It seems like indie bundles are going to be a fairly regular occurrence from this point on. As gamers look to get the most bang for their buck, it just seems to make sense for developers to package their games together in an attempt to generate mass consumer interest with fantastic savings. Today’s “Indie Deal of the Day” is just such a bundle.

The 5 for $5 Bundle is a bundle that is true to it’s namesake. For $5 you get five DRM free games. And these are quality games too. I can, personally, attest to three of these games being a lot of fun and worth your time. Here are the games involved:

1. Delve Deeper (a personal favorite of mine)
2. Spring Up Harmony
3. Mactabilis
4. Steel Storm: Burning Retribution
5. Digitanks (great strategy gem)

The deal is only going to be around for a little under two weeks though so if you don’t act fast you may have to resort to buying these games at their original prices, each of which is at or over $5 by themselves. Check out the trailer below for more information.

[5 for $5 Bundle]

Trailer

Everybody wins!

During this past GDC Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, told Gamasutra that the company wasn’t looking to “do business” with the garage developers of the world. Essentially, anybody who doesn’t consider themselves a full time game developer, either by choice or because they need another job to make money and support themselves.

For those of you unsure about just what a “garage” developer is, just take a look at Apple’s App Store, pick a game, and it was probably made by said type of developer. Essentially these are the kinds of people we love here at DIYGamer. Developers who make games in their spare time because they have the desire to create something.

When releasing this quote, many took Mr. Fils-Aime’s quote as a slight against indie developers. Perhaps Nintendo, in all their arrogance from being the market leaders in both the handheld and console space over the past few years had acquired a certain sort of hubris that left Sony humbled this console cycle. I honestly can’t comment on that. What I can say, however, is that as much as Nintendo doesn’t want garage developers, garage developers don’t need Nintendo.

Nintendo has never been indie friendly. It’s expensive (for an indie) to develop a game on their system and in order to even be allowed a dev kit for their systems you need to be a recognized business with an official office space (no “garages” indeed). But for all that, even if you do set out to be an indie Nintendo developer, of which there are some, Nintendo simply isn’t a great place to sell your game.

WiiWare, DSiWare, “3DSiWare.” Each of Nintendo’s downloadable distribution channels are notoriously bad for everybody but the most popular games and even then they pale in comparison to the likes of an XBLA or PSN title in sales volume. World of Goo, as an example, was a game that was simultaneously released onto Nintendo’s WiiWare and PC. It should come as no surprise that, even despite the game’s cutesy design (a must have for Nintendo success) the PC version still sold far better.  We won’t even begin to discuss the game’s recent success on the iPad because that would really make Nintendo look bad.

I’m not writing this because I’m angry at Nintendo for abandoning developers we know and love, nor am I trying to warn indie developers off from pursuing a relationship with Nintendo. All I’m saying is that despite what Nintendo wants or doesn’t want for their development platform, the fact remains that indie developers simply don’t need Nintendo. They offer nothing to the vast development community that isn’t better served elsewhere.

[via Wired]

Ever since our inception here at DIY HQ, we’ve taken a pretty relaxed way to go about handling press issues. Basically, if you had something you wanted to share you could just email one or all of us via our emails listed on the sidebar. Easy-peasy.

Unfortunately, it has become too much. We’ve grown too big and we get far too many requests, or at least myself and Peter do. As such we’ve decided to create a single email for press purposes that all of our writers can access. Should you have ANY press materials (release, announcement, screenshots, trailer, etc.) that you want to share, please email us there. That will be thew fastest and best way to get a hold of somebody here at DIYGamer.com. Here’s the email:

press[at]diygamer.com

Easy to remember, right? If you forget, you can always just use the contact us page above, under “About.”

As for our personal emails? They’re not going anywhere. We’ll still be using them to follow up with indie developers and maintain personal contacts. This new email is purely for new announcements and other press-related inquiries.

Just a heads up indie game fans, tomorrow we’ll unveil our top ten indie games of 2010. More so than any year prior, 2010 was a seriously compact year with dozens of absolutely fantastic games that deserve to be on this list. It was incredibly difficult to choose our games and, if your game didn’t make it, don’t take that as being not worthy.

Personally, I’m absolutely positive when making my won selections that I overlooked some games that probably deserved to be on it. For that, I apologize.

So, with that in mind, any predictions on what we chose? Sound off in the comments!

