Seriously? You can almost win an award for THIS?!

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Enrathi

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Phlakes said:
I once saw a painting that was a single red stripe (one brush stroke) on a solid blue background. Its name? Red Stripe. It was being sold for $15000.

It's called modern art, and it doesn't make any sense.
You know what I call a single red stripe on a blue background? Squad markings for my 40K minis. Who knew my great artistic talent could net me that kind of money?
 

masterjiji

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Jul 13, 2009
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Good indie games. Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Not sure if it counts as a indie game (I'm not up to par on my lingo), but I've heard it referred to as that and I think it's fucking amazing. I yawned my way through every Silent Hill game, Parasite Eve, and even The Grudge for the Wii was just a series of jump scares, but Amnesia will MOST LIKELY FUCK YOUR SHIT. I started out with the usual bravado and defiant nothing-scares-me attitude, and I was a complete pansy the entire time I played that game.

And I've toyed with the Penumbra games. They just didn't have the same atmosphere as Amnesia did. The biggest killer was that they looked like N64-level graphics much of the time, particularly the dogs in Overture, but even so I still think A:TDD is Frictional's crowning moment of awesome.
 

Halo Fanboy

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ShakyFiend said:
'The Graveyard' is one of the most sophisticated and insightful games you have ever had the honour of mentioning.
But would you still say the same thing after playing Mary Kate and Ashely Winners Circle for the Game Boy Color.
 

AmrasCalmacil

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This is like the gaming equivalent of one of those films shot completely in black and white about a little boy riding his bicycle, whilst a soft spoken frenchman provides narration, isn't it?

Incidentally, triple A games can be, and often are art in their own way.
 

Zephirius

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Phlakes said:
I once saw a painting that was a single red stripe (one brush stroke) on a solid blue background. Its name? Red Stripe. It was being sold for $15000.

It's called modern art, and it doesn't make any sense.
I'll go you one better: I saw a "painting" in Tate Modern I think it was in London years ago when I went on a class excursion. It was an empty canvas with a tear in the middle. Truly, art.

That is, a partially torn canvas.
 

BlueSinbad

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Oct 18, 2010
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I just downloaded the free trial of this game, not going to lie, it creeped me right out, I thought I'd never say this, but, FREAKY ASS BELGIANS!
 

Jim-a-Lim

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Jan 10, 2009
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I thought it was slightly brilliant - it's very innovative to assume the role of an elderly lady no? how many games have you done this in exactly?
The idea being that you explore the emotional state of an old woman is fresh :) - more creative and innovative than oh say black ops... Enough said
 

Jandau

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Dec 19, 2008
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Azaraxzealot said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graveyard_%28video_game%29

i could make that game in one day and it gets nominated for an innovation award? what's so innovative about making an old lady walk through a graveyard?!

are the standards for indie gaming so low that they would nearly award THIS with an award? Seriously.

are there ANY indie games out there that blur the lines between AAA and indie? because so far i dont see any innovation in the indie scene. it seems to be just a bunch of sidescrollers and mario knockoffs.

i have yet to play a GOOD 3d indie game, or at least one that i would indeed enjoy for more than 2 minutes before i got bored and went back to Red Dead Redemption or Saints Row 2.

i really want to know if there are any 3D 3rd-person indie sandbox games out there... it seems like they are incapable of that (or even just good 3rd person in general).

and before you all go "SUPER MEAT BOY AND LIMBO!" on me, i played (and hated) both those games because i have no degree of patience for platformers, which it seems like every indie game is a variation thereof (or a Contra/Asteroids knockoff)

EDIT: Forgot about Minecraft and Mods. Because Minecraft is the only exception and everything else that's not a 2d sidescroller, run-n-gun, space shooter game is a mod.
Define Indie game for me. I'm serious. You talk about games that blur the line between Indie and AAA games. What exactly would those be? In fact, there IS no line between the AAA and Indie games just like there is no border between Spain and Russia - there's a bunch of stuff in between.

What I'm talking about are games from smaller developers which I'm unsure if they can be classified as Indie. Look up "King Arthur: Role Playing Wargame", you'll find a Total War game in a fantasy setting by a small Hungarian developer. Look up "Venetica" and you'll get a Fable-type game, also from a small European developer.

Are these Indie games? Or are they just games? They sure as hell aren't "AAA" games, that much is evident from the lack of budget. "True" Indie games are generally developed by a very small number of people on a budget that's smaller than the value of a (heavily) used car, and as such there is only so much they can do.

And if we ARE only looking for the games done on the "cheap", take a look at Flash games. Go to Kongregate or some such site and you'll find a vast selection of games that should be classed as Indie, ranging from top-down RPGs, through strategy games, point&click adventures and many many more.

