Welcome to Indie Independence Weekend! Over the next three days, OXM Online will be bringing you the best in the Xbox Live Indie Games channel. To start, we're bringing you the creators of the top indie developers on XBLIG today. Read on to hear from the developers of I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1, Cthulhu Saves the World, Epic Dungeon, and Baby Maker Extreme:

 

James Silva,  Ska Studios

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 1N IT!!!1 is an obnoxiously self-conscious twin stick shooter about killing zombies, learning to cope with loss, and finding that better you that you always were.
 
WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XBLIG is the quickest and easiest way to get a game on a console.  For a small project, it's the only way to get a game on a console.  I don't feel like there's any good substitute for a console gaming experience, though before XBLIG I sure tried to emulate it for PC games I made by lugging my TV-out-enabled (kind of a big thing back then) PC to the living room and plugging in PS2 controller with USB adapters.  It was aggressively clumsy, yet, if you're not dealing with Xbox360 and XBLIG, that kind of setup is pretty much the only way you can play some couch coop of that game you're working on.
 
WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

I am currently living in what has been referred to The House that Z0MB1ES built!
 
WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

I love the streamlined development and publishing, and the seamless integration of LIVE features (matchmaking, multiplayer, etc.)
 
WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

I think XBLIG's biggest problem right now is its general lack of exposure and, among those who are aware of it, a bit of a reputation as a place for all things make-fun-of-able.
 
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I'd like to see some Kinect support in XNA.  And, I know it's been requested to death, but Achievements and leaderboards could go a long way to legitimizing XBLIG for a lot of gamers.
 
WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

I heart Epic Dungeon!

Matthew Doucette, Xona Games
Website | Facebook | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Decimation X3 and Score Rush tie as our top game. They are nearly identical in ratings, sales, awards, and released only two days apart. They are 4-player nostalgic shoot 'em ups with modern-day gameplay and intensity. Decimation X3 was chosen for Indie Game Winter Uprising. Score Rush is developed on the award winning Duality ZF engine (our next game). Both were developed by our "empower the player" philosophy. They were #10 and #11 on Major Nelson's best selling XBLIG worldwide. Both were #1 best sellers in multiple countries. In Japan, they are rated #3 and #4 out of 1,800 XBLIG games, with Decimation X3's prequel at #5.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Dream Build Play 2008, and the power to create games on a console (our favorite console at that), pulled us into XBLIG. We thought we could win Dream Build Play 2008, but did not even place in the top 20. Next year we came back strong with a #7 overall win and #2 in Canada. The next year we maintained that momentum and scored a #5 overall win and #1 in Canada. This year we just entered it again. All four years we entered Duality ZF, the engine that Score Rush is built on.
 
WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Xbox LIVE Indie Games has meant the world to us. It is what finally got us into making games officially after a lifetime. We have been making games since we were seven years old, always with aspirations of doing it for a living, but life and school always got in the way. It's no surprise that we made a full circle return back to game development. We have XBLIG and Dream Build Play to thank for that opportunity and motivation.

We have not been financially successful, but the majority of our time is spent on Duality ZF, a game destined for Xbox LIVE Arcade. All of our XBLIG work is side projects. It is difficult in any industry self-fund with side projects alone.

We have won our share of awards. $100,000 technology contest award, featured in five major gaming magazines (this being our second feature in OXM), #1 in Canada and Japan for various reasons. Every game we have made has won prestigious awards, and even our company and its technology itself has. It has brought us to MIGS and GDC to meet publishers and big dogs of the gaming industry all around the world. It's truly been amazing. We had a booth at GDC 2011. How cool is that?

Read our short story here.
 
WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The strong point of XBLIG is its lack of restrictions. It's common to hammer XBLIG for its bad games, and even in the community forums developers blame developers for outputting bad content. But, prepare for a paradigm shift: We want the bad games, because we want all the games. It's an experimental games platform that will produce gems that would otherwise be regulated away. The true solution is the platform should sort the content, the way search engines sort  websites.
 
WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

Xbox LIVE Indie Games does not put it's best (and quite beautiful) face forward. Its "front page" or first tab is the last 50 XBLIG games produced, which in any unregulated system will be dominated by low quality titles. This tarnishes XBLIG's reputation. And this is not the fault of the developers producing those titles, as one of those developers may be the next John Carmack learning the ropes, but the fault of the platform's unwillingness to sort and filter the content. Look at XBLA and what do you see first? High quality recent content. Likewise, I believe XBLIG should showcase high quality recent content. The rewarding of quality work would have inspired more quality work, instead of the random get-rich-quick schemes that dominate the virtual shelves of XBLIG. It's the negativity that happens when you leave the platform in chaos.

I have outlined what has become to be known as the "Xona Proposal" on fixing XBLIG here. It has been put in front of the founders of the XBLIG initiative and supported by a large majority of the XBLIG community.

