Pandemic 2 [CrazyMonkeyGames via IndieGames]

GamerBytes, the new blog in the Game Developer/Gamasutra/GameSetWatch line up, chatted with some developers to get their opinions on the XBLA delisting issue. The little three parter is a nice look at a couple of view points. Unsurprisingly, opinions are mixed — some are staunchly opposed, while some (like the cofounder of Merscom, Buku Sudoku developer) think it's a fabulous idea:

I support this policy. I think it is important to maintain a consistent level of quality and if a game is not hitting these targets (which are not that rigorous) they aren't giving the gamer a good experience ....

I always believe in quality over quantity and I think the Microsoft policy is a good move in this direction. I understand how some developers feel they might end up wasting their effort, but I think if they make a REAL effort these hurdles should be a piece of cake.

Of course, there are some excellent points made against the plan — like the fact that even "low" revenues can mean a lot to small indie developers — but we'll see how this all shakes out in the wash.

XBLA Delisting - Developer Response (parts 1, 2, and 3) [GamerBytes]

The company's called Caffeinated Games, and its goal, said Chudecke, is to create AAA-level titles that have an online community around them. Part of the challenge for both indie and commercial developers in creating concepts and marketing their games is that it's so hard to guess what the audience wants or will like - and indie devs have fewer resources for focus testing than the big guns.

Because of that, coming up with games can be very financially risky, and so lately lots of savvy industry vets have been looking at ways they can use social networks to connect with gamers, let them try out ideas and test responses in order to better gauge what people will like and whether it will sell.

You may remember just a few weeks back we spoke to Threewave's Dan Irish, who was launching a similar strategy using Facebook. Caffeinated Games' full announcement post-jump.

SOCOM and Lord of the Rings Veteran Founds Indie Game Company and Social Networking
Site Caffeinated Games.

Randle, WA
– June 11, 2008 - Announcing the founding of Caffeinated Games

(www.caffeinatedgames.com) an independent game company and social network focused on
the creation of original AAA games. It is founded by the former Lead Tools Engineer of Zipper
Interactive (SOCOM fame) Greg Chudecke who prior to Zipper worked on Backyard
Skateboarding (Atari) and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Black Label
Games).
Caffeinated Games Social Network allows gamers to connect directly with the creators and
create a community around the games.
"When you read postmortems about failed indie game companies you often run across a
common thread, either the publisher didn't understand the concept or didn't market the game.
We at Caffeinated Games recognize publishers have to guess what games people will buy so
it is often hard for them to sign off on new ideas. Also if your game doesn't fit into a specific
genera they may have a hard time marketing the game. Our approach to overcome this is to
make the games we want to play and then pitch those games directly to the gamers. Cut out
the middle man if you will. The gamers after all are the ones who ultimately make your game
a success."
Caffeinated Games is set to Announce their first title next week.
For more information please visit www.caffeinatedgames.com.

I don't have time to waste this weekend, sadly, but if you do, there's a challenging little puzzler called Putty Puzzler, found over on the interestingly named 'Coke and Code.' It's putty. It's a puzzle. It's kinda hard. I spent a little bit of time with it and was pleasantly challenged — I'll come back for more after I've got a little time to waste.

Putty Puzzler [Coke and Code via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Meet In ver.0 [Eyezmaze]

Some people may disagree with this statement, but frankly if there is one platform where most of the radical innovation in video game design is happening, that platform is the World Wide Web. For every innovative Wii game in the market, there are dozens of innovative Flash games.

It's not only because the barriers of entry and the production costs are lower, it's also a platform open for experimentation. You can throw something out there, discover that you wanted to change something, change it on your server, and boom, it's available for everybody else.

There are some other interesting bits of information contained within the article ('Don't spend more than $200K developing a game for XBLA!'), and some stats and predictions as well.

