Gamasutra reports that SCEA has joined forces with Codename in order to bring independent games to the Playstation Home social space.

Four titles are lined up for release “over the next several months” and include some developers that are quite exciting. The Odd Gentlemen, the team behind The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, are bringing a game called Dueling Gentlemen to Home. Also, The Peanut Gallery, who entertained thousands last week with pOnd and their student title Spectre a few months ago, are dropping Minor Battle into the new partnership. Codename have developed a game called Super Awesome Mountain RPG and lastly Lazy 8 Studios have created a multiplayer version of Cogs to throw into the arena.

Altogether this further solidifies Sony’s interest in the indie marketplace on top of last month’s Joe Danger and the pending release of Slam Bolt Scrappers down the line. Microsoft may have it’s own channel, but Sony’s the one making the forward strides.

While the current headline reads “teaming with indies,” we as gamers can only hope the future will read “teeming with indies.”

Indie links round-up has come a knockin’, you going to answer? You better, because you’ve never seen so much raw, uncensored indie action in your life before you’ve gone over today’s list. There’s a few, clear messages that ring through in the links that certainly apply to all walks of life: Be yourself, believe in yourself and–perhaps the most difficult–stand-up for yourself.

Mindie – Bridging The Gap Between Mainstream And Indie (Doolwind, Alistair Doulin)
“I’m a mindie game developer and proud of it. But what does that mean? I’ve noticed a trend lately when it comes to indie developers. It seems to be all or nothing. You’re either Indie, with your beard and rebellious attitude or you’re mainstream with your suit and love of money. Why does it need to be so black and white?”

Epic opinions (Cliffski’s Blog, Cliff Harris) + Cliff Bleszinski and Cliff Harris Twitter Follow-Up
“I’ve mulled over whether to say anything at all, but if you can’t say what you think about the games industry when you own your own company, when can you?”

Joe Danger dev explains why publishers don’t get downloadable games (Joystiq, Kyle Orland)
“Hello Games’ Sean Murray learned a lot when looking for a third-party publisher for his company’s recent PSN critical and sales success Joe Danger. But the final takeaway from all those lessons seems to boil down to the same thing: most of the big publishers do not know what they’re doing in the downloadable games market.”

In-Depth: Skulls Of The Shogun Team On Going From EA To Indie (GameSetWatch, Simon Carless)
“The folks at Haunted Temple Studios went from EA-sized teams to a four-man operation, and they talk to our own Chris Remo on the transition and what they’ve learned while making their turn-based strategy game Skulls of the Shogun.”

Interview: Unknown Worlds’ co-founder updates us on Natural Selection 2 (Big Download, John Callaham)
“Big Download got Unknown Worlds founder Charlie Cleveland to briefly answer some questions about the upcoming alpha test including if mod makers can go ahead and put their own maps in the alpha build, how much longer until the “final” 1.0 version is release and more.”

Review: DeathSpank (Joystiq, Randy Nelson)
“”DeathSpank? What a ridiculous name!” I can hear you saying it now. Yes, it is a ridiculous name, for a ridiculous game which revels in the fact that it’s ridiculous. Well, that and damned funny. Oh, and a super-fun, retail-caliber yet downloadable action-RPG.”

Interview: Alex Vostrov of Rocket Bear Games On Going Full-Time Indie (GameSetWatch, Mike Rose)
“Starting a new series of interviews with notable indie game developers for GameSetWatch, Mike Rose sits down with Rocket Bear Games’ Alex Vostrov to talk about his acclaimed, quirky titles and his plans for the future.”

Hands-On: Shoot First (TIGSoruce, ithamore)
“Shoot First, the latest game from Beau Blyth (aka Tenkopants), is the offspring of a run-n-gun and a roguelike. It reminds me much of my experiences of learning how to play Spelunky and Xong, and it’s addictive.”