Real leaderboards and achievements with Gamerscore are also necessary. I believe if the above changes happened, XBLIG would be the place to be for indie gaming, both for developers and gamers.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I do not see it evolving, but I would take a job at Microsoft today if I could be enact the changes I feel XBLIG needs. I anticipate that XBLIG would grow 10 to 100 times in size with these changes. Someone is going to make a platform like this, and it's sitting in Microsoft's lap. It's so hard for me to ignore this potential. I absolutely love indie games and I believe Microsoft has come halfway to creating the best platform ever for indie game developers and gamers. I want it see it play out until the end.
 
WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

The best XBLIG game is hard to pick, but I'll go with Cthulhu Saves the World for this one!
 

DjArcas, ProjectorGames
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

FortressCraft is the first voxel-based game on the Xbox Indie Games Market, providing players with the ability to create and share worlds with other players. It's the fastest-selling game on the Xbox Indie Games Market ever, and has introduced many new players to the service. Along with state-of-the-art graphics, and a soundtrack including work by the composer for Dungeon Keeper 2, the game is a creative outlet. If you can imagine it, you can build it!

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Microsoft offer one of the few services on the internet for distributing games by independent developers  which takes care of all of the admin and monetary side of things so that we can focus on what we do best - writing games. As well as the obvious appeal of getting our games onto one of the most powerful consoles in the world, with an audience in the tens of millions, the fact that we don't have to worry about potential issues in getting our game onto the service (as with some of the other digital distribution services), or administrating our own payment and piracy protection systems is a definite plus for us, as well as other indie developers.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

This is our eleventh game to be released on the Xbox Live Indie Games service, and by far and away our biggest selling game. There are some obvious benefits to writing such a well-received game, such as money and being somewhat internet-famous, but one of the best things to come of it is the dialogue we can now have with our community. This allows us to tailor patches and future releases to what the community wants, rather than having to guess and hope that we get lucky!

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The development tools are awesome, and it's fantastic that tiny indie developers' games can sit side-by-side on the dashboard with AAA games by major developer/publisher teams. As mentioned above, it's also very helpful that Microsoft take care of all of the distribution side of things so we can focus on developing our games.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

The lack of communication between the developers who use Xbox Live Indie Games and Microsoft is a major problem which has been exacerbated ever since we stopped having a Community Manager for it. This is a problem for both sides, as we often don't get any feedback from Microsoft about why they do certain things, and they often don't find out about problems for quite a while.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

There will definitely be more games from us (we're always working on a few different projects), and hopefully XBLIG will be around for a long time and more developers will see the success that FortressCraft has seen!

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)? 

Leave Home

 

Matt Davis, Barkers Crest Studio
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Avatar Legends is an Action RPG that includes a 10+ hour single player adventure as well as a 6 player Xbox LIVE multiplayer mode.  On top of that the game provides design tools that allow you to create your own adventures and multiplayer maps and then share them with your friends over Xbox LIVE.  People have always dreamed of being the hero of the adventure and with Avatar Legends you finally can.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

As far as game development is concerned, I grew up on the XNA/Indie games platform.  When Microsoft first released the XNA framework it was the first realistic opportunity for garage coders to develop games without the heavy burden of coding low level and time consuming engine code.  They really did provide a framework where developers could focus on coding game play and productivity.
I had been coding games using the XNA framework well before anyone even knew we were going to be able to sell them on the Xbox.  When they announced we could sell our games on the Xbox LIVE marketplace you could say it was a natural transition.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Xbox LIVE Indie Games has been an extremely rewarding experience for our family.  Our games usually gather strong and dedicated online communities so I'd have to say the best thing about these games are all the cool and interesting friends and fans I've met while playing my games online.  It's always fun to jump into random online matches and chat with people once they realize I'm the creator of the games they love so much.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

Xbox LIVE Indie games is special because it gives everyone a chance to build the game of their dreams and then sell it to the world on the Xbox marketplace.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

Indie developers tend to be the leaders of experimental and innovative game development due to the lower financial risk involved.  Right now the gaming world is evolving into the cloud as well as natural user interfaces such as Kinect.  Microsoft is a little behind in opening up and making these features available to Indie developers on the Xbox.  For me personally, I feel it is stifling some of the neat and creative things I'd like to do.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I honestly don't know what the future holds for Xbox LIVE indie games.  It seems right now Microsoft prefers developers focus on the Windows Phone 7 platform and are allocating most of their resources there.  So I don't really know where that leaves the Xbox going forward.  With that said, with the success we've had in the current state of the Xbox Indie Games Marketplace, I have a full year of Xbox projects planned out going forward.  I'm not ready to talk about them yet but I'm sure gamers will love them as much as our previous games.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

My favorite Xbox LIVE Indie game that I didn't create would probably be...ugh...this is a tough choice between Blocks that Matter and the Decay series...I'll go with... D. All of the Above.