The State of Indie Gaming [Gamasutra]

I started fumbling my way through instead of actually understanding the exact solution and executing it flawlessly. I beat the boss at the end of the branching-paths level but I'm still not sure how I did it. This again reminds me of taking a math exam and writing down some random number because I kind of figured that was the answer, but couldn't crisply explain it. There are plenty of games that you can win just by randomly mashing buttons - say, any number of fighting games - and everyone's played an adventure game where you combine the plunger with the rubber ducky and the shoelace and somehow manage to fish the key out of the grate, but the only reason you threw all that crap together is that it was the only stuff left in your inventory.

That said, Braid has little tolerance for half-assedry.

I personally didn't find it maddening, since there's no penalty for screwing up and it's pretty easy to hop back and forth between levels if you find yourself hideously stuck (sometimes it's better to just come back later). The experimentation was what made the game fun for me; if I couldn't 'crisply' explain how I did something, did it really matter? I've come through more than one boss battle or game level on little more than luck and just managing to survive; since Braid doesn't have a death penalty, 'managing to survive' isn't a concern, and that luck can lead to happy accidents that will allow you to understand exactly how to manipulate the controls.

Braid: More Fun Than Calculus! [Save the Robot]

Portal is a boutique studio project. Valve could have made it bigger, longer, and splashier and unveiled it as their NEXT BIG IP. Or they could have simply bought the team and plowed all those great ideas into the next edition of Half-Life. Instead, they made a game that was just the size it needed to be with just the amount of attention it required.

We need more boutique developers. I believe there is a vital market for such games and an enthusiastic community of gamers hungry for such experiences. Not every game requires a 3-year $100 million development and marketing effort. And there's something to be said for allowing gamers to discover a game and push it forward ourselves. This was a big part of Portal's success, in my view, packed as it was into The Orange Box with much bigger and more recognizable titles.

I'd venture a 'yes, that would be nice'; the question is, would more studios be willing to follow the Orange Box path?

Do we need boutique developers? [The Brainy Gamer]

Why were we so quick to leave black and white behind as we moved on from Pong and Spacewar!, and so quick to assume that these 15, 52, 512 or 16.7 million new colours were necessities not possibilities? Why, other than the small consideration of it being certain commercial suicide, did so few designers chose to keep things monotonous? Why can't I think of a single voluntarily black-and-white game, from the last ten years, since my best candidate, Vib Ribbon, turns out to have a little hint of pastel indulgence in its scoring display.

I admit that while I adore old black and white film (more because I'm a fan of silent movies than because I'm so wild about monotony), but I do like my games to be vibrant — the washed out grey-and-browns is getting a little old. But I'm all for black and white if it's executed well — I've seen several modern films that utilize black and white and color to great effect. I suspect the game industry made a rush for color because, well, that's what humans do when a newer and cooler technology comes along.

Monotony [Lookspring]

Well, it is a joke. And I don't want to say too much about it, because dissecting a joke always makes it unfunny. Part of it is this really silly idea, and part of it is this statement about how games are too hard and complicated. It's also a subtle reference to how some games are kind of patronizing toward the player, like too easy.

But I never set out to make it this way, it kind of turned into this with time. It started out as an attempt to make a game that spoiled the whole experience for you before you played it. Funnily enough, people really don't read instructions...

It's a nice little interview that touches on a lot of stuff (and no whining about the state of game blogs!).

Kian Bashiri (You Have To Burn The Rope) [IndieGames]

Some of my favorite games are Shadow of the Colossus, Starcraft, Go (the board game), Worms and Super Mario Bros 3. I think you can see influences from most of those games in Blueberry Garden. I also have to mention Nifflas and his games Within a Deep Forest and Knytt, they really helped me gather the courage to do something where exploration and mood is more important than a well defined goal. The game is influenced by a lot of other things too... like music (Sagor & Swing, Detektivbyrån, among others) and the Swedish outdoors.

Blueberry Garden Spotlight [Swedish Game Awards]

If you're running Windows, you're in luck. Head over and check out the entries, many of which are of pretty high quality for only having three weeks of lead time.

