indie games
Latest
Microsoft's XNA Creator's Club is now 'App Hub'
If you fancy yourself an Xbox Live Indie Games developer, you might have noticed a change to the XNA Creators Club today. In conjunction with the unveiling of Windows Phone 7, it appears that Microsoft has quietly changed the Creators Club to the much more generalized "App Hub." The site purports to offer resources for developers to create applications for both Windows Phone 7 and Xbox 360, though the site currently seems to favor the former. In fact, the Education Roadmap section -- which introduces would-be programmers to XNA Game Studio -- only offers tutorials for Windows Phone 7. Of course, it's understandable that Microsoft would want to recruit as many programmers as possible for its new baby. There are still examples and code snippets for Windows and Xbox 360 programming, but hopefully we'll see some more robust introductory tutorials in the future. [Thanks, Niko]
Kinect-enabled XBL Indie Games still up in the air
Would-be Kinect Indie Game developers out there should prepare for some bad news. Speaking to Digital Spy, a Microsoft spokesman stated that currently "only developers with established contracts with Microsoft" are allowed to develop projects for Kinect. Only those developers that Microsoft has "partnered with for the launch" will release Kinect games at first. That's not to say that budding XNA developers will never get their hands on the Kinect. The spokesman acknowledged that Microsoft would "consider" the possibility for the future, though he added that "no plans can be confirmed at this time." Here's hoping Indie devs get Kinect support sooner rather than later. The creative possibilities are definitely there and, besides, where else would we get Kinect-enabled fart simulators now that support for Fable 3 has been delayed?
Vendetta Online to be ported to the Android OS
Google's operating system, Android, has had an odd genesis. It's been ported around for every flavor of mobile device, from phones to tablet PCs, but it's coming into a field already crowded with operating systems -- and the plethora of hardware running the system has hampered some efforts to port games to the architecture. Guild Software Inc. is making the push, however, adapting their indie MMO Vendetta Online to the Android system architecture. For proponents of the Droid over the iPhone, the good news is that it's the same operating system on your phone of choice. However, the port is specifically targeting the NVIDIA Tegra processors, aiming toward smaller netbooks and tablets rather than phones. In the official FAQ, the developers clarify that they're not currently planning to aim the port at any phones, although the door is open once the initial port is finished. It's still an exciting step for the Android architecture, however, and it continues expanding the network of MMOs available for mobile devices.
They Need To Be Fed jumping to PSP this summer
Jesse Venbrux must be quite proud of his indie platformer, They Need To Be Fed. Not only did he recently win the top prize of the YoYo Games competition, he's earned a $1,000 cash prize, and a deal to port the game over to PSP. The platformer can be best described as a 2D version of Super Mario Galaxy, with players navigating the unique gravity of each platform to reach their goal: to be eaten. If that doesn't make much sense, you can wait for the PSP version, planned for release this summer, so you can see for yourself. Or, you can download the PC game here. (Or, you can just watch the video we placed after the break.) [Via Pocket Gamer]
Humble Indie Bundle: Pay what you want for World of Goo and four others
You've commented on Joystiq posts about oppressive DRM many times before. You dutifully wear your Target-purchased indie game t-shirt every week without fail. And you read every Joystiq Indie Pitch we post. But if you want to put some money towards supporting indie games, you won't find a better way to do it than this. Wolfire Games and a few other indie developers have put together the "Humble Indie Bundle" sale, offering five terrific award-winning indie games (World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru and Penumbra Overture) for the low, low price of ... whatever you want. That's right -- they're asking you to pay what you feel is right for these bundled, non-DRM, developer-owned Mac, Linux or PC games. And that's not all: You can even specify part or all of your donation to go to a charity, either Child's Play or the Electronic Frontier Foundation. That's about as selfless as it gets in gaming -- pay what you think it's worth, to charity or the people who made it. The average donation so far is about $8.00, but individuals have donated as much as $500 to the effort. You get lots of chances to say you support indie gaming, but fewer great chances like this to put your money where your mouth is. And walking away with five great indie titles to play doesn't hurt, either.
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]
Hands-on: Sleep Is Death
A lot of game critics you talk to will tell you that, after making a career of playing games, it takes a lot to impress them. But that's not exactly the truth. Perhaps I shouldn't speak for them, but I know for me that all it really takes for a game to knock my socks off is that smallest yet boldest of features: A single great, new idea. I'm not talking about squishing together the dual-stick shooting of Geometry Wars and RPG elements and hoping for the best. I'm talking about an innovation that takes a single step back from the whole idea of what video games are and reapproaches it in a way that feels utterly fresh. Sleep Is Death is just such an idea.