 

Robert Boyd, Zeboyd Games
Website | Facebook | Twitter (Personal) Twitter (Artist's)

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Cthulhu Saves the World - The lord of insanity, Cthulhu was all set to plunge the world into insanity and destruction when his powers were sealed by a mysterious sorcerer. The only way for him to break the curse is to become a true hero. Save the world to destroy it in an epic parody RPG journey of redemption, romance, and insanity!

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Ever since I was a young child, I've wanted to make videogames. When XBox Live Indie Games was first announced I was thrilled - finally a way for an individual or small group to make games and release them on an actual home console without the need for a big company or a lot of money.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Thanks to XBLIG, I've been able to switch professions into the game industry, attend and speak at GDC, and meet many interesting developers.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

It's very cheap and accessible. All the essential development tools are provided for free, it's easy to develop for, there's no need for official approval from a console holder, and all it costs is $99/year for an XBLIG developers membership.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

Visibility. There are so many XBLIGs released on a weekly basis and unlike XBLA titles, XBLIGs rarely get any front page dashboard coverage. Low visibility generally translates into low sales which results in it being very difficult to support even a small indie development business with just XBLIG titles.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

For our studio, we have a big free update to the XBLIG version of Cthulhu Saves the World coming out on July 13th (to coincide with the PC release) and we have another RPG that we're working on that is scheduled to come out later this year for both XBLIG/PC. For the platform in general, between the Dream-Build-Play competition and the upcoming Indie Games Summer Uprising, there should be a lot of very cool games coming out very soon. Some of the games I'm looking forward to include Cute Things Dying Violently, T.E.C., Windhaven, and The Jump Hero.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

There are so many games that it's hard to narrow it down to just one, but if I have to choose, I'd probably go with Epic Dungeon.

 

Michael Ventnor, Red Crest Studios
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

My top released game is Bonded Realities, a turn-based RPG featuring bright hand-drawn graphics, fantastic songs and hilarious, almost politically-incorrect dialogue. The story and characters are unlike anything seen in an RPG before, yet it still parodies everything that is wrong with the genre.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XBLIG has all the benefits of a typical app store, in that it is an open market with a large install base (that is, most people who have a 360), without the downsides, in that you aren't competing in the exact same area as top-tier developers with huge marketing budgets. You get fantastic dev tools, powerful hardware and you can make games that wouldn't be suitable on a smartphone touch screen.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

It's allowed me to do something I've always wanted to do, develop a game for a games console and have lots of people play it.
While it was unfortunate that the game didn't receive much press, I did receive one email from a fan who said he had never tried to contact a game company before, but did so to tell me how much he loved Bonded Realities. That really made my day and it shows that even though game development is torturous before the game is done, you reap so much after the game is done.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The fact that anyone who knows how to program can make a game that can be easily played by an enormous market is a significant strength, and this is something that has been sorely lacking on consoles until now.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

There are some limits that Microsoft has placed in Indie Games. I'm going to single out Achievements here. This may not sound like a big deal, since common sense tell you that people like games if they are fun to play. But there is a significant chunk of 360 owners who don't bother with games unless they contain Achievements. That logic just baffles my mind, yet it is very prevalent, so the lack of LIVE features like Achievements and Leaderboards seems to hamper XBLIG from significant growth.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

My next game, which is almost complete, is called Andromium. The development goal was to create a game that had a completely unique mechanic, and I believe I've achieved that. You must work together with a friend as you deliver an explosive glowing green metal, called Andromium, through several fast-paced procedurally-generated levels.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

This is tough. I like games which allow for quick gaming sessions. I enjoyed Break Limit, I helped playtest that game and when my suggestions (and those of others) were incorporated, it made for a fantastic experience. I also liked MIR|ROR from Silver Dollar, it's a game based on spatial puzzles which I enjoy a lot.

 

Mike Muir, Eyehook Games
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Epic Dungeon is the ultimate dungeon crawling experience on XBLIG!  Choose from 4 playable classes, fight dozens of different monsters, hoard loads of glittering loot, and explore 50 deadly dungeon levels all for 80 Microsoft Points.  Featuring classic roguelike gameplay updated with real-time combat and a unique encounter system.  Every adventure in Epic Dungeon is guaranteed to be unique! (Epic Dungeon is used under license by EYEHOOK GAMES. EPIC is a registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc.)

