XBL Indie Games ... Does Anybody Care?

Just got done playing through the entire list of XBL Indie Games. I didn't play all of them of course, but I went through the list and played all the best games / and the games that interested me the most. I have to say the whole Indie game thing is a mixed bag. There are nearly 1,200 games nowon the service and nerly all of them arn't even worth a dollar. But mixed in there are some real gems that make it worthwhile. Theseare the best I found:

Flotilla, Square Off, Project Delta, Barf and Beer, Abduction Action, Battle Havoc, Blood Tempest, HB Blast Off, Shoot 1UP, Soul, SoulCaster, Zombie Estate, Urban Space Squirrels, BitStream. - What are some of your favorite Indie Games?

I think another problem is that even when somebody makes a great indie game, it gets burried in with all the crap and people never even play it. It's kinda sad that Avatar ______ - (fill in the blank) are the best selling games just because of the noveltyfactor, not because they're any good. Do you guys buy Indie games? What are your favorites? Does anybody really care about them at all?

One person cares. You.

OP, I admire your dedication in sifting through 1200 indie games. While I have completely done so myself yet, I have found a few gems. People REALLY need to realize it's not 100% crap since a few are great and inexpensive. :]

I Made A Game With Zombies in It, Gerbil Physics and Gerbil Physics 2, Machivelli's Ascent, Ninja Bros, Tobe's Vertical Adventure, and a few others I'm forgetting are all great and 1 dollar each!

Tell me, would you rather 10 of these gems or some overpriced/overhyped arcade game like Deadliest Warrior? That game was awful and was priced at 10 dollars. And no, I'm not blackballing the Xbox Live Arcade. I think there are many titles there worth checking out. HOWEVER, just because a game doesn't get MASSIVE hype and attention prior to/during launch doesn't automatically mean it's bad. This is the problem with a lot of gamers today. They want the best-rated, the newest, the 'hottest' titles, and they'll pass on most everything else. You know a lot of great people were not recognized as such until after death. You gotta look in all places, and give everything a chance before you completely banish it from your mind.

I never liked them, i think its a waste for microsoft to even put them up for download. 'll never spend my points on those games. I rather buy a crap lookin avatar item then any of those indie games.Anti-Venom

I'll tell you why. There are no achievements for them. MS should allow them to put 100 Gamer points for each game, watch sales sky rocket.

Another problem is the name of the games. I made a game with zombies in it (with letters and numbers in the title) makes it sound like the game was created by small kids.

As far as i know, there are no trials for the games (trials no doubt help convince people to buy that game).

I'll tell you why. There are no achievements for them. MS should allow them to put 100 Gamer points for each game, watch sales sky rocket.

Another problem is the name of the games. I made a game with zombies in it (with letters and numbers in the title) makes it sound like the game was created by small kids.

As far as i know, there are no trials for the games (trials no doubt help convince people to buy that game).

Just got done playing through the entire list of XBL Indie Games. I didn't play all of them of course, but I went through the list and played all the best games / and the games that interested me the most. I have to say the whole Indie game thing is a mixed bag. There are nearly 1,200 games nowon the service and nerly all of them arn't even worth a dollar. But mixed in there are some real gems that make it worthwhile. Theseare the best I found:

Flotilla, Square Off, Project Delta, Barf and Beer, Abduction Action, Battle Havoc, Blood Tempest, HB Blast Off, Shoot 1UP, Soul, SoulCaster, Zombie Estate, Urban Space Squirrels, BitStream. - What are some of your favorite Indie Games?

I think another problem is that even when somebody makes a great indie game, it gets burried in with all the crap and people never even play it. It's kinda sad that Avatar ______ - (fill in the blank) are the best selling games just because of the noveltyfactor, not because they're any good. Do you guys buy Indie games? What are your favorites? Does anybody really care about them at all?

SauceCaptain

As far as i know, there are no trials for the games (trials no doubt help convince people to buy that game).

Nintendo_Man

Another problem is the name of the games. I made a game with zombies in it (with letters and numbers in the title) makes it sound like the game was created by small kids.

Nintendo_Man

Well that 'How to talk to girls' game was good for a few laughs...NuclearFlower

[QUOTE="Nintendo_Man"]

Another problem is the name of the games. I made a game with zombies in it (with letters and numbers in the title) makes it sound like the game was created by small kids.