[DIYGamer's Top Indie Games of 2009]

Happy holidays! As you’ve no doubt noticed, I’ve been fairly quiet this last weekend. I was actually out of town visiting family and friends over the holiday weekend. Normally, I’d keep up with my normal writing duties, but internet where I was primarily inhabiting was spotty at best and non-existent at worst. Seriously, I’ve never been more frustrated with internet since the days of my 56k dial-up modem.

Anyway, given that I wasn’t writing as much, I took that time to get up to speed on all my video game news. Not just indie news either (like I usually do), but the mainstream news sites. There’s a lot of game development stuff that happens not relating to the indie world that are still very interesting to people like myself, so-called video game journalists. Not to say I am a game journalist, I would assume you’d have to write for a large website to claim such a title. I digress…

So, whilst enjoying the holiday festivites and catching up on my Google Reader feeds I found myself becoming more and more hostile towards the manner in which the mainstream news sites handle their content and how lopsided it seems to be for mainstream news.

Okay look, I get it, there’s a bunch of large video game companies constantly churning out news about the next greatest video game ever made in the history of time and space itself. I also understand that these sites were primarily made for this reason, particularly during a time in which independently developed video games were neither popular, nor being made in the amount they are today. But, come on guys…

Currently, as I see it today, there are three sites (with above average traffic) churning out consistent indie game news coverage: IndieGames.com/blog, TIGSource.com, and our own humble little website (a distant third). Between our three websites we churn out, maybe, ten articles on a good day. That’s roughly about a fourth of what a single mainstream website will churn out on any given day. You’re telling me, given all that content, there’s no room for indie games?

“But wait!” you say, “didn’t <insertgamewebsitenamehere> just write about Minecraft, Super Meat Boy, or other extremely popular indie game?” Yes, yes they did. And I salute them for it. Minecraft, Super Meat Boy, Joe Danger, Braid, Castle Crashers, etc. are all great games. Really. But come on, had those game developers not established huge communities unto themselves and essentially created their own news, would any site other than sites like us care? No, absolutely not. In order to get press coverage by the press gods that be a single developer needs to go to extensive lengths in order to build up a fanbase. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Honestly, I don’t really know what I was expecting. I guess I just figured after 3+ consistent years of indie games really becoming a genre unto themselves and AAA indie titles being released on a consistent basis there would be more of an effort on behalf of the huge press companies to actually try and promote something that needs it, instead of telling us how many copies of “MEGA HUGE AWESOME GAME” was sold in 24 hours. Wouldn’t that writer’s time, talent, and content be better spent searching for, playing and writing about an amazing indie game nobody (not even us!) have heard about? Doesn’t that make more sense?

But then again where’s the traffic and money in that?

Thanks for putting up with my post-holiday rant. It’s probably mostly bullcrap, but sometimes you just need to vent and DIYGamer.com served as that outlet today. I should be back to my regular writing duties tomorrow in addition to a new writer joining the ranks. Should be exciting!

P.S. This is in no way a rant against why you shouldn’t read those sites. That would be hypocritical of me given my current Google Reader. Just an off hand rant is all.

Looks like we just got a wee bit busier around here.

With the 2011 main competition deadline come and gone, nearly 400 entries have been revealed for the 13th annual Independent Games Festival, topping last year’s total by some 90 submissions.

Over the next few months the entrants will be reduced to just a handful of finalists, with awards announced in San Francisco at the upcoming GDC 2011 in March. Some really notable titles have made their name through this competition, and this year’s crop shouldn’t disappoint in exposing us to some new games as unique as they are fun to play.

Congrats and kudos go out to all 391 entries for reaching this stage. We’re looking forward to playing and sharing as many as we can over the next few months, so stay tuned.

[via IndieGames]

This past weekend, Steam and several other digital distributors had a variety of discounted offerings as most of PC publisher Paradox Interactive’s catalog had been put on sale. A few of these games were included in our latest Indie Game Sales feature, as during the vast majority of development they were considered to be independently funded–and as such fall under what we cover on DIYGamer.

In cases such as this, where a publisher’s name is tagged to a game we feel might fall under our admittedly amorphous coverage blanket, it’s simply our duty to exercise due diligence and figure out where the funding for the game came from. If we conclude the finances came from the developer itself, then we’re free to write on it. There’s still a ton of grey area and this certainly doesn’t explain or justify every game that’s been included/omitted from these pages, but it gives us a floor to walk on so to speak.

