Indie Games

What is your stance on indle gaming? Are you of the opinion that such games are just low budget wastes of time, and as such are merely means of achieving easy money for developers? Or perhaps do you see such games as a means to address issues that mainstream gaming corporations have a difficult time dealing with due to being too big to innovate (or something akin to that)?

I am of the view that there are a lot of shovelware titles that seem to serve little purpose other than attention grabbing and/or easy means of profit. Sure, some games that I would most likely place in such a category that serve as a stepping stone toward a beginning developer's journey to bettering their craft. That said, there are also quite a few triple-A games out there which marketing teams make a lot of noise, give off the vibe of shiny objects & hype, but provide very little but to satisfy the lowest common denominator.

However, there are some indle games out there that do provide a very endearing experience to me inside & outside the immersion process without having to rely on large (and oftentimes bloated & wasted) budgets.

On that note, Nintendo gave quite an extensive list of indie games that will be released for the Switch this year & early next year via their Nindies Showcase Summer 2018. I am particularly looking forward to Into the Breach, which is already out.

Bonus question: how do you feel about Nintendo appealing to Indie fans via above Switch releases (and others for sure to come)?

A good indie esque company is frictional games. Every game they made has been good and enjoyable. Other than that, I don't play a lot of indie games so I wouldn't know. However I wouldn't be surprised if in this day and age a lot of indie games are just cash grabs

I don't really care a lot about indie games, the only one played so far years ago was minecraft but i just got tired of it.
If there are indie games that are just made to make money, is no surprise to me.
However, i know not all indie games are like that.
And again i am not an expert in indie games.

I love indie games in general - I agree they can be pretty hit or miss just due to the sheer volume of them that come out these days, but I think there are some real gems out there that are very unique and memorable experiences for me.

CrimsonMajestic said:

Or perhaps do you see such games as a means to address issues that mainstream gaming corporations have a difficult time dealing with due to being too big to innovate (or something akin to that)?

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This is a good way of putting it for me. I feel like a lot of mainstream/AAA games and companies get too comfortable with their brand and running franchises, which makes sense for them from a business standpoint and I absolutely understand why they continue to crank out those games, but as a player the same formulas and titles get stale for me sometimes, so I really love browsing indie games for something new, something I haven't seen before, new concepts and characters, etc.

CrimsonMajestic said:

Bonus question: how do you feel about Nintendo appealing to Indie fans via above Switch releases (and others for sure to come)?

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I think it's great. Nintendo is one of those companies to me that just keep sticking to the same names and titles year after year, so it's super refreshing to see them put out different games on their consoles. My only complaint would be that some of these indie ports aren't really all that optimized for the Switch so the controls are a bit clunky in some areas for games meant to be played with a mouse & keyboard. I suppose that's why they keep porting platformers to the Switch, probably a bit easier.

Juno said:

My only complaint would be that some of these indie ports aren't really all that optimized for the Switch so the controls are a bit clunky in some areas for games meant to be played with a mouse & keyboard. I suppose that's why they keep porting platformers to the Switch, probably a bit easier.

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This seems like a missed opportunity for Nintendo & indie developers. After all, one the biggest appeals for the Switch are the controls & overall system versatility (at least for me).

Perhaps Nintendo could do a quick-fix solution by making a USB keyboard/mouse setup for games optimized for such controls, if not force you to use your own setup on the Switch---assuming the system supports the firmware.