The Video Game Name Generator Competition [The Independent Gaming Source via GrandTextAuto]

It may not hold your attention for more than twenty minutes, and may frustrate as Gauntlet ghosts are bearing down on your Space Invaders ship, leaving you helpless, but it's so worth checking out.

Freeware Game Pick: Rom Check Fail (Farbs) [Indie Games]

The trap of perfectionism is particularly treacherous for computer programmers, since we're saddled atop of Turing-complete programming languages that are capable of doing almost anything. Every bug is fixable. Every behavioral rough spot can be smoothed over with just a bit more coding, a smidgen of extra special-case logic. Programming isn't like carving something out of marble, where if your sculpture's nose is too small, you must either live with it or start over with a fresh block of marble. Our code bases can be massaged indefinitely.

In designing a game to explore this issue, I thought about players tweaking some set of game objects toward a goal, but forcing them to decide how far toward the goal they needed to go. If we give the players multiple sets of game objects and goals, and force them to divide their limited time among these "subprojects," they will need to make interesting decisions about which projects to polish, which to leave flawed, in which to skip completely. This is quite different from traditional level-based game designs, where players must finish a given level before moving on to a subsequent level.

It's an interesting read and it's nice to actually be able to play a prototype of exactly what's being discussed in the article.

Game Design Sketchbook: Perfectionism [The Escapist]

Blueberry Garden (sneak peek trailer) [Blip]

Accordingly, independent games, in general, are - compared to independent films - even less to be understood as the 'radical other' in the face of an (imagined) mainstream culture - despite the heterogeneity and the hybridity of practices that the label independent incorporates in both cultural fields. (Ambitious) independent games may from time to time bear up against products of the dominant game industry when it comes to being innovative or creative and they may sometimes differ distinctly from the outward appearance of mainstream games - but this difference does not include an oppositional logic that is explicitly recognisable as negation or challenge of mainstream game forms.

The author sort of falls down in his analysis of why 'innovation' sets independent games apart. It's certainly true that the 'provocative and controversial vs. mainstream' paradigm doesn't work so well with games, since plenty of mainstream titles are likely to cause journalists and lawyers to foam at the mouth with their controversial and provocative subject matter. The whole issue has some interesting articles scattered about and is worth a page through.

Innovation NOT Opposition: The Logic of Distinction of Independent Games [Eludamos via
Water Cooler Games]

To be eligible for IndieCade, your game must not have funding from a major publisher .... You can have other deals with these publishers; your game just can't. There is no age requirement for submission.

IndieCade has an inclusive submissions policy and invites submission of all styles and genres of games, including PC, browser-based, casual, puzzle, mobile, ARGs, Big Games and installation-based games (submitted via video if not playable on-site), mods (provided they conform to game engine licensing agreements), serious games, activist games, art games, virtual worlds and "sandbox" style games, and more! We also welcome student games and games developed by universities, schools and non-profit organizations. All entries should have a digital component, but hybrid games are not only welcome, but encouraged. Innovation is the name of the game.

That's quite a lot of options. The submission period closes 11 April; games will be judged by a panel, and finalists will be notified by mid-May.

IndieCade Submissions

"This is fantastic news for commercial PC game developers as well as the independent game development community, who will really benefit from this move," said Mark DeLoura, creator of the Game Programming Gems series.

Havok Offers Core Physics Software Free For PC Game Developers

Company Seeks to Propel Innovative Game Development by Giving Free Access to Industry-Leading Physics and Animation Tool Suite

San Francisco (February 20, 2008) - Havok™, the premier provider of interactive software and services to digital creators in the games and movie industries, today announced that the company will offer the PC version of its award-winning physics and animation software product - Havok Complete - for download free of charge.

Available for non-commercial use, Havok Complete for the PC will be freely downloadable in May 2008.

