Today's Independent Games Summit at GDC capped off with a panel of successful independent designers giving their take on the current industry, what defines an independent designer and how the world of gaming is changing into the future. For those who may have missed the enlightening panel, here's the Cliffsnotes version with highlights from each speaker (oh, and these people made games you've actually heard of, like Small Arms and Everyday Shooter).

Jamie Cheng (Klei Entertainment)
In the 80s, games were very cheap to produce, but then things got crazy expensive. Now games have come "full circle."

Noel Llopis (Powerof2Games)
"Indie is style and attitude," just like Indiana Jones' hat.

Ryan Clark (Grubby Games)
"[Indie development] is not for the faint of heart...it takes more than great hair to be the next Jon Mak."

Jacob Van Wingen (Gastronaut Studios)
"The first game I ever showed anyone was the first game I had published," but he'd made games for 10 years prior.

Jon Mak (Queasy Games)
Current programming technologies "welcome a new group" of gamemakers who aren't as technically minded, so it should bring games that are not as rule heavy. He also added that people think too hard about categories. "Indie music is you go to the store, you buy a guitar, and you just fucking rock out. That's it."

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