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Crayon Physics Deluxe, last year's Seumas McNally Grand Prize winner at the Independent Games Festival, hits PCs tomorrow, developer Petri Purho emailed to let us know.
This game's callied Mightier. It's an entrant in this year's Independent Games Festival. You design stuff and solve puzzles in the real world, then scan them into the game world.
Crayon Physics Deluxe, the 2008 Independent Games Festival Grand Prize Winner, is getting dangerously close to release, and to prepare for the waxy buildup that is sure to ensue, creator Petri Purho has launched a brand new website for the game and is now actively accepting pre-orders. What does a pre-order of Crayon Physics get you? How about $US5 off the already ridiculously low price of $US20, plus a guaranteed spot in the Crayon Physics Deluxe beta? I declare it not too shabby indeed.
The Independent Games Festival has proven itself a breeding ground for innovative new ideas, some of which end up changing the paradigm for the larger commercial industry. Now it looks like the Tokyo Game Show is getting its own version of the IGF, called the Sense of Wonder Night 2008, to be held on October 10th.
Ten titles will be selected for consideration, with the finalists' list to be revealed on September 16th. According to Wired, the committee has warned potential applicants against showing up with more of the same - they want technological and storytelling innovation that directly impacts gameplay. In with the new, then!
Should be interesting to see what turns up - by the by, Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is one of the people on the selection committee, aptly.
Tokyo Game Show Throws Party for Innovative Games [Wired via GameSetWatch]
It's the Sundance of gaming. Or is it? That was bandied about (and overheard) a lot at this year's Independent Games Festival. Sure, the festival has been around for ten years, but this year, things were different. What, with the PlayStation Network, Xbox LIVE Arcade and WiiWare providing very real outlets for indie games, these games suddenly have a market with publishers are looking for the next Everyday Shooter.
"This year was kind of a perfect storm for the IGF," says Wired Magazine editor Chris Baker. "For one thing, we're well-ensconced in the current generation of game consoles, so there were no big surprises."
Independent games, however, are a breath of fresh air. And with digital distribution coming into its own, something that just continues to grow.
"I think this year further reinforced that indie game creators are getting better and better at conceptualising ideas that likely aren't 'mainstream' enough to thrive in a $US 60 AAA Xbox 360 game," says IGF judge and Gamasutra editor Simon Carless, "and making them into totally fun, extremely playable titles."
Year after year, indie games are looking more and more polished. Slick, even.
"Tools are only getting easier to use, and digital distribution is increasing in scope and popularity every day," points out Andrew Maneri, character designer and AI developer for Synaesthete. "These were the two big barriers to entry for many developers."
But what about the winners of this year's IGF? Did anyone get any deals? Advance their career? We chatted up some of the winners, and got a glimpse of why deals don't really matter and how IGF changed their lives. Or didn't.
Oh, and we totally forgot to ask about indie gaming groupies. Sorry.