We’re a young and ambitious site, some of our golden rules are set and some are still evolving on the subject. In the end we’re human, and many times we’ll error on the side of inclusion if there’s no readily available information stating that the game has received funding outside of the developer’s pocket. If it’s found out at anytime that it proves to be otherwise, we’ll be the first to admit fault and correct our mistake–including full omission of the title in question if need be.

Let’s use developer The Behemoth as an example. Microsoft is considered the publisher of Castle Crashers while The Behemoth is listed as both the developer and publisher for their previous title Alien Hominid. For both games–and presumably their upcoming third effort BattleBlock Theater–the dev claims on their website “Our development is 100% self-funded with support from fans who support our cause!” with a link to their games and merchandise. Taking them at their word that indicates that Microsoft only puts funding toward the exposure of Crashers, not the development.

In that case, I consider the game to fall on the right side of our line. Some wouldn’t, and they’d be tough to argue against, but I don’t feel that if one game receives more marketing support than another it should be forced to give up its indie badge and gun.

It’s undeniable that indie games are as popular as they’ve ever been. More than ever before, the indie scene has been brought closer to the typical gamer’s foremost interests. This has been accomplished through all walks of effort and perseverance from more individuals than we may ever know our give credit to. It leads me to beg the question: Why should an indie game lose its tag when the mainstream shows interest in it?

A notable point of contention in what I’ve written above is that we still cover partially-funded games that come from developer’s who were previously indie/independent such as Runic Games (Torchlight), Frozenbyte (Trine) and ACE Team (Zeno Clash, Rock of Ages.) All three developers have been picked up by publishers to develop sequels (or in ACE’s case a completely new IP) of their successful independent predecessors. Must our coverage halt right then and there because of this? Honestly, the jury is still largely out on the point, but let me explain why I personally feel compelled to write on it for both myself and our readers.

We like these games, and we like the people who developed them. We’re interested in what they’re cooking up next. For me it comes back to questioning why we must stop following a developer’s path simply because a publisher has picked them up based on their past independent success. That success is what enabled them to make their next game one way or another, if they look to a publisher to relieve some of the stresses they had to deal with during independent release (outside of development of course) should we then turn a blind eye?

Obviously, if the developer is ever wholly absorbed by their respective publisher and ceases to be some form of individual entity then there’s simply no argument, it can’t and shouldn’t be posted here.

All that said, and there’s still hundreds if not thousands of individual cases that could be argued either for or against in this never ending debate. There isn’t a single authority who correctly and absolutely categorizes what is considered indie in the vast sea of games and projects out there. So instead we research facts and rely on what are gut says a lot of the time. Not an exact science, but no one has ever claimed it to be.

Again, this is just one man’s (still developing) opinion on a very, very complex subject.

Lots to check out this time round on Indie Links, as we have an enormous E3 washed up on our shores, beaching itself in and around the web’s grains of coverage sand, though there’s tons of other stuff too. Right-o then, enjoy if you’ve stuck with me this far.

190 Free Indie Games in 10 Minutes (Pixel Prospector)
“This Video showcases 3 sec clips of 190 Indie Games (that are currently in development)”

Do Violent Games Create Violent Players? (Rock, Paper Shotgun)
“When analysing the claims made by those from various fields with regards to the negative effects of gaming it’s tempting to come to the same conclusion each time. These claims, inevitably presented without evidence (and unable to offer evidence when it is asked for), tend to rely on uncited anecdotal stories of individual cases. Whether it is suggestions that games cause addiction, violence, sexual crimes or murder, we are told about one child, or one individual, whose behaviour appears to be adversely effected while playing games. And the conclusion that’s so tempting to reach for each time is: perhaps this individual has unique circumstances that reach beyond a pathology created by the games they play? But there’s a problem. While this conclusion may appear extremely reasonable given the evidence, it’s still an unproven assumption.”

Everything, By Everyone – Teaser Trailer v1.5 (Youtube via GameSetWatch)
“Adding to the list of indie gaming-themed documentaries that need your funding, which so far also includes You Meet the Nicest People Making Videogames and Indie Game: The Movie, Everything, By Everyone is a film that looks to tell “the story of a website called Newgrounds and the online cultural trends it helped create and drive over the last decade or so.”"

Indie Game: The Movie Goes to TIGJam (Vimeo)
“Indie Game: The Movie recently went to TIG Jam: Winnipeg. A TIGJam or ‘game jam’ is basically a bunch of game developers, gathering together for a weekend full of coding, designing and knowledge swapping. It’s rather intense in nature, filled with some serious work, serious fun and decidedly devoid of any serious sleep. It is a very cool experience. We took our cameras along, and put together a piece in attempt to capture the vibe of the weekend. NOTE: We should point out that this is NOT an actual or intended part of Indie Game: The Movie. Simply just a short film that we made along the way that we thought you’d enjoy.”

