Tag: Indie
Opinion Has Sony Really Fallen Out of Love with Indie Games?
A question of optics
Ever since PlayStation Europe chief Jim Ryan’s unfortunate choice of words on indie games, there’s been a spate of hot takes about how Sony’s abandoned the scene. It’s taken us at Push Square Towers by surprise, seeing as only a few months ago we were writing articles arguing against PlayStation Store curation. Y’see,...
News Sony's Snapped Up That Bad Ass Indie Devil May Cry Title
Who needs Dante?
Remember that awesome Devil May Cry-esque indie title that blew up on YouTube earlier in the year? Looks like Sony's snapped it up, as one-man maker noted on Twitter that he's "got support" from the platform holder and will be working on Lost Soul Aside with "some other devs". As a result, the release will be a timed exclusive for...
Talking Point Is Indie Becoming a Defunct, Dirty Word?
Term worm
Indie is the video game equivalent of Marmite: a sector of the medium so divisive that it’s simultaneously culpable of both dismay and delight. The very website that you’re reading is evidence of that, but we’re not alone: scuffles and skirmishes more heated than the format wars themselves can be attributed to the increasingly taboo...
News Shuhei Yoshida Doesn't Understand People Who Don't Like Indie Games
Neither do we
If the last two E3s are anything to go by, Sony's continued efforts to court indie developers are paying off. What's more, the Japanese giant seems pretty chuffed with this outcome, as Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida stated in a recent interview. "Almost every week you see an indie game coming out digitally on PS4. Some of...
News Trio of Indie Titles Bring Experimental Escapades to PS4 and Vita
The dark, the fun, and the crazy
We all remember the indies on display at last year's E3 presser, but was this a long-term relationship or a one night stand? It seems that the platform holder wants to put a ring on its collaboration with smaller studios, as it's added a trio of new titles to the PlayStation 4's lineup. From the more traditional to...
News What Ever Happened to All of Those Indies from Last Year's E3 Press Conference?
Workin' day and night
In one of the most memorable moments from Sony's phenomenal E3 press conference last year, Adam Boyes took to the stage and demonstrated the Japanese giant's commitment to indie developers by showcasing nine titles for the PlayStation 4 and Vita. And now, on the eve of E3 2014, the platform holder has released a short video...
News PS4 or Not, Sony Will Foot the Bill for Indie Developers at TGS
Platform holder plays the good guy
As far as public relations stunts go, this is a corker: Sony has announced that it will foot the bill for indie developers to exhibit their wares at this year’s Tokyo Game Show – regardless of whether they’re bringing their games to a PlayStation platform or not. The move may seem a bit extravagant for the...
Feature Everything You Need to Know About PS4's Latest Crop of Content
It's raining games
Sony cemented its complete and utter domination of the indie space a long time ago, and that’s allowed it to approach the sector with a kind of affable swagger over the past few months. That arrogance was on display overnight, as it casually confirmed twelve new titles for the PlayStation 4 without any real hype or hyperbole...
Weirdness We're a Bit Jealous of This Xbox One Indie Game
The only way is 7-Up
Sony may have taken a huge lead in the indie arena, but Microsoft is fighting back with its atrociously named ID@Xbox initiative. As such, it seems that the PlayStation 4 will actually be missing out on one upcoming indie gem: Soda Drinker Pro. The swigging
Feature Eight Intriguing PS4 and Vita Indie Titles to Look Forward To
The current crop
Project Morpheus may have gobbled up the headlines at this year’s Game Developers Conference, but there were still plenty of inevitable PlayStation 4 and Vita indie announcements to scoff on the leftover scraps. Rather than bombard you with individual stories, we’ve opted to compile all of the biggest reveals in one big lighter...
News Sony's PS4 Indie Launch Parity Clause Is More Parody
See what you did there
Microsoft’s holding a gun to the heads of indie developers, forcing them to deploy their wares on the Xbox One at the same time as other systems or forget releasing them on the format at all. This means that smaller studios without the bandwidth to produce multiple versions of their titles at once may be forced to launch on...
News Xbox One's Heinous Launch Parity Clause Still Causing Problems for PlayStation Devs
Playing dirty
Microsoft may have been quick to react to the negative feedback pointed at most aspects of the Xbox One, but it’s refusing to budge on the launch parity clause that underlines its hastily implemented indie initiative. For those out of the loop, the manufacturer will not allow titles to appear on its system if they’ve already...
News Shuhei Yoshida Wants Western Indie Games to Be More Readily Available in Japan
Going global
Indie games have become an enormous part of the PlayStation brand. Whether it’s relatively big titles like Outlast or smaller timewasters like OlliOlli, there’s rarely a week that passes where Sony’s suite of systems don’t receive an independently developed release or two. However, a lot of this content stems from Western...