We Want YOU – Indie Game Review (BrightHub, David Sanchez)
“Don’t let its 2D graphics and side-scrolling gameplay fool you. We Want YOU is quite possibly the most realistic war game out there, thanks in large part to its message, which plays the satire card while touching on some very serious war issues.”

Interview: Cthulhu Saves the World (RPGamer)
“People can’t seem to get enough of Cthulhu. Not only is he the monstrousity created by the late H.P Lovecraft, but he a figure that has become an icon in popular geek culture. Whether you are familiar with Lovecraft’s work or not, Cthulhu is almost everywhere –- other novels, table-top role playing games, and even video games. This lovable tentacle monster is also now starring in a new Xbox Live Indie title. With the success of Breath of Death VII: The Beginning, Zeboyd Games is at again with their hit Cthulhu Saves the World. In this interview, RPGamer talks once again with the delightful Robert Boyd on this upcoming project.”

I missed last week, so we’re twicing the standard dosage of Indie Links. That’s right, don’t make me bring the thricening! Anyway, making up words is fun, but not as much as exploring the greater indie horizon. Hello Games gets in a couple shots, and plenty of interviews, hands-on, reviews and more. Have a gander.

‘No monkeys?!’ Why publishers nixed Joe Danger (Develop Online)
“Hello Games took to the stage at the Develop Conference today to exact revenge on the publishers that turned down the Joe Danger project. Without naming any names, Murray went through a list of reasons why the game was turned down, quoting what he had heard from various publishers in meetings. Attendees at the Develop session broke into laughter.”

XBLA is a “slaughterhouse” for smaller developers (Games Industry — Registration Required)
“Hello Games chose to release Joe Danger via Sony’s PlayStation Network because the team regarded Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade as a “slaughterhouse” for small developers.”

The Witness: Location Development (The Witness Dev Blog)
“Much of the other work that I personally have been putting into the game is about the user interface for the puzzles. As I mentioned, gameplay is the utmost concern; this being a puzzle game, you spend a long time solving puzzles, so it’s important to make that feel good, even at this early stage.”

Rules For Games: Do & Don’t #2 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“I’m in charge. This is firmly established (citation needed). So it’s important I continue to decree my rulings. All must obey, for I am as bad as BP and I burn in hell. Fear me.”

COLUMN: Design Diversions – Fate/Stay Night: Choices Beyond Good and Evil (GameSetWatch)
“‘Design Diversions’ is a biweekly GameSetWatch-exclusive column by Andrew Vanden Bossche. It looks at the unexpected moments when games take us behind the scenes, and the details of how game design engages us. How do we get over our fixation on good and evil as a gameplay element? Fate/Stay Night, a Japanese visual novel, may have the answer.”

Developer Interview: Soenke Seidel (IndieDB)
“Cap’n Frie here bringing ye landlubbers fresh booty! I blabbered wit’ one of me hearties: Cap’n Soenke! Nothin’ like swashbuckling wit’ this sea dog!”

Dog Fighter: Hands-on Impressions and Giveaway (Shacknews)
“DogFighter, Dark Water Studios’ arena-based aerial combat game, took to the virtual skies via Steam about a month ago. I spent the past couple of weeks in its virtual cockpit to assess the fast-paced shooter.”

Review: Cut It (TIGSource)
“His first game about drawing, Crayon Physics Deluxe, won the IGF Grand Prize in 2008 and since then, Petri Purho has been developing experimental games on a monthly basis. Cut It is his most recent project and features similar concepts seen in Crayon Physics, but also introduces new ideas and offers a solid concept from which the crayon master can draw on.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: 0 A.D. (Joystiq)
“This week we talk with Aviv Sharon of Wildfire about the studio’s 0 A.D., an indie project nine years in the making.”

Depth Music Q&A: 4mat’s Decades (Indie Games)
“Independent game creator Matt Simmonds teased his upcoming PC shooter Depth back in December, which makes creative use of inexpensive red/cyan lens 3D glasses. Music for the title will draw on the Sussex, UK-based designer’s twenty-plus years’ experience in the game industry, featuring arrangements of previously released chiptunes.In this interview the musician relates how varied experiences as a sound designer, ranging from mainstream titles to indie games and the demoscene, are currently contributing to the shape of Depth.”