Study: Developers Claim 13 Weeks Of Crunch Per Year (GameSetWatch)
“Crunch has long been a hot-button topic in the industry, becoming of the most sensitive quality of life issues for game developers. This year for the first time, Game Developer Research asked developers to quantify how much time they spend on crunch, in terms of both weeks per year and hours per week.”

Fantastic Fest Spawns Indie Gaming Festival (GameSetWatch)
“Annual genre film festival Fantastic Fest announced Fantastic Arcade, a spin-off dedicated to showcasing new games from independent developers and publishers, at Austin’s Highball and famous Alamo Drafthouse theater.”

Interviews

E3 2010: The first official interview with Frozenbyte on Trine 2 (BigDownload)
“Developer Frozenbyte created a sleeper critical hit in 2009 with the release of Trine, its downloadable title that combined platform action with physics-based puzzles and co-op. After lots of hints, it was announced At the tail end of E3 2010 that Frozenbyte would be making a sequel to the game in collaboration with publisher Atlus. While the game isn’t due out until the spring of 2011, Big Download has gotten some of the first details about the sequel direct from Frozenbyte’s CEO Lauri Hyvärinen.”

Interview: Perpetuum Online (Rock, Paper Shotgun)
“Here and there RPS folks have been asking about Perpetuum Online, the Hungarian robo-MMO that is currently in closed beta. No doubt by now a few of you have made it onto that beta, too. I’ve been on there for a while, and I’ve been intrigued by what I’ve found: a constantly evolving sandbox MMO that is more reminiscent of Eve that anything else, and with an art-style and world design that is refreshingly atmospheric. To find out a little more I took some time to chat to Szelei Kis Gergely, from Avatar Creations, about his company’s aims for this independent MMO project. His responses, as well my time with the game itself, leave me feeling quietly excited for its prospects”

E3 2010: We talk with Frictional Games about Amnesia: The Dark Descent (BigDownload)
“Developer Frictional Games has got a solid cult following for its first game projects, namely the Penumbra series of horror-themed adventure games. Now the company is working on its next title, a historical adventure-horror game titled Amnesia: The Dark Descent. It promises to scare people not only visually but inside their heads as well. So how will Amnesia differ from the games in the Penubra series? Big Download got the answer to that question and many others via a new interview with Frictional Games’ co-founder Thomas Grip.”

Interview: Dark Water Studios co-founder talks about Dogfighter (BigDownload)
“Over in Ireland, a indie development company called Dark Water Studios is about to launch Dogfighter via Steam (indeed the game is likely to be available for purchase by the time you read this). It’s the company’s first major commercial title and it tries to combine flying action gameplay with some first person shooter elements. And it looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun to play. Big Download got a chance to ask some questions to one of the studio’s co-founder Damien Gallagher.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Pinch (Joystiq)
“Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we’re giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Paul Crab of Coatsink Games about his new release, Pinch, and why he thinks the puzzle genre is the pinnacle of gaming.”

E3 2010 Interview: We chat with Team17′s studio head about Alien Breed: Impact (BigDownload)
“While UK-based Team17 has worked on a number of retail games for the PC and other platforms for various publishers, the development team has now decided to go on its own by developing downloadable titles and self-publishing them for various platforms. Recently the team released Alien Breed: Impact on Steam. The top-down sci-fi shooter is both a revival of the developer’s Alien Breed games of the 1990s as well as a revamped version of their 2009 Xbox Live Arcade game Alien Breed Evolution. Big Download got a chance to get some questions about the game and other topics answer by Team17′s long time studio head Martyn Brown.”

Previews

Video Preview: Limbo – Playdead (IndieGames)
“Microsoft had recently announced at E3 that Playdead’s upcoming puzzle platformer Limbo will be released as part of their XBLA Summer of Arcade promotion, which has helped push games like Braid and Castle Crashers to the forefront in previous years. Limbo will be priced at 1200 MS Points when the Summer of Arcade 2010 begins sometime next month.”

Preview: Slam Bolt Scrappers (Joystiq)
“Fire Hose Games’ Slam Bolt Scrappers may not have the easiest to remember name, but its gameplay is something you won’t soon forget. The PSN-exclusive action-puzzler drops in “early 2011″ and is already looking like an incredibly polished experience.”

