It's a big era for indie games. Not since the dawn of computer gaming has it been so easy for a small group of developers (if not lone programmers) to produce and market successful games. Casual gaming, smartphones, and digital distribution of all contributed to this growing phenomenon. Many indie games are hugely popular; Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, (both created by one person) and others have proven economically profitable, and built large fan bases.

Right now, I'm watching the development of the game Overgrowth, sequel to Lugaru, the original "ninja rabbit fighting game." Lugaru was made by ONE guy, as part of a school project. He created the engine, modeled the characters, and animated everything. It was so successful that he formed a team with FOUR other guys to make Overgrowth. Here are some videos that that game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPdq1r-F5Ko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXCDP8Xdu6c&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0OG4YAOHkA&feature=relmfu

Anyways. Over the past couple days I've actually been more excited for this game than Skyrim. I think a lot of that has to do with the attitude I see these guys (and other indie developers) display. I have a lot of respect for Todd and Bethesda, but after watching videos of this indie company (Wolfire, is their name) and reading their blog, I can't help but think of Todd as a mid level manager and Bethesda as an unfeeling corporation. He seems so detached from the day to day development, and seems like he says "what should we cut?" rather than "what can we add?"

Also, Wolfire is doing what they call "open development." Basically, you preorder the game (which is like 30 bucks) and you get to download the Alpha, which they upload new versions of every week. There are no story lines yet, and there are quite a few aspects which haven't even been added, but you can try out the combat system, or use the "construction set" that they've included to add in mods. They have updates every week about what they're doing, and somehow it's always interesting, even simple stuff like particle effects and blood decals.

I really love seeing all these indie developers succeed in making unique, high quality games in an age where most large game developers have a policy of churning out the same, boring titles over and over again. And when they try to make "thoughtful" games, you get top heavy, boring, cutscene laden pieces like Alan Wake. Wanna know what the replay value on that game is? About 0. Kiss your 60 bucks goodbye after maybe 6 hours of walking around piecing together a convoluted plot.

Sorry for the rant, but it just bugs me that with all of the technology we have today, and all the money video games have proven to generate, we still get gun shy developers who don't make good games. And even companies like Bethesda, who make good games, continue to streamline and simplify their titles in exchange for what, more sales? I'd love to see what would happen if the guys at Wolfire had 100 employees and Bethesda budget.

It's all about the publisher. Larger developers who have to answer to publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and so on are under much, much stricter demands than they would be under if they were an indie developer. Most indie developers can do what they do because they can afford to take as much time as they feel is necessary to make the game the best it can be. Bigger developers don't generally get that kind of chance anymore. Bethesda Game Studios is one of the few exceptions, they can spend 4-6 years working on a game before they actually release it, a development timeframe that's really unheard of for singleplayer-only titles nowadays.

Well and what's really nice is that since indie developers don't need to split their profits between publishers, marketing, production, etc, they get 100% of the money generated from sales. So even if you make 1/10 what a "big name" title does, you get to keep all of it, rather than a similar fraction.

What's really cool is the Wolfire guy's were able to buy better computers with some of the pre-order money, and basically did a blog post saying "this is what your money bought, thank you and in exchange we will make the best game we can."

It's the difference between buying stuff at a farmer's market from the person who grew or made that food and buying it from a surly teenager at a supermarket. Bethesda is definitely a better company than most, and I may have been a little harsh on them, but I can't help but shake my head at some of the things they do. And while I vastly prefer the setting and story of the Elderscrolls to the one of Lugaru (I mean, the rabbit thing is kind of funny but not what I dream about a developer making) but watching their whole process I'm just convinced these guys are geniuses who can make a good game out of any subject matter. Every video they post I'm just like "wow, that seems like a really cool feature implemented very well."