I’m a few shows behind on FTB but 189 was particularly good. There is a good discussion of indie games and what ‘indie’ means. Now I’m sure that there are probably a hundred threads on The Forge about this. But this podcast kind of congealed the topic for me. Chris was believes there is no such thing as ‘indie’ games. By his definition, the market for games is too small for anything to be called indie vs. corporate(?). At least that is how I heard it. He compared the gaming industry to the movie industry. He says in the movie industry there are several big players that put out the mass market movies. While the independent film makers craft labors of love that see a smaller market. He says the game industry is different.
Personally, his comparison is a good one with the exception that the gaming industry is very much smaller. The same paradigm or framework exists. Larger companies producing games aimed at the mass market for the most part. Smaller outfits aiming at niche markets. Often these are a single individual producing his labor of love. Just like an ‘indie’ film maker except his child is a pdf. I see no difference. And the rest of the FTB seems to agree with me.
Go Forth And Game 