XBLIG Price Drops

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vamn

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Since Microsoft recently changed their pricing structure for Xbox Indies, larger games can can now be sold for 80 MSP. As a result, many XBLIG devs have opted to drop the price of their games. I thought it would be pretty cool to have a thread that would try to track what WORTHWHILE games are now cheaper.

DISCLAIMER: Yes, I know that Xbox Indies is a largely horrifying wasteland of shovelware and absolute garbage like "Avatar Zombie Massager" and "Look I Made a One Level Platformer with MS Paint!!!". (There's really no need to elaborate on it further, we all know this.) But there ARE some good games in the pile. And I'd like to keep the thread focused on those, if possible.

DISCLAIMER 2 (The More Important One): Xbox Live Indie Games require an internet connection to start the game. It doesn't matter if you have a Silver (Free) or Gold account, just that the Xbox is connected to the internet. Again, this is only to start the game; once the game is running you can disconnect your Xbox, but not sign out of your profile.



Price Drops:
emaj.jpeg
= New this week

* = Local Multiplayer
* = Online Multiplayer
* = System Link (LAN)

The Best:
Firefly Vegas - 240 -> 80 - Clearance Bin Review
Magic Racing GP 2 ** - 240 -> 80 - XBLIG.co - Xbox Hornet
Mechanoid Army - 240 -> 80 - Two Fedoras

The Rest:
The Island of Misfit Toys
These are the games that have received poor to mediocre reviews. (Or no reviews at all.) You may find a gem among them, but don't count on it.

Absolult Firepower - 80 -> 240
Flip N Shift - 80 -> 240
Nanosquad * - 80 -> 240
Ninja Recapture - 240 -> 80
Piniq * - 240 -> 80
RC Airplane Challenge ** - 240 -> 80
Sky Ninja War - 240 -> 80
The Book of the Biblets - 240 -> 80
へっぽこ騎士 - 240 -> 80 - DIYGamer


[customSPOILER=Old Price Drops]
January

The Best:
Antipole - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Destructoid
Cavemen vs Aliens * - 400 -> 80 - Xbox Hornet - XBLARatings
Chester - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLIG Summer Uprising
Clover: A Curious Tale - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Clearance Bin Review
Cthulu Saves the World - 240 -> 80 - Metacritic
Escape Goat - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Indie Gamer Chick
Fall of Gods - 240 -> 80 - Achievement Locked - XBLARatings
Hypno Vol. 1 - 400 -> 80 - Gamergeddon - XNA Roundup
Kobold's Quest * - 240 -> 80 - Clearance Bin Review
Miasma - 400 -> 80 - Armless Octopus
REVOLVER360 - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Xbox Hornet
Rotor'scope - 240 -> 80 - XBLARatings - Two Fedoras - Destructoid
Soulcaster - 240 -> 80 -
Soulcaster II - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Take Arms ** - 240 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLIG Summer Uprising
Veks and Silence - 400 -> 80 - XBLARatings
The Rest:
Adhara War * - 240 -> 80
Avatar Laser Tag ** - 240 -> 80
Avatar Pumpkin Smash ** - 240 -> 80
Avatar's Rock * - 240 -> 80 - Video Review
Beach Bubbles - 240 -> 80
Beach Paddle * - 240 -> 80
Biz School - Twist-Ed - 400 -> 80
Burning Fist of Rage * - 240 -> 80
Colony Defense - 240 -> 80
Corrupted * - 240 -> 80
Cyborg Mice Arena * - 240 -> 80
Delta Energy 2.0 - 240 -> 80
Dr. Mazing * - 240 -> 80
Escapism - 240 -> 80
ETMD - 240 -> 80
Extreme Jigsaw Madness * - 240 -> 80
Gamerbots:Third-Robot Shooting *** - 240 -> 80
Gemchase - 240 -> 80
Honor in Vengeance - 240 -> 80
Karnn Age - 400 -> 80
KGB Episode One - 240 -> 80
Killa Hurtz - 240 -> 80
Labyrinth - 400 -> 240
Lingolu - 240 -> 80
Little Racers *** - 240 -> 80
Mad Blocker Arcade * - 240 -> 80 - XBLARatings
 Mind's Eye of Jupiter - 01 - 240 -> 80
Mind's Eye of Jupiter - 02 - 240 -> 80
Mind's Eye of Jupiter - 03 - 240 -> 80
Miner Man - 240 -> 80
Old Spice: Fresh Card Game * - 240 -> 80
Quizocalypse * - 240 -> 80
Pushy - 240 -> 80
Raventhorne - 240 -> 80 - Review
Tower Revolution - 400 -> 80