The quad squad of Exit Strategy Entertainment seems to be cooking up something very nice in their upcoming unity-powered third-person action adventure platformer Pirates of New Horizons. In development for nearly two years, the game is grabbing some buzz on the heels of its recent announcement, debut screenshots and trailer (below) of a female space pirate and her awesome adventures.

Exit Strategy is currently gauging interest for the title, stating that some prototypes of the game will make its way out for PC and Mac for sure, but they’re hoping it builds enough interest for the team to justify putting the time and money into making a full game; potentially aimed for digital distribution on consoles (PSN, Wiiware, XBLA.)

My smile lit up the room from what I saw of the gameplay. Several different mechanics have been brought together, many building on the enjoyable elements similar to what we’ve seen before in tried and true series such as Sonic and Zelda. Words can only sway so much, tell me after watching the trailer you wouldn’t want to play that.

For the record: I muted the trailer volume, dodging the Dropkick Murphys track and opting instead to run a Radiohead song over it. It may not be the right decision for everyone, but it was the right decision for me. Read up on the game and its development over on Pirates of New Horizons IndieDB page.

Definitely on our grid and we’re eager to see more.

Hothead Games’ anticipated action RPG DeathSpank has arrived on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade, and is now available for respective console owners to purchase and download.

Players assume the role of the wanderer DeathSpank, described as a “Dispenser of Justice, a Vanquisher of Evil, and a Hero to the Downtrodden.” Throughout your travels you search for a powerful artifact known as “The Artifact.” Forged by unknown hands for unknown purposes, both you and a mysterious, evil tyrant seek to obtain it.

DeathSpank runs $15 or 1200 MS Points. A free trial is available as well (confirmed for Xbox 360) to try the game before you buy. In related news Hothead’s veteran designer Ron Gilbert (Monkey Island series) has made some comments on the release with Gamasutra, including the hope that DeathSpank helps “open the door” for future digital titles on PSN and XBL:

“[It's] very different from a lot of stuff that’s in the download space…I’m kind of hoping in a way that it’ll open up the door to the Xbox and the PSN having more games with some real meat on them…I’m really hoping this is kind of the future of downloads, and that we can get some really good, interesting games in the download space.”

Sony and Fire Hose Games have announced today that they have agreed to a publishing deal that will bring the genre-bending Slam Bolt Scrappers exclusively to the PlayStation Network sometime early next year.

The game has up to four players going at it in an all-out brawl while simultaneously creating weapon packed towers that fight alongside them.

Micah Loucks, Senior Producer at Sony Online Entertainment commented on the agreement and Sony’s stance on independent titles working with the digital download service:

“Bringing Slam Bolt Scrappers to the PlayStation Network further strengthens our position as a leading publisher for independent titles..Slam Bolt Scrappers has been praised by critics and gamers alike and we look forward to bringing it to the PlayStation Network early next year.”

Check out our E3 group preview of the game headed up by Peter. Interesting to say the least. We look forward to checking out the full title early 2011 on the PS3.

[Via Email Press Release]

Ever since the launch of the PSPgo and PSP Minis, I haven’t touched my PSP-2000. I wasn’t attempting to boycott the newly revamped handheld, but rather the games on my iPhone have been far more appealing. However, after seeing what was in my inbox today in the morning, I’m certain my PSP will be fired up at least once before the end of the year. I received a message from a studio that dubbed itself “die gute Fabrik,” showcasing 4 mini-trailers of their work in progress — Where is My Heart?

