indie games
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Minecraft creator Notch's 0x10c is aiming at a monthly subscription fee
Minecraft has had a substantial impact on gaming in general and MMOs in specific, which means that Markus "Notch" Persson's next project is going to be watched closely by a lot of people. So it's interesting to note that in a recent interview he discusses giving 0x10c a sort of shared living space in an MMO style as well as mentioning that the game may very well charge players a regular subscription fee. Notch freely admits that it's a matter of making money off of the game, and it's meant to be a flexible approach. If free-to-play is more palatable than a subscription model, he's willing to experiment with that as well. The interview talks extensively about keeping the game's playing field level regardless of the business model as well as potential actions in an almost-MMO space; if you're curious to see what the game might look like, head on over for all the details.
Gloria Victis hits Kickstarter
Black Eye Games is an indie studio trying to bring MMOs back to the Dark Ages, and the team needs your help to do that. The team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Gloria Victis, an MMORPG that harkens back to the good old days of gaming. The listed perks of Gloria Victis include a combat system that steers away from lazy targeting and homing projectiles; magic that is reserved for elite skills rather than handed out to every character upon birth; historically accurate medieval weaponry and armor; and a classless system that allows for unrestricted character development. The game will be free-to-play with a cash shop that provides only cosmetic and quality of life goods. Check out the game's Kickstarter to get better acquainted with its development direction.
Indie Games for Good marathon is already massive, starts tomorrow
Indie Games for Good, the massive video game marathon that directly and fully benefits Child's Play Charity, begins tomorrow, October 19, at 10 a.m. PT. Indie Games for Good is an interactive gaming extravaganza, with viewers deciding which games marathoners play (and for how long), and setting challenges and potentially winning prizes.People who donate get points, which they can use to "buy time" for any particular game on the list, and gaming stops when the donations do. Games already gaining traction include Amnesia, Bastion, CarneyVale: Showtime, Cave Story, Digital: A Love Story, Dungeons of Dredmor, Escape Goat, FTL, I Wanna Be The Guy: Gaiden, Pocket Planes, QWOP, The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, and tons more. Whew.Last year the Indie Games for Good marathon lasted 79 hours and raised close to $7,000. More than $4,000 has been raised in pre-marathon donations this year. Good luck, gamers for good.
Steam Greenlight 'Concepts': Post your game without the $100 fee
"Concepts," a new section on Steam Greenlight, allows developers to post their games without paying the $100 fee normally required – the catch? Games can't be Greenlit through Concepts. Concepts is a hub for developers to gauge interest in their games and build a community, even if the developer doesn't have the resources to take its chances on Greenlight."This section is intended for items looking to gather feedback from the potential customers and begin building a community," the Concepts description reads. "If you like projects here, feel free to rate them, favorite them, and leave feedback for the developer. The voting here serves only to give the developer data and reactions and doesn't work toward getting the game distributed on Steam."Concepts offers a compromise between the completely open system that Greenlight launched with (and quickly amended), and the $100 fee now required for hosting a game on Greenlight. It allows developers to see if their games have a chance, to generate a following and resources, before taking them to Greenlight or elsewhere.Concepts joins the "Software" tab recently added to Greenlight. As of publishing, there are only 15 games on Concepts, so if you have a potential indie hit, maybe get it up there now, while the getting's good.
PBS mini-documentary explores indie game creation, shows what they do that majors can't (video)
The indie game world has undergone a metamorphosis over the past few years, transforming from an often overlooked niche into as much a staple of the game industry as once-every-year blockbusters like the Call of Duty series. It's that fast-rising side of gaming that PBS' Off Book has explored in a succinct documentary. As both developers and game journalists explain, the small and more flexible nature of indie teams lets them delve into game concepts, art and sound that major developers typically avoid -- you probably wouldn't get Bastion, Fez or Super Meat Boy out of a company focused mostly on hitting its quarterly revenue targets. Crowdfunding and internet distribution methods like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade have similarly removed many of the barriers that either kept these games from commercial success or forced uncomfortable deals with large publishers in the past. Accordingly, the indie sphere that PBS sees in 2012 is less about trying to become the next Activision or EA and more about experimentation and personal expression. If you've ever wanted an elegant summary of what makes Spelunky feel so special, the whole Off Book episode awaits after the break.
