This screenshot is of Pure not the new title unfortunately.

Blackrock the developer of Pure, an excellent ATV racing game, has a new title in the works. Joystiq has posted a trailer of their latest work—a Burnout-esque action racing game. Having played Pure myself (and loving it no less), I’m pretty psyched to see what’s next up for this developer. Now that I’ve discovered it is an action racing game and being a huge Burnout fan… I really need a cold shower.

Pure developer Blackrock teases new action racer

For years, indie gaming has been primarily a PC affair. Console development has had too many barriers for small-time developers to be able to even consider as a viable platform. Of course, there have always been the stories of the game developed by the guy in his mom’s basement that was discovered by someone and turned into a full-fledged console release, but that is the exception not the rule. In the past year, this has started to change slowly. Microsoft has released its development kit and launched Community Games on Xbox Live which is a platform for indie developers to release and sell their creations. The iPhone has also offered a successful and accessible platform for indie developers. Most indie games are still on the PC, but the industry has seen the value in indie games and is making inroads to having them on a multitude of platforms.

GemCraft is a deep tower defense game built in Flash and playable in the browser

Possibly the most popular platform of all for indie gaming is the web thanks to the Flash browser plugin. There are hundreds of sites that focus solely on providing a Flash gaming playground with titles spanning every genre you can imagine. Because of the ubiquity of Flash, these games are accessible to almost anyone with a computer of any kind. They reach levels of sophistication that are very close to that of applications native to a particular hardware platform and offer something for casual and hardcore gamers alike.

Within indie games are represented a number of popular genres of old that no longer receive exposure in the mainstream. There are still die-hard fans of the point-and-click adventure genre and the shoot ‘em up genre, but there aren’t enough of them to justify big-budget boxed releases outside the oddball title once every year or two. The indie scene has stepped in to support fans of these genres, and developers release a steady stream of these titles all the time.

Counterstrike started life as a Half-life mod

Indie games also invent new genres that often make their way into the mainstream. Popular PC shooter Counterstrike began its life as a freely-distributed game mod for the original Half-life. A loose genre that has gained popularity as of late is the “arthouse game.” This genre label doesn’t really describe a particular set of gameplay conventions as many do but instead refers to an underlying philosophy present throughout games in the genre to a greater or lesser extent. This genre bending and stretching often even stretches the definition of a “game” to encompass interactive works of art (drawing the ire of some).

Speaking of game mods, they too are a major part of the indie gaming community. Modern PC games often ship with sets of tools that allow players to more easily modify and extend the experience of the original release. Even before these toolsets were common, users were still known to hack together modifications of popular games. These mods can be as simple as a new map or weapon or as complex as a completely new game with entirely different sounds, weapons, characters, and levels. Modders have even developed completely different genres of games on top of existing ones.

By nature of their being not as commercially viable as big titles on the console, they are also less visible. So, where would you go if you wanted to find some cool indie games? Try these sites:

Bytejacker- Bytejacker is a twice weekly video podcast that focuses on downloadable games in general. Of course, the WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade titles profiled are still big—too big in most cases to be classified as “indie,” but the show also covers indie PC games and iPhone games. It is currently one of my favorite podcasts and is certainly a fantastic source for indie goodness.

Indiegames.com Blog- This blog covers the hottest releases in the PC indie scene. You’ll often get video footage along with the descriptions to further entice you.

The Independent Gaming Source- Indie PC games are also the focus of this long-running blog. Subscribe to this feed and you will surely find a plethora of awesome games you would otherwise have overlooked.

Game Tunnel- Accessibility to developers is a double edged sword. In the indie scene, you will find some gems packed full of originality. You’re also going to find a lot of crap. If reviews of PC indie games are what you’re after, this is your place.

Slide To Play- My current favorite iPhone games review site. Sure, the iPhone is starting to get noticed by major developers, but it is still a largely independent playground.

Kongregate- This is the killer platform for Flash games. Kongregate hosts a ton of games and has site-wide acheivements ala Xbox 360. Completing an achievement in a game that supports them (many do) will add to your site-wide score. You can also complete certain acheivements to earn cards for use in Kongregate’s Flash-based collectible card game. The site also enables you to chat with other players while playing. I’m raddevon on the site so, if you join, look me up!

Newgrounds- You might call Newgrounds the birthplace of Castle Crashers since the game’s creators not only got their start posting games on the site; Tom Fulp himself actually started the site! The site is the original home of Alien Hominid which eventually became a modestly successful console game on multiple platforms including the latest version on XBLA. The success of that game paved the way for the insanely fun XBLA title Castle Crashers. The site hosts all types of Flash content, but a major chunk of its content is in the games section.

Mod DB- If you own any of the popular PC games released in the past 10 years, there are probably at least one or two mods you could download and install for free to give you a fresh gaming experience. Mod DB currently indexes almost 5,000 PC game mods which can be searched and sorted by the game they modify, the release status, the genre, the theme, and whether they are single or multi-player.

If you find yourself bored with a seemingly endless cavalcade of cookie-cutter AAA titles, dig a little deeper into the indie games scene. You’ll find greater variety and incredible innovation in almost every aspect of the games from story to visuals to gameplay. There are also indie developers working hard to refine more mainstream gaming tropes to levels not pursued in the mainstream. The indie scene can truly provide something for every gamer.

The first is Play This Thing! That’s their exclamation, not mine, but it is well-deserved nonetheless. The blog covers games that are otherwise starving for coverage. They cover indie games of all kinds including downloadable games, Flash games, and even board games (which makes me very happy). If you’re interested in trying games that are small and virtually unheard of, this is the site for you. I strongly suggest you try it. There are really quite a few gems out there.

