Indie game developers get it: people don’t have a lot of money these days. And while they’d love to sell their creations at full price, it’s given that a lower-priced offering will get people to try games like Canabalt or World of Goo out and come back to try out even more titles.
I’m a sucker for a classic point-and-click adventure game. The LucasArts adventures of the early 1990s are how I fell in love with gaming, and to this day remain the biggest influence on my taste in digital worlds. So whenever I see a new entry in the genre appear, I have to jump on it. The latest to catch my attention is The Journey Down, from Sweden-based indie dev team Skygoblin.
Plagued with disconnects and shot through with lag, the May 15 launch of Diablo III had players and press alike railing against the always-online nature of the latest entry in the genre-defining action role-playing series. While not entirely unexpected, those unfortunate events punctuated the problems with requiring constant external server access for a single-player game.
While Diablo III‘s error codes are being raved over by the gaming press, they’ve also managed to add an exciting element of chance to the review process.
When Dejobaan Games, the developer behind The Wonderful End of the World and AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity create a first-person shooter that’s all about building and demolishing gigantic robots, they don’t need to name it Drunken Robot Pornography to get my attention; the name it Drunken Robot Pornography because there’s something wrong with them.