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Xbox LIVE Indie Games - The December 2010 Thread
- Thread starter toythatkills
- Start date
toythatkills
Member
Christ. Zombies isn't responsible for everything that's wrong with Indie Games on Xbox. Give it a rest.Princess Skittles said:
toythatkills
Member
From Kris Steele's flickr:
Princess Skittles
Prince's's 'Skittle's
Look, I get that you love that song so very, very much, and that's perfectly fine.toythatkills said:
But I think, purely as a gamer, that THAT is what the spotlight of Xbox Live Indie Games is rather disappointing.
And I'm sure, to developers that want to do more than make a quick buck off of a flash in the pan gimmick, it's probably disturbing and disenchanting.
toythatkills
Member
Hundreds of thousands of gamers have gone to Indie Games to find that game. I imagine at least half, and probably a massively higher percentage, wouldn't even know the channel existed were it not for that game. Gamers (excluding you) like it.Princess Skittles said:
To developers, it's a game that encourages people to learn about and visit the channel, and it's a success story that shows what can be done with the service in terms of sales.
There's nothing bad about it at all, apart from the shitty games that have tried the song-in-game gimmick since and failed miserably.
You're fighting a losing battle.
InfectedZero
Member
Thats really fucking awesome that its finally getting a section for WU.toythatkills said:
How did the miss SoulCaster II on the Winter Uprising advertisement?
Awesome to see such a thing though!
And as far as "I MA3D A GAME"... I think it's the perfect example of what one SHOULD expect for a 1 dollar game. Anything that goes above and beyond for a buck is a STEAL.
I agree with the idea it does more to help the service than hinder it. For me, I don't care if it uses meme's, or if it's funny to me or not. I just find it to be a well polished game, perfectly blending playability for the buyer, and yet fair easy of creation for the creator.
Hopefully the Winter Uprising is a start in getting the stars of XBLIG to get some universal recognition. If they can keep going with events like this, that get premium dashboard place, with a variety of products that stand in a quality run perfect for their cost, then I can only see the service improving, and gaining more widespread acceptance.
Personally, I think it'd also help to add a section to search for games by specific publishers, with a filter to see games from the top-rated publishers...
Awesome to see such a thing though!
And as far as "I MA3D A GAME"... I think it's the perfect example of what one SHOULD expect for a 1 dollar game. Anything that goes above and beyond for a buck is a STEAL.
I agree with the idea it does more to help the service than hinder it. For me, I don't care if it uses meme's, or if it's funny to me or not. I just find it to be a well polished game, perfectly blending playability for the buyer, and yet fair easy of creation for the creator.
Hopefully the Winter Uprising is a start in getting the stars of XBLIG to get some universal recognition. If they can keep going with events like this, that get premium dashboard place, with a variety of products that stand in a quality run perfect for their cost, then I can only see the service improving, and gaining more widespread acceptance.
Personally, I think it'd also help to add a section to search for games by specific publishers, with a filter to see games from the top-rated publishers...
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
Princess Skittles said:
First of all, I think that 240MSP is a perfectly viable price point for IGs provided they are good and are not pretty versions of simple 80s arcade style action games. 400MSP is death for an indie game unless it is mindblowing. It's the equivalent of a 1200MSP arcade game in people's minds.
As for finding the good games on the service, I don't get why people say it's so hard for newcomers to do. If you go to the top rated category, yes, Zombies are there, but also in the top ten you've got Miner Dig Deep, Breath of Death, Epic Dungeon, Protect Me Knight, and Arkedo Pixel!. Those are some of the best games on the service and they are not hidden or buried under a mound of crap. Sure, if you look at the best SELLING games, those are some of the worst (except for Barker's Crest Avatar Golf, which is great) but there's no accounting for taste. I guess you should blame humanity and not the IG channel or MS. They made a platform where rank amateurs could put their stuff up and maybe even make a little money. There is no real quality control except for peer review which is mainly to make sure games don't crash or break the rules. If they weeded out all the crap and cash-grabs it would defeat the purpose of the channel.
I wonder if MS hypes the Indie channel, will it cause the "good" games to sell more, or will it simply allow the already successful games like Baby Maker Extreme to sell more. I figure the latter. The bottom line is that what GAF likes doesn't always sell well.
SmallCaveGames
Neo Member
I love that the Uprising gets some dash space.
I would agree that the Zombies game isn't anything spectacular in terms of gameplay or innovation. But it's still a good thing for the channel and it had other things going for it:
My favorite Radian Games game was Inferno - I really felt like it had that extra layer of depth. I think he reacted to the price points by cutting down dev time and getting some quick titles out. They are still good, but not as memorable. It makes sense, but since those other games were a slight notch less impressive, I think they sank quicker and got lost in the mess. There's a big dropoff between "hit" and "not a hit" (not much in between) so if you don't fall into that top 5%, you won't find sustainable margins.