News Octodad: Dadliest Catch May Hook Up with PS4 in March
Reel good news
The release schedule for the PlayStation 4 may be more parched than the Sahara desert, but indie outfit Young Horses is aiming to rehydrate your optimism for the next generation system. In an interview with Polygon, the studio has confirmed that Octodad: Dadliest Catch – the bizarre low-budget adventure game that sees you attempting...
News Klei Entertainment Is Thinking About a Vita Port of Don't Starve
Never stop klei-ing
Are you starved for good PlayStation Vita games? Well, Klei Entertainment, the crafty Canadians behind Shank and Mark of the Ninja, have you covered. Or rather, it might have you covered. When asked by an eager fan on Twitter if survival sim Don't Starve
News How Microsoft's Hostile Indie Policies Could Impact PS4
Xbox One manufacturer forcing launch day parity
We’ve been holding off writing about Microsoft’s overdue Xbox One indie policies for a few days now, because this is something that really shouldn’t be particularly relevant on a PlayStation-centric site. There’s always wider competitive overlap that we look to explore, of course, but the...
News Indie Survival Horror Kodoku Sneaks onto PS4 and Vita in 2015
Not a maths puzzle
The preponderance of indie games on Sony consoles is arguably one of the platform holder's greatest strengths. We all remember that impressive spread at E3, and now we have yet another title to add to the ever growing list. Kodoku is a survival horror game developed by fledgling studio
News Terraria Tunnels onto PS Vita This Week in Europe
Off to work we go
Indie side-scrolling Minecraft-esque smash Terraria is set to start digging onto the PlayStation Vita this week, publisher 505 Games has announced. The title will scoop out its bucket and spade on 11th December in Europe, with a North American release set to rise out of the procedurally generated dirt a little later on 17th...
Go with the flOw
Before flower and Journey, there was flOw. Swimming onto the PlayStation 3 in 2007, this trailblazing title from thatgamecompany was one of several games that paved the way for the thriving indie scene found on consoles today. Six years later, it’s fitting that the release has washed up on the PlayStation 4 as part of its own...
News Hello Games' Hugely Ambitious No Man's Sky Explores the Sea and Stars
The final frontier
The only real danger in No Man's Sky is that developer Hello Games has lost its mind, as this looks wildly ambitious. The release — announced during the VGX Awards earlier this evening — hints at a massive open world in which you can start out swimming and then jump into a spacecraft and explore the stars. It's not exactly a...
Instant grassification
Originally swept onto the PlayStation 3 in 2009, flower soared away with a slew of critical acclaim that would set the benchmark for developer thatgamecompany’s successor Journey three years later. At its release, the floral indie favourite pushed boundaries by exploring the idea of what interactive entertainment can be, and...
News TowerFall Ascends on PS4 in Early 2014
Oooh, yeah
Former Ouya exclusive TowerFall is coming to the PlayStation 4 in early 2014, Canadian indie developer Matt Thorson has announced. The competitive platformer was revealed for the next generation console during Spike TV's big next generation launch event overnight, and was the cause of Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida's...
News Sony: Exclusives Are Just a Means for Manufacturers to Brag Louder
Little to gain in the indie space
Exclusivity has been a staple of the console business since its inception, but as part of a candid keynote at the IndieCade conference in Los Angeles this week, Sony’s vice president of publisher and developer relations Adam Boyes admitted that the practice isn’t always productive for platform holders or...
News Yoshida: Indie Games Will Ensure PS4 Eschews Content Drought
Sprinkling water into the well
Content droughts are common alongside any major platform launch. Publishers tend to target launch day as the optimal date to release their wares, and that often results in a shortage of software over the weeks – and, in particularly problematic cases, months – that ensue. Sony’s already attempted to compensate...
News Sony: Indie Drive Is Not Just an Angle, It's Truly the Strategy of PlayStation
Platform holder betting big on rising stars
Sony’s open approach to indie developers may have earned it a number of headlines over the past six months, but the company’s vice president of developer and publisher relations Adam Boyes has admitted that the strategy is not just a gimmick. Speaking with Game Informer, the likeable executive...
Feature 15 Fresh PS4, PS3, and Vita Titles That Should Be on Your Wishlist
Open the floodgates
Sony dropped an atomic bomb of indie announcements at GamesCom this week. The sheer number of titles confirmed for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Vita has been unprecedented over the past few days, as evidenced by the empty coffee jars and film of human filth that’s infected our office. The company backed small studios...