February

The Best:
Beat Hazard * - 400 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Metacritic - XBLARatings
Dino 'Splode - 240 -> 80 - DIYGamer
Dysnomia * - 240 -> 80 - DIYGamer - Two Fedoras
Growing Pains - 240 -> 80 - Xbox Hornet - Indie Gamer Chick
Junk Fields * - 240 -> 80 - XBLIG.co
Orbitron: Revolution - 240 -> 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Indie Gamer Chick

The Rest:
Devilsong - 240 -> 80
Mars Revenge * - 240 -> 80
Pellmell - 240 -> 80
ZOMBIECRAFTT!!1 SAMPLER - 240 -> 80
[/customSPOILER]


Future price drops:





XBLIG Review Sites:
Armless Octopus
XBLAFans
Xbox Hornet
Clearance Bin Review - XBLIG Spotlight
XBLIG.co
Indie Gamer Chick
Indie Theory
XBLARatings (Not really a review site, just a site listing all of the XBLIGs that come out. There are some - very few, really - reviews on individual game pages.)





Other Recommended Games:
* = Local Multiplayer
* = Online Multiplayer
* = System Link (LAN)

Adventure:
Clover: A Curious Tale - 80 - Armless Octopus - Clearance Bin Review
Decay: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - 80 - Armless Octopus - Indie Theory - XBLARatings

Fighter:
Avatar Fighter Online **- 80 - Clearance Bin Review

FPS:
Firing Range - 80 - Gamer's Abstract

Platformer:
Aban Hawkins & the 1000 SPIKES - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Akane the Kunoichi - 80 - Armless Octopus - Game Informer
Along Came A Spider - 80 - Xbox Hornet - XBLARatings
Antipole - 80 - Armless Octopus - Destructoid
Apple Jack - 80 - Armless Octopus
Arkedo Series - 01 JUMP! - 240 - XBLARatings
Arkedo Series - 03 PIXEL! - 240 - XBLARatings - Joystiq
A Voxel Action - 80 - XBLIG.co - IGN
 Blocks That Matter - 240 - Armless Octopus - Destructoid
CarneyVale: Showtime - 240 - Destructoid
Chester - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLIG Summer Uprising
Defy Gravity - 80 - Armless Octopus - Xbox Hornet
Dino 'Splode - 240 -> 80 - DIYGamer
DLC Quest - 80 - Armless Octopus
Escape Goat - 80 - Armless Octopus - Indie Gamer Chick
EXPLOSIONADE * - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Growing Pains - 240 -> 80 - Xbox Hornet - Indie Gamer Chick
Johnny Platform Saves Christmas! - 80 - XBLARatings - Joystiq
Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLARatings
Junk Fields * - 240 -> 80 - XBLIG.co
Kobold's Quest * - 80 - Clearance Bin Review
LaserCat - 80 - Extra Guy - Indie Gamer Chick
Lumi - 240 - Armless Octopus
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess - 240 - Armless Octopus - Destructoid
Monster Hero and the Mysterious Ruins (魔物な勇者と謎の遺跡) - 80 - 1up
Orbitron: Revolution - 240 -> 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Indie Gamer Chick
Plague * - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Armless Octopus
Platformance: Castle Pain - 80 - Armless Octopus
PLATFORMANCE: Temple Death - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Tempura of the Dead - 240 - Armless Octopus - Destructoid
Volchaos - 80 - XBLARatings - Xbox Hornet
ZP2K9 ** - 80 - XBLARatings
ZP2KX: Zombies & Pterodactyls! * - 80 - Armless Octopus

Puzzle:
Alien Jelly * - 240 - XBLARatings - Indie Gamer Chick
Arkedo Series - 02 SWAP! - 240 - Destructoid
Cute Things Dying Violently * - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Fishcraft - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Armless Octopus
Gerbil Physics - 80 - XBLAFans
Gerbil Physics 2 - 80 - Armless Octopus
GREEN ISLAND - 80 -
I, Zombie - 80 - Armless Octopus - Xbox Hornet
Kaiten Patissier - 80 - Angry Bananas
NYAN-TECH - 80 - XBLIG.co
Paipa - 80 - XBLARatings
Rotor'scope - 80 - XBLARatings - Two Fedoras - Destructoid
Soul - 80 - Armless Octopus
UpBot Goes Up - 240 - XBLARatings - Xbox Hornet
Ura Kaiten Patissier - 80
Wizorb - 240 - Armless Octopus
Your Doodles Are Bugged! - 240 - XBLARatings

