The latest Penny Arcade strip is about Braid! As far as I know, this is the first indie game they’ve mentioned directly in a comic, which is pretty cool. I personally enjoy PA so I’m glad to see them promote indie games through Greenhouse, PAX, and now the strip itself.
I wrung four and a half hours out of the finished product, coming into contact with genuinely huge concepts that hum with stradavarian fullness. You’re mad about five dollars? What? Shove your five dollars up your stupid ass.
Well, okay, maybe not that last part. At least not until rear ends start vending Cactus Coolers or bus tickets. What a waste, otherwise!
But in all seriousness, the pricing issue is another compelling problem for developers, especially an indie who can set his or her own price. It’s especially compelling because it’s become obvious that for some people (perhaps most people?), the price somehow enters into the equation that determines a game’s inherent worth. A game that costs more than it should cost becomes a worse game. Should that be the case? Should that idea be reflected in game reviews? I suppose it depends on whether the goal of the review is to help you make a purchasing decision or whether the goal is to evaluate the merits of a video game.
In Aquaria’s case, Alec and I priced the game at $30, $10 above what I guess is the “norm” is for downloadable PC indie games is, because that’s what we felt it was worth. We considered a lot of factors, from the quality of the game, to the effort we put into it, to plain ol’ numbers like how many hours of gameplay and how many assets we created. A lot of people felt it was worth what we charged, and a lot of people didn’t, which is fine. But some people took the pricing personally before they even played the game, which I’ll never truly understand.
I think the problem is that no one knows how much a game should cost, or how we should value games. Is a good, short game better than a mediocre, long game? What are pretty graphics worth to good gameplay? What about indie versus mainstream? Like with almost EVERYTHING about games, it’s just not as clear-cut as with other types of media. The industry is too young, and it’s just plain different, too.
But to quote Tycho once more:
You read a lot (in incandescent threads devoted to the topic) about how ten dollars is the “sweet spot” for Live Arcade titles, and that may be the case, but we should entertain the idea that its creator wasn’t trying to make an “Xbox Live Arcade Game.” Perhaps he was trying to make a good game, the best game he could, and Microsoft’s Broadening Initiative For Digital Content was the last thing on his mind.
In the end, I don’t think it makes sense to compare games to anything other than what you think is a good game. $15 is more than most XBLA games. It’s also about how much a 2-hour movie or an ironic t-shirt costs. I guess the question is… so what? What do you guys and gals think?
II (“Pause”), the retro/chiptune music label and community, has launched a new section to their website called Plus, which is specifically devoted to free indie/doujin game soundtracks. So far there are only two albums available, the Rescue: The Beagles OST, composed by Disasterpeace, and the Another Bound Neo (doujin FPS) OST. Label co-founder and artist Phlogiston says more are on the way, but he’d love to see developers contact II and release their soundtracks. You might recall that Phlogiston is the musician behind cactus and VilleK’s Brain Damaged Toon Underworld, among other things. He’s also collaborated with the chiptune music collective 8bitpeoples.
Great idea! Developers, submit your music – I hope to see many more games on there in the future. And definitely poke around the rest of the II catalog, too.
(The Rescue: The Beagles album art displayed above is by the very talented Annabelle Kennedy. Full version of the artwork can be seen here!)
You guys read Eegra, right? I hope so, because it’s the best gaming comic there is (see below right). And I’m not just saying that because their mascot is an octopus with a top hat and a monocle.
Well, Eegra has just finished their First Annual Game Makin’ Shindig, and the theme was “colour.” There were nine entries and four winners (two tied for third place).
I tried the top three entries and they’re all pretty solid, although I personally I felt Colourblind (#3, shown above) was the most interesting and polished game. It’s a physics-based game where gravity pulls different colors in different directions. Go Beryllium (#1) feels like a pretty standard bullet-hell shmup to me, and it doesn’t make nearly as good use of the theme, in my opinion. Spectrum Spelunker is a good #2. If the difficulty ramped up a bit faster this one would be ace.
Them’s just my opinions, however! Congratulations to Eegra for a successful compo and to the winners for winning!
Apparently it’s impossible to be a webcomic in the 21st century without having your own video game to go along with it. The newest in this growing breed is the game from Least I Could Do which is an entirely awesome comic based around the adventures of Rayne Summers as he teaches us about life, laughter, sex, trying to become pope, adopting street urchins to build you pidgeon launching catapaults and of course, x%xing a bicycle.