As part of the Copenhagen Game Collective (the lovely group that brought us B.U.T.T.O.N. and 5 Minute MMORPG), die gute Fabrik offers up some more revealing information about the game:

“A family of three monsters go on a hike. Suddenly they notice that they’re lost. They start fussing and only end up more confused. The family is left shattered by paranoia. In the woods the three monsters encounter many a strangeness. They enter the Land of the Fireflies; they meet the naively helpful Antler Ancestor; the friendly Rainbow Spirit of True Sorrow; and the ambivalent Bat King. The monsters try to overcome their negative craze and start making their way home. They gather up pink hearts to strengthen their family bond. Sometimes they can’t help but cast bitter green hearts of spite. Will the monsters survive as a family, or will they break up into a set of three lonely individuals?

The core mechanic of Where is my Heart? is the Comic Panel Effect. How can this mechanic be described? Imagine a 2D platformer with three monsters. The player can switch between them and work her way through the world to find a way home. Easy enough, right?

Now imagine the game world was cut up into little square pieces. These pieces are shuffled like cards and thrown back onto the screen. Disorienting? That’s the Comic Panel Effect. It’s a challenge to play, because the player has to figure out where the monsters are located.

Where is my Heart? is scheduled to reach alpha in August 2010, with release some time soon after.

The Comic Panel Effect not only sounds interesting but it also looks fantastic! Time to fire up your PSPs, ladies and gentlemen. Here are some inspiring gameplay videos.

[Read the dev blog.]

In the heat of Summer, you can always rely on Indie Links to cool you off, especially if your means of air conditioning is near your computer arrangement. I did my best to diversify this week.

Lots of interviews, in depth coverage of current/upcoming games, and in the end, ten awesome links from ten different sites.

The Big List Of Indie Game Sites (Pixel Prospector)
From the guy who brought us the 200 (or so) free indie games in 10 minutes videos. A comprehensive and categorized list of all the indie sites and coverage out there, DIY included of course. Super love!

Hands On: Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Eurogamer)
“I think a mark of quality in a game is whether you can return to a room you’ve previously been in, and know you were there earlier by the destruction you wrought. Amnesia, the new first-person adventure from Penumbra developers Frictional, does not paint rooms in the blood of your enemies, but rather in strewn desk drawers, boxes and broken glass. And light. Amnesia is looking to be an extremely dark game, but rather than offering you the opportunity to sneak silently in the welcoming shadows, here darkness is your enemy. It is the path to insanity.”

Interview: Loved’s Ocias Seeks Depth, Player Confrontation (Gamasutra)
“While E3 dominated games industry headlines in recent weeks, an unexpected candidate for people’s attentions in June has been Loved, a browser-based game by Australian artist and designer Alexander Ocias.”

Gryzor87′s Retro-Inspired Sound: Hydorah Music Q&A (IndieGames)
“Freeware game Hydorah is the brainchild of Locomalito of Andalucia, Spain. For the soundtrack, whose cover art is by illustrator Marek Bayej, musician Gryzor87 drew on the established audio styles of retro sidescrolling shooters, while also infusing his own rock and classical-inspired tastes.”

Review: Fault Line (TIGSource)
“This month Fault Line was released. I don’t know if you’ve been following Nitrome. I know I sure wasn’t. Their game Tiny Castle got a plug on the Indie Games Weblog as well as the AV Club’s Sawbuck Gamer column. And it was an interesting game, more for it’s idea that for how well it pulled it off. But Fault Line has got me digging into their backlog.”

Interview: We chat with the founder of Joystick Labs (Big Download)
“There are a number of ways game developers can find money to help fund their projects; through publishers or awards, grants and more. But what about actual help during the development process to make the game better and to establish contacts in the game industry that will allow the developers to sell the game? That’s the plan of the newly announced Joystick Labs, a Durham, North Carolina-based company that was officially announced this week. The company will not only pick games and development teams to help fund their creations but also to mentor them in various aspects of game development and business.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: iBailout (Joystiq)
“This week we talk with Nick Marroni, who, after deciding he’d had enough inferior games that combined Ms. Pac-Man and the Federal Reserve, set his mind on making his own.”