Racing:
Dirchie Kart * - 240 - XBLIG.co - XBLAFans
Flowrider *** - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Armless Octopus
Little Racers STREET ** - 80 - XBLARatings - Armless Octopus
Magic Racing GP 2 ** - 240 - XBLARatings - XBLIG.co

RPG:
Breath of Death VII - 80 - Armless Octopus
Bonded Realities - 80 - Armless Octopus - RPGfan - Xbox Hornet
Cthulu Saves the World - 80 - Metacritic
Cursed Loot (Formerly "Epic Dungeon") - 80 - Armless Octopus
Doom & Destiny - 240 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
EvilQuest - 80 - GamingTruth - XBLIG.co
Fall of Gods - 80 - Achievement Locked - XBLARatings
Lair of the Evil Doer - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - XBLAFans
Light's End - 80 - XBLARatings
Sequence - 240 - Armless Octopus
Soulcaster - 80
Soulcaster II - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans

Shooter:
Amniotic * - 80 - XBLARatings - Pwnem
Astro Cluster *** - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Armless Octopus
Beat Hazard * - 400 -> 80 - Armless Octopus - Metacritic - XBLARatings
Bird Assassin - 80 - Xbox Hornet - Indie Gamer Chick
Decimation X3 * - 80 - Armless Octopus
Dysnomia * - 240 -> 80 - DIYGamer - Two Fedoras
Echoes+ - 80 - XBLARatings
Grave Breaker * - 80 - Destructoid
Groov - 80 - XBLARatings
Hypership Out of Control * - 80 - Armless Octopus - Metacritic
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 * - 80 - Destructoid
Infinity Danger - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLAFans
Leave Home - 80 - XBLARatings - Joystiq
 Prismatic Solid - 80 - Armless Octopus
radiangames Ballistic * - 400 - Armless Octopus
radiangames Crossfire 2 * - 400 - Armless Octopus
REVOLVER360 - 80 - Armless Octopus - Xbox Hornet
Score Rush * - 80 - XBLARatings
Shoot 1Up * - 80 - Armless Octopus
Square Off * - 80 - Armless Octopus - Clearance Bin Review
Take Arms ** - 80 - Armless Octopus - XBLIG Summer Uprising
Vorpal - 80 - Armless Octopus - Joystiq
Zombie Estate * - 80 - Armless Octopus

Side-Scroller:
Dead Pixels * - 80 - Armless Octopus
Ninja War: Stolen Scrolls * - 80 - XBLARatings
Parasitus: Ninja Zero * - 240 - Two Fedoras - Indie Gamer Chick
Rainbow Runner - 80 - Clearance Bin Review - Xbox Hornet
Veks and Silence - 80 - XBLARatings

Sim:
Miner Dig Deep - 80 - XBLARatings
Red Tie Miner - 80
Solar 2 - 400 - Armless Octopus - IGN
Total Miner: Forge *** - 240 - Gamingtruth
Train Frontier Express * - 240 - Armless Octopus

Strategy:
Cavemen vs Aliens * - 80 - Xbox Hornet - XBLARatings
Miasma - 80 - Armless Octopus
Video Wars * - 80 - Clearance Bin Review -

Tower Defense:
Protect Me Knight (まもって騎士) * - 240 - Armless Octopus

Other:
Bloody Checkers * - 80 - Review - XBLARatings
 Fishing Girl - 80 - XBLARatings
Hidden In Plain Sight * - 80 - XBLARatings
Hypno Vol. 1 - 80 - Gamergeddon - XNA Roundup
Pixelbit Helicopter Challenge - 80 - CrushFragDestroy - XBLARatings
Trivia Or Die * - 80 - Armless Octopus





 
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[quote name='xskaxninjax']Definitely wondering this myself. It's hard to find decent multiplayer games these days, so I'm hoping there are some indie ones to help fill the void, as my girlfriend is more of a casual gamer but loves playing through co-op.

