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Race your eyeballs to this Halfbrick Rocket Race trailer
Click to fuel your eyeballs with more screens The Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios just sent us a press release informing us it has a new title on the way to Xbox Live's Community Games Indie Games section in Halfbrick Rocket Race. A racer with a twist, Halfbrick Rocket Race isn't all about getting from Point A to Point B ... ... okay, maybe it is, but there are subtleties here, like the boost you get from hitting your thrusters next to a wall. See what we mean in the game's first trailer, which is currently running qualifying laps past the break.%Gallery-67211%
Kodu gets creative on Xbox 360 June 30 [update]
Update: Microsoft got back to us with the following: "We are going through the same peer-review process that every other developer has to go through, so there isn't any way to determine when the game will actually post, but we hope that it will be somewhere near or on June 30." So, everyone is trying their best to make sure Kodu makes the June 30 release, but don't consider that date chiseled in stone.When the official Kodu blog mentioned that the title would be available this month, it apparently wasn't lying. Xboxic is reporting the game will be available for download on the last day of this month, June 30, for a reasonable 400. Oh, and if you're scratching your head due to Microsoft's penchant for Humpday releases, remember this is an Xbox 360 Community Game Indie Game, and not an Arcade release. For clarification's sake, we've put in word to Microsoft to confirm and will be sure to get back to you with what we find.
Rumor: Fez dev site hints at possible XBLA release
It's been quite some time since we've had any sort of substantial news on the Fez front, but if a screen and (somewhat vague) hint on developer Polytron's website is to be trusted, it looks like we should hear "something wonderful" in the near future.Posting just the image you see above and the headline, "SOMETHING AWESOME THIS WAY COMES," the 2008 Independent Games Festival winner (in "Excellence in Visual Art") clearly intends (at the very least) rampant speculation over the inclusion of a tiny green "A" -- like a certain console's controller button you may know -- in the lower right of the massive, hilariously mistranslated, text box. We've put in word to both Polytron and Microsoft for word on this and will let you know if and when we hear something back.[Via Geekadelphia]
Eegra picks Game Makin' Shindig winners
You might remember a few months ago when Eegra.com put out the call for newly-designed games for their 1st Annual Game Makin' Shindig. Now, the winners have been announced, thousands of dollars in prizes have been handed out and you, the home audience, have a boatload of new games to download and enjoy, all based around this year's central theme of "Color."Taking the top spot is Go Beryllium, a "quantum-electrodynamical endurance shooter," but we like to think that the real winners are you and us, who get to have fun with games without paying for them, the way God and Shawn Fanning intended.
Free indie games "magazine" launches
A new online magazine launched. Before we say something nice about it, a gripe: What's up with formerly usable websites deciding to bundle their content in user unfriendly PDF and chop it up in such a way that it must be printed in order to be understood and enjoyed? Instead of creating friendly layouts that are legible online, some websites instead perversely encourage readers to print out all of these web pages. What gives? It's annoying for us, and lethal for our leafy cohabitants. Plus, those of us who rely on RSS for our news usually can't even get at all the content once it's been stuffed into a PDF. Argh! Awful and abusive format choice aside, we welcome and congratulate the staff of Game Tunnel Magazine on a successful inaugural issue. There are some nice touches here: the scoring system for game reviews sports refreshing simplicity. The breadth and depth of the magazine also impress. Still, as with all first efforts, there are some rough edges. For instance, the nifty game scoring system is grafted like a Frankenlimb to rather pedestrian, wordy game reviews. The scores would work better at the end of snappier, more pithy reviews. (Advice for fixing this issue: less IGN-style writing, more Pitchforkmedia.) Game Tunnel's best feature is its mere existence: more writing on and about indie games can only bring much-needed positive attention. [Via EFYtimes]
Manifesto Games web site sighting
Longtime game developer and general roustabout Greg Costikyan sent a jolt through the industry when he announced Manifesto Games, a company dedicated to rewarding original, independent game ideas and getting around the narrow retail channels that keep them from gamers. After a months-long gestation process, the company is now well on its way with a beta web site highlighting and selling some of the brightest independent games on the market.The site is still a little rough around the edges, but in return for registering and helping to troubleshoot, Manifesto is offering a free download of Plasmaworm, a game they appropriately describe as "Snake on acid." Here's wishing them the best in their mission to stir things up.