Interview: Brendon Chung of Blendo Games — What did the Rastafarian cat say to the Glowing toucan? (Level Forty-Two)
“I had the chance to interview Brendon Chung, a videogame developer and the founder of Blendo Games. We talked about his future endeavours, his games Flotilla and Gravity Bone, the nature of game development and the origins of Blendo Games.”

June 2010 Video Spotlight — UFO: Alien Invasion (IndieDB)
“Just when you thought it was safe to walk in tall grass again a wild Spotlight appears! Introducing the first IndieDB Spotlight video, jammed packed with umm well Indie games.”

Interview: Hothead Games on DeathSpank (GamingNexus)
“”When confronted with the idea of developing Ron Gilbert’s DeathSpank character introduced by his Grumpy Gamer comic series, the Penny Arcade duo gave the go ahead to Hothead to transition gears from their series to start work on the action RPG game. We had an opportunity to delve more into the back story of both the development of DeathSpank, as well as the details behind the gameplay itself via a roundtable discussion with Executive Producer Vlad Ceraldi, Lead Designer Darren Evenson and RPG Designer Dennis Detwiller.”

Beatnik Games’ multiplayer ninja robot exploder Plain Sight is heading for a console release as it’s currently set to arrive Playstation 3′s downloadable service PSN complete with MOVE support. This according to the latest issue of EDGE Magazine via PSNStores.

The much talked-about PC title at one point in time was being developed with XNA to potentially land on Xbox Live Arcade. The last mention of that was September of 2008, and things seem to have changed.

Not much, but on the topic of Move support it was mentioned that the multiplayer servers would likely be divided, so that those using standard controllers and those using Sony’s latest toy for the PS3 don’t mix to prevent unfair advantages either way. More info as it comes.

Coconut Dodge is a new puzzle game for the PSP and PS3 from UK indie devs FuturLab. You play as Clawrence the Crab, and your goal is to collect the flying gems, while not getting whacked by a coconut. You can play casually, in the default mode, or more competitively in Maze Master mode. Maze Master mode offers a distinct pattern of movement for players to learn and master (I’m thinking DDR for Clawrence the Crab.), and  the chance to use strategy to hit points goals at every level.

Gameplay video:

Coconut Dodge is an insanely addicting puzzle game from independent developer FuturLab, where your objective is to help Clawrence the Crab rank up a massive score by collecting valuable gems, and avoiding the blizzard of falling coconuts.

Despite its simplistic visual appearance, Coconut Dodge has already impressed the PlayStation community, and ranked up incredible reviews with its addicting gameplay, intuitive controls, and seemingly endless hours of fun throughout its 30 levels. Initial stages of the game are easy enough to complete, but the pace is quickly increased, and it will not take long before you find yourself in a crab load of trouble! The premise is simple: avoid the coconuts, collect everything else. Collecting gold tokens give you 100 points, diamonds 400 points, rubies 800 points, and gold bars are worth an astonishing 1000 points.

Power-Ups are an important part of the game: On occasion a beach ball labeled with a number will fall from the sky, and if you successfully manage to prevent the ball from impacting with the ground as it bounces around the screen (and with each bounce the number decreases), you unlock a reward that ranges from extra points to temporarily slowing down the coconuts.

Coconut Dodge features two modes of play. The default mode is ideal for casual players interested in a quick and fun “game-on-the-go”; the Maze Master mode is primarily targeted at the hardcore audience willing to explore each level to its fullest by applying strategy, wits, and perseverance on a quest to reach a specific number of points before the end of each level. In this mode there is a specific pattern of movement that can be memorized and mastered with enough experience and quick thinking, and this is where Coconut Dodge really excels: beneath its visually simple façade is a hard nut to crack as the game is loaded with addicting and varied gameplay.  The in-game tutorial is highly recommended to all audiences as it explains the various Power-Ups and their use within the game.

[Source: Indie Developer Consulting, Coconut Dodge site]