Hello everyone! I’m Sho! I’m the new content provider here! Please don’t be too mean to me!

Have you heard of a game called Cave Story? It’s was originally a game self published by Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya. In this game, you play as an amnesiac robot on a floating island. I won’t delve into the details for sake of spoilers. The point is that this game had been published in 2004. Only until several years later did Pixel receive due recognition for creating this game. With the help of NICALiS, Pixel published his game on the DSi shop and created Cave Story+, available on Steam. The cool thing is that this is all after he thought he would never make another game.

This is a good sign for Indie developing and a show of the hard work it takes. Even if it did take a long time for Pixel to make money off of his game. If you’re on your own, pouring time and money into a game that may or may not receive recognition, it could even be a threat to your own life. Phil Fish, the creator of Fez, is a testament to that. Indie developers are the most likely to advance the gaming market. Because without big budgets, they need to innovate in order to have success. This is adverse to the mainstream/Triple A scene, because they have shareholders and big risks with every game they put out. This is also why so many developing studios are shutting down. If you’re not the next Call of Duty or another big franchise with a guaranteed selling point, then you aren’t going to be selling like them.

So where is Daisuke Amaya now? He is working hard with NICALiS to release Ikachan(Little Squid) as DSiWare, the game he made before Cave Story in 2000 which is available freely. Plus, he now makes money off Cave Story that was originally freeware.

Indie Search!

Here, I’ll scour the internet for three free indie games. I’ll ask all of you to vote on whichever one you like the most and the winner will be talked about in more detail in my next article!

First, we have a free indie game called Digital: A Love Story by Christine Love. http://scoutshonour.com/digital/

We start out in the game with a new computer, an Amie Workbench to be exact. It’s one of those old computers you used to access BBS systems. They were like the forums of the time with Sysops as the administrators. From here on out, you interact with the game through text and private messages that your protagonist sends.

Next, here’s Super Crate Box by Vlambeer. http://www.supercratebox.com/

This is another simple downloadable game that you can enjoy. You start trying to obtain boxes and you get a new weapon each time you collect a box. As you do this, enemies come down from the top that you don’t necessarily have to kill, but it helps to do that as you collect as many boxes as you can.

Lastly, Here’s a fun one called Spelunky by Derek Yu. http://spelunkyworld.com/

I’m sure some of you have heard of it. Spelunky is a free game that you can now buy a better version of it on XBLA. The goal is to get as far into the mine as possible without dying. You have an arsenal of bombs, ropes and plenty of looting ability. There are plenty of gems and different loot to increase your score. You can also rescue the damsel in distress.

Well, there you go, there’s your three indies for the week. Go ahead and vote!

Since this is Game Sho, I should ask you all a couple questions right? The first person to answer with the correct answer gets a brownie point! So then…

1. Who are the heads of NICALiS?

2. What is the new game by Christine Love?

3. In Spelunky, what happens when you stay in a level too long?