I would agree that the Zombies game isn't anything spectacular in terms of gameplay or innovation. But it's still a good thing for the channel and it had other things going for it:
- Theme song basically went viral.
- Developer already had a sizable fan base and crediblity. (this helps the viral aspect)
- Simple fun, defined.
- $1 price point very soon after that price shift.
My favorite Radian Games game was Inferno - I really felt like it had that extra layer of depth. I think he reacted to the price points by cutting down dev time and getting some quick titles out. They are still good, but not as memorable. It makes sense, but since those other games were a slight notch less impressive, I think they sank quicker and got lost in the mess. There's a big dropoff between "hit" and "not a hit" (not much in between) so if you don't fall into that top 5%, you won't find sustainable margins.
toythatkills
Member
Ubergridder has had an update with new modes/balance. Someone play and see if it's a game now!
CSTW is a matter of hours away, for you lucky people :lol
CSTW is a matter of hours away, for you lucky people :lol
toythatkills
Member
Cthulhu Saves The World is out NOW, and you'd be doing the dev a massive favour by trying it ASAP.
From their blog:
tl;dr version: the more sales they get before 2011, the earlier they get paid and the more time they can put into new games.
So, you know what to do. Probably just skip the trial and get the full game, Breath of Death VII was excellent and by all accounts, this is even better. Go!
Someone play and |OT| it!
From their blog:
tl;dr version: the more sales they get before 2011, the earlier they get paid and the more time they can put into new games.
So, you know what to do. Probably just skip the trial and get the full game, Breath of Death VII was excellent and by all accounts, this is even better. Go!
Someone play and |OT| it!
Diablohead
Member
I played the block on shooter game this morning, really fun might have to buy it, I like the aliens expressions when you shoot them 
Also the pocket bike game aka trials with avatar is well made also, these sort of games are what I love about indie stuff, the few gems between waves of shit.
Also the pocket bike game aka trials with avatar is well made also, these sort of games are what I love about indie stuff, the few gems between waves of shit.
toythatkills
Member
Spyn Doctor
Neo Member
I was sold on CSTW right at the beginning, when the narrator explained that you can hold B to walk faster, and Cthulhu said something like "Hah! You fool! I will now finish the game in half the time and be able to return it to the shop to trade it in before the trade-in value drops" (or something like that - quoted from memory).
:lol
Doc
:lol
Doc
SmallCaveGames
Neo Member
Stuck at work. Trying to get out early to go home and get this thing!
Any early impressions?
Any early impressions?
I had 100 points to spare, and I noticed Vorpal just went up. It's another bullet hell SHUMP, but the art style interested me. I bought, and well, IT'S FUCKING HARD.
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Vorpal/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550758
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Vorpal/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550758
Damn, two good indies in one day. Cthulu Saves the World was an instant buy from me. I enjoyed Breath of Death VII and have been looking forward to see them better themselves on their next game. So far it doesn't disappoint. I am also very much liking Vorpal. It's tough, but unlike Score Rush, Decimation X3, and Revolver360, the patterns here are clearly defined yet required some heavy concentration. Love the presentation of the game too.
Vorpal is pretty cool. It's like Senko No Ronde: Light Edition! The artwork is quite slick, and the minimalistic presentation actually makes it all wasy to read, and doesn't feel like a copout.
Would love to see these guys make a game with actual animated characters.
Would love to see these guys make a game with actual animated characters.
SmallCaveGames
Neo Member
CSTW is fantastic - just finished it, took about 9 hours. Definitely much prettier than BoD and with a fun new story and some of the same formula that made BoD work well. Well worth $3.
Dr Zhivago
Member
Revolver would be great if I could see what was happening.
I love the aesthetic of Vorpal, but I found the game boring.
Warbirds at Work is another poor shooter. Here's my rule of thumb for shooters - Does the basic enemy take more than one shot to kill? If so, your shooter will most likely be shit.
I love the aesthetic of Vorpal, but I found the game boring.
Warbirds at Work is another poor shooter. Here's my rule of thumb for shooters - Does the basic enemy take more than one shot to kill? If so, your shooter will most likely be shit.
toythatkills
Member
It's on the way, I think there's just a slight delay with there having been so much awesome stuff last month!Ventron said:
Chauncy Talon
Member
Beezy said:Vorpal
The amount of good to great shooters coming out of XBLIG is retarded. 360 is easily the greatest shooter console ever so far.
I feel so late to the party. I just found out about this game today. A good Shmup for 80ms points. That's a steal waiting to happen.