Preview: Tom’s Crown Affair - Tom Sennett (IndieGames)
“Here’s a video of Tom Sennett, developer of Runman: Race Around the World, explaining how to play his new multiplayer Flash game (currently in public beta). In Tom’s Crown Affair, one player will be chosen as the king and given a crown to wear, which is used to fire laser beams at any other player who tries to steal his or her head gear away.”

Exclusive Preview: The Oil Blue – Vertigo Gaming (IndieGames)
“I am literally brimming with excitement to divulge details on a new indie game coming to PC later this month. LITERALLY. Every now and again, an indie title will come straight out of the blue and knock my socks off. Except this time, it really shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise – I mean, it’s got Blue right there in the title.”

Here at the DIY HQ, we bill ourselves as covering three different types of video game news: indie games, independent games, and student games. Despite that, however, we are constantly getting asked why we don’t cover such and such at the same time as others complain that we are covering games that aren’t necessarily “indie.” Because of that I’ve decided to write up a little piece on just what’s what here at DIYgamer.

As I said above, we cover indie games, independent games, and student games. While the latter of the three may seem kind of obvious, the former two options get a little more muddled in definition. I mean, just by looking at it it would seem that indie and independent are the same things right? While that may be true in some places, it isn’t necessarily so here.

Here’s how we break things down:

Indie

We cover lots and lots of indie games here. In fact, of the three categories we write about, we probably cover indie games about twice as much as the other two combined.

Indie games are almost exactly what you think of when you think “indie.” These are small time games that have no marketing arm, and generally very little funding. These games often get released for free or for very little money. In every definition of the word, these games truly live up to the oft-coveted “indie” stigma where most of the time anywhere from one and four people are developing the game.

Honestly, these are our favorite games to write about here at DIY. While it may not be as flashy as writing about the next Call of Duty, complete with publisher/developer mail swag, events, etc., the idea that we’re helping spread the word about a game nobody else has ever heard of it a true delight and, in all honesty, helping these guys out are why I created this blog in the first place.

Here are some examples of true indie games: BOH, Dysnomia, VVVVVV, Zombie Estate

Independent

On the other side of the small-time video game world we have independent games. While we don’t cover these as much, we most certainly make every effort to get in as much independent gaming news as well.

While you may be thinking the two are one in the same, to us they’re different. But that’s OK. An independent game, to us, is a game that is a larger company, consisting of 10+ staff members or so (we don’t work this stuff down to a science), that maintains it’s projects are 100% funded by themselves even if they are published by a larger company.

These are typically games and game companies that don’t get much media attention because they aren’t really large games, but at the same time they large enough so that some indie-only places don’t report on them either. It’s kind of a cruel middle zone where your both too large and too small at the same time. Because of that we make every attempt to give them some attention as well.

Of course there is a limit here as well. Companies like Valve may be independent, but we absolutely wouldn’t be reporting about them here. It’s usually something we play by ear, so to say.

Here are some examples of independent games: Global Agenda, Torchlight, Shattered Horizon, Hamster Ball

In the past, some of the stuff we’ve covered we’ve gotten criticized for. I know, it’s odd, but we have actually gotten criticized for covering content that others didn’t think we should be covering. Crazy right? I mean, clearly there are enough indie games to solely focus on that, right? Absolutely. But that’s not the reason why we’ve deviated from only covering those games unlike a few other blogs out there.

The simple fact of the matter is that it’s pretty damn hard to figure out just what is indie and what is independent these days. Take Machinarium, as an example. This is clearly an indie game, right? Most would argue so, but the developer Amanita Design may not actually be all that indie as they’ve done project work for BBC, Nike, and bands such as The Polyphonic Spree in the past. Is that the type of studio that can really claim to be indie? Honestly, I don’t know.

I’m not knocking Amanita here. I love those guys and Machinarium was my pick for indie game of the year for 2009. Despite that, however, they’re one of those companies where things get a little foggy in the “is it, or isn’t it” indie game debate.

Because of these issues, we’ve always stood by our original goal to cover indie, independent, and student games. It’s simply too much of a chore to sit down and meticulously go over each and every game and game companies details to figure out what’s what.

Of course, these definitions of indie and independent are our own. We make no claims to be the decider of what those terms mean.