Why there are no indie games (and why there should be)
While there are indie game projects -- like that Indy point-and-clicker I wrote about earlier -- the industry continues on a path towards longer development time and larger budgets making indie gaming, as we've come to know it, largely inviable.Luke O'Brien takes a look at the problem for Slate and ponders why, when some of the industry's earliest blockbusters were the product of independent development (think Ultima, Doom, Dune II), independent development is the rare exception to the rule. While mainstream publishers rely on sequels and updates, certain factions (like Costikyan's Manifesto Games) are trying to bypass the system by selling their games online. One notable omission: episodic gaming. With companies like Telltale Games and Valve actively using technology to deliver their games directly to gamers and disrupt the publisher paradigm, O'Brien's piece didn't consider the effects of these (admittedly larger) independent developers. Can independent developers use technology to assume control from the major publishers, much like the early movie industry did? [Thanks, Andrew]
GarageGames hints at Virtual Console content
In an interview with Little Mathletics, one of GarageGames' promoters was tasked with answering a question regarding the indie developer's involvement with Nintendo's Virtual Console service. Like any good promoter, Jay Moore gives a wishy-washy answer that could just as easily be interpreted as a not-so-subtle hint.Q: Now that Satoru Iwata from Nintendo has essentially confirmed that the Revolution will feature original content on their download service, do you see yourself establishing the same kind of relationship with them?A: We've always said we'll be everywhere there is an opportunity to bring fun games to players with our tools and our games. I can neither confirm or deny any relationship with Nintendo or why GarageGames booth was right next to the Nintendo Gamers Lounge at GDC. Games like Marble Blast Ultra and Geometry Wars (developed by Bizarre Creations) have made the Xbox Live Arcade service an extremely appealing hub for smaller and often addictive games. Combining them with Nintendo's proven classics on the Virtual Console is sure to be deadly. [Via Revo DS-x2]
GDC: Dar-win-ia a success at IGF
The results of the 2006 Independent Games Festival are in, and it's hats off to Darwinia. Scooping the Seumas McNally Grand Prize as well as the awards for Innovation in Visual Art and Technical Excellence, this leaves British-based Introversion's next game with a tough act to follow.Other winners at the festival were:Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (Innovation in Audio)Braid (Innovation in Game Design)Dad 'n Me (Best Web Browser Game)Dodge That Anvil! (Adult Swim Award)Dofus (Audience Award)The IGF also featured a modding competition for the first time, with four winners: Dystopia for Half-Life 2; Last Man Standing Co-op for Doom 3; Rose of Eternity - Chapter 1 - The Coming for Neverwinter Nights and Path of Vengeance for UT2004.
Independent Games Festival finalists in-depth
Gamespy has taken a detailed look at every one of the Independent Games Festival finalists, in advance of GDC next week where the awards ceremony will take place. If you've the time to go through the list in its entirety, you might be surprised at the range of games that have been under your nose all along.Gamasutra and GameDev.net have also been running interviews with some of the creators of these games, allowing interested players or designers to get a feel for the process of independent design and find out more about the games themselves. The latest Gamasutra interview is with Ominous Development (behind game Strange Attractors); GameDev.net posted six new interviews yesterday.
Indie games finalists playable now
The Independent Games Festival finalists encompass a wide range of genres, ranging from MMO Dofus to simulation Wildlife Tycoon and perennial favourite Darwinia. Their fate is now in your hands--demos of all the finalists are available for download, and you can vote in the Audience's Award for your chosen game.According to Gamasutra, this is the first time many of these games have been available for download. These demo offerings provide a good way to experience the range of creativity on offer, and at a killer price.