Valve launches Steam Greenlight to pick cream of indie game crop
Steam has developed a reputation as a haven for indie games like Super Meat Boy, so it's only fitting that store owner Valve has just launched a section to welcome more of those games into its tent. Greenlight lets small developers submit titles and have gamers vote as to whether or not the candidates should get space on Steam's virtual shelf. Pickier players don't have to see every game in contention; they can filter the list down to specific game types and platforms, and collections can narrow the selection to categories hand-picked by fans or publishers. No games have cleared Greenlight just yet, but it won't be long before the logjam becomes a flood -- between this and general apps, Steam is about to get a lot more crowded.
15 indie developers re-imagine Pong for iOS, hope to win Atari contract
As far as video games go, it doesn't get much simpler than Pong -- two paddles, one ball, no complications. A classic, to be sure, but definitely not the flashiest game when pitted against the average smartphone title -- maybe that's why Atari is asking indie developers to jazz it up. Yes, the Pong Indie Developer Challenge is in full swing, and Atari has pared down some 90-odd submissions to mere 15. Not familiar with the contest? Here's a quick refresh: Atari is looking for indie developers to re-imagine Pong for iOS as a fun, original, visually interesting and overtly marketable title. The stakes? Winners can score up to $100,000 and a publishing contract with Atari. Many of the semi-finalists' redesigns are as simple as adding multitouch gestures or bending the traditionally square playing field into a more circular court, but a few ambitious developers mixed it up with 3D playing fields, anthropomorphic paddles or augmented reality multiplayer. Check out Mashable's collection of contestant trailers at the link below for a look at the Pong of tomorrow. As for us? We're still pretty pleased with yesterday's model.
Benjamin Rivers' 'Home' arrives June 1, pre-orders start today
Home, the pixel-art horror/adventure game that first caught our frightened little eyes last October will be available for the PC on June 1, in your choice of "Regular" and "Old-School Collector's" editions.Home's Regular Edition rings up at $2.00 and entitles you to a DRM-free download of the game, whereas the Old-School Collector's Edition has been created specifically for "players who love classic packaging and think physical media is more than just a delivery method." At $20.00 (plus shipping and handling), the Collector's Edition includes a "classic-style" manual, "exclusive game-universe artifacts," a town map plus "mapping tools to help you find your way" and "maybe some other delicious secrets."Pre-orders go live today, and everyone that pre-orders either version will receive a set of wallpapers as a bonus tchotchke. Take a look at the Collector's Edition and some shiny new screenshots in the gallery below, if you dare.%Gallery-153906%
Stick it to the world in The Missing Ink's open alpha
If you like your MMOs a little bit sandboxy, a little bit quirky, and 100% indie, then RedBedlam's upcoming title The Missing Ink might be right up your alley. The game puts players in control of a 3-D world which they can mold to their liking and also provides MMO mainstays such as combat, PvP, exploration, and more. The game is still in the alpha testing phase, so players should expect more than the occasional bug or glitch. But if you want to help an indie developer iron the kinks out of its Unity-based sandbox MMO, then just head on over to the game's official site to sign up. There's no selection process; just sign up, jump in, and shape the world.
Jagex CEO predicts the imminent demise of physical game retailers
Brick-and-mortar outlets, be warned: your days are numbered. Or so says Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard, who told an audience at BAFTA Question Time that physical retailers were living on borrowed time -- and that before long, such stores would be "museum pieces." Gerhard says that these retailers, such as UK's GAME, will be gone within a decade. "The writing has been on the wall for quite some time," he said. "I think, 10 years out from now, we'll be talking about [physical] retail nostalgically, as a museum piece." He sees this as a positive development for the industry, saying that retailers take a slice of profits away from studios and make it hard for indie games to succeed. "People are still playing games. They're still doing business; they're just doing it in a different place. If you don't adapt you die. It's as simple as that," he said.