Havok's core platform, Havok Complete combines the industry-leading Havok Physics engine and Havok Animation, the company's premier character animation solution. Havok Complete is already the most popular solution in the cross-platform AAA games market, featuring technology used in over 200 games. By making Havok Complete for the PC freely downloadable, Havok will further build on its leading position by completely removing the barriers to entry for the large number of independent developers, academic institutions and enthusiasts in the PC space.

"Havok has an excellent revenue base generated by sales of our three products across multiple platforms and into multiple industries," said David O'Meara, Managing Director at Havok. "This enables us to make an industry-changing move and opens up a much broader market for products such as Havok Behavior - and our new products Havok Cloth and Havok Destruction - that really come alive when adopted on top of our core platform, Havok Complete."

Havok has entered into an agreement with Intel, Havok's parent company, under which approved game developers on the PC platform can execute a commercial distribution license with Havok for free.

"Intel is very pleased to be sponsoring this direction in the PC market. This aligns well with our ongoing strategy of putting the best software tools in the hands of PC games developers," said Renee J. James, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Software and Solutions Group, Intel Corporation.

With the free PC download of Havok Complete, Havok enables broad non-commercial development use for artists and engineers around the world, which Havok believes will boost creative game development throughout the industry.

"This is fantastic news for commercial PC game developers as well as the independent game development community, who will really benefit from this move," said Mark DeLoura, creator of the Game Programming Gems series. "It's great to see a leading middleware company like Havok show such support for PC game developers by making its physics and animation system freely available."

Havok's overall focus remains cross-platform and Havok will continue commercial licensing of Havok Complete for other platforms and in other industries such as movies and serious gaming. This initiative does not apply to license fees that may be payable to Havok for console versions of Havok Complete or to applications developed for other purposes such as game engines for redistribution, other middleware, movies, training, military or industrial simulation.

Havok's physics software is featured in over 200 AAA games available on stores shelves today. With well over 90 games currently in development to be released this year, use of Havok's ubiquitous software is up 100% over last year at the same time. Best-selling titles featuring Havok physics include: Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero III, BioShock, World in Conflict, Half Life 2: The Orange Box, and Heavenly Sword. Havok's software will also be featured in the highly-anticipated upcoming games Alan Wake, Indiana Jones, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Starcraft II.

With a broad and deep range of tech partners including AMD, Intel, Nvidia, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft as well as a host of world-class publishers and developers, Havok is well known industry-wide for its excellent customer service.

In addition to the PC software download, Havok also unveiled two new software products, Havok Cloth™ and Havok Destruction™ at this year's Game Developers Conference. Havok Cloth and Destruction provide artists with dramatically increased control over interactive cloth and destructible objects within games. The company also announced several new features and enhancements across its award winning modular suite of run-time technology and artist tools.

Havok also celebrated a number of key entertainment and technology awards in 2007, including a National Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences Award, Game Developer Frontline Award, and a Develop Industry Excellence Award.

At GDC today, the two creators walked attendees through the undersea exploration game's development, from Yu's and Holowka's early programming experience with BASIC to early stabs at freeware. It was Holowska's Deep Sea Adventures, an early oceanic summer project, that bears the most resemblance to the final game, more so than any of the co-creator's other games.

The two creators hooked up after the release of I'm O.K. when Holowka praised the game in a Slashdot thread on the subject. Yu, who says he was very cynical about the idea of indie games and their potential nonetheless partnered with Holowka on what would eventually become Aquaria. Holowka, spurned by the prospect of a career in marketing, began working with Yu on an unreleased role-playing game known as Eminent Kingdoms.

"Everybody has to start working on a project that was just way too huge for them to handle," said Yu, with Eminent Kingdoms being that oversized project. Intended to be a procedurally generated RPG, building "a new Final Fantasy every time you ran the game" it didn't appear to get far before the two dropped the concept.

"Most of the inhabitants were drunk," Yu explained, illustrating just how far development got on things like NPC speech filters before the duo realized they were in over their heads.