We're playing through Dead Pixels now and it's definitely awesome, I also am eager to try Hidden in Plain Sight and Ninja War: Stolen Scrolls. Any other suggestions? I know there's a pretty good list on the main page at this point, but they don't mention multiplayer capabilities.[/QUOTE]

I *might* add some sort of system for denoting which games have local or online multiplayer. But that would take a bit more time and research.


EDIT: I went off the overview page for each game on Xbox Marketplace and came up with a crude key.

* = Local Multiplayer
* = Online Multiplayer
* = System Link (LAN)
 
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I went ahead and purchased Dead Pixels the other night, and think I was charged twice. I originally had 2270 MSP and then hit buy and my points went down to 2190, only the game didn't download... so I reloaded the page a few times, the top of the xbox.com page kept saying I still had 2270 points, so I thought okay maybe it didn't go thru, so I went to buy again and sure enough on that pop-up page before you buy it said I had 2190, backed out again, logged out, logged back in, checked page... 2270. So I said whatever, went to buy it again figuring it was either already bought and buying it again might just start the download and not charge me again, or it'd all fix itself after awhile. Well today I go on and sure enough I'm at 2110 MSP.

so I have no idea how it happened, and it's not really a huge loss anyways since most of my points come from bing anyways and on top of that an awesome CAG hooked me up in a trade for my 1600 point card he gave me 2000 in bing msp. so I'm not that bummed and probably won't even bother calling microsoft over 80 points, but just wondering if anyone else has had this happen and wanted to let everyone know, make sure the page is loaded correctly before hitting buy (as i'm guessing that must've been the issue was that it didnt fully load or something idk)
 
Thanks OP for the thread, I've been wanting this for a long time. I discovered Johnny Platform & I MAED A GAME by accident long ago but there's always so much absolute shit in the Indies channel that I just quit wasting my time even looking.
 
Zombie Estate is my favorite game on xblig, though I only play it when my nephews come over - but they love it as well. I have been stalking the creator of the game and he did say that he is making a sequel with co-op online, but I have no clue how close it is to being done.
 
The Fall of Gods is pretty cool based on what I played of the demo. It'll definitely be getting my dollar.

Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes is absolutely fantastic. If you're an old-school NES fan, I don't see how you couldn't fall in love with this game.
 
[quote name='Turbojugend']The Fall of Gods is pretty cool based on what I played of the demo. It'll definitely be getting my dollar.

Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes is absolutely fantastic. If you're an old-school NES fan, I don't see how you couldn't fall in love with this game.[/QUOTE]

Thanks. At only a dollar, I decided to get it especially since it is 10 hours long from what I have heard...that is a steal.
 
[quote name='vamn']
EDIT: Also, I added only 2 radiangames games to the recommended list in the OP - Crossfire 2 and their latest, Ballistic. Mostly because I'm hoping they come to their senses and do a price drop. For those that don't know, they decided to increase the price of all their games from 80 MSP to 400 back in June.[/QUOTE]

The radiangames games were some of the first indies to get me excited about the whole movement, and being a cheapass i only bought JoyJoy and Fireball (the latter by mistake) with plans to go back and get most of the others at a later date. Unfortunately, when that time came the developer had already instituted that wacky reverse sale thing. Needless to say I was very disappointed. While an argument could be made that radiangames - given their polish and professionalism - are worth $5 each, it's a tough pill to swallow knowing they were previously only a buck.....Sadly I fear we won't see those games come back down in price. I was reading the dev's blog, and he just released these games for PC/Mac at this higher price point. I'll keep my eyes on this thread though, just in case. ;)

Speaking of which, awesome thread, and thanks for maintaining it! I'll throw out my favs once I'm in front of a PC and not just my phone...
 
Just finished LaserCat, it's sorta like a Metroidvania game on the Atari 2600. Very fun and well worth a buck.

Y'know, it's funny. With all of the AAA titles with preorder bonuses and mega collector's editions and optional DLC, which usually ship with bugs and glitches that leave me feeling like a beta tester, there's nothing a simple little indie title that I can clear in an hour or two to remind me of why I fell in love with gaming in the first place.
 