'A MAZE. Indie Games Award' is open for submissions, amazement
The A MAZE. Indie Games Award 2012, held during the Deutsche Gamestage in Berlin from April 26 to 27, is now taking submissions and will award one single indie game the "Most Amazing Indie Game" title, which would be a pretty awesome thing to put on your resume. The winner is selected by a "high-profile international jury" to be revealed in March, and will receive €5000 ($6,599) and a suitably "amazing trophy."Submissions are open to anyone and everyone, for a fee of €45 ($59) through March 30, with finalists announced in mid-April. This is just a hunch, but now might be the time to build that rat-maze game you were thinking of at 2 a.m. that one night -- the one with the makeup-testing and cancer-treatment levels. Again, just a hunch.
Indie devs launching XBLIG app for WP7 because MS hasn't
The Indie Games section of Xbox Live has been a point of contention for indie developers since its launch, in part because the app was hard to find and confusing to navigate. Microsoft has since made improvements -- with the most recent dashboard update, even -- but a group of indie devs and industry enthusiasts are speeding up the process with a new app for Windows Phone, tentatively called the XBLIG Companion.The XBLIG Companion scrapes the RSS feeds of XboxIndies.com and gathers the XML and CSV data for every applicable game, updating the app's listings as the games are updated themselves. XBLIG Companion will offer easy browsing of Xbox Indie Games' selection and will allow users to purchase games for their consoles directly from their phones.Created by Casey Young and organized by Dave Voyles, XBLIG Companion is currently in beta testing -- anyone with a Windows Phone 7 can check out the prototype now by contacting Dave [at] ArmlessOctopus [dot] com, and leaving feedback right here. Now that wasn't so difficult, was it, Microsoft?
Xbox Live Indie Gems: Nyan Cat Adventure
Crowded as it is with farting massage simulators, it can be hard to find worthwhile titles on Xbox Live Indie Games. That's why we sift through all that rough to unearth a few gems. That way, you get the skinny on quality games and we get to indulge our secret passion for fart machines. This week, we try out Nyan Cat Adventure, a platformer from 21st Street Games. Indie developer 21st Street Games has found a niche: bizarre platformers. Its previous offering, Techno Kitten Adventure, was a visual assault backed by a simple gameplay mechanic, and the studio's latest is no different. The Xbox Live Indie game Nyan Cat Adventure takes the popular internet meme into the realm of single-button arcade gameplay.But the most surprising thing about Nyan Cat Adventure is the variety I found in such a simple experience. True, the game only uses one button, but what that button does constantly changes throughout the game's main mode of play, dubbed 'Party.'
You should get The Cat That Got The Milk
One of our goals here at Joystiq is to notify you as soon as we possibly can about awesome things. It's something we've been doing for quite some time and now we've got something new and neat to inform you about: The Cat That Got The Milk.No, we're not talking about that junkyard cat you're certain stole that half gallon of milk from your fridge (how would it carry the container?) but a new indie game that lasts around 10 to 15 minutes. And the best part is it's free -- all you have to do is go over to the website and download it for OSX or Windows.As you can see in the video above, it's all quite simple: you use the up and down arrows to navigate a beautiful and abstract world that's meant to show us what cats see every day. Also, cats are apparently, like, high all of the damn time. Catnip must be a helluva drug!
Microsoft loosens up on Xbox Live Indie Game devs: increases file allowance, drops minimum price to $1
The Xbox Live gatekeepers have decided to cut their faithful indie game developers some slack -- but not too much, mind. New changes for 2012 include a new 80 point ($1) entry price for smaller games, expanded size limits (up to 500MB) and the ability to create up to 20 titles -- devs were previously limited to half of that. However, there's still no access to Xbox Live Achievements or Leaderboards for those impoverished indie developers. Way to keep the little people down, Microsoft.
