WTF is Destructoid? Read this first!
Got news? email us
Follow
RSS
Contact
About Me
I'm a woman who loves her video games. I'm also pretty much a nerd for all that is nerdy: MST3K/Riff Trax, Star Wars, Anime/Manga, Kevin Smith, X-men Comics, and of course all things video games. Someday, I would look to get paid to write for and/or about video games. I'm awesome, so it'll will probably happen.
I have a strong hatred for the Atlantic Ocean.
Yoshi BBFs forever: Me, Suff0cat, Wardrox, and ScottyG.
Preferred games are RPGs and puzzle games. I like the occasional FPS (Timesplitters: FuturePerfect being my favorite) and some racing (Burnout Reveeeeenge).
Current Games:
Burnout Paradise
Left 4 Dead
Space Invaders Extreme
Harvest Moon Island of Happiness
Chrono Trigger DS
My Project 365
That link is to some of my photography/photoshop art done for Project 365. If you don't know what Project 365 is, GOOGLE IT DUH.
Notable C-Blogs:
The Start of the Affair: Harvest Moon
I also write a bit for Negative Gamer.
Gamer Profile
3DS friend code:
Steam:
Battle:
PSN:
Mii: nintendoll
Gamertag: Nintendoll
Steam:
Battle:
PSN:
Mii: nintendoll
Gamertag: Nintendoll
Following (45)
|
|
|
So now, after the new Xbox dashboard has pushed forward through all the hate, people seem to be quieting all their grumbles and life goes on as normal, right?
WRONG. The new dashboard has completely destroyed the market for Xbox Live Indie Games. Once prominently featured in the game section, it has slowly been pushed farther and farther away from the public eye. Do you remember this? 
It seems a very long time ago that the indie (or community, or XNA games as they once were called) were featured right at the forefront of the games section. When XNA Creator's Club and the community games first were launched, it was a huge step in fostering console game innovation. A mere three days after launch there were already a reported 45 games released. I mean, wow. Developers could not wait to show the world what they could do on consoles, and now they had a wonderful vehicle to do so. Fast forward to November 1st, 2010: the launch of The New Xbox Experience. Microsoft takes a page out of Apple's design book and the "blades" of yesteryear and replaced with 2D content squares in a 3D space. While certainly not the "color TV phenomenon" that MS was hoping for, it did seem to make browsing the dashboard a little easier. Plus, OH BOY! AVATARS! So what happened to the XNA Community games then? Well, let's take a look: 
According to MS, Indie titles no longer have a place in the "Games" section of the Marketplace, but have now been lumped in with avatar items and music downloads in the "Specialty Shops" section. Fortunately for indie developers, lots of complaining paired with extensive media coverage prompted Microsoft to move the Indie Games back into the games section of the Marketplace. So in the end, it was a victory for the little guy! Hooray! Let the spirit and innovation so heralded by the original launch of XNA Community Games live on! Until.... 
Wait, where is that again? Here are some directions for getting to the Xbox Live Indie Games. Hit right bumper to get to the "games" tab (capitalization is so 2010 guys). Now to the bottom left, "Games Marketplace." ("Are we there yet Dad?" "No. And if you ask one more time, I will turn this car RIGHT AROUND.") Choose the inexplicable photo of a girl jumping with the label "Game Type." Alternatively, you can check your reflexes trying to select the Indie Games option from the quickly revolving feature panel. Oh, there it is! The Indie games! Time to see what's hot in the community...but wait! There's still more jackassery to be had! You can only browse Indie titles by release date. Unless you took the time to catch the Indie Games revolving panel, which offers browsing by "Kotaku's Favorites," "Contest Finalists," "Most Popular," and (here it is again) "New Releases." Why these options aren't available from the "Game Type" screen is beyond me. It's the first time I've had to play some sort of weird mini game to allow me to browse games properly. These are not even close to how I would like to browse through any games. Two basically are "the best games...based on the opinions of a few people." Most popular and new releases are kind of useful but...what happened to "Alphabetical" and "Highest Rated?" I usually use a combination of "Highest Rated" and "Most Popular" to determine what's good. I think it's truly a shame that Microsoft is trying to push Indie Games aside for advertising space and money. Indie Games are what truly make Xbox so unique and different from their competitors, creating a space for small-time developers to explore and show their creativity to a wide and varied audience. Remember: just because Indie Games don't have achievements, doesn't mean their any less fun or important to the gaming community. Images sources: Image 1: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/edunhill/archive/2007/09/03/getting-started-with-xna.aspx Image 2: http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2010/11/03/xbox-live-indie-games/ Image 3: http://www.indiegamemag.com/satirical-shooter-game-type-mocks-microsofts-new-dashboard/
Attached photos:   
|
|
|
|
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
|
Comment with FacebookClick connect and comment instantly! |
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds |
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
All editorial content, including blogs, comments, and forums written by our community, are protected by a
Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing requiring attribution.
Destructoid aka ModernMethod is an independently-run company forged by our childhood love of video games and adulthood hatred mainstream video game press.
Living the dream since March 16, 2006
Living the dream since March 16, 2006
The answer as to "why" they do this is simple: Microsoft doesn't care. Specifically the xbox team doesn't care, nobody but people into indie games cares about indie games. Which is a shame, I found some amazing stuff like Tempura of the Dead, Breath of Death VII, and Shoot 1Up on indie games that begs to be played, but nobody will ever find these gems because of how stupid microsoft is and how deep the well of indie games goes. So much nonsense on there when I actually could find the god damn things, it was hard to find anything worth actually playing.
The studio that made Shoot 1UP made a game called "Game Type" that I've been played for review (it'll be on Nukezilla tomorrow, hopefully). You should try playing it; it's a shmup that makes fun of the new dashboard and the inspiration behind this post :D
Go into the Indie Games section, above the games is a green square that says "Sort by Release Date". Press up to highlighlight it, then press A. This allows you to sort by Top Downloads, User Ratings or by Title. As for finding it, the only trouble I had was the first time, now not so much. My gripe is that I can't sort Indie Games by genre which is a pain if you're looking for a particular game type. Other than that I love the new dashboard.
Hope this helps.
If only they would stop with this streamling crap and create a real store like steam or retail. Unfortunatly MS only gives a shit about the xbla games they publish themselves.
Before you would click on game marketplace. Then indie games or something..
Now you click on all sorts of shit to find what you want.. 2 of the sections actually appear to be the exact same too.
I used to be able to click one time on game marketplace, and check out new game videos, new game demos, new xbox live arcade games, new xbox live themes, new xbox live gamer pictires, new xbox live indie games, new xbox live game add-ons.
Now, everything is separated and it takes about 4-5 minutes to do in what I used to do in 20 seconds.
Nice little rant. Miss your stuff girl.