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The Soapbox: Give indie a chance
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. It's a pretty cool thing to introduce readers to new games. It's especially cool when the new game I am showing them would otherwise have completely passed under their radar, mainly because they receive most of their gaming news from other sites or from the blueshirts at Best Buy. I find no greater satisfaction than when someone tells me, "I didn't think I would like a game like that." When a player who normally feels comfortable engaging only with standard mechanics like linear questing, class-based gameplay, or raiding finds himself obsessed with some odd browser-based strategy game, everyone wins. Once that player gets hooked on one of my favorite indie titles, most of the hard work is over. The real challenge comes a few steps before that: getting the player to actually try the game in the first place. I've tried a lot of different tactics over the years, from using guilt or shame to acting as though only cool people play the game in question. Unfortunately, it feels as though the audiences have become increasingly resistant. I have to think that the recent crop of easily digestible AAA titles has not helped the situation at all.
One Shots: Other dark parts of space
To be sure, there are hundreds of MMOs out there in the world, but every so often we catch wind of one that we hadn't heard of before. Today's One Shots of a space-based indie MMO called DarkSpace is such an example. This image was sent to us by a reader who goes by the name "Frank Exchange of Views." For those of us who aren't familiar, Frank explains the image: "What's going on, you ask? Well, three Dreadnought-class ships from the Interstellar Cultural Confederation (ICC) are engaging two United Galactic Trade Organization (UGTO) Dreadnoughts near the gate into the Tau Ceti system, an important system to the ICC due to its being the sole link into the farstar worlds they call their own. The ICC's front ship is suffering a quantum singularity torpedo's detonation. Normally the GUI draws indicators of armor and hull on the ships, but I disabled it for this particular screenshot. DarkSpace can be found at www.darkspace.net, and due to its nature as an indie game held together by volunteers, its graphics may not be up to par -- but I think it is a fun enough game that people should know about it." We love to hear about indie games you love to play. If you know of a game we haven't showcased lately, then don't be shy -- send in a screenshot! Drop it in an email to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. It could be the next one we feature here on Massively! %Gallery-85937%
Gameloft treads on XBL Indie games with Tank Battles
Xbox Live Arcade was once thought to be a bastion of independent game development, destined to help independent studios get their projects to the game-playing masses. While that's still true to a certain extent -- Ska Studios and Polytron say hi -- there's no denying that an increasingly large number of XBLA games are being created by major publishers and development houses. And now it seems as if Xbox Live Indie Games -- quite literally a bastion of independent game development -- might suffer the same fate. Unstoppable mobile game publisher Gameloft (a subsidiary of Ubisoft) is officially entering the Indie Games space with Tank Battles. As the title implies, the game features tanks doing battle from a third-person perspective. If the title sounds familiar, it's because the game was already released on PSN last year as Battle Tanks. The game offers up to 4-players (locally or online) to duke it out and, truth be told, it looks pretty fun. Check out a trailer after the break. [Via GamerBytes]
EA is 'very, very pro independent development,' says DeMartini
In what seems to be a multiple year-spanning sea change on the side of EA, the company is not only reaching out to independent developers like Grasshopper Manufacture and Valve, but also working with them to keep their properties autonomous. Chris Remo of Gamasutra sat down with David DeMartini, General Manager of EA Partners, to discuss the idea behind EAP and, in doing so, revealed some interesting truths about the EA initiative."I think that there is very much a renaissance within the EAP based on the leadership of Electronic Arts ... John Riccitiello and Frank Gibeau are very, very pro-independent development," says DeMartini, referring to titles like American McGee's Alice sequel and Suda 51's upcoming game (still untitled), as well as Valve-developed Left 4 Dead. The "renaissance," he believes, isn't spurred by the way in which the EA Partners program has been set up, so much as it's been a focus on "great quality." While last year's Mirror's Edge and Left 4 Dead might not have sold huge numbers out of the gate, there is no doubt that their critical reception has been overwhelmingly positive. To add credence to his argument, sales of both titles have held steady as time goes on."What we've proven is that there is no one model. What we have also proven is quality and innovation always win." Not a terrible truth to arrive at, if we must say so ourselves.
iPhone is dominating independent gaming
Our friends at Joystiq make a very insightful and very telling discovery: the iPhone more or less owns the finalist list for the 2009 Independent Games Festival Mobile category. 11 of the 14 contestants aren't on the Nintendo DS or PSP -- they're built and played on the iPhone and the iPod touch. The popular Fieldrunners and Igloo Games' Dizzy Bee are standouts, but even innovative games like Galcon and the pseudogame experience Ruben and Lullaby are being honored with nods.Very, very telling -- the relatively low cost of entry into the App Store and the versatility of Apple's SDK makes the iPhone/iPod touch a dream platform for independent game developers, and clearly, even with less than a year of development time, Apple's handheld is making a big splash in the industry. Sure, there's still a few pricing hiccups that need to be worked out to get bigger developers on board in a big way, but for smaller and single person independent game developers, there's never been a better platform on which to make and market your games.
Taking part in the Great Games Experiment [update 1]
"Great games deserve to be played, regardless of budget or bureaucracy." That particular thought seems to be at the core of the Great Games Experiment, an online community that revolves, or rather, obsessively spins around, our favorite industry and pastime. The urge to call it the "game developer's MySpace" is definitely present, but doing so wouldn't really do the site justice. For one thing, it's shockingly devoid of awful MIDI tunes and pasty individuals who desperately want to cut themselves.The website's creator, GarageGames, envisions a networked utopia of game players and game developers discussing and contributing to various projects. Anyone with an interest in games can join and post reviews or commentary, even based upon the works-in-progress of game developers. Independent studios should be able to keep the community updated on their projects, incorporate external suggestions and, once their games are complete, have access to an informed audience. The Great Games Experiment is currently running a series of contests to encourage gamers to join and try out the site's beta features -- the final version launches this March. If you're interested in a more open form of game distribution and development, be sure to give it a bash.Update: Joystiq readers can use the referral code "joystiqgge" to obtain a Beta account. Thanks Eric!
