"Pro studios looking at this marketplace with growing interest," he said in an email. "I know quite a few French studios for instance (but also some US and Canadian ones), with a great track records on published games, who are working on XBL Indie projects right now."

I don't think there's anything "wrong" with a published developer deciding to explore indie venues — but then, I'm not a struggling indie dev with no game titles to my name. Nor am I a middling professional game developer in a savage economic situation. So I can't really judge if it's "fair" for a developer with a wealth of professional design experience to put their product out on a platform where it's in direct competition with products from new-comers.

I guess it all comes down to what you define as "indie." Is it just that you're low-budget and off-beat, or is there some unspoken rule that once you "make it big" with a published title on a platform like the Nintendo DS that you've "sold out" and become mainstream.

From my perspective, the answer may not matter. All I know is I'm going to start seeing more games on the Xbox Live Indie service, and many of them might benefit from the experience a professional dev. And I won't have to pay an arm and a leg — so win!

Don't even bother telling me "You just don't get it, it's art!" because I've already accepted that as a foregone conclusion. Still, even a blind person can appreciate art in some way... because not all art is visual. Just so, I'm out to appreciate FATALE for what it is, even if I'm not entirely clear on what I'm dealing with.

Spoiler Warning: The nature of this game makes it impossible to talk about it without marring the experience the developer wants you to have.

What Is It?
FATALE is a 3D adventure game where players take the role of John the Baptist first during his final hours before an unceremonious beheading and then as his ghost in the courtyard above where he died. The text within the game and most of the inspiration for its visual come from Oscar Wilde's play, Salome.

What We Saw
I played all three levels of the game on a copy I purchased for myself.

How Far Along Is It?
It's out now.

What Needs Improvement?
Make It Easier To Review The Controls: The control scheme changes between the three levels of the game and it's not easy to review them or to puzzle them out on your own. The game comes with Read Me file you could of course access while playing the game, or you can pause and navigate through a menu to look up the controls. But it'd be a lot more helpful and a lot less jarring to just press a single button have the controls for that level appear on screen in front of you.

What The Hell Are The Amp And The Guitar Doing There? Seriously, what gives with the anachronistic props? Don't knock me out of the time period just for shits and giggles.

What Should Stay The Same?
It's Very, Very Pretty: I've never seen such a gorgeous indie game. The subtle motions of Salome's veils and the dramatic colors on the face of her murderous mother are but two examples of the game's striking art style that comes back to haunt you even after you've completed the game.

Well-Used Music: There's only one song in the whole game and the developer gets some excellent mileage out of it.

Thought-Provoking: Maybe I'm wrong about art (and my high school art teacher will likely attest to this), but I always thought it was there to make you think. Maybe it upsets you with something alarming or violent, maybe it captivates you with something pretty and complex. Either way, I really felt like FATALE was making me think — not just about the source material and how it was worked into the game, but about abstract concepts like time and remorse. Pretentious, sure. But way better than being bored or disgusted.

Final Thoughts
I'm not sure if can explain exactly what went on while playing FATALE, but I am sure that I enjoyed it even during alarming moments like where I got my head chopped off. With a little effort and an open mind, you probably will enjoy it as well — thought I don't know if that holds true for Bible purists who think Oscar Wilde was off his rocker.

8BITar Hero takes audio generated from a NES game run on an emulator and runs it into a "Rock-Band game" with up to four separate music tracks.

If that isn't straightforward enough for you and the video isn't doing it either (or, like me, you're in class where you shouldn't be watching YouTube vids), here's the description from the actual site:

8BITar Hero is basically Rock Band except with a Nintendo emulator generating the music and levels.

Gameplay levels that are procedurally generated from the act of playing a game. One person plays NES games on an emulator, others play a Rock-Band game with levels that are generated algorithmically from the audio code of the NES game. The focus here is the generative nature of the game, and the process by which the levels are created.

No, you can't use your plastic instruments to play 8BITar Hero — but run Mega Man 2 through the emulator and you'll really be giving your hand-eye-coordination a workout.

8BITar Hero [Insignificant Studios via Offworld]

If you snatch up Audiosurf, which comes in under ten bucks, you'll also get a copy of The Orange Box's official soundtrack, which is included in the game. Can your PC even handle this much value?!

Audiosurf [Steam]

IAC and GarageGames announce InstantAction.com, the first browser-based Action Game Network

New York - September 18, 2007 - IAC (Nasdaq: IACI) and GarageGames today announced the creation of InstantAction.com, the first Web-based videogame network. Using GarageGames' industry-leading game development tools, InstantAction.com will provide compelling original action games through a standard Web browser. IAC has acquired a majority of GarageGames' equity, and GarageGames' management team will continue to lead the business as it builds out the InstantAction network.

InstantAction will also launch a Game Development Fund aimed at fostering a new generation of game development for the internet. Introducing new technology which allows graphically rich, networked games to run in popular web browsers with no download installation, InstantAction.com will enable easy access to singleplayer and multiplayer games with core-oriented mechanics and high-end visuals.

"We've been looking at the video game sector for years and it wasn't until we found GarageGames and their idea for InstantAction.com that we believed IAC could participate in a true internet innovation in online gaming," said Barry Diller, CEO of IAC.

GarageGames' CEO and CTO Josh Williams appointed Andy Yang of IAC to spearhead the InstantAction network earlier this year. GarageGames was founded in 1999 and created the Torque Game Engine, the leading platform for independent game development. GarageGames also created Marble Blast Ultra and its industry veteran founders led the development of the popular team-based action game Tribes.

"Working with IAC, we are now able to truly fulfill our vision to enable developers both large and small to deliver innovative ideas on an exciting new accessible platform for gamers," says Williams. "The InstantAction Fund will invest in talented teams who want to bring high-quality action gaming to everyone in the world through the internet."

The InstantAction.com site is now live and accepting registrations for early access to its private beta and is expected to launch to the public in early 2008. Its initial portfolio of original core-oriented games from high-profile studios and newly discovered game development talent will be announced in the coming weeks.