GnomicStudios

Well I hope if you are the party responsible for making Square Off it sold well. I paid the buck for the game, played through it with some friends, and we all decided collectivelythat it's the best game ever made you can buy for a dollar. In fact that's kinda why I went looking through all the Indie games sifting through them trying to find more games as good as yours. From what people have said here I guess most people don't care about Indie Games much. It's true that there is a bunchof junk on there, but people don't give the games a chance just because it's not COD. Indie games must only have appeal to the crowd that's into classic/retro gaming, because kids that only play generic modern games don't understand them. Oh well if nothing else if it lands some talented people a job somewhere/ and or makes somebody a buck for crafting something different/ new I'm glad they made the sevice.

Great post and comments everyone. with more discussions among us we can weed out all the bad games and help other gamers make good choices.being labeled"indie" should never deter anyone fromtrying it out.

My friends and I liked square off. I would have neverknown about that game if itwerent for this thread.thanks ya'll

Well I hope if you are the party responsible for making Square Off it sold well. I paid the buck for the game, played through it with some friends, and we all decided collectively that it's the best game ever made you can buy for a dollar.

SauceCaptain

I bought a couple of them, I think they are just as fun as any arcade game, if not better sometimes. Also I'm happy to support these indie developper! ;)

As of now, the indie games I have are:

-Arkedo 01 Jump!

-Breath of death VII: The beginning

-I M4ED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIE5 IN IT!!!!!

-Johnny Platform Biscuit Romp

-Johnny Platform Saves Xmas

-Miner Dig Deep

-Platformance: Castle Pain

-Soulcaster

-Zombie Estate

Interesting. I didn't even become aware of Indie games till I saw the Avatar one at some show by Microsoft on TV. Course I checked it out right away and was a bit overwhelmed, lol. I tried out a few and thought they were fun for what they were.

It's to bad that some of the better indie games aren't put on the Spotlight page on the Xbox via the peoples vote. It would remind me and other folks to check it out more often!

[QUOTE="Anti-Venom"]I never liked them, i think its a waste for microsoft to even put them up for download. 'll never spend my points on those games. I rather buy a crap lookin avatar item then any of those indie games.GnomicStudios

I won like 3 or 4 of them already, thanks to Twitter contests. What I like is that there are new Indie Games every day. What I don't like is that there are new Indie Games every day, lol. There's so many of them, I don't know which one to try out but at least they have those IGN picks, etc. and you can see the games ratings too to get an idea.

I've never cared for XBL Indie titles, the quality of them are far too low for me to care and I doubt I ever will, the really good Indie games end up as XBL Arcade titles anyway so I know what's good and what isn't before even trying the games out.

There are a few good ones like I Made a Game With Zombies In It, or Beat Hazard. The remaining majority doesn't deserve any attention, really.

I tend to avoid Indie games now. I've spent over 1600 MS points in Indie games.

OP, I admire your dedication in sifting through 1200 indie games. While I have completely done so myself yet, I have found a few gems. People REALLY need to realize it's not 100% crap since a few are great and inexpensive. :]

I Made A Game With Zombies in It, Gerbil Physics and Gerbil Physics 2, Machivelli's Ascent, Ninja Bros, Tobe's Vertical Adventure, and a few others I'm forgetting are all great and 1 dollar each!

Tell me, would you rather 10 of these gems or some overpriced/overhyped arcade game like Deadliest Warrior? That game was awful and was priced at 10 dollars. And no, I'm not blackballing the Xbox Live Arcade. I think there are many titles there worth checking out. HOWEVER, just because a game doesn't get MASSIVE hype and attention prior to/during launch doesn't automatically mean it's bad. This is the problem with a lot of gamers today. They want the best-rated, the newest, the 'hottest' titles, and they'll pass on most everything else. You know a lot of great people were not recognized as such until after death. You gotta look in all places, and give everything a chance before you completely banish it from your mind.

hardcoregamer92

Well said and I concur 100%.

The indie games i have found interesting enough to warrant purchase are Breath of Death 7 and Platformance: Castle Pain, there are a few others i have downloaded to try but havnt had a chance to check out many of them yet simply due to time restrictions. I think its awesome that Microsoft is allocating the service to such player created content, companies like steam and valve wouldnt have gotten far without it (counter strike anyone?) and thats why you see it still so strongly supported today.