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I currently develop solely for Xbox Live Indie Games.  Microsoft has made Xbox development easy and accessible with the XNA framework, and the XNA community has provided outstanding help and support while working on games for XBLIG.  While I do have a programming background, I was amazed at how quickly I was able to get my first game up and running on Xbox, and now, over a year later, I'm still very happy with the tools and resources that the XNA team provides small developers like myself.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Creating games is something that I have always wanted to do, and receiving such a positive reaction to my last game, Epic Dungeon, has encouraged me to continue in game development.  Beyond that, it's been great getting to know other people that are as passionate about creating games as I am.  Overall, it's been a great experience.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

By making console development accessible to smaller developers, XBLIG is home to a ton of fun and unique games that would never have been made otherwise.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

I really wish there were more ways to discover good games on XBLIG.  Unfortunately, due to the way ratings and navigation work, a lot of great games get buried before they even get a chance to shine, which is a real shame.  Also, from a development perspective, the lack of support for "real" global leaderboards is a problem-the current workarounds just aren't sufficient.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Over the past year and a half I've seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of games on XBLIG and I expect that trend to continue.  Personally, I'm also creating a new game for XBLIG, but I'm not quite ready to discuss it... yet.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

Radiangames Inferno.  It’s fun, it’s beautiful, and it’s definitely my favorite XBLIG game.

 

Matthew Hoesterey, Tribetoy   
Website | Facebook | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Chu's Dynasty combines the strategic fighting of Street Fighter with the multi-tiered 4 player fighting mayhem of Super Smash Brothers. Chu's adds a new twist to the genre with time manipulation. Fight through four campaigns and learn how the goods where born. Fight with up to 4 players in free for all and team modes. Control time and space with each of the characters unique time powers. Created by the core team of three: Matt Hoesterey, Tara Rueping, and Camille Chu, and with the help of many friends, Chu's Dynasty is a great single player and party game all in one!

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XBOX Live Indie Games give developers the chance to get a game onto one of the top platforms in the world.  Chu's Dynasty was an after-work project for me and my friends, we didn't have any funding and by making the game for the XBLIG marketplace we could get the game we wanted to make out into a world wide market without loads of cash.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

We didn't really make much money with Chu's Dynasty but that was never really our intention.  We just wanted to make a game on our own.  Our goal was to finish something we would be proud of.  Its a hard thing to do but after two years of work we did it.  
Our best moments are picking up the Official Xbox Magazine with our game featured in it at Borders and finding out Game Developer magazine called Chu's Dynasty one of the top Xbox indie games of 2010 while at GDC with our peers.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

XBLIGs enable anyone to get the game they want to make onto a worldwide market.  As a result the games found on the XBLIG marketplace are some of the most unique and pure gaming experiences available.  There is no one telling you to change something to sell more copies.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

It's hard to find good products.  We had friends who tell us they couldn't find our game on the Xbox and at that time we were still in the new releases section.  It's frustrating to know that many of the people who wanted to play our game just failed to find it.  That being said without XBLIG I'm sure we wouldn't have people playing our game across the world in France.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

The future is bright for XBLIG developers.  I expect to see a lot of windows phone games that tie into the XBLIG projects.  I'm also hoping to see Kinect support come online as I think an innovative platform like the Kinect is perfect for indie devs to work with.  For us we will be working on a small but unique phone game to learn Unity 3D before we jump back into a larger project. We will be posting updates on our website, Facebook, and Twitter shown above.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

I can't really pick one game, I think there are tons of good titles that people just need to find.  We have a special place in our hearts for XonaGames.  These guys work their butts off, and released a number of titles including Decimation X3 and are working on Duality ZF.

Guy W. Galer,  Twisted-Ed Games
Website

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Bureau - Agent Kendall is the first episode in a story driven adventure game that allows you to solve crimes and develop your researching skills.  The story is told through dialogues with many characters and exciting action sequences.  The game has received a lot of attention for having beautiful graphics / animation and an unusual narrative.  A sequel is planned for late Fall 2011.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Microsoft has done a lot to make the Xbox accessible to indie developers and it is my favorite game platform.  I really like the Visual Studio environment and the XNA framework really makes it all possible.  The user community and Microsoft employees provide a lot of help.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Bureau has gotten a lot of positive exposure and I now feel more confident that I could keep making games.  After the release, I started getting a lot of email from people that enjoyed the game and even some very talented people that will collaborate with me on future releases.  I am really happy about this opportunity.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

By providing all the tools and frameworks needed to make games, Microsoft has greatly reduced the risk of creating indie games.   The community based approval system also helps since it allows developers to be more creative and try things.  Every game I make is an experiment and the environment is great for that.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

The drawback of the openness is that it allows a lot of crappy games to flood the indie channel.  This hurts the indie brand plus it is hard for customers to find games.  Microsoft also prohibits a lot of content that can be created by the bigger studios.  Since I would like to be the Roger Corman of video games, it makes it hard to tell edgy stories.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I think the channel will continue to evolve and grow.  It is a great place to try things out and learn about the craft of making games.  It is one thing to like to play games and a completely different thing to like making games.  I am working on a new Sci-Fi game that I hope to release late Summer 2011.  It combines my focus on stories with some combat action.  It will also include an original soundtrack and professional voice actors.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

The Decay series.  