Xbox Live Indie Games get increased file size, reduced minimum prices
It's been something of a rocky road for Xbox Live Indie Game developers, often confronted with less than ideal exposure and competing with not only huge retail games, but also incredibly cheap titles on mobile platforms like iOS. Microsoft has today addressed a handful of concerns that XBLIG devs face, notably the issues of game size and pricing. First, the size of projects has been greatly increased, from 150 megabytes to the new maximum of 500 megabytes. Second, and perhaps most important, Microsoft has removed one of the major restrictions on price. Before, all games that exceeded 50MB in size we required to be priced at either $3 or $5, making them hard to position against both XBLA titles and mobile titles on other platforms. The minimum price has now been reduced to $1 (80 MS Points), making XBL Indies more competitive and (potentially) more lucrative. Finally, Microsoft has raised the cap on the number of titles any developer is allowed to host on the Indie Games service. Previously topping out at 10, developers may now have a total of 20 games available at any given time. Of course, you know what this means: Moar Gaems with Z0mb1ES in Th3m and a larger assortment of choice weapons.
New Xbox Dashboard features leave Indie Games in the lurch
Now that the new Xbox 360 Dashboard is out there, many are finding the new features don't extend to Indie Games. Sure, Indies haven't supported Achievements for a while, and there's always been a price ceiling, but it looks like Beacons don't work with them, cloud storage isn't supported, and new releases don't appear under, well, new releases. It's all in the video above, provided by GameMarx. Even that new Xbox iOS app doesn't list Indies. Why is nobody thinking of the little guys?
IGF 2012 entrants have a crack at winning the first ever 'XBLA Prize'
Independent Games Festival entrants aren't just charming, attractive, and creative -- they're also potential XBLA developers. At least they are now, after today's announcement of the first "XBLA Prize" by Microsoft and Game Developers Conference administrators UBM, which gives IGF entrants a crack at being fast-tracked on Xbox Live Arcade for publishing by Microsoft. According to the prize sponsors, a "standalone jury of independent game creators" will apparently collaborate with Microsoft to "identify a shortlist" -- a list which will then be considered for the XBLA prize. If the winner so chooses, his/her project will then be offered funding for development across Xbox 360, Windows Phone 7, and Windows, as well as given the opportunity to employ Microsoft's bevy of testing, marketing, and usability support. Alongside today's prize announcement, Microsoft head of first-party publishing Ted Woolsey also revealed that Microsoft invests upward of $20 million annually on XBLA titles, and offered support for the multi-year partnership with the IGF. "The independent development scene wouldn't be nearly as robust as it is today without the exposure provided by the IGF. We look forward to working with the IGF and having a window into to the huge array of independent games that are submitted every year so that we can continue to find the best games to share with our customers."
Indie Game: The Movie making its debut at the Sundance Film Festival
Good news, everyone! Indie Game: The Movie -- which you may have helped fund at some point or another during the last year and a half -- will finally make its debut in late January 2012. We know, we know; you're worried about how that's going to conflict with your scheduled attendance of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. There's no need to worry, silly goose: That's exactly where it's making its debut. Crazy, right? The crowdsource-funded film's official blog announced that the movie had earned an official selection in the World Documentary Category of the festival. If you can't make the trip to Utah, don't worry: You can also request a screening of the film in your hometown, or wait until the movie hits DVDs following its initial screening tour. Us? We don't have to see it, Dottie. We lived it.
Microsoft discounts Super Meat Boy, other content across its platforms
This week, Microsoft is offering discounts across Xbox Live, Windows PC and its mobile platforms. It's being billed as a fan appreciation sale and we're sure Microsoft would appreciate if its fans spent money. It's kinda how these things go. Highlights include Super Meat Boy for $5, a few discounted add-ons for Left 4 Dead 2 and Homefront, half-off Indie Games titles Flotilla and Weapon of Choice, and a few PC and mobile joints for good measure. If you want to spend, there's a good chance you can find something to spend money on here. The only thing we'd suggest is that perhaps you hold off on the five different premium Xbox 360 themes available. There's no word on whether or not they'll be compatible with your new Dashboard next month.
