Indies don't count.

[ejamer]

.

[Ziggy]

A lot of people are ignorant and don't realize that many of those beloved games from the earlier generations were made by a dozen or fewer people. Heck, classics like Pitfall were created by 1 person.

[jinx]

To me, Indie games count, but my expectations of one are held high just like with any other game. I don't care how many people are on your development team. If you think it's time to release your game to the public (or charge for it), I expect it to be playable, fun, "pretty", and polished. It's hard to take all these quick Android and iOS style games seriously. It seems like these people are just out to make a quick buck (literally).

I can see why people would say indie games don't count for this very reason. However, completely ignoring indie games is their loss. This is where the majority of the good gameplay as gone. They do indeed make games like they used to. It's just not the same "they".

JT's other thread, "Gaming Variety vs. Gaming Devotion" made me sit down and play "Dustforce" again last night. I lost track of time like I used to had played the game for longer than I had intended. It felt good to play a game with a simple design, simple goal, but is very challenging.

EDIT:
This thread reminded me that I had downloaded Indie Game: The Movie and never took the time to watch it. Pretty sure this is going to change tonight.

[ZeroAX]

Indie games can be great. More often, they are interesting ideas that lack the polish I am used to, would benefit from additional development and/or playtesting, and don't live up the hype received. And don't even get into how pretentious they (and their developers) sometimes end up being.

I've played and enjoyed a bunch of indie games. But I can totally understand why they don't count for some people.

This describes perfectly my experience/relationship with indie games.

I think Minecraft did it best. It started with a basic idea, a "pilot" of the game if you will, and then it started selling at a discount the more complex version of the game, and then started adding stuff and in general "polishing" up the game.

I think any indie game which gets some success owes to its customers to update after release, to thank all the people who have supported it (unless there's nothing to add ofc, like in adventure games, but for example I think platform games can get some free extra levels post release)

[Hazerd]

Last Indie game i played and enjoyed was Terraria, although it ended short and that game was brutally hard, not sure how it has changed as i havent played it in over a year now.

I just wish more PC only indie titles would come to PSN/XBLA, or for example, im waiting for Pier Solar to come to PSN/XBLA so i can laugh at the bloated cost of the actual cart, which needs to be massively printed to bring that laughable price down, i mean it is a Indie game and its not no damn Earthbound that has been out of print for nearly 20 years!

Yeah stupid Pier Solar...

*edit*

Just did a google search and am now more furious at this damn game:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012- ... -for-wii-u

So its coming to Wii U and XBLA but not PSN, well fuck you too WaterMelon Co! because im not buying no Wii U or Xbox 360.

PC here i come! hope this really puts salt in the wounds of the physical cart price!

[Menegrothx]

A lot of people are ignorant and don't realize that many of those beloved games from the earlier generations were made by a dozen or fewer people. Heck, classics like Pitfall were created by 1 person.

Another World had a publisher, it was released in physical format and it was advertised in game magazines etc. Not just that, but it got ported to Apple IIGs, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, SNES, 3DO and Sega CD later on. If I recall correctly, Flashback was also made by one single person and was ported from Amiga to almost all possible consoles and computer systems of it's age.
It was a commercial, mainstream game. So was Flashback. Back then game development was more cheap which allowed taking risks, innovation and experimentation. Game development teams also could follow a common goal and vision more easily when teams werent huge, fragmented and disconnected from each other. Sadly in this day and age a small group of people can't really make a game that will be sold nation and world wide in store shelves anymore. It's either million budget AAA or indy stuff.

[Luke]

[Hazerd]

[jfrost]

A lot of people are ignorant and don't realize that many of those beloved games from the earlier generations were made by a dozen or fewer people. Heck, classics like Pitfall were created by 1 person.

Another World had a publisher, it was released in physical format and it was advertised in game magazines etc. Not just that, but it got ported to Apple IIGs, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, SNES, 3DO and Sega CD later on. If I recall correctly, Flashback was also made by one single person and was ported from Amiga to almost all possible consoles and computer systems of it's age.
It was a commercial, mainstream game. So was Flashback. Back then game development was more cheap which allowed taking risks, innovation and experimentation. Game development teams also could follow a common goal and vision more easily when teams werent huge, fragmented and disconnected from each other. Sadly in this day and age a small group of people can't really make a game that will be sold nation and world wide in store shelves anymore. It's either million budget AAA or indy stuff.

I suspect a given indie game has a chance to reach a much broader audience today than back then.

Digital distribution coupled with more people in general being into gaming, plus the wide availability of information on the internet. A game being on shelves doesn't mean that much, really.

[Ziggy]

Another World had a publisher, it was released in physical format and it was advertised in game magazines etc. Not just that, but it got ported to Apple IIGs, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, SNES, 3DO and Sega CD later on. If I recall correctly, Flashback was also made by one single person and was ported from Amiga to almost all possible consoles and computer systems of it's age.
It was a commercial, mainstream game. So was Flashback. Back then game development was more cheap which allowed taking risks, innovation and experimentation. Game development teams also could follow a common goal and vision more easily when teams werent huge, fragmented and disconnected from each other. Sadly in this day and age a small group of people can't really make a game that will be sold nation and world wide in store shelves anymore. It's either million budget AAA or indy stuff.

I wasn't calling Another World an indie game, I was just referring to that fact that it was developed by a single person.