 

 

Daniel Steger, Stegersaurus Games
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

I have many games, but my most well-known is Baby Maker Extreme and Baby Maker Extreme 2. From the name you know you're getting into something odd. It's a title I consider to be a game being treated like a punchline. It has strong gameplay mechanics to it, but what really draws you in is the curiosity and humor. More recently I've just released Avatar Without a Chute.
 
WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XBox Indie Games seemed like a good market to join up with because to me, it had the most potential for a success. I've always been into the indie gaming scene, but had just joined into it as a potential career after leaving a job in the AAA industry. Self-publishing on PC meant driving a lot of traffic to my own website, meaning heavy SEO and web design work. Working with a PC publisher meant pitching to companies before establishing any kind of name for myself. The iPhone, although a hot product, already had a huge developer community, and I could not see myself being able to compete with the massive waves of new titles that platform gets on a daily basis and thought of iPhone dev as if being successful on it was like winning a lottery. The XBox Indie Games channel had a safe rate of releases, but the large XBox userbase to market towards.
 
WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

XBLIG is my livelihood. This was almost not the case. After a few of my first releases, things weren't looking good. I was spending too much time on games that weren't making me enough money for my time. I had even spent 7 months on a game that had made me under $300. I had decided "one more game, and then I look for a real job". It just so happened that that one game was Baby Maker Extreme, which exploded in popularity after its release. It has sold over 100,000 copies and made up for the time I had lost on my other projects. It let me keep doing what I love; making independent games.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The market is self-regulating to a degree, and I like that fact. Your successes and failures are based on the purchases from players, and you have to convince them directly that your title is worth getting. The biggest successes are those that do work that get the interest of the players, not the interest of the platform holder. No one needs to woo Microsoft to be a success on XBLIG. They have to woo the players themselves. Sometimes Microsoft does a promotion and that's great, but we don't have to rely on them for our games to stand out.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

Stability and Microsoft's overall interest in continuing to support us. The XBLIG developers have seen a focus shift with our programming platform (XNA). XNA is used both for XBLIG games, and for WP7. To a lot of developers, we see Microsoft take a stronger interest in building tools and supporting the new WP7 market versus continuing to support XBLIG. Microsoft is a large company, but we never feel like we get much resources to keep XBLIG functional and expanding its features. For example, we've had a lot of talk about wanting various features that XBLA titles get. Leaderboards, achievements, and even Kinect support. We also have occasional breaks in the XBLIG systems, like stat freezes or broken top downloads lists. The frequency of these issues for us makes it hard to believe Microsoft is fixing the problems, versus patching the leaks in the system as they re-emerge. The last really big issue developers had was we found out that a lot of high rated games were getting down-voted by bots, completely shifting the XBLIG top rated games lists. It took a long time to fix it so that these bots couldn't vote anymore, but even after the fix, those affected were not compensated for their lost ratings in any way, and the sales of those titles suffered for that.
 
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I hope it holds on, and keeps going strong. We've seen a few very notable successes recently and it would be great to see that continue, but we need the support of Microsoft, or else the systems we use will get worse and worse, until the system overall will not be able to support us. For me personally, I have a few unannounced projects I'm working on. One is quite large, but I much prefer working on smaller experiences which is why I'm juggling a few projects at once. Perhaps you'll hear more about some of these projects soon.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

I don't really have a favorite and my opinions sway from month to month, but recently I've played a fair bit of Lair of the Evildoer. Its definitely not perfect or even that well-known, but it's been quite addicting.

 

 

Jonathan and David Flook, Silver Dollar Games
Website
 
WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

The special thing about Silver Dollar Games is that we make whatever we want, whenever we want.  It's hard to say what exactly our best game is since we have so many, 47 so far.  But our most recent is exciting because it is truly unique.  Fatal Seduction is our first attempt at delivering a really great story to Xbox Indie Games.  Although the game has some side scrolling game play elements, the game definitely takes the back seat to the story.  It's all about how we deliver the story and our attempt to keep the audience wanting more.  I believe it's one of the most creepy games on Xbox Indie Games to date.  The game was released on June 29th 2011 and it's definitely something to check out, even if it's just to see something different.  Below is a link to a Making of, Teasers and Trailer for the game.
 
WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XNA is easy to use, easy enough that someone with no formal programming knowledge can use it.  It's the sole reason why we're on XBLIG.  The fact is that we might have thought about the indie PC scene if there was a platform on the PC that distributed XNA games.  But for the time being, there's not.  The Windows 7 Phone uses XNA and we took a look at that platform.  Ultimately, we decided the Windows 7 Phone isn't right for us, at least for now.

We would like to branch out to other formats like Steam or XBLA, but we would miss the flexibility to do whatever we want right now.  Additionally it's clear by our games, we lack the skill and programming knowledge to make a successful XBLA caliber games, but maybe one day in the future that will change.
 
WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?
 
