Hot Indie Games Ichiban Posts
News: Minecraft, Meet Terraria
Minecraft was first released just a few years ago, but when a paradigm-shifting piece of media comes along the rest of the world is quick to take inspiration from it. The absolutely terrible XBLA knock-off FortressCraft was the first, and last month a much more interesting game called Terraria came out on Steam for $9.99. It is clearly inspired by Minecraft, and there is a long checklist of identical features. It is, nonetheless, a very different product, and just might be called the first in...
News: The World's Most Expensive Video Games and Consoles Ever
Most of the indie and vintage games discussed in Indie Games Ichiban are pretty cheap to purchase. They rarely top twenty bucks, which is one of the major advantages independent games have against their sixty-buck, major league counterparts. But if you think $60 for a game and $300 for a PS3 or Xbox 360 seems like a lot, then you haven't played Steel Battalion or seen the TurboExpress. They go above and beyond what normal gamers are willing to spend for questionably entertaining products. Her...
News: Did George Plimpton Make a Falconry Game for ColecoVision?
George Plimpton may be one of the most interesting Americans ever. Foremost a sports journalist, he was also a novelist, Fireworks Commissioner for New York City and host of Mouseterpiece Theater. Some of you may also recognize him as one of the men who tackled Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. But most of you probably remember him as the pitchman for products like Pop Secret Popcorn and the Intellivision video game console. Actually, his most appreciated work would probably be a s...
Satoshi Tajiri: A Tale of Pokemon, Bugs & Asperger's Syndrome
Video game makers have never had great name recognition amongst the American public. Shigeru Miyamoto, Cliff Bleszinski, and Will Wright are names most Americans can't be bothered to remember, whatever their contribution to games have been. Most people are familiar with their work, but fail to recognize them by name or appearance.
News: Socks, Inc. One-Ups LittleBigPlanet by Using Real Sock Puppets
ARGs have taken the concept of video games to some odd and wonderful real-world places. Socks, Inc. might not be the first ARG, and LittleBigPlanet might have defined the sock-puppet-based game archetype, but it is the first game to combine ARG and sock puppet elements into one package.
Not Your Ordinary Gamer: Yahtzee Croshaw Does It All
Most employed in the game industry have two-word job titles that start with “game”—game designer, game producer, game critic, game tester, etc. Usually, they’re one or the other, even though some can be both a game designer and a game tester or game critic and game tester. And rarely does one person get to call themselves a “game everything”. Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw is the exception.
News: Amazon Appstore Android Exclusive: Plants vs. Zombies
Perhaps Amazon will dissuade you from switching to iOS.
News: Google Kills Gaming on Android
One of the biggest advantages iOS has over Android as a mobile platform is how readily and fully it has embraced mobile gaming. There are over 200,000 games available in the Apple store, compared to approximately 100,000 in the Android Marketplace. As an Android-using gamer, this has always bothered me.
News: XBox 360 Remake-O-Rama!
The aging and maturity of video games as a medium has lead to some unfortunate consequences. One of these, perhaps drawn from the film industry, is the spate of remakes that has overtaken the game market over the last few years. It hasn't been as bad as the remakeorama trend in cinema, but developers have recognized the value in releasing the same thing they already made and making more money off it. Below, a roundup of some remakes of classic games released for XBLA recently, some fantastic,...
News: Man Immortalizes Dead Fiancée in Virtual World
Death is tough for the living, and those who mourn do all sorts of odd things to cope with it. Some keep mementos, some build towering statues, others create memorial paintings or write sad songs, all of which are healthy in moderation. Honoring the dead has been around for so long, it's part of what makes us human. Recently, the practice of memorializing the dead has spread from the arts, religion, and ceremonial burial to video games.
News: Great Scott... Pilgrim the Game Song
Song by Anamanaguchi, part of their original soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim: the Game.
How To: A Gamer's Guide to Video Game Software, Part 3: Making Games with Games
Today concludes our Gamer's Guide to Video Game Software (see Part 1 & Part 2). In our final installment, we will shift away from engines toward video games that allow you to make your own games within them.
How To: A Gamer's Guide to Video Game Software, Part 2: RPG Maker
Yesterday's installment of a Gamer's Guide to Video Game Software featured Unity 3D; today we'll be covering one of the oldest consumer game making engines, RPG Maker.
How To: A Gamer's Guide to Video Game Software, Part 1: Unity 3D
Do you love video games? Would you devote your free time to creating your own game—one superior to the games you already have? Or at least one that has more Neil Patrick Harris jokes?
News: An Illuminated Glossary of Video Game Genres
Like the press covering film and many other specialized fields, video game journalists use all sorts of jargon to convey to their knowledgable readers as much information about a game as quickly as possible. For non or newbie gamers, this can be extremely confusing.
News: Bastion Will Be the New Hotness
I am more excited for this indie gem from Supergiant games than I am for any other 2011 release. The gameplay, visual style, music, and unique narration all look focused and stimulating.
News: Indie Game Festival PAX Prime Sold Out
Gamers who haven't already gotten tickets to PAX Prime, there is sad news. Three-day passes for the event are officially sold out, three full months before it starts. That is a Coachella-like ticket sale speed for such a large event.
Angry Birds: The Big Indie Game Success Story
Angry Birds might be the most visible video game franchise in the world today. It has sold 100 million units, as many as all the Sims games put together. It has been incorporated into board games, birthday cakes, and Israeli sketch comedy shows. And yet, this piece of seeming mass-media whoredom is an indie game. Wha?
News: Sprite Explosion, by Supersonyk
Here is the giant version of my header image and longtime desktlop background: Sprite Explosion. It was created by Deviantart user Supersonyk, who does all sorts of awesome pixel art and pixel-art-inspired work. Buy his shirts!
News: Getting To Know Chiptune With Sabrepulse
Sabrepulse is a UK DJ who uses a laptop and an original Game Boy to make beautiful electronic music.
News: Like Conjunction Junction, But For Game History. With Rap
Del The Funky Homosapien ft. Khaos Unique "Proto Culture" Chorus:] Let me tell you about the Proto Culture
How To: Mega Man. Rap. How Could This Not Be Amazing?
Probably my favorite video game video of all time.
News: A Giant Bastion Background For Once You Join Me In Obsession
This has been my desktop background for about a month. No piece of art for a game that is months away from release has ever had that honor.