Pricewatch!

That reminds me. I saw something the other day that, prompted by the discovery of the ET game cartridges, talked about the big video game crash of 1983 and how it was caused by a glut of bad games. It had an interesting discussion on the similarities to the current flood of indie games and how bad many of them are.

I think the problem's a bit different than the 80s one, where executives thought people would buy any old crap (that's the mainstream gaming companies), and has more to do with relatively inexperienced people being unable to accept that they might be less than totally awesome at everything. Too many are like amateur authors who think that the first draft of their My Little Pony/Star wars crossover novel is good enough to publish, and anyone who disagrees just doesn't get their genius.
 
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There is a difference - the amateur author doesn't have an editor above who'll tell him this is plain boring. Or annoying. Or too much. Or something that's for some reason not likeable or enjoyable.
With ET game there was an editor. Who sucked at his job. Sadly.

I'll also disagree with you on the current flood. It's not indie games that are hurting the games industry. It's a flood of phonegames.

On Steam weeklong sale, for only a few bucks, they sell Holy Avatar vs Maidens of the Dead:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/261720/
Never bought this one, for whatever reason I thought it's an endless respawns grinder. And maybe it's not. Anyone has it? Is it worth buying?
 
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I'll also disagree with you on the current flood. It's not indie games that are hurting the games industry. It's a flood of phonegames.

And 99% of 'phone games' are ... yep, indie.

Look at the numbers, the sales, the attention, and so on - indie = phone game. Heck, look at the crap *for Mac & PC* that hits my inbox looking for attention every day - mindless phone games. And if you wonder where THEY come from? Look at BigFish and other casual game sites from 5 or so years ago, playing Luxor and Bejeweled clones galore!
 
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I think this is the thread I was thinking of. It's got some interesting points in it.
 
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There is a difference - the amateur author doesn't have an editor above who'll tell him this is plain boring. Or annoying. Or too much. Or something that's for some reason not likeable or enjoyable.
With ET game there was an editor. Who sucked at his job. Sadly.

I'll also disagree with you on the current flood. It's not indie games that are hurting the games industry. It's a flood of phonegames.

On Steam weeklong sale, for only a few bucks, they sell Holy Avatar vs Maidens of the Dead:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/261720/
Never bought this one, for whatever reason I thought it's an endless respawns grinder. And maybe it's not. Anyone has it? Is it worth buying?
Grotesque Tactics? I haven't played the one you mentioned (which I think would be considered like Grotesque Tactics 2.5). I played the first 2 games, there is no respawn that I remember. It was a somewhat funny turn based RPG series but with lots of glitches.
 
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Sure, but isn't #1 phonegameseller who earned the most money - EA?

No clue - but they are not the most influential BY FAR. 'Flappy Bird' is more influential than the entirety of EA's mobile game output.

And the reason I mention that isn't to disagree with you, but rather to emphasize that it isn't so much phonegames in general but the 'gold rush' to be the next 'phonegame millionaire'. And that history goes back to Popcap games and earlier to things like Tetris ... small games that were huge hits. Now you can have a quick-hit concept, release for iOS at $0.99 and make millions in a week.

THAT is the draw - not creating games worth playing ...
 
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No clue - but they are not the most influential BY FAR. 'Flappy Bird' is more influential than the entirety of EA's mobile game output.

And the reason I mention that isn't to disagree with you, but rather to emphasize that it isn't so much phonegames in general but the 'gold rush' to be the next 'phonegame millionaire'. And that history goes back to Popcap games and earlier to things like Tetris … small games that were huge hits. Now you can have a quick-hit concept, release for iOS at $0.99 and make millions in a week.

THAT is the draw - not creating games worth playing …

so far I've made $40 - 30% the website host takes for the privilege of hosting on them.
 
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For whatever reason you just didn't feel like buying Demonicon before?


——-

Wanna see possibly the worst game ever made but you're kinda not prepared to pay too much for it?
Well… Not really the worst ever… There is a serious competition like that ET game they've burried millions of copies and are now making a documentary about…


http://store.steampowered.com/app/242800/

Sorry joxer but your post got me curious - what's that worst game ever thing ET? Was E.T. for Atari or was it something else for PC? I played quite a few games on PC in my life that had mediocre reviews or low scores (i.e. Jagged Alliance Back in Action Crossfire) but never heard about the worst one ever. I saw a year or two ago one review at PC PowerPlay for a shitty FPS that got 1/10 but I forgot the title...
 
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I remember playing a found copy of ET a few years later on our old Atari, and it was awful. I suppose it worked, in that you could move the character around on the screen, but that was about all you could say for it. I'm sure there's emulator sites with it out there, if anyone's feeling particularly masochistic.
 
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I remember playing a found copy of ET a few years later on our old Atari, and it was awful. I suppose it worked, in that you could move the character around on the screen, but that was about all you could say for it. I'm sure there's emulator sites with it out there, if anyone's feeling particularly masochistic.

I had it as well. :-/

I recall that you had to find pieces of his ship or something? There were pits that you would fall into and you had to levitate out of them. I was very young at the time, but even back then I could tell it was a turd.
 
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New Humble Weekly Sale !!!!11111!!OnEeleven!!

  • T1: Wizardry 6
  • T1: Wiz 7
  • T1: Shadow Man
  • T2: I Have No Mouth, and I must Scream
  • T2: Harvester
  • T2: The 7th Guest
  • T3: Wiz 8
  • T3: System Shock 2
  • T3: The 11th Hour

1 / 5 / 9$

The only two weak games are all-time classics.
 
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New Humble Weekly Sale !!!!11111!!OnEeleven!!

  • T1: Wizardry 6
  • T1: Wiz 7
  • T1: Shadow Man
  • T2: I Have No Mouth, and I must Scream
  • T2: Harvester
  • T2: The 7th Guest
  • T3: Wiz 8
  • T3: System Shock 2
  • T3: The 11th Hour

1 / 5 / 9$

The only two weak games are all-time classics.

Nice!
 
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New Humble Weekly Sale !!!!11111!!OnEeleven!!

  • T1: Wizardry 6
  • T1: Wiz 7
  • T1: Shadow Man
  • T2: I Have No Mouth, and I must Scream
  • T2: Harvester
  • T2: The 7th Guest
  • T3: Wiz 8
  • T3: System Shock 2
  • T3: The 11th Hour

1 / 5 / 9$

The only two weak games are all-time classics.

That is a totally awesome bundle!
 
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Steam has Dragon Age: Origins for $5 this weekend. $7.50 for the ultimate edition.
 
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