Xbox Live Indie Games is amazing.  There's always a customer to appreciate your game, no matter how crazy or amateur the game may be.  It's quick and easy to release games on XBLIG compared to XBLA.  We released a game called Blazing Birds for XBLA back in 2009 and it's no easy task.  Financially, XBLIG can be difficult.  There's many skilled programmers and developers who have left XBLIG because they can't find the right product for the customer.  I find it can be heartbreaking for some when they set their expectations high and see little return.  Silver Dollar Games is making indie games full time, but we don't do it for the money.  We make whatever we want regardless of whether it will be profitable or not.  One game that stirred up the other developers on the Xbox App Hub was our game Why Did I Buy This?.  Which is basically a joke game where the customer battles a telemarketer and the goal is not to buy the game.  Funny enough, it didn't sell all that bad in the end.  

We have received lots of recognition for fans and other developers.  It's really exciting to see a game on the Xbox Dashboard.  Unfortunately there are also certain website around, that I won't name, that take time out of their schedules to write negative comments on twitter and other forums about us every chance they get.  We've heard things on tweeter like, "The cretins over at Silver Dollar Games sent out a MASSIVE press release. Doesn't make them more sympathetic." And one man wrote that we struck gold with our game Office Affairs, of course someone from the unnamed site quickly responded to him by writing "Noooooo... the trick with XBLIG is to stay the hell away from Silver Dollar Games".  Thankfully the world doesn't share their views, and if anyone out there is thinking about making games for XBLIG, it's generally a positive experience.

I'm especially proud of Try Not to Fart because it's really fun to play. You don't believe me?  Check out what Kevin Pereira had to say about it on Attack of the Show!

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

I believe XBLIG is being treated with too much reverence.  The fact is there are dozens of hobbyists and students making their first games ever on XBLIG.  Out of the 1800 games currently on the service, my estimate is about half are from amateurs just learning how it all works.  XBLIG's greatest strength is that fact that everyone's invited and we can all learn to make games and appreciate each other's games.  It's a place where no matter how skilled you are, you're allow to be there.  

I hear from other developers all the time about wanting to restrict the games on the service by enforcing a certain standard of quality.   I hope that day never comes.  Personally I don't think Silver Dollar Games would have a hard time meeting any enforced quality control as we have plenty of high quality games like Blow, Mirror, Ranger and Jump Hero.  I believe Xbox Live Indie Game's greatest strength is the fact that everyone can make games there.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?
 
XBLIG has a lot of little things wrong with it at the moment, but Microsoft's hard working team is busting their ass's night and day to help make things better.  One thing I will go into detail about is the peer review system.

If you're not familiar with Xbox Live Indie Games, it's a peer review system.  This is how it works.  You submit your game to the App Hub and other developers on App Hub review your game.  This means that your direct competition is reviewing your game.  It seems strange at first.  It's kind of like, if EA could fail Call of Duty: Black Ops in peer review then Medal of Honour would probably sell better over the holidays.  Well that obviously couldn't happen in the real world, but in some occasions, that vibe can be present on the App Hub.  Some developers feel that they're game won't get a fair shot in the fifty game long new release list if other games are released around their own game.  Or other things to that effect, I'm sure you can think of a few.

Thankfully Microsoft has put some rules into place when it comes to peer reviewing games.  Most members are great at following them.  This doesn't mean members can't troll you on the App Hub forums and try to get other developers to shun your projects. This can happen from time to time. A developer wrote in response to Why Did I Buy This, "Rubbish like this should be banned... Hopefully other indie developers will realise this and refuse to let things like this through review."

Microsoft does have MVP App Hub Members who help you out when things like this come up.  All the App Hub MVP's are extremely hard working and are very helpful.  I would like to mention one in particular, Jim Perry.  He's the hero of the App Hub and has dedicated a better part of the last few years making it a better place for all developers.  He's a man that deserves much recognition and praise.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

XBLIG evolves slowly one day at a time.  Microsoft is constantly adding new features for the developers, and I'm sure one day you'll see Kinect Indie Games as well, just like they introduced Avatar's into Indie Games.  I think the future is very bright for XBLIG.  Some developers have made hundreds of thousands of dollars on it and many more will follow in their footsteps.  Silver Dollar Games probably won't be making the big bucks in the future, however we will continue to make all the quirky, funny, and crazy games that we have always been making.  

One game that will be released later in early September is The Jump Hero.  It's entered into the Dream Build Play 2011 contest and it will be released for 80 Microsoft Points.
 
WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

I really enjoyed the game City Rain. It's a fun little game that got very little attention.  It's definitely a gem though.

 

Steve Flores, Dragon Divide
Website | Facebook | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Alpha Squad is a dual stick shooter that is a homage to old style arcade games such as Smash TV.

Aside from the general shooting action, the game features pseudo RPG elements, including a story line with branching paths and alternate endings.

If you want to skip the storyline elements, a special arcade-like "Arena" mode focuses on racking up the most points possible before you die. Your score is then saved and shared among other players online.