Aquaria work began soon after, with the two showing off an early iteration of the game, a tutorial nearly a year in the making. The development process that followed was a throwback to Yu's elementary school days, with hand-drawn maps including characters and landmarks acting as early design templates.

When the two got funding, then decided to target the Independent Games Festival as a deadline, things got serious. "We got some money," Holowka explained, realizing "Now we have to finish this."

The game was becoming increasingly complicated, packed with characters and lacking in focus. Yu and Holowka, who ultimately became the entity known as Bit Blot, shifted focus on purifying what made Aquaria stand out—a focus on protagonist Naija and exploratory gameplay. They also reworked the interface, making it HUD-less, and decided to go with a fully voice acted script.

"At the time I was playing Dungeon Siege II and it had the most godawful voice acting ever," Yu recounted. "Just terrible. I thought 'These guys have big bucks behind them, if they can't get good voice actors, what can we hope to do?'"

Determined, they posted about the Aquaria gig on a voice actors job board, which met with sometimes disastrous, if often comedic, results. The two played a trio of some of the most overacted, most poorly executed script reads, often to hilarious effect.

"I really loved that," Holowka explained "I had so much fun hearing all these middle aged women reading my lines."

Eventually they settled on one of their first choices, actress Jenna Sharp, a "super talented amateur."

When they submitted Aquaria to the Independent Games Festival, it still wasn't actually finished. Faced with a game that "still didn't feel perfect," they playtested with friends and family, tweaking gameplay with new additions—new flora and fauna, more landmarks, a map system (finally) and a new cooking recipe concept.

The Bit Blot pair ended their talk with a helpful and familiar illustration that laid out their design philosophy. Using the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda, they explained the three aspects critical to game development: technology, business and art.

Lead with business force, they warned, and you'll get nothing but a me-too title that cashes in on the latest trend. Lead with technology and get games "like Quake, which are designed only to show off an engine." But lead with art, the force at the top of the pyramid, one can have games that follow a vision, with the marketing and technology helping to support that vision.

The Wonderful End Of The World [Dejobaan Games]

Best Freeware Arcade Games 2007 [Indiegames]

... At risk of showing my unsophistication here, I must admit some of them make me feel like the hayseed who wanders into MoMA and stares, perplexed, at the often odd experiments on exhibit. Like, I know that Jenova Chen's fl0w is great. But, you know, I didn't really get it. It's simple; there's not much to get ....

I've played it, I guess it's fun enough, And as beautiful as the above Flower trailer is ("it's Flower, not Fl0w-er!") I just don't know what it's about. Perhaps my overstimulated little brain is just habituated to more... stimulation, and I guess if I were a truly enlightened, spiritual individual I could just chill with fl0w.

Just like their big league relatives, indie games run the gamut - but there's something irritating about indie pretentiousness when the goods don't live up to the idea, be it music, film, or gaming.

Indie is the New Popular [Sexy Videogameland]

Being a failed mechanical creature, Mr. Cuddles was throw out with the trash, after which he turned to cross-dressing and prostitution to make money for a place to live and to support his growing alcohol and drug dependency. Yeah, it's getting a bit deep.

So the drug-addicted, alcoholic, cross-dressing prostitute mechanical rabbit meets the cello player who can kill with a touch, and together they go on a journey to find acceptance in a world that doesn't want them or fears them.

The Rose Princess herself is inspired by Megan McCauley, a singer/songwriter from Cleveland Ohio whose work includes songs on both the Fantastic Four and Elektra Soundtracks. If you hop to her MySpace you'll immediately see the resemblance. Bernard calls McCauley his "artistic muse", and is hoping to get her to lend her voice to the main character in the game.

Bernard calls The Rose Princess a "Glam Action RPG", and considers it to be his chef d'oeuvre - his masterpiece. Unlike Eternity's Child, the game will be entirely 3D with a completely cello-based soundtrack. He hopes to release it in episodic format, and while no platform has been chosen yet for the game he is very interested in the PlayStation Network.