Next up is Co-Optimus. Thanks to one of the podcasts that rose from the ashes of 1Up (I can’t recall if it was Geekbox or Rebel FM.) for pointing this one out to me. This blog is perfect for fans of cooperative play in games. Cooperative play has been gaining more traction in recent years. Gone are the days of multiplayer being almost exclusively competitive… and good riddance! I’m as much a fan of competing as anyone, but I don’t want that exclusively as the only multiplayer experience. This covers news and information for games that can be played cooperatively.

Lastly comes a blog I have read for some time and just realized I had not yet subscribed to in Google Reader: Jay Is Games. The blog covers casual games of all flavors (albeit mostly Flash games). Don’t let this turn off any hardcore gamers as there is plenty of fun to be had here. I’m sure you have all played Tetris and know that a hardcore gamer doesn’t have to interface with a steroid-hyped space marine with a gun the size of the typical geek’s entire body to get satisfaction from a gaming experience. The games here are fun, easy to get into, and great for a few minutes of play. Please note: if you view this site at work, your productivity may suffer greatly!

Do you know any awesome blogs that me or my readers may be missing? It can be related to anything covered on this site. Just post them in the comments. I love finding new blogs to read!

The Best Games of 2008 You’ve Never Played (printable version to avoid entirely unneccessary pagination)

Dear Sweet Crap I Suck At This Game (via MetaFilter)

Turbine, developer of Lord of the Rings: Online, has opened up a 10-day free trial for their popular MMORPG. I have made it a habit to at least try many of the MMO‘s (RPG or not) that have been released pretty much since the beginning of graphical MMOs. I have found that most of them failed me for one reason or another. I thoroughly enjoyed WoW and Warhammer, but I have yet to try this one. My only barrier has been initial cost; I am really tired of forking over $50 for a game I really can’t play because I don’t enjoy it enough to justify the subscription fee. Thanks to Turbine for the opportunity to kick the tires on this one for free!

Let’s back up a bit. My awakening to the RPG genre was Final Fantasy II for the Super NES—in its own right a pretty fantastic game. This was the fourth game in the series but the second released here in the States. I completely enjoyed it, and this really was an awakening. For the console gamer at this time, there was no such thing as a “Western RPG.” RPGs were all from Japan. Unfortunately, Japanese RPGs all tend to be very… derivative. I would estimate at least 90% of JRPGs still today are swords and sorcery. This was even more so in the olden days. Despite all this, I fell in love with the genre and followed in closely throughout the console life of the SNES and beyond.

About six months prior to the release of the original PlayStation, Earthbound was released in North America. The game shipped in an oversized box with a strategy guide included. It came on the scene to a fair bit of critical acclaim, but it ultimately failed. Many claim this was due to miss-marketing by Nintendo. The marketing was rather strange. They seemed very interested in playing up how gross the game was. The game itself didn’t really feature this prominently, and this is certainly not what it is remembered for.

Regardless of the reason, Earthbound was a failure for Nintendo in the States. It has come to light since its release that the first game in the series (Earthbound was localized from the Japanese title Mother 2.) was completely localized for the US by Nintendo but never released. A collector actually purchased a prototype and made the Nintendo localization available to players via the magic of emulation. It seems Nintendo has never forgiven the failure of the original. A number of Mother releases have been shunned by the company for localization: the Gameboy Advance saw the release of Mother 1+2, a single cart containing the first two titles in the series, as well as Mother 3.

The release of Mother 3 ushered in something of a firestorm of fan activity here in the United States. Starmen.net is the home of Earthbound fans. Its founder Reid Young and the community have organized a number of stunts to attempt to gain the attention of Nintendo of America and to alert them of the interest in more US releases from the series. None of these stunts has been successful in achieving their ultimate goal. As a result, members of the Starmen.net community decided to end-run Nintendo by releasing a fan-made translation of the latest game in the series. This translation is now complete and available. It is also fantastically authentic!

Now that you have a quick history of Earthbound, you may wonder, “What could cause a game released nearly 15 years ago to still have such an active and rabid fanbase?” The possible answers are many. These are the aspects of the game that make it so enduring for me:

1. Its setting is different from most JRPGs- Earthbound is set in the modern world we all know albeit with some extras thrown into the mix. It is a fantastical re-imagining of our modern world.
2. People can identify with what’s happening- This setting allows for the game to feature concepts we all know as part of our culture. You’ll find arcades, vending machines, shopping malls, ATMs, telephones, baseball bats, and a plethora of other everyday objects.
3. It gives players a sandbox world- Since the setting is very similar to modern life, the fantastical elements are much more satisfying. In reality, a young boy would never wander off on his own to embark on an epic adventure, but it happens in Earthbound. He is parented from afar; he calls his mom for comfort; and his dad deposits money in his bank account when he levels up. Players are given a world much like their own but much more freedom than reality allows.
4. The game is light-hearted and fun- Excellent and tasteful humor abounds in the game. The actual in-game humor is nothing like the gross-out stuff played up by the marketing campaign.
5. Great music- Earthbound’s score is nothing like that of the Final Fantasy series, but it really conveys the whimsical charm of the game. It’s also quite catchy.
6. Innovative storytelling methods- The best example I can recall is the silly font used for Mr. Saturn to convey he is speaking another language.

This article may seem a bit more reverent than many I write. There are few games that really hold a special place in my heart; Earthbound is among these. In general, I tend to cheer for the underdog. Maybe that is another reason I still love and remember Earthbound to this day. It cast off many of the tropes of the genre opting instead to go its own way. It may have failed, but it is definitely a failure I can admire.