News Liege Smashes Stretch Goal, Marches onto PS4 and Vita
Check, mate
Liege, the beautiful adult RPG by Coda Games, has smashed its Kickstarter stretch goal, meaning that the fascinating adventure will release on the PlayStation 4 and Vita in the near future. The title – which looks prettier than Rachel Bilson in a rose garden – needed to raise $48,000 in order to guarantee the console release, but...
News Sony's Indie Support 'Lives Up to the Hype, and Then Some'
Liege developer impressed with platform holder
Sony’s aggressive pursuit of indie outfits has been in force for some time now, and the positive word of mouth surrounding the platform holder is beginning to encourage some smaller studios to actively approach the Japanese giant. One such developer is John Rhee, who decided to reach out to the...
News Blacklight: Retribution Developer Uncloaked, Discusses PS4
Zombie Studios unlocks the gun cabinet
Zombie Studios’ highly-customisable first-person shooter Blacklight: Retribution is set to fire onto the PlayStation 4 as part of Sony’s ongoing free-to-play push, and speaking in the latest instalment of the platform holder’s Conversations with Creators initiative, the developer has admitted that the...
E3 2013 Sony Kicking Roll7 Some Cash to Build OlliOlli for Vita
Let's get tricky
Roll7’s side scrolling skater simulation OlliOlli may not officially be a part of Sony’s indie Pub Fund initiative, but the manufacturer is paying for the PlayStation Vita platformer’s development all the same. Company director Thomas Hegarty confirmed the snippet in an interview with Joystiq, adding that the studio will...
Feature Eight New PS4 Indie Games That Should Be On Your Radar
Shrunken down to size
The big moments at E3 may be reserved for hardware reveals and blockbuster exclusives, but the indie sector is undeniably becoming increasingly important for platform holder Sony. The Japanese giant has made a huge push in this area over the past few years, and as its press conference evidenced earlier in the week, it’s not...
News You're Probably Going to Want This Gorgeous Golden PSone
Green with envy
Sony may have wooed the likes of Jonathan Blow with its aggressive indie initiative, but it’s still yet to tempt the don of the underground development scene. Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has yet to announce anything for the various PlayStation platforms – but that’s not stopped the company from resorting to...
News Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey Could Be Coming to PS4
Live in reverie
Hotly anticipated Kickstarter-funded adventure Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey could be coming to the PlayStation 4. Ragnar Tørnquist, the founder of developer Red Thread Games, revealed the tidbit in an interview with Eurogamer.net, stating that the Norwegian studio
News Sony Cuts the Ribbon on the PlayStation Store's New Indie Games Section
Weird and wonderful
Sony’s coveting indie developers hard at the moment, so it makes sense that the platform holder is making a big song and dance out of the PlayStation Store’s new ‘Indie Games’ category. The channel – launching imminently in both Europe and North America – is designed to provide additional exposure to existing and...
Feature Eight Exciting Indie Titles to Anticipate on PS3, Vita, and PS4
Small teams, big ideas
Sony is doubling down on indie game development. While the platform holder has no intention of shunning the multi-million dollar blockbusters that sit atop the sales charts every year, the company is eager to bring some diversity to its software catalogue. As such, the firm has partnered with a number of svelter studios in...
News Thomas Was Alone Developer Mike Bithell Plotting PlayStation 4 Title
Encourages indie developers to hop aboard
Indie favourite Thomas Was Alone may be acclimatising to its new console quarters as we type, but that’s not stopped designer Mike Bithell from plotting plans for the PlayStation 4. Hot on the heels of the puzzle platformer’s release on the PlayStation 3 and Vita, the British-based developer has hinted...
News Sony's Aggressively Approaching Indie Developers for PS4
Company cites smaller studios as a big focus
You may not have dwelled on the idea too much, but PlayStation has become a bit of a haven for indie developers over the past couple of months. In just a few short weeks, the publisher has announced a slew of cult titles for the PlayStation 3 and Vita, including Hotline Miami, Thomas Was Alone, and Frozen...
News Beatshapers Bundles Up Indie Classics for PS3, Vita and PSP
Five games for not much cash
Publisher Beatshapers has announced today that its Indie Bundle - which contains five titles developed by esteemed independent video game makers - is going to be made available on PlayStation Stores all over the globe. The bundle includes Wizorb, Canabalt, Enigmo, Galcon Labs and BreakQuest.
Icon Games has earned our respect as a developer
The indie outfit is behind some of the better PlayStation Minis available on the PlayStation Store — but it's not just the studio's chops as a developer that's won us over. For months now, the studio has been extremely candid, discussing its success — or lack thereof — on the various console...
