Kotaku 
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Denver, 5:02 PM
Mon Dec 21
39 posts in the last 24 hours
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Brian Crecente
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Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
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Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
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Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
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Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
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Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
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Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
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AJ Glasser
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Leigh Alexander
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Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/19/09
That doesn't bode well I think.
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10/23/09
If there actually were templates and I just missed them please let me know and I'll go back and buy the app right away for my pumpkin carving with the family this weekend. #xboxliveindiegames
10/23/09
I like this idea too... you could test out a design before attempting to carve a real pumpkin. The precision though... I don't know if it would be precise with an Xbox controller, even if it's just dot-to-dot drawing. I'd keep wanting to pull out my Wacom pen.
I'm tempting to buy it, as I probably have some unused points waiting. This developer, if they're smart, would start selling these for PC/Mac (or maybe even plug'n'play style), at Walmart, next to the pumpkins. Seems a more fitting place. Dremel makes a pumpkin carving kit now, so why not sell a 3D virtual carving game right next to it?
10/15/09
As it currently stands, how many people can honestly say they've poked around the XNA store? It seems to me like most 360 users don't even know it exists, let alone actually trying any of the games. So as silly and simple as most of these massagers seem, having something, ANYTHING driving people into the store has to ultimately be a good thing for the other developers.
10/15/09
10/15/09
I'm always curious about XBL Indie Games and their creators. I think the platform and its newer optional lower pricing structure (240 pts, 80 pts) is already proving to be the most interesting place to look for unique, experimental, different, and not to mention cheap games. [Pixel Man is cool, so is Arkedo JUMP!]. So, in short, I was excited to read this well-researched look behind the scenes of the burgeoning XBL indie scene. #xboxliveindiegames
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10/14/09
10/14/09
[xboxindies.com]
10/14/09
Man, Rival Schools was an awesome game. I wonder if my copy's still lying about somewhere.
There's a picture at the bottom of this article:
[hardcoregaming101.net]
...as I can't post images (yet again) today for some reason.
10/14/09
10/14/09
The indie game developers have a hard enough time with little budget to get word of their games out there. Often they have had to buy MS point cards and send them to developers just to get a site to review their games. With few major outlets reviewing the Indie games and no advertising, nothing drives a person crazy like seeing Weapon of Choice or CarniVale ignored while website pay attention to applications like massage and the fireplace app.
With this article, you have just continued that trend. You have illuminated people about the massage games and now they'll likely sell a few more copies, while some of the good to great games on the service continued to be ignored by most websites.
If you want to do something that helps the Indie game service, try highlighting the positives instead of highlighting one of the biggest negatives about the service (too many applications that serve no purpose).
10/14/09
By that I meant send them to reviewers, not other developers. D'oh.
10/14/09
To its credit Kotaku of late has covered a few more games: Owen has mentioned Avatar Golf and the upcoming College Lacrosse, McWhertor posted a notice about Grapple Buggy and Dust, Luke posted about I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, and Glasser mentioned Arkedo Series 001 - JUMP! albeit due to a humorous press release and not the game itself. While it is the developers' responsibility to get out there and promote their games, I've seen a few lament that they've pushed for a quick write-up on the major sites and just get ignored. It's terrible seeing a game such as Downtown SMASH Dodgeball, an excellent follow-up to Super Dodgeball by Technos coders themselves which no one wrote about, getting no press and finding itself quickly regulated to the bin.
10/14/09
10/14/09
An article covering some of the good games by struggling developers would create an interesting article, help those developers, and enlighten your audience that the service is more than just massage games. Which in turn might inspire more people to try to create good games for the service, and since the Kotaku demographic is video game fans who enjoy good games, everyone benefits.
I mean no offense. The article is well done and interesting. It's just disappointing to see yet another Xbox Indie Game news article that is about a pointless application that doesn't do anyone a favor except to get hits. It's like watching CNN cover Jon and Kate as news. Sure it might be interesting, but it just gives them more attention.
10/14/09
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10/14/09
Cool for Le Chair that he can use the funds form his massage app to make his own full blown game (and from there possibly go on to make n even bigger game and so on and so forth)
(Which is the same way Imagine games fund Assassin Creed n the like)
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10/14/09
Which makes sense, I detest the wireless 360 pad.
Kinda sucky that the play n charge wire only charges. It's USB, it has all the pins there is no excuse for it to not send data as a wired controller
10/14/09
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10/15/09
10/15/09
A. The console comes with wireless
B. I can't think of many people who would actively choose to buy a wired one
I don't think it was a long shot to think that's what he meant. #xboxliveindiegames
10/15/09
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10/14/09
"Oh look, ours messages with a PURPLE background!"
There's so much trash in the Community Games it's not even funny.
10/14/09
10/14/09
10/15/09
The point is that if Joe releases a massage "game", Jack and John get zilch from the sales. If Jack releases his own massage "game", then suddenly only John is getting left out in the cold.
Might as well ask why there's more than one car manufacturer.
10/14/09
If you ask my honest opinion of the titles listed above by far the asian inspired one looks as if it was far more thought out than some of the others.
Some indie games are stand-outs though like avatar golf and dishwasher, but it's bullshit that this community of peers is resorting to such cry baby tactics as listed
""I'll do my best to fail this…if it get[s] into review," one XNA user wrote on her playtest thread. "Enough with the massage clones!" another wrote"
People should just be happy at the level of which some of this stuff is taking off and try to be a little more creative than with "pixel man" and stop using ms paint to create your first title.
10/14/09
10/14/09
Seriously though, I don't want people to think I'm all that sour about it. Sure it's annoying, but as it says up there I have a day job; XBLIG is just fun and extra cash for me. I am well aware that Pixel Man isn't some chart busting blockbuster game. It's small, simple, and fun. It was entirely designed to be as minimal/retro/simple as possible and I think I succeeded at that.
My comments are more that people who did make great games like Groov, Miner Dig Deep, and others aren't getting their due attention because of all the attention on massagers and the apps. But now that we have ratings, the great stuff will rise and the bad stuff will fall. Miner Dig Deep now sits comfortably in the top rated list where it belongs, hopefully getting that developer more attention and purchases.
10/14/09
I don't like feeding through the walls of garbage to get great 360 and PS3 games either but it's not like I have a choice.
I would see your point if these apps/games in some way resembled the flash game in which you had to get the sleeping chick to orgasm before she wakes, but they are really not that bad.
If they could make a seperate channel on indie games and basic apps and not mix both into the same featured channel i would be all for that. Just don't be a bitch about user created content.
Right now as I am looking I could do w/o Cassie's Corner, Pumpkin Carver, or Head Shot (all are featured on my live atm) but someone out there may want to try those out.
Should they find a better way to seperate user created game from user created apps? yes 100%! Should they start filtering apps because they may be a bit like others? umm. No!.
If they busted tim schafer's balls for creating several adventure games because the basis was to much of the same, we wouldn't have one of the greatest artistic visionary's in the industry today.
10/14/09
Well i respect you not being a dick over me walking over your game. I just think we would be better off with channels to help people find great games and great apps, and have a gamestop bargain bin for all the stuff no one gives a shit about.
10/14/09
I think XBLIG is heading in the right direction with ratings. Finally the consumers can highlight what they think is good. If they like a massager and rate it up the list, so be it.
I just want to make sure that games are also having a chance to be seen and highglighted and unfortunately first impressions are important and for many people that first impression, for a while, was nothing but apps and massagers. People didn't dig any deeper and a lot of great games went overlooked.
But now I think the trend is fading and, along with ratings and more and more attention, we'll start seeing a lot more quality XBLIG titles coming out.