XBL Indie 'Weapon of Choice' chosen by Blitz for PC release
The debut Xbox Live Indie Game from former Insomniac designer Nathan Fouts, Weapon of Choice, is headed to the PC by way of Blitz Games Studios and its Blitz 1UP label. It's not the first Indie picked up by the publisher; Binary Tweed's Clover: A Curious Tale was released for Windows via a number of different digital distribution services earlier this year. Blitz doesn't have a launch date yet for the port of WOC, but creator Fouts has made a strong case for PC players to be excited. "With the help of Blitz 1UP, we hope to relieve your monitors from constantly displaying games in browns and grays," he stated in today's announcement, adding, "It's time to vomit up some vibrant color with trip-inducing visuals of alien viscera!" Kevin Butler, watch your back. You can try (and, if you like, buy) the second XBL Indie release from Mommy's Best Games, Shoot 1UP, right now from the Xbox Live Marketplace. [Handy-dandy Marketplace link!]
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1 sold 200,000 copies
It would seem that, if you make it cheap enough, they will buy it. Last year 's top Indie Games title, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, has managed to sell 200,000 copies, developer Ska Studios reveals. In fact, 40,000 copies have been sold so far this year (based on this data of its performance last year), indicating the game is still pretty darn popular on Xbox Live. We would say that the game's success lies in its titular undead enemies, but the undead hordes have managed to claw and bite their way into everything nowadays. Instead, we'll point to the game's low price of a buck as being the primary factor for its strong sales. Well, that and its awesome soundtrack.
XBL Indie Game cover parodies ICO cover
[Siliconera] Who doesn't like cover art inspired by Giorgio de Chirico and, more directly, Ico? Monsters, that's who. That'd be like saying you don't like playing games that require the combining of three objects in various patterns to earn points, especially when said games use Japanese food items. 'Cause it's those two things that Yaruhara no Omochi meshes on the Japanese Xbox Live Indie Game channel, mesmerizing Siliconera as it does us. As if the idea of playing an XBL Indie Game with the premise of stacking "mochi (sticky rice cakes), fish, and seals" in a match-three-style game weren't enticing enough, it would appear from these screens that the game is gaijin-safe (read: in English). Time to fire up that dusty Japanese Silver account you've got sitting around, eh?
Kotick announces Activision's half-million dollar indie games competition [update]
[Elisabeth Caren] Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, dressed in a zipper pullover and jeans, announced at DICE that his company will sponsor an independent video game competition. Details were practically nonexistent, and he seemed to make it sound like the idea was a whim he had on the drive from the airport, but there's apparently "up to $500,000" up for grabs. We're currently following up with Activision and will get out the details out as soon as we know more. Update: Activision has posted a short announcement document (copied after the break) on its consumer site.
Indie games bundled on the cheap for V-Day
So what if Sophie/Samuel didn't return your request for a weekend getaway to that little bed and breakfast in New Hampshire? Wouldn't you rather spend your weekend falling in love with a handful of indie games -- And Yet it Moves, Auditorium, Aztaka, Eufloria, Machinarium, and Osmos -- from an all-star list of developers? We knew you'd see our point! Besides, it's only $20 -- that's way less than the price of two nights for two people at The Buttonwood Inn, not to mention a steal considering each game individually purchased would add up to 85 buckaroos. And hey, now you can spoil yourself with an extra large box of tissues and a matching ice cream tub.
Dream-Build-Play puzzler Rotor'scope now on Xbox Live Indie Games
We got to check out Rotor'scope: The Secret of the Endless Energy at PAX last year, and it nearly broke our minds. Of course, our minds were quite fragile at that point, weakened by long nights of tireless writing and frequent coffee binges -- still, the fact remains that Rotor'scope was one of the most original concepts for a puzzle game we'd played in a good long time. Fortunately, we now have the chance to give the game another go -- it was recently added to the Xbox Live Indie Games platform for 400 ($5). Check out the Rotor'scope trailer after the jump to see the game's cog-flipping puzzle mechanics in action and to get a sense of the title's overarching story. With create-a-level modes, hand-drawn graphics and even some Facebook integration, it looks like you'll be getting a lot of bang for your buck. Or five bucks, as the case may be. Shortcut: Add Rotor'scope (trial / full game) to your Xbox 360 download queue [via Xbox.com]
Your Doodles Are Bugged! arrives on XBLA's Indie marketplace
German developer Johannes Huber sent us word that his game, Your Doodles are Bugged!, is out now on Xbox Live's Indie Games Marketplace for the low, low price of 80 (or about a buck). You can see a gameplay trailer over on YouTube right now (which we've placed along with a silly teaser trailer after the break). The game looks a little bit like Lemmings but with custom paths rather than tools -- various doodles drawn by a master doodler are infected with little jumping cartoon bugs, and your job is to draw lines that lead the bugs to various points in the illustrated environment. The game offers "lots of levels," and they seem like complicated affairs, though you can zoom in and out to chart your own path to exodus for the little bugs. There's also unlockable content and both friends and global leaderboards. Both the game and its trial are available on your Xbox right now. Download the trial version of Your Doodles are Bugged! to your Xbox 360
New creepy Xbox Indie Game: Soul
Click to exor-size Based purely on gameplay mechanics, the new Xbox Indie Game from Kydos Studio, titled Soul, is simple. The goal: Guide a dead man's soul to heaven. You do this by moving the soul through corridors while avoiding the walls and various hazards. It's the background art and atmosphere that make the game freaky, however. The game is filled with disturbing imagery and pop-out scares, like some kind of nightmarish game of Operation. Check out a trailer after the break and grab the trial version using the link below. Shortcut: Download the trial version of Soul [via Xbox.com]; the full version is 80 ($1) %Gallery-84097% [Via GamerBytes]
Xbox Live Indie Games 2009 sales compiled, Z0MB1ES on top
When we wrote initially about James Silva's twin-stick Xbox Live Indie Game, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1NIT!!!1, the words "smash hit" didn't exactly come to mind. However, according to GamerBytes' breakdown of the Indie Games platform's sales over the past year, that's exactly what it was -- it outsold every other game on the service, moving 160,000 units at $1 a pop, which brought in $112,000 in profit for its humble developer, Ska Studios. Check out GamerBytes' full list of sales data for more interesting tidbits about the platform's sales. For instance, it might interest you to know that Rumble Massage was the 6th-highest selling XBL Indie Game of 2009. Oh, sorry, did we say "interest?" We meant "horrify."
