March 2011's Best Xbox Indie Games

[Spatial]

Beware the indies of March!

As April rolls into town like a soggy dog looking for a biscuit (er, what?!), Matt Ingrey takes a look back at the dreamy delights and hair-whitening horrors of Xbox Indies for the month of March 2011.

Click the link below to read the full thing:

http://www.console-arcade.com/2011/04/02/march-2011s-best-xbox-live-indie-games/

[fuse]

As always, a good read! I will try and remember to check out a couple of these.

Did anyone else see the OXM guy talking about Indie games on the dash? He annoyed me - as the painfully humourless OXM guys often do - but I checked out an indie feature in good faith, only to find that of the 5 games he picked, he didn't even like all of them and was slating one of them in particular quite badly. They are already ignored enough without someone giving them more visible coverage explaining how bad they can be!

Anyway.

[toythatkills]

Yeah, that really annoyed me. It was doomed to failure pretty much from the start when they put GrappleBoy on the main box on the dash, a game that's promising but near impossible to play. The criticism of Cthulhu Saves the World was just totally wrong. He complained that it didn't solve the problems that 16-bit RPGs had when, in fact, a lot of the point of the game is that it does exactly that. Revolver360 he referred to twice as Revolver300. Astroman he only criticised so he could do his Bowie. And the other game he hated.

Still, at least people are hearing about them, eh?

[cavalcade]

In all seriousness Spatial and toys, can you not approach Microsoft and get yourself doing a video version of this for the dash? Console Arcade must have a bit of clout. The Indipindint Charles Show was a disaster, a video version of Matt cut me and I bleed XBLIG Ingrey's reports would surely be a thing of wonder and beauty? Maybe even get NTSC-UK behind it as well, because god knows the service needs this sort of thing to push the slack jawed mouth breathers who never venture into the indie category on the dash to chance a look at some stuff, and the humourless goons at OXM aren't the answer.

[Rossco]

Never noticed anything mentioned on here before about the Indie games on Xbox. Will need to check some out and get downloading.

Don't know much about it, but all going to plan (ie. Me still not having a job), guys from uni and myself will be aiming to develop something for this in the summer. Nothing even on paper yet for it though so whats the marketplace like for it? Any games types that saturate the market that should be avoided?

[toythatkills]

Not much of a market tbh. If you want to tell people you made a game on Xbox, do it, if you want to make lots of money, avoid it. Unless you can market it brilliantly. There's money to be made, but it's very difficult to tell people your game exists.

Don't make a twin-stick shooter unless it's totally unique somehow. Also, probably stay away from puzzle games.

[Rossco]

Nah it's not to make money as such. I just graduated and need a job but can't get one without experience. Doing something like this is good for the old CV though.

Shooters and puzzle games a no no then, thanks.

[toythatkills]

You can look on the marketplace by genre, so it's pretty easy to see the sections that are reeeally overcrowded.

[Family Fry]

Is it just me or in the indie game secore on XBL lacking in quality puzzleage?
Also no one has YET attempted a proper old school 2D point n click game, least I don't think they have?
Have seen some FPS adventure games.

[toythatkills]

Clover: A Curious Tale isn't a point and click, but it's very close to being one. It has very similar puzzles, but plays as a side scrolling adventure game

Try the Decay games too.

[Family Fry]

Yeah got clover and the decay games. Can't wait for final part, should be this month.
Just haven't seen any others outside those, sometimes easy to miss a game though. I should pick up that minds eye of Jupiter game, quite like the trial ages ago just never got round to buying.
Clover reminds me so much of the dizzy games, way it plays.

[toythatkills]

Labyrinth will be out soon too, that's a puzzley kinda game too, if you liked the Minds Eye of Jupiter series, should be right up your street

[Family Fry]

Cool stuff, looks quite nice will definitely take a look at it. Its in peer review now so should be soon. Cheers for spreading the word as always, plus 1 sale