[quote name='seppuku']The radiangames games were some of the first indies to get me excited about the whole movement, and being a cheapass i only bought JoyJoy and Fireball (the latter by mistake) with plans to go back and get most of the others at a later date. Unfortunately, when that time came the developer had already instituted that wacky reverse sale thing. Needless to say I was very disappointed. While an argument could be made that radiangames - given their polish and professionalism - are worth $5 each, it's a tough pill to swallow knowing they were previously only a buck.....Sadly I fear we won't see those games come back down in price. I was reading the dev's blog, and he just released these games for PC/Mac at this higher price point. I'll keep my eyes on this thread though, just in case. ;)

Speaking of which, awesome thread, and thanks for maintaining it! I'll throw out my favs once I'm in front of a PC and not just my phone...[/QUOTE]

Being the cheapass I am, I bought every single radiangames title the second I heard they were soon to be marked up ^_^
 
People were talking about couch co-op games earlier...

I know Plague that I mentioned before is couch co-op, great single player and even though I only ever played couch co-op with my nephew who wasn't very good it was fun.

Square off is simple, but looks great and I'm like 99% it has couch co-op. Kobold's Quest has some interesting elements mixed into it's couch co-op. Astro Cluster I believe has both online and co-op if I am remembering correctly. Then there is Avatar Fighter (or avatar Fighter Online which features online play). As well as Dirchie Kart and Trivia or Die, those are the ones I can remember having at least couch co-op.
 
Whoa. I haven't checked the thread for a while. REALLY nice job vamn! The groupings and the multiple, linked reviews are really helpful.
 
[quote name='Gabrius']Being the cheapass I am, I bought every single radiangames title the second I heard they were soon to be marked up ^_^[/QUOTE]
If i had known about the markups ahead of time I would have done the same thing. Too bad I didn't find out about it until I went back to buy the third radiangame on my list. :( I Needless to say, I was quite shocked.


Square Off has 4 player local co-op, and it's definitely a game I recommend checking out. It's basically a side view twin stick shooter where the objective is to survive wave after wave of alien attackers, with maybe 10 or so levels/settings, a handful of enemy types and a selection of standard fare weapons that you collect from crates. The catoony graphics are sharp and well done, the controls are tight, and the sound is really good. My 4 (now 5) year old son and I have spent a fair amount of time with Square Off.
 
FYI, Dead Pixels has just gotten an update. http://csr-studios.com/2012/01/14/dead-pixels-update-is-out-now/

–Changes–
Last stand mode added.
The Solution mode added.
Some weapons have had stat changes.
Hardest difficulty added.
Melee now does more damage as it’s leveled up.
You now have the ability to move the hud closer to the screen edges in the options.
Some bug fixes here, and there.
The intermission is now turned on by default.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='BudzMcGee']Astro Cluster I believe has both online and co-op if I am remembering correctly.[/QUOTE]

Yes. Online, System-Link, Splitscreen and single-player. Online support for up to 8 XB's (16 players with splitscreen), invites, chat and XB Live Parties.

I agree with your earlier post about the problem with xblig multiplayer. Unless a game has a very large audience it gets very lonely trying to find online matches. We had great fun in the weekly developer matches, but even with lots of promotion and free code giveaways we only managed a maximum of 7 players, most of which were well known xblig reviewers. I rarely found a game outside of the weekly dev match.

There are some great multiplayer xblig's around, but I don't think people play them much online. I liked Undead Empire and Explosive gas. I would like to have played others but I cannot purchase xblig's in my region.
 
Not really price drop-related, but after purchasing a whole slew of indie titles in recent days, these ended up being my favorites:

10) Ninja War: STOLEN SCROLLS
9) Raventhorne
8) LaserCat
7) Mute Crimson
6) PLATFORMANCE: Tribal Death
5) Soulcaster II
4) Cthulhu Saves the World
3) Aban Hawkins and the 1000 Spikes
2) Cursed Loot
1) Dead Pixels

Also, all of the above were a buck each... incredible entertainment value.
 
Aban Hawkins is great, but I'm semi-stuck on level 1-5. I know what I need to do (at least as far as I've gotten), but it is hard to execute. I tried for a while and stopped before I threw the controller through the TV. LOL.

Escape Goat is great and I completed enough levels to unlock the final set, and did a few of those before taking a break. It gets pretty tough too. Definitely a fun game. Not sure if that's going to drop or not, but it's worth the $3 it is now. I recommend it.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Aban Hawkins is great, but I'm semi-stuck on level 1-5. I know what I need to do (at least as far as I've gotten), but it is hard to execute. I tried for a while and stopped before I threw the controller through the TV. LOL.

Escape Goat is great and I completed enough levels to unlock the final set, and did a few of those before taking a break. It gets pretty tough too. Definitely a fun game. Not sure if that's going to drop or not, but it's worth the $3 it is now. I recommend it.[/QUOTE]

IIRC the devs already announced a February price drop.
 