Both modes in the game feature local and online multiplayer for up to four people. Online multiplayer features a "drop-in" play functionality allowing you or others to drop into your game at any time.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

There are a lot of indie studios developing PC games and many teams developing mods for top tier titles, but what I have always wanted to do is develop on a game console.

I don't mean some kind of homebrew hack through the Dreamcast or Wii, but something in an official capacity where I could see my work among the other great titles made by the larger studios.  

Anyone who grew up playing video games as a kid knows that there is a special feeling you get when you are sitting on a couch with your friends playing a console game that cannot be replicated elsewhere.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

The greatest achievement (unlocked) was completing one of my life-long goals of developing a game. Whether or not that eventually gets me into the industry is irrelevant. It takes a lot of hard work to create anything of substance and even after coming up against every single development issue you could possibly face, I did it. That can never be taken away from me.

In addition it was great to have been recognized in some way by magazines and websites. How many game developers can claim to have been in three print magazines and have their product's soundtrack be nominated as one of the best of the year? Not bad for your FIRST game. I learned a lot and depending on time and finances I would like to build another.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

Allowing anyone the opportunity to develop on modern console hardware and participate in the marketplace is incredible. Kudos to Microsoft for even attempting to do this.

It provides an avenue for individuals who want to break into the games industry and get some "street cred" and those who want to escape corporate game development to spawn off their own independent studio.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

There are several weaknesses with the platform, but obviously being able to develop on the Xbox trumps the shortcomings. However there are a few things new developers need to know:

1.) XBLIG (Xbox Live Indie Games), is prone to arbitrary decisions affecting your development pipeline and future plans. XBLIG itself is an experiment and you are the guinea pig. Towards the end of my first project, Microsoft announced the change over to the XNA 4.0 framework. This was done to create a unified platform for the Windows Mobile devices, Xbox and PC development. Unfortunately I had been working with the 3.1 framework for the past year and a half and my game had been hovering around the "almost done" phase for a couple of months...

Microsoft set a hard cutoff date for which to submit games with the old framework. With some issues in development regarding funding and lack of time to work on the game, there was insufficient time to go through the game and update the code before the deadline and there was a question on whether or not I would be able to bring back some of the contract developers to help out with specific portions of the game. This put me in a hairy situation where I needed to release the game without some of the features I wanted to include and killing my plans for consistent content updates. I have been told that developers who have "graduated" to the Xbox Live Arcade side of things can submit on any version of the framework they wish, which kind of builds on the "second class citizen" status indie developers feel at times.

2.) What has been discussed frequently by the community are occasions when our sales stats are broken. After the release of my title in January there has been several occasions where one day to several days of sales data is missing or incomplete from the generated reports, which makes it difficult at times to do sales projections or have concrete information on how you are doing.

3.) Because the Indie Channel has not been as heavily advertised as Xbox Live Arcade, the traffic hitting the channel is nowhere near where it should be considering we are only a few links away from the Arcade titles on the dashboard. Even though we do not get the advertising push, we are still expected to pay 30% of our earnings directly to Microsoft despite the lack of promotional push and poor support. That is a huge cut of the profits considering all they are basically doing is hosting a 150mb file. On top of this you also pay a membership fee to submit Xbox/WM7 game builds.

4.) Game submissions on XBLIG are peer reviewed by other developers in the community. There are pros and cons to this. There have been many occasions where developer reviewers have been called out as being biased against the content of a game or the team who created it. This has lead to a lot of drama in the community, even culminating on articles on major websites.

5.) We need access to the Achievement system in our games. General remarks I have seen by gamers in forums is that they refuse to purchase XBLIG products because of the lack of Achievements.

6.) Unlike Arcade titles, Indie games cannot be played offline. To XBLIG newcomers who purchased or reviewed my product, this caused a lot of confusion and lead some to believe that it was a specific issue in the product itself.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I am not sure what the future holds, but I would like to see the Xbox Live Indie Games grow and continue in the next few years and also migrate onto the next generation of Xbox consoles.

While there are a lot of games that people would find forgettable (though that is also true for retail store titles), there have been break out hits that never would have seen the light of day without XBLIG. There has been a game title which received a deal as a clothing line at Hot Topic, another game was shown in the background on a network TV show, and a select few titles have launched entire studios and personal careers.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

The quality level on Xbox Live Indie Games has increased significantly since I originally began my first project.

I don't want to mention any current games because I don't want to take anything away from anybody, but I do want to give special mentions to Jump! and Next War, which were the first two indie games I purchased on the channel.

