Toma delivering once again
And GAF being disappointing as often too ....
I don't make any distinction anymore, I had a hard time getting into Indie games based solely on the overall retro look of so many of them, since I've took the plunge I've never looked back.
Sure there are things that are way better than others, but there is also plenty of ways to try these games before buying (And Toma's dedication to the indie thread really helps with this *cheers*, I don't post often, but I follow it closely )
There are two categories of games that I have a really hard time enjoying these days, 3rd person shooters, and platformers, and I still have plenty to pick from and enjoy, the 'it's all platformers and metroid like' really is the most
stupid argument against indie games EVER.
I won't argue over the quality of Indies vs AAA games, but there is one thing that really makes Indie games stand-out nowadays, and that is
variety, one thing where big budget games become really lacking.
That all comes from some kind of twisted view of risks vs rewards scenarios as far as game budgets go, and Indie studios really have more freedom around that.
I can perfectly understand the 'pixelly look' problem, but sincerely, look at videos rather than screens, .gifs too as they really shine in motion.
Some games reproduce the 8/16-bit look on purpose and look like they could have been made on the corresponding platforms, but most of them really take this 'style' to a whole new level with good work on animation and modern lighting and particle effects.
Sure you won't get photo realistic graphics in most games, but as far as graphical style goes there are some extraordinary things even among the most retro-looking ones.
That reminds me; what the hell is an indie game anyway.. the lines are so blurry. Many "indie-games" are multi-million dollar professional businesses but are for some reason still regarded as "indie-games" in this forum (Blow, Notch, That Game Company..)
Basically any 'relatively small' gaming company that is not tied to a certain publisher and all the 'marketing department' bullshit that comes with it.
It's true that the lines are a bit blurred after the major success of some of them, and it's true that most of them are still very small studios that are hardly getting by, but basically they all more or less operate on the fringe/outside of what is established today as the 'regular' video game industry and it's very streamlined channels and process.
Sometimes they might be published by some big names on select platforms because the platform policies require that.
The fact that they released something and made a huge success like Mojang (Notch) doesn't change that as they still continue to make things they like and want to make instead of searching for the next CoD success for profit, because they retain a certain degree of freedom that most of the established big studios don't seem to have anymore.