Below you'll find some concept art for the game featuring the titular Rose Princess and her bunny companion. It's a pretty avant-garde concept for the video game industry, but perhaps that's exactly what we need to generate something fresh and new in a business that tends to feed on itself a bit too much.

Hands-On Demos:
8, by Tale of Tales www.taleoftales.com
And Yet It Moves, by Vienna Institute of Technology www.andyetitmoves.at
Braid, by Jonathan Blow www.braidgame.com
Cloud, by That Game Company www.thatcloudgame.com
Everyday Shooter, by Jon Mak, Queasy Games bywww.everydayshooter.com
Fijuu2, by Julian Oliver and Pix www.fijuu.com
N, by Metanet Software www.harveycartel.org/metanet/n.html
Night Journey, by Bill Viola with Tracy Fullerton, USC interactive.usc.edu/research/games/projects/20050813-the_night_.php
Revolution, by MIT Education Arcade gaming.mit.edu/revolution
Rumble Box, by Digipen Phackett.com/rumblebox/=
Whyville, by New Medeon www.whyville.net

Video Compilation
Arcade Wire, by Persuasive Games www.persuastivegames.com
Bone, by Telltale Games www.telltalegames.com/bone/
Can You See Me Now, by Blast Theory www.blasttheory.co.uk
Freedom Fighter 56, by Lauer Learning www.freedomfighter56.com
Game Over (Machinima), by Pes www.eatpes.com/game_over.html
[giantJoystick] (Installation), by Mary Flanagan http://maryflanagan.com/joystick/default.htm
Out of Your Mind, by gameLab http://www.gamelab.com/game/out_of_your_mind
Steam Brigade, by Pedestrian Entertainment www.steambrigade.com

Cloud is amazing, though oddly dated for this show, and Everyday Shooter, well that game makes me feel all fuzzy inside and not in a I-just-landed-in-Denver sort of way

For game makers who just want to have fun, get noticed in the biz, and make personal art - and those who want to make free Flash games that might turn people on to other paid games - Kongregate (alongside Newgrounds) have a great, swift, easy YouTube-ish angle that encourages a massive variety of games.

He points out that Kongregate is also looking at some alternate plans to increase revenue that could very well make it a viable proposition, but time will tell if those ideas will pan out. In the meantime, the platform does allow for indie developers to get their names (and websites) out there, which can certainly add to a developer's coffers, just not across the board.

On Kongregate And The Future Of Indie Gaming [GameSetWatch]
"A place for indie developers" [The Hollywood Reporter]

The XNA Creators Club went live today, allowing subscribers access to thousands of game assets, support and the ability to actually play the games you create using Game Studio Express on your Xbox 360.

The development software is free, but an annual subscription is $99, while a four-month subscription will cost you $49.

"The XNA Creators Club is really the first of its kind — an opportunity to join a community of other developers who are empowered to bring their game ideas to life on a next-generation console system," said Chris Satchell, general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."

I think the XNA Creator's Club could be the most significant development in console gaming this generation, though a lot of the potential will depend on how Microsoft handles the rights and distribution of games developed using their tools.

Your World. Your Game.