I just hope this helps clear up why we continue to cover games like Shank (which is published by EA), Trine 2 (which is published by Atlus) and Paradox Interactive games. Despite the two former being poublished by large companies, they are still funded by themselves. Additionally, Paradox Interactive always funds it’s games by itself.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at geoff(dot)gibson(at)diygamer.com.

Indie Links present themselves, one-by-one to make the day better. Whether it be through gaining new knowledge, a different perspective, or just a break from the trudges. Whatever button you push on the soda machine, there’s something here for everyone’s taste–and we’re not even sold out of root beer. Nope. No orange light of disappointment today.

Where Are The Road Games? (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“And I don’t mean games of The Road – that’s an entirely different kettle of misplaced licensing. I mean this: the road movie is a fruitful, interesting genre for film, and even TV, but what is it’s equivalent in gaming? Could it have one? Or are all linear games basically just that classic story-as-journey? Are shooters our road movies? Maybe, but perhaps there’s something in the nature of travel in videogames that makes it difficult to execute something authentically “road”.”

The Rise of Indie (gamesdammit!)
“It used to be most indie games ended up on PC. But now with PSN, iPhone, and mainly XBLA and Xbox LIVE’s Indie section, you can find the indie community’s “noise” on most platforms. Developers such as Behemoth, Ska Studios, and PLAYDEAD are making quality affordable games; affordable being the keyword. There’s a new economy in the video game industry, whether it be $1 games on the iPhone, 10 bucks for something on XBLA, or even free flash games, there’s a market for indie studios to prosper.”

Two More Gaming Documentaries: Infinite Lives, Video Craze (GameSetWatch)
“It seems like video game-themed documentaries are popping up everywhere recently, like Pixel Kombat, Indie Game: The Movie, and Pixels: A Pixel Art Documentary, just to name a few. And here are two more to keep an eye out for!”

Interviews: Nifflas, Playdead, Copenhagen Game Collective (IndieGames)
“Here’s a couple of interviews from the Nordic Game 2010 event in Sweden last month, starting with Nicklas Nygren talking about FiNCK, Saira, and the upcoming WiiWare release NightSky. Interviews with Mads Wibroe of Playdead (Limbo), Cockroach Inc. (The Dream Machine) and The Copenhagen Game Collective are all in the extended.”

Great Expectations: Hegemony Interview (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“After giving some first impressions of Hegemony: Phillip Of Macedon I started interviewing Longbow Games’ Rob McConnell. Now, with the game just appearing on Impulse and being available for a tenner over this weekend’s bank-holiday sale, I suspect it’s time to present the results. In the form of an interview. Like so…”

COLUMN: Battle Klaxon: Plain Sight, the Deadliest Dance Party (GameSetWatch)
“Battle Klaxon’ is a monthly GameSetWatch-exclusive column where traveling games journalist Quintin Smith fights to win a bit of glory for the beautiful, brave but overlooked games that people are missing in their lives. This month: robot ballet in PC indie multiplayer game Plain Sight.”

The Origins Of Canabalt: Typing Tutor (GameSetWatch)
“A few weeks ago, Adam “Atomic” Saltsman revealed a Typing Tutor edition of his popular Flash/iPhone game Canabalt, adapting its one-button controls so that a random letter is assigned as the jump button after one or two hops. He didn’t give much explanation for the release, so I assumed it was produced for a local school interested in an educational version of the title. It turns out that the educational game came at the request of Charles Watson who runs a computer project dedicated to providing computers with low power consumption parts to schools in developing counties.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Run, J-Stache Run (Joystiq)
“Being a giant, beloved video game blog has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we’re giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Tavit Geudelekian of Primary Wave Games about the studio’s first release, Run, J-Stache Run for iPhone. Tavit previously served as a producer at Atari (N+, Ghostbusters) and worked in pre-production on Mizuguchi’s unreleased QJ for Wii.”

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Super Shock Football (Joystiq)
“This week we talk with Adam Meyer of Steamroller Studios to learn how his passion for art lead him to the digital gridiron of Super Shock Football.”

Review: Beat Hazard (BigDownload)
“Music games, specifically ones that generate their gameplay based on dynamic music interpretation, have been growing vastly in popularity. Games like Audiosurf or Raycatcher, which act as visualizers as well as games with virtually infinite replayability. After all, with new levels for every track, your entire music collection becomes the game. Beat Hazard is the latest entry into this expanding sub-genre, and like other games of its ilk, it’s an arcade game. However, this is not a bad thing, and Beat Hazard brings a refreshing new look to the music genre while building upon the work of earlier games such as Geometry Wars.”