I actually bought Escape Goat at 240 pts by accident. I was (stupidly) presuming it was 80 points, just like Aban Hawkins and clicked Buy just a milisecond prior to noticing the 240. LOL. Oh well, I'll consider it tossing a bone to the devs. It's a good game, so I'm OK with it.
 
Judging from the demo, Escape Goat looks to be worth three bucks. In fact, I'd have probably bought it already had the dev not announced next month's price drop.

I've just added Bird Assassin and Volchaos to my demo queue. Volchaos seems to draw inspiration from Super Meat Boy, which is my favorite platformer (and near the top of my all-time list to be honest). I can't get enough of these $1 indie platformers. :)
 
[quote name='Turbojugend']I can't get enough of these $1 indie platformers. :)[/QUOTE]

The Deep Cave is another tough indie platformer I really enjoyed. The graphics remind me of Loom and several other indie titles. There are three endings, too. And it's $1.
 
I did check out the demo for The Deep Cave, I was getting my ass kicked by the inverted levels but will definitely give it another spin.
 
Thanks to whoever posted about Ninja War Stolen Scrolls. Ended up trying the demo and emailing the developer about featuring the game on my site in an upcoming XBLIG Spotlight. He agreed, though his English is... rough, so that will be a fun interview to edit. Still working to get an extra code to giveaway. This Thursday we will be featuring the game (and developer interview/giveaway) Rainbow Rapture.
 
[quote name='Turbojugend']I did check out the demo for The Deep Cave, I was getting my ass kicked by the inverted levels but will definitely give it another spin.[/QUOTE]

Make sure you've got Apple Jack, Arkedo Series - 03 PIXEL!, Astroman, Curse of the Crescent Isle, and Ninja360. Astroman in particular stuns me that it hasn't been more successful given how nice it looks and the popularity of Metroid. It needs more love.

[quote name='BudzMcGee']This Thursday we will be featuring the game (and developer interview/giveaway) Rainbow Rapture.[/QUOTE]

Ask why do Kindling's games invoke religious themes so much. I'd like to know myself (but can't be bothered to ask and expect a decent response via Twitter :p ).
 
[quote name='Mr. Domino']
Ask why do Kindling's games invoke religious themes so much. I'd like to know myself (but can't be bothered to ask and expect a decent response via Twitter :p ).[/QUOTE]

Don't remember any religious themes in Bumblepig... course it's been a while since I read the book of revelations, was a bumblepig one of the beast released upon humanity?

Rainbow Rapture is actually about long forgotten cloud gods seeking revenge on humanity. Fairly simple game, but fun and also occasionally funny.

In seriousness though, you comment made me realize that this may be a good place to throw it out there:

Are there any questions some of you would like to see answered by XBLIG developers? Check a recent XBLIG Spotlight if you want to see what we are currently already asking them, and if you feel we are missing out on anything (or that something(s) could be skipped) please feel free to let me know. Always looking to improve the column.
 
[quote name='BudzMcGee']Don't remember any religious themes in Bumblepig... course it's been a while since I read the book of revelations, was a bumblepig one of the beast released upon humanity? [/QUOTE]

You're overlooking Hieronymus Bash. :p
 
Bird Assassin became an impulse buy after playing the demo. It's really short yet entertaining (think Contra meets Duck Hunt meets King of the Hill, if that makes any sense at all), how much you get out of it depends on how much you like redneck jokes and "spray n'pray" gameplay, because there's really not much of a challenge here. Purchasing the minigun is like purchasing God Mode. Still, there are worse ways to spend a buck. Y'all.

I really wanted to like Volchaos, but the iffy jumping controls just killed it for me. I appreciate the Super Meat Boy influence and all, but if you take that game and remove the finite precision, well... you get the idea.
 
I just discovered that the Solar series is on the indie games channel. They're a type of universe sandbox where you are the object in the universe, going from asteroid to planet to star to star system to black hole, and along the way there are objectives you can choose to complete that often are fun distractions, and in Solar 2, push along a slight storyline on your path to become a celestial god, and then control (unlock) far more options to play with, like gravity and stuff. solar 1 has the same basic controls and core gameplay, with different structure.

I highly recommend Solar 2, the newer one (also available on PC). Solar 2 video and SS on steam.

And for the links...

Solar = 80 msp

Solar 2 = 400 msp

so in conclusion, not recent price drops, but awesome games.
 
