In all seriousness, I've been sifting through the indies lately, seeing what they have to offer, and I've plunked down the change for a few different titles. For an average of 80 MSP, there's some fun to be had! These are the games I've purchased so far:
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Dead Pixels: Imagine the bastard love-child of Mega Man, Resident Evil and River City Ransom. Buy weapons, search homes and survive hordes of zombies to get out of the city!
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Qrth-Phyl: Don't ask me how to pronounce it. This seems like it would be right up Hamster's alley: Imagine the classic 'Snake' game, but in full 3D with totally psychadelic colors!
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Breath of Death VII: A party of undead adventurers rise from the grave in a parody RPG most reminiscent of 8-bit Dragon Warrior games; lasts about 6-8 hours!
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Aban Hawkins & the 1000 Spikes: Hey, if this game is good enough to get Nintendo's attention (it's eventually coming to Wii U), why wait when you can have it now for a buck? Part Spelunky, part Dark Souls, all hardcore FUN!
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Cthulhu Saves the World: If Breath of Death is an 8-bit parody, then think of Cthulhu as it's 16-bit follow-up. From the same team that did BoD. Cthulhu awakens from his slumber only to have his powers stolen. He needs to travel the world, gathering heroes to save the world, to retrieve his powers... to destroy the world. Sounds like a fun time!
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Decimation X3: Most often compared to Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, but with better music, bigger bosses and even more crazy action on the screen. Trust me, that's a VERY bold statement and a VERY good thing if true!
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Gravitron 360: "One Part Gravitar, one part Lunar Lander, a shot of vector graphics in HD, a squeeze of Defender, and a dash of Metroid. That’s what makes Gravitron 360." WUH?! SOLD! (Why am I picturing Hamster with an erection right now?) OH GOD!? WHY AM I PICTURING HAMSTER WITH AN ERECTION AT ALL?!
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Orbitron: Revolution: Described as Defender with a Namco Generations makeover. Supposedly has a fierce score-attack following.
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Apple Jack 2: I'll give you ONE guess which game this one is parodying!
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That's what I have so far. Seem excessive? ALL of those games TOGETHER cost a total of NINE-DOLLARS! All the ones I purchased so far were One Dollar apiece. The average for games in the Indie Marketplace is 80 MSP, but there are exceptions. Following is a list of highly regarded indie titles I am looking at purchasing in the future. They all have links to their Xbox.Com page, which has their prices listed. 03 Pixel, for example is 240 points, but it's also from Arkedo Games, a pretty well-known Japanese game developer. Astroman, which is most oft compared to NES Metroid, is 240 points as well. It seems to be up to the developers what they want to charge. Some will forgoe profits just for the sake of exposure. What they hey! If they are willing to give it away, I am willing to try it! I encourage everyone else to do the same! Let's give the 'little guys' a chance for a change!
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Shoot 1UP -- A top-down shooter known for its grotesque enemy designs and sexual content.
Treasure Treasure Fortress Forage Extra Edition -- Cool and GameBoy-like Puzzle Platformer.
Bleed -- Platfomer/Shooter where you kill all the former heroes to become the next great Hero of the World. Now where have I heard that before?
EvilQuest -- Said to be very much like Crystalis!?
Snops Attack: Zombie Defense -- 'Nother top down shooter... but JUST LOOK AT IT!?
I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB13S!!!1 -- May not look like all that much, but this is the most successful Xbox Indie game of all time!
03 Pixel -- From Arkedo, makers of Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit... but this is supposed to be pretty good! Pixel art looks cool!
Astroman -- Just look at the 'Box' Art; supposedly VERY Metroid-like!
SoulCaster -- Tower Defense meets RPG... Looks like Gauntlet!
Cursed Loot -- Anyone remember Temple of Apshai?
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I bought the majority of these today, so I haven't had a chance to play them yet. I went off word of mouth alone. I will update this topic as I play these and give impressions and/or mini-reviews. If, by chance, anyone else decides to delve into the Indie marketplace or you hear of something outstanding ---PLEASE--- post about it here! Thanks!
Because it was mentioned in the Snops Attack Review:
I have so many games to play how am I supposed to find time for these. That said they look better than Dragons Dogma.
My god Leo you would love Steam and PC gaming if indie games are really your thing. More indie games than you can wave your massive wang at.
From what you listed here Aban Hawkins looks the most interesting. I love real man platformers like Super Meatboy and VVVVVVV so i'll pick this up for sure. Breath Of Death and Cthulu are maybes as well but they are on steam so i'll likely get them there. Nice thread.
I admire your courage Leo. I once delved into this world and it did not end pretty. Some of those look good though.
Zeboyd (the Cthulhu/BoD guys) are awesome. They also did the third part of that Penny Arcade series of games, it seems with them involved the game ended upbeing fun, unlike its predecessors.
How much would you give to feed one starving developer? There's no need to spend $60, $40, or even $10 to save a developers life. For the equivalent of just $1 you can make all the difference in the world! I urge you to go to Xbox Live Arcade, to the Games and Indies tab and donate today! The starving artist you save today could be tomorrow's Miyamoto! Please look into your heart and give... generously!