For any one refusing to try these titles your only limiting yourself, not everything has to be a triple a title, don't forget games should be fun first and foremost before all things, and the a majority of indie games i have tried are exactly that, fun, plane and simple.

I do think achievements would sell more of them as well, but achievements shouldn't be the sole purpose for gaming either in my opinion.

I've never cared for XBL Indie titles, the quality of them are far too low for me to care and I doubt I ever will, the really good Indie games end up as XBL Arcade titles anyway so I know what's good and what isn't before even trying the games out.

PPresentFortune

[QUOTE="SauceCaptain"]

Well I hope if you are the party responsible for making Square Off it sold well. I paid the buck for the game, played through it with some friends, and we all decided collectively that it's the best game ever made you can buy for a dollar.

GnomicStudios

Good for you guys if you can make a little money and that keeps you making games. From what I understand nearly every game on the service doesn't sell more than a dozen copies, so congrats, and I'll look for your next project.

I'll tell you why. There are no achievements for them. MS should allow them to put 100 Gamer points for each game, watch sales sky rocket.

Another problem is the name of the games. I made a game with zombies in it (with letters and numbers in the title) makes it sound like the game was created by small kids.

As far as i know, there are no trials for the games (trials no doubt help convince people to buy that game).

Nintendo_Man

I think they should add achievements in order to make them compellingdeadly_shuriken

What the Hell would that do? Seriously, what's up with this new generation of gamers that can't figure out their head from their anus unless there's an achievement for doing so? Achievements don't do anything. They're not worth anything. Having a lot of achievement points is just a good way of showing how much of your time you've wasted with your life.Achievements don't make a game better. They change NOTHING about the game. Most of them are earned just by playing most games normally, and the rest are just a bunch of minor challenges to artificially extend the amount of time you'll spend on the game.

If you need achievements just to justify playing a game, you are a sad, sad person.

i also think if the games had achievement points ppl would buy them just cuz they kno there getting something out of it for a $1

[QUOTE="deadly_shuriken"]I think they should add achievements in order to make them compellingJustcallmeYork

What the Hell would that do? Seriously, what's up with this new generation of gamers that can't figure out their head from their anus unless there's an achievement for doing so? Achievements don't do anything. They're not worth anything. Having a lot of achievement points is just a good way of showing how much of your time you've wasted with your life.Achievements don't make a game better. They change NOTHING about the game. Most of them are earned just by playing most games normally, and the rest are just a bunch of minor challenges to artificially extend the amount of time you'll spend on the game.

If you need achievements just to justify playing a game, you are a sad, sad person.

[QUOTE="deadly_shuriken"]I think they should add achievements in order to make them compellingJustcallmeYork

What the Hell would that do? Seriously, what's up with this new generation of gamers that can't figure out their head from their anus unless there's an achievement for doing so? Achievements don't do anything. They're not worth anything. Having a lot of achievement points is just a good way of showing how much of your time you've wasted with your life.Achievements don't make a game better. They change NOTHING about the game. Most of them are earned just by playing most games normally, and the rest are just a bunch of minor challenges to artificially extend the amount of time you'll spend on the game.

If you need achievements just to justify playing a game, you are a sad, sad person.

[QUOTE="JustcallmeYork"]

[QUOTE="deadly_shuriken"]I think they should add achievements in order to make them compellingdeadly_shuriken

What the Hell would that do? Seriously, what's up with this new generation of gamers that can't figure out their head from their anus unless there's an achievement for doing so? Achievements don't do anything. They're not worth anything. Having a lot of achievement points is just a good way of showing how much of your time you've wasted with your life.Achievements don't make a game better. They change NOTHING about the game. Most of them are earned just by playing most games normally, and the rest are just a bunch of minor challenges to artificially extend the amount of time you'll spend on the game.

If you need achievements just to justify playing a game, you are a sad, sad person.

Dude, nobody's getting "angry" or "upset", honestly, stop feeling so threatened when people have a different opinion than yours. Seriously, why is it that whenever someone disagrees with your opinion, your response is "stop yelling at meeeeee, there's no reason to get angryyy waaaaaaah, I need to get outta here!!!"

Anyway despite what you're saying about not being an achievement whore, the fact that you wouldn't try some legitimately good indie games just because they don't have achievements makes you an achievement whore.