[quote name='vamn']Interesting article from OXM: Indieverse: How to Add Achievements to Xbox Live Indie Games [/QUOTE]

I remember when that "Xbox Fun Labs" thing came out and it rewarded 3 "0 point" achievements that a lot of XBLIG developers were shouting and pointing at how even that would be great, and possibly a best of both worlds situation. XBLIG's get some sort of achievements, players get some sort of "record" on their gamer tag and there is zero chance for "$1 for 100 achievement points" type of games popping up. I'd be okay if it didn't actually add to my gamer score so long as it listed the game and the achievements earned, I'd be all for it.

As that article points out though, technically any time you play an XBLIG you are actually launching the same app on the Xbox, but just for a different purpose. All XBLIG's launch within XNA (or whatever it is called). It's really a weird system and I'm not sure why they went with it, but it means it would require a huge update to how XBLIG's actually work on your Xbox to give each one a truly unique identity as far as your Xbox is concerned.
 
I always thought it was XBIG, not XBLIG, but it appears I was wrong (just did a search). I guess XBIG reads better. x-big versus x-blig? LOL.
 
I'm as much of an achievement junkie as anyone (I'd have to be to get 1500/1500 on Fallout 3), but I'm not sure I want them anywhere near indie games. Most of the indies I enjoy are strictly retro experiences and that's the way I want them to stay. Having said that, I do understand the value of achievements, so if it's a way of increasing visibility for these indie games then I guess I'm all for it.

Also, they really need to make all of the XBLIGs separate apps, so that when you check your friend's playlists they don't show up as "Random XNA Game" or whatever. A lot of gamers share the same gaming interests as their XBL friends, so this would be one more way to promote these games.
 
Completely not on topic, but does anyone know MS's plans for these games once the next generation hits?

Any future solution to having to be online to play indie games?
 
I'm hoping they'll either automatically port them to the next-gen service, or (better) allow us to play them offline. I've never understood why that was required. It wouldn't surprise me to see XBLIG expanded to play on Windows phones.

Worst case scenario, they'll abandon them despite protests, like they did with the original XBox DLC (KotoR comes to mind) and 1 vs 100.
 
Shameless self promotion: Giving away Rainbow Rapture on my site. CLICK HERE to read the review/developer interview and enter.

Next week should be Ninja War: Stolen Scrolls!

And as I said before, if there is anything you would like to see us ask XBLIG developers in these segments, let me know!
 
[quote name='morrodox']I'm hoping they'll either automatically port them to the next-gen service, or (better) allow us to play them offline. I've never understood why that was required. It wouldn't surprise me to see XBLIG expanded to play on Windows phones.

Worst case scenario, they'll abandon them despite protests, like they did with the original XBox DLC (KotoR comes to mind) and 1 vs 100.[/QUOTE]

I always thought they had the online feature just in case they had to pull something that slipped through the approval process (like say, a way to hack the xbox hidden inside a game or porn). But would still be an iffy reason if it were true. Maybe they'll decide against it eventually.
As for porting it to the next Xbox, I hope they just throw an old Xbox chipset in rather than try software emulation because that's bound to drop a bunch of stuff.
 
You have to be online to play Indie games? I didn't realize that. That sucks. Another thing I've noticed is that you can't use cloud saves with Indie games. I'm bummed about that. We have 2 xboxes and I'd like to be able to switch between them.
 
[quote name='crunchewy']You have to be online to play Indie games? I didn't realize that. That sucks. Another thing I've noticed is that you can't use cloud saves with Indie games. I'm bummed about that. We have 2 xboxes and I'd like to be able to switch between them.[/QUOTE]

Vamn, you may want to think about putting this in the OP... I'm thinking that while it should be common knowledge by now, some people (like the quoted) still do not know that you need to be online in order to play XBLiG's
 
[quote name='vamn']I always thought they had the online feature just in case they had to pull something that slipped through the approval process (like say, a way to hack the xbox hidden inside a game or porn). But would still be an iffy reason if it were true. Maybe they'll decide against it eventually.
As for porting it to the next Xbox, I hope they just throw an old Xbox chipset in rather than try software emulation because that's bound to drop a bunch of stuff.[/QUOTE]

I had always heard that when you play games online you can say "online interaction is not rated" and that allows a loophole to not have indie games be rated which would cost money apparently.

Maybe that's wrong though.
 
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