It’s still VERY early stages, as you’ll see from the animations above, and apparently it’ll be an old school action-platformer whilst being a strong parody of the original Super Mario Bros. I’m a little cautious about it myself, as it is much too early to really say how it’ll turn out. Of course, that’s where you guys can come in! The author ‘Ryan Sohmer’ is currently looking for people with video game/flash programming experience to help out on the project, so if you feel up to it just hit up the forum and fire him off an email. Who knows, you may just save Christmas.
UPDATE: Apparently I missed out that a Looking for Group is also in the making and the same request for help applies to that too. So you no longer have to choose between sex and elves. Good times…
Our first round of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet demos is now completed and the reactions from all publishers were overwhelmingly positive. Not only was the esthetic of our game praised but everyone was amazed at the game play as well. Of course, our intention is not only to make a beautiful game but to create a memorable gaming experience. I’m glad this is coming through.
This game’s nothing too special. I don’t even know if it’s technically indie, either. I just wanted to draw your attention to the cartoon it’s based on, a series of shorts made for MTV Japan about two rabbits trapped in a Russian prison.
Season Two of Telltale Games’s Sam n’ Max started last week, with the first episode, “Ice Station Santa,” made available on Gametap and the Telltale website.
If you haven’t tried it out yet and you’re wondering whether it’s good – yes, what I’ve played so far is good! I was a huge fan of the original game, and these games seem like a true enough follow-up to that classic. Definitely take it for a test drive, at least. The fourth episode of Season One, “Abe Lincoln Must Die,” is now free, and you can get it here.
Steve Purcell, the creator of Sam n’ Max, also has an S&M (snicker) webcomic on the Telltale site, and the darn thing was nominated for an Eisner award this year.
I’m all over Sam n’ Max like stripes on a candy cane.
I really like games that have a simple theme and stick to making me feel like I’m really doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Nikujin makes me feel like a ninja, Death Worm makes me feel like a great big ol’ sandworm, Star Wars Episode VII makes me feel like a Jedi…
And Jugglin’ makes me feel like I’m jugglin’, yo! Not only that, but it lets you create your own tricks (e.g. “Holy Shit I am Good,” my amazing 13-ball trick, shown on your left!). And the loose, no-pressure structure makes the game frustration-free. Which is one aspect that is definitely not like real juggling.
I’m always surprised by how independent developers are able to get at the essence behind an idea and really distill what’s fun about it!
(Jim McGinley, the creator of Jugglin’, also entered the awesome “Mario Inna Space” into our B-Game Competition. He also happens to possess the uncommon mind which is behind the hilarious “Mister Happy Bigpants” comics.)
Hope all you American TIGSource readers had a great Labor Day weekend! I got to hang out with some old friends, which was great.
But enough about me, eh? I wanted to bring to your attention the blogs of two artists and game designers that I have severe mancrushes on. The first one is from Cryptic Sea, home of Alex Austin and Edmund McMillen, the creators of Gish. Now, I was already VERY excited about Gish 2. (From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be Gish, but bigger, better, yadda yadda.) But after seeing this teaser image, well… I’m at “pee pee pants” level of excitement. And that’s a very high level.
I really loved Edmund’s previous work, but it’s obvious that he’s getting better and better! He’s a hilarious dude, too, and incredibly genuine. I wish the best for him.
Which brings me to Niklas Jansson, the artist for Cortex Command. He’s a talented technical artist, to be sure, but what I love about Niklas is his broad understanding of game design. Whereas any artist can take an old design and “modernize” it by making it dark, overwrought, and angry (coughBomberman: Act Zerocough), Niklas stays true to the original essence of the old school. If only the games that he designed made it beyond the conceptual stage!
In his new blog, which supplements his portfolio site, Niklas shares his artwork and his thoughts on games, old and new. It’s fascinating stuff, so check it out!
...along with the PC, Mac, and Linux! Not sure if it’s a simultaneous release, however.
Still rather ambivalent about this one, but it’s looking better all the time. One thing that still irks me is how brown the screenshots are, compared to the colorfulness of the comic strip. I understand that they’re going for a steampunk/noir vibe but… okay, I’m going to stop complaining until the game is released! I’m sure it’ll be fun and funny regardless.