 

 

Kris Steele, Fun Infused Games
Website | Facebook | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Hypership Out of Control is a fast paced retro-styled shmup. Your ship starts out slowly then continuously speeds up so long as you can avoid crashing, making the game more frantic and exciting with each passing moment. Unlike more traditional shmups, Hypership places a larger emphasize on memorization and fast reflexes and less on battling enemies. The game features 1 to 4 players, 10 levels, 4 game modes, and online high scores.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

Having grown up playing various Nintendo or SEGA consoles, finally being able to create games for a home console like the Xbox 360 is a dream come true and something that even a few years ago I never expected would happen. I was already familiar with the C# programming language used for creating XBLIGs because that's what I use at my day job. This made learning to program for XBLIG much easier since I could concentrate on learning the new game programming specific pieces without needing to learn a whole new programming language.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

I love that gamers get to play and legitimately enjoy my games. My game Hypership has rated very high in a few "Top XBLIG" lists done by various websites or blogs which makes me feel pretty fantastic too. I'd like to do this full time some day and while I've made some money from my game releases so far, I need to do much better if that dream is to ever come true.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The community is a fantastic group of people to interact with, very helpful and friendly and passionate about their games. It's inspiring to see what many of the other Indie developers are doing these days. The tools Microsoft has made to create games are great, I couldn't ask for much more.
 
 
WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

XBLIG is still a small fish in a big pond. Gamers aren't as aware of us as we'd like them to be and Microsoft hasn't been as active in fixing issues with the channel, improving the channel, or promoting the channel as we'd like them to be. Often there are great games on XBLIG that just don't sell nearly as well as they deserve to and this has led some quality developers to seek their fortunes on other platforms.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I've got several projects on their way, but the next you'll see from Fun Infused Games is called Volchaos. It's a 2D retro platformer that has you trapped in a volcano and frantically trying to climb your way out before the lava rises and kills you. It's similar to Super Meat Boy in a number of ways.
For XBLIGs itself, I'm hopeful that it will continue to grow and attract more quality developers. If there were more success stories on the platform and more people were aware of the platform, this could happen. Along with a few others, I'm currently involved in putting together a Summer Uprising (http://www.indiegames-uprising.com) promotion slated to start August 22nd which will showcase 10 quality XBLIG titles. Like the Winter Uprising last December, we're aiming to show gamers the great things we're doing on XBLIG and raise the overall profile of the channel.
WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

I'm an old school 2D platformer fan, I really enjoyed Arkedo Series 01 - JUMP.

Ian Stocker, MagicalTimeBean
Website | Twitter

WHAT'S YOUR GAME?

Soulcaster II is a blend of dungeon crawling and tower defense. Without any direct attack powers of your own, you must use the spirits of three Guardian Warriors to defeat your enemies.  Levels evolve and unfold as hordes of enemies mob you, so you must act quickly and pick the best strategic locations for your summons.

WHY XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I've always been a console gamer first and foremost.  This is the first time console development has been available at such an inexpensive barrier to entry, so it's just an amazing opportunity.  I love PC games as well, but there is something special about playing a game in your living room, with a controller, on the couch, with a television.

WHAT HAS XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES MEANT TO YOU?

Revenue from Soulcaster I has been pretty good, but not enough to completely pay the bills.  Soulcaster II fell victim to the manipulation of the ratings system that happened earlier this year, along with many other fine games, so revenue from that is much lower.
So money isn't the driving force for me.  I want to build a brand and make games people enjoy.  My most memorable experience so far was meeting a total stranger at GDC who identified me, approached me, and said he liked my game.  A stranger!  So awesome.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST STRENGTH?

The best part is probably the ease of distribution.  The bottleneck is my ability to build games, not wait for them to be reviewed by quality control or a ratings board.

WHAT'S XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES' GREATEST WEAKNESS?

The only way customers find your game is by browsing the dashboard. So being on one of the "top lists" is vital to getting any downloads. I would like to see the top lists changed to encourage higher quality games.  First, replace Top Downloads with Top Grossing. I think it's more relevant whether you've convinced someone to fork over money after playing your demo.  And second, there should be a Featured Games list which is basically a hybrid Top Rated/New Releases list.

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR XBOX LIVE INDIE GAMES?

I love the service and I want to see it thrive.  The quality of titles has increased noticeably in the past two years.  Microsoft does come through with granting requests to the community, but the gears turn slowly (understandably).  I think many of us are on edge because the slightest change to the service can mean massive, sudden changes to our revenue.  My next title, Escape Goat, is a unique take on the puzzle/adventure genre, and should be complete this summer.

WHAT'S THE BEST XBOX LIVE INDIE GAME (BESIDES YOUR OWN)?

There are lots of hits I could list, many by friends of mine, but those already speak for themselves.  So I'll give a shout-out to a favorite that has gone largely unnoticed: Coral's Curse.  You play has a snake-woman and use both analog sticks to control her by writhing around obstacles. I really hope the developer makes a sequel.

Have you played any of the indie games mentioned in the story? Do you have any additional recommendations? Please leave a comment, post on our Facebook story, or reply to us on Twitter with your thoughts!