The problem with the "Indie scene" that we all hear about is that it's not really Indie. It's what passes on LIVE and STEAM. There's great stuff out there, you just need to look a bit harder.
 

Treeinthewoods

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This is why "games as art" makes me unhappy, it reminds me how incredibly dull my college art classes actually were.

Make the old lady a night or a cyborg, make the graveyard a haunted graveyard or a cyborg haunted graveyard, give me a plasma beam or a gatling gun and sign me up. I'd love to contemplate mortality as I played an actual fun game.
 

Gralian

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Sep 24, 2008
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Zephirius said:
Phlakes said:
I once saw a painting that was a single red stripe (one brush stroke) on a solid blue background. Its name? Red Stripe. It was being sold for $15000.

It's called modern art, and it doesn't make any sense.
I'll go you one better: I saw a "painting" in Tate Modern I think it was in London years ago when I went on a class excursion. It was an empty canvas with a tear in the middle. Truly, art.

That is, a partially torn canvas.
Think about it. A torn canvas. It represents rejection. A rejection of the constrains of cultural influence governed by a bourgeois society.

It's very reminiscent of Primitivism, an artistic movement adopted by the Avant Garde after Britain took Benin and looted the city. Artists saw the Benin people's 'simplistic' art as being more of an honest and truthful expression of their human condition. It was not something forcibly moulded by cultural influences, but shaped by what the artist wanted to express.

To this end, members of the Avant Garde began to draw and paint images that were far simpler and far removed from classical art. This also gave rise to 'Cubism', and i'm sure you've heard of Picasso.

It's all about the rejection of contemporary society, values and culture. For those following Primitivism, it was about rejection and expression. Something that conveys the artist's feelings with greater authenticity.
 

dex-dex

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Oct 20, 2009
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I will say that it is very simple but nice but I would not classify it as a game
 

funguy2121

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Flatfrog said:
Azaraxzealot said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graveyard_%28video_game%29

i could make that game in one day and it gets nominated for an innovation award? what's so innovative about making an old lady walk through a graveyard?!
The innovation is presumably in the experience, not the technology. Still, it does sound like a lot of wank to me.

But to answer your question, surely the whole point of an independent game is that they have to work on a lower budget than the AAA games so they have to compete on a different level. And frankly, you sound like you have a fairly limited set of games you're interested in. It's like asking why there aren't any independent films to compete with Pirates of the Caribbean. If all you like is blockbusters then you're not going to find a lot of independent movies that will appeal to you!
Ditto to the ninja. I haven't gotten the chance to play a lot of indie games but a friend recently said that indie games, along with the rest of the dl content, make the 360 a must-have.
 

MrCollins

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Jun 28, 2010
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Azaraxzealot said:
minecraft kind of transcends the indie scene to become its own thing. but then again, how many knockoffs exist? again, the indie development scene is FRAUGHT with knockoffs and 2d games.

All the videogame industry is fraght with knockoffs
 

Sannit

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Mar 1, 2011
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I, too, just played it. It wasn't bad, but if I were the developer, I'd make one alteration: I actually got anxious as I started to leave the graveyard, what with all the creepy clouds and crows and sirens and everything, but I knew I was safe because I was playing the trial version. Imagine if, all confident in my invincibility, and the meat of the game (that is, the song) ostensibly over, I were to suddenly and unexpectedly keel over. I know I don't speak for most of you guys, but that would have won my vote.

Not that we're voting. Art is subjective, guys.
 

ShakyFiend

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Halo Fanboy said:
ShakyFiend said:
'The Graveyard' is one of the most sophisticated and insightful games you have ever had the honour of mentioning.
But would you still say the same thing after playing Mary Kate and Ashely Winners Circle for the Game Boy Color.
No but then again you might not say the same about that after reading Anna Karenina (possibly, cant really claim to know you as such, so dont come back at me with
"actually I have"; I was just making an example.
 

Mikeyfell

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Aug 24, 2010
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Azaraxzealot said:
http://en.wikipedia.org
are the standards for indie gaming so low that they would nearly award THIS with an award? Seriously.
Indie games don't have low standards, they have different standards. It's like Oscar nominations for movies. The Oscar nominees are boring, and the movies that didn't get nominated are dumb. It's the same with Indie games and triple A games

are there ANY indie games out there that blur the lines between AAA and indie? because so far i dont see any innovation in the indie scene. it seems to be just a bunch of side scrollers and mario knockoffs.
The last thing an indie game wants is to be compared to a triple A game. Two triple A's go head to head the one with the bigger budget wins. Two Indie games go head to head and they're too different to compare so the best one wins. They're trying new things. And good thing too because gaming as a whole was getting fucking boring.
 

Wolfram23

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Mar 23, 2004
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"Games should be considered art!"

*Artsy game comes out. Gamers do not understand*

"WTF is this shit!?"

That about sums it up, amiright?