With today's release of Microsoft(R) XNA(TM) Game Studio Express and the launch of the XNA Creators Club, this phrase has never been more true. Based on the easy-to-use Visual C#(R) 2005 Express Edition and Microsoft .NET
Compact Framework, XNA Game Studio Express opens up the world of game development to the masses and is now available for free to anyone with a Windows(R) XP-based PC at http://www.msdn.com/XNA . With the release of XNA Game Studio Express, Microsoft Corp. unveiled the XNA Creators Club, opening up video game development to untapped creative minds, enabling anyone to affordably build and play amazing game ideas on Xbox 360 systems for the first time ever.
The XNA Creators Club is available on Xbox Live(R) Marketplace for $49 (U.S.) for a four-month subscription, or $99 (U.S.) for an annual subscription. Both subscriptions provide aspiring game developers with access to thousands of game assets from Microsoft and key supporters such as Turbo Squid Inc., as well as white papers, specialized starter kits, samples and technical product support to help turn Your World, Your Game into a reality.
"The XNA Creators Club is really the first of its kind — an opportunity to join a community of other developers who are empowered to bring their game ideas to life on a next-generation console system," said Chris Satchell,
general manager of the Game Developer Group at Microsoft. "When it comes to encouraging development on XNA Game Studio Express and through the XNA Creators Club, the limits are truly endless. What users will see today is just the beginning of the plans we have to revolutionize game development one creative game idea at a time."
In addition, to celebrate the worldwide launch of XNA Game Studio Express, the "Dream-Build-Play" contest will be open to XNA Game Studio Express customers on Windows as well as those on Xbox 360 through the XNA Creators Club membership. The contest offers the opportunity for the community to showcase its innovation and talent to the world, culminating in the incredible chance for the winner's game to be published on Xbox Live Arcade, the premier source for downloadable independent, retro and original games. The "Dream-Build-Play" contest will be launched in January. Additional contest details will be available at http://www.dreambuildplay.com .
"Xbox Live Arcade has opened up a wealth of new publishing opportunities for established and independent developers alike, so it made perfect sense to also extend this privilege to hobbyists and amateur programmers," said Greg Canessa, group manager of Xbox Live Arcade at Microsoft. "We have a tremendous
opportunity to shine the spotlight on up-and-coming talent through the 'Dream-Build-Play' contest, and we can't wait to share their creativity with our gaming community around the world."
To coincide with the release of XNA Game Studio Express, XNA supporter GarageGames has launched an open beta for its Torque X platform, including Torque Game Builder. Based on the XNA Framework, the easy-to-use Torque X tools bring drag-and-drop game development to Windows and Xbox 360. Final availability of the Torque X platform is scheduled for early 2007.

The ever-informative and helpful GameDaily.biz has an interview with Jon Goldman, Chief Executive Officer of Foundation 9 Entertainment. The focus of the interview is how to find success as an independent game developer. As we've alluded to in this space, finding publishers in a climate where game design is so expensive is a central challenge, Goldman told GDBiz: "If you look at any of the analyst reports on publishers, [the revised earnings] is going to cause them to put pressure on development budgets as well."

Goldman cautions developers against getting too caught up in the next-gen hype: "People who really want to make games need to look at the expanding market for games and not get caught up in a particular platform. Interactive play is expanding everywhere LCD screens and memory are becoming available. There are lots of opportunities to be that small start-up in a garage that may not be for making PlayStation 3 games in 2006."

Tips for The Independent Developer [GameDaily]

GameTunnel Top 10 of 2005 [GameTunnel]

Which would make co-founders Greg Costikyan and one-time CGW editorial director Johnny Lee Wilson the Weinsteins. Business Week has an interview with Costikyan about the company, Manifesto Games, that he and Wilson started. Manifesto Games fancies itself champions of the indie aesthetic in games, wanting to find games that "break the mold." It's a noble cause, but like Miramax, in order for Manifesto Games to be successful fiscally, they are going to need to find a Tarantino.

Indie Innovation Influx [Business Week]

Gameplay is similar to the hit PC game, Lemmings, except, instead of trying to save your soldiers, your mission, as an authentic WWI commander, is to wipe out as many diggers as possible—the more gruesomely, the better!

The free game includes six episodes including Landing at Hell Spit, Russell's Top, The Sphinx, Walker's Ridge, The landing at Sulva Bay and The third wave at the Nek. I'd love to check this bit of political speech freeware out, but it's a Linux-only game.

Gallipoli: The Game [Official Site, thank Water Cooler Games]

2004 MBIT Development Competition [GBADev.Org]

Original Linux Bastet or Win Game with Bastet Mode [Bastet and Abandoned Bricks]

Cave Story [Translation Site]