? Remind me again why DRM helps you do any of these things at all when they can all be done without DRM? Remind me why the fuck such an obvious point got missed by the moderators who moderated your post up?

Re:Do not want. Or need.

[Trepidity]

If you're always online, Steam's DRM is reasonably unobtrusive. But if you regularly use its offline mode, it's a bit of a pain in the ass.

Re:So... redudant to the steam store

[Baloroth]

So, not really any downsides to this, then.

What's in an address

[benwad]

"The store appears to be US-only, but if you don't live there you should be able to get away with just putting in an American address." So like what Amazon does on their tax form, but in reverse?

Re:So what's the point?

[Zerth]

Sometimes buying through Amazon to get a Steam license is actually cheaper than buying directly through Steam. I bought the Stronghold series plus Civ V and IV on Amazon, which were all redeemed as Steam licenses, because it was the same price as just the Stronghold series directly on Steam.

The nice thing about middle-men is that sometimes they fight each other.

No mention of linux anywhere

[Anonymous Coward]

It's hardly a multiplatform store when the linux versions of these games are not listed anywhere in sight. What a pointless service.