Metro 2033
Developer: 4A Games
Release: $19.99 (PC, Steam)
Fear the future because let’s be honest, you don’t know how
to shoot a gun
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Attack of the Killer Indie Bundles
News has been floating around lately since the launch of Indie Royale, a new digital distribution site with a novel, but familiar way of doing business.
They sell indie games in bundles for one low, low price!
Not unlike the phenomenally successful Humble Bundle (that now grace the internet 1-2 times per year), Indie Royale is a great venue for indie developers to get exposure (and sales). But at the same time, this apparent copy-catting feels a bit strange, doesn't it? What exactly is the difference between this and the venerable humbleable bundelable?
Let's examine the differences:
The Humble Bundle is a charitable venture that promotes indie games with its primary intent being fundraising. While it's backed and managed by a singular indie developer, it's scope is wide and decidedly not game-oriented. It aims to give consumers and creators alike a way to contribute to the needy via charities like EFF (An advocacy group for electronic media and art) and Child's Play (a program that takes donations of video games (and paraphernalia, and cash!) as a means to aid needy kids). It's not purely a business per se, but its recent success has catapulted it into both financial solvency as well as cultural popularity. The Humble Bundle is about games, but not really about games.
Indie Royale is a joint venture between The Indie Games Blog (part of the press group owned by Gamasutra) and Desura (a well-known digital distribution business). It's about games! It's about indie games, more specifically. Their aim is to promote and sell indie games that have been vetted by themselves and other notables. It's clearly subjective, but if you've spent some time on either of these sites, you'll see that they're very well tread (and it's never easy to stay humble when promoting oneself!). It appears that Indie Royale's primary intent is simply about selling games, and they do it by offering bundles every 2 weeks at low, low prices. There's a tiny twist: the price of the bundle starts at a certain price, and then will change based on what people are paying for it. For every person who pays the listed price (known as the "minimum"), the price goes up by 1-2 cents. For every person who "beats the minimum" (by a reasonable amount, approximately 2x the minimum) the price goes down 1-2 cents. Interesting!
I'd say it's worth checking out. The launch bundle includes quite a few well-reviewed games for around $5. While it isn't necessary charitable, I think it's a great way to support your favorite indie devs, as well as get exposed to some new ones. It's got a good model running too, since their releases are far more frequent (and more financially sound) than the Humble Bundle.
Take a look, and share your thoughts!
They sell indie games in bundles for one low, low price!
Not unlike the phenomenally successful Humble Bundle (that now grace the internet 1-2 times per year), Indie Royale is a great venue for indie developers to get exposure (and sales). But at the same time, this apparent copy-catting feels a bit strange, doesn't it? What exactly is the difference between this and the venerable humbleable bundelable?
Let's examine the differences:
The Humble Bundle is a charitable venture that promotes indie games with its primary intent being fundraising. While it's backed and managed by a singular indie developer, it's scope is wide and decidedly not game-oriented. It aims to give consumers and creators alike a way to contribute to the needy via charities like EFF (An advocacy group for electronic media and art) and Child's Play (a program that takes donations of video games (and paraphernalia, and cash!) as a means to aid needy kids). It's not purely a business per se, but its recent success has catapulted it into both financial solvency as well as cultural popularity. The Humble Bundle is about games, but not really about games.
Indie Royale is a joint venture between The Indie Games Blog (part of the press group owned by Gamasutra) and Desura (a well-known digital distribution business). It's about games! It's about indie games, more specifically. Their aim is to promote and sell indie games that have been vetted by themselves and other notables. It's clearly subjective, but if you've spent some time on either of these sites, you'll see that they're very well tread (and it's never easy to stay humble when promoting oneself!). It appears that Indie Royale's primary intent is simply about selling games, and they do it by offering bundles every 2 weeks at low, low prices. There's a tiny twist: the price of the bundle starts at a certain price, and then will change based on what people are paying for it. For every person who pays the listed price (known as the "minimum"), the price goes up by 1-2 cents. For every person who "beats the minimum" (by a reasonable amount, approximately 2x the minimum) the price goes down 1-2 cents. Interesting!
I'd say it's worth checking out. The launch bundle includes quite a few well-reviewed games for around $5. While it isn't necessary charitable, I think it's a great way to support your favorite indie devs, as well as get exposed to some new ones. It's got a good model running too, since their releases are far more frequent (and more financially sound) than the Humble Bundle.
Take a look, and share your thoughts!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
-REVIEW: Dungeons of Dredmor-
babby's first roguelike
babby's first roguelike
Developer: Gaslamp Games
Release: $4.99 (PC, Steam)
No, YOUR father was an impotent side of half-baked ham
sandwich
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
-REVIEW: Bastion-
no longer a stranger
no longer a stranger
Bastion
Developer: Supergiant Games
Release: $14.99 (PC, XBLA)
I’m no stranger to storytelling by strangers, but this is
stranger still
Monday, October 17, 2011
Indie Cred: Indieviewed
Yes! It’s Indie Cred!
It’s Monday! This is the best thing ever! I am totally not assuming things for
you! And what’s even better is that I have some bona fide exclusive content
for you, my dear readers, of which no other part of the web has or ever will have
(OR ELSE). By some great magic of the internet, internal combustion engines,
and government-funded municipal services I went and had a meatbag-to-meatbag
meetup with an authentic, basement-having, ramen-eating, code-writing indie
dev. And what a meetup it was!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
-REVIEW: Demolition, Inc.-
a puzzley kaboom
a puzzley kaboom
Demolition, Inc
Developer: Zero Scale Development
Release: $9.99 (PC, Steam)
Aliens care more about this planet than you do! Also, they
care more about this planet than they do you
Monday, October 10, 2011
The Problem with Bulletstorm
Bulletstorm, the collaboration between Polish and American manshoot veterans People can Fly and Epic Games, was a game about shooters. It was a testosterone-fueled hyperbolic self-aggrandizement at the self-deprecating expense of its more "serious" contemporaries. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to deprecate off any of their astronomical sales. In this article, I speculate as to why. Enjoy!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
-REVIEW: Men of War: Assault Squad-
third time’s a charm
third time’s a charm
Men of War: Assault Squad
Developer: Digitalmindsoft
Price: $34.99
War! Guns! Vehicles! Direct Control! Tedium! Excitement! Sequels!
Cyclical nature of life!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
-REVIEW: The Binding of Isaac-
frankenstein's ghost
frankenstein's ghost
The Binding of Isaac
Developer: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Release: $4.99 (PC, Steam)
Getting everything wrong for the sake of being right
Sunday, October 2, 2011
-REVIEW: Blocks That Matter- all good things come in boxes
Blocks That
Developer: Swing Swing Submarine
Release: $4.99 (PC, Steam)
Creator of the single most disturbing audio/visual feedback
element known to man
Saturday, October 1, 2011
-REVIEW: NyxQuest- yet another greek puzzle game
NyxQuest
Developer: Over the Top Games
Release: $9.99 (PC, Steam)
Inadvertent suicide is the solution to all your questing
problems
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)