Video walkthrough: Bible Navigator X (Xbox 360)
We guess the "X" stands for "it's on the Xbox 360," because there wasn't a single can of Mountain Dew or a dirt-biking bear to be seen in Bible Navigator X. Instead, there's lots of text, and some stuff about God and his homeboys. There is some neat functionality, though -- the searching was easy enough and navigating the Bible was a fairly painless experience here. Ultimately, we failed to find any reason why somebody would go this route over just buying a regular Bible. Besides, statistically speaking, you probably already have one in your home, even if you don't exactly know where it is right now. Also: Who was the person who came up with these themes? If there's anything that's going to teach the kids to respect the bible, it's a version with virtual stains all over it, amirite? Bonus! The first person to leave a comment on this post will get a free Bible Navigator X code. Keep an eye on your inbox! Official rules apply.
Arkedo on the changing landscape of XBL Indie Games
Arkedo, the studio behind some of the more memorable titles on Xbox Live Indie Games -- Jump! and Pixel to name a couple -- recently shared some thoughts with Edge on Microsoft's service. Thus far, according to Arkedo's Camille Guermonprez, Indie Games has served as a place for independent developers to learn and share ideas, not necessarily to make money. However, thanks to the advent of user ratings and more sorting options, Guermonprez sees new potential in the Indie Games service. Says, Guermonprez, "the [iPhone / iPod] App Store changed everything with instant access to thousands of games, and lots of great ones for less than three dollars." Guermonprez notes that Microsoft is "at a crossroads" with the service, with the potential to turn it into a real money maker or leave it as it is. He adds that he doesn't know what choice Microsoft will make -- perhaps letting more XNA developers release titles on Xbox Live Arcade, a la The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai -- but concludes that "the potential is huge." Of course, the problem with the App Store success analogy is evident: For every Rocket Fart there is at least one I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1N IT!!!1.
Are you not entertained? Indie game 'Creed Arena' throws gladiators into the future
A new Xbox Live Indie Game from Safari Studios, a dev comprised of two brothers from Australia, placess gladiators in a semi-futuristic arena, vying for the adoration of a bloodthirsty mob. It's like they plucked the design document from our own horrifying dreams. Creed Arena launched on Microsoft's Indie platform on January 1, 2010, after ranking among the Top 20 titles in the 2009 Dream Build Play competition. Looking to bathe in blood in front of millions of virtual fans? Creed Arena is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 ($5). Make sure to follow Joystiq on Twitter, where we will give away a download code for a free copy of the game later today. Footage of frantic action can be watched after the break. Queue the free trial of Creed Arena on your Xbox 360
TwO Brothers' Climb to the Top of the Castle on consoles
Tim, 23, and Orion Araya, 20, are the two brothers behind TwO Bros. Games, recent winners of the 2BeeGames Indie Game Competition for their submission Climb to the Top of the Castle. Like Auditorium and Storm before it, the siblings' game has earned a digital distribution publishing deal through Zoo Games. Joystiq recently exchanged emails with the Arayas about their game and what to expect from the upcoming console version: This might seem like a silly question, considering the game's title, but, what exactly is the goal in Climb to the Top of the Castle? The goal in the game is obviously to climb to the top of the castle and die a lot! The game is simplistic by design, so what's its defining attribute? As far as what makes the game stand out, besides the visuals, there just aren't many classic 2D-style games out there, it's kind of like with Shadow Complex: the game innovates with old ideas. Name some inspirations for the game's design. There where a lot of inspirations for Climb to the Top of the Castle. I guess the main reason was the desire to make an old-school-style platformer with a persistent goal to reach. A few games that influenced the idea were Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Braid, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. As far as people we admire in the industry, you have to start with Shigeru Miramoto, also Peter Molyneux, Hideo Kojima, among others. And in indie games, Jonathan Blow is inspiring. As a whole, we think the indie game industry is pretty exciting right now.
