Why would you say that the āIndieā game scene is not a new thing and explain, give examples?
We can all agree that the term āIndieā is used a lot in modern times, both to describe games as well as music & film. However, when we talk in terms of video games, the term dates back to the 1960ās with the creation of Spacewar! The game was developed by Steve Russell for the PDP-1. I feel that this is as far back as we can go in regards to an Indie game as this is essentially the first game, before an industry of video games had started. We can also look into what the term indie actually means, and then evaluate Spacewar! in this way. If we assume that the word “indie” describes a game with a very small development team, with a very little budget, if any, and designed around the developers want, not the public, we can safely assume that Spacewar! is an indie game.Ā
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar!#/media/File:Spacewar!-PDP-1-20070512.jpg
With the increasing development of indie games throughout the decades, new options forĀ obtaining these games were starting to appear. One of the first ways of distributingĀ these games were via code, printed intoĀ a magazine, that you then had to manually enter into the device. Obviously, over time, these distribution methods improved with the introduction of local video game stores.
So, yes, the indie game scene is definitelyĀ not a new concept, as it helped start and shape what is the games industry today.
Has the term indie become meaningless?
I wouldn’t like to think that the term indie has become meaningless, however, I do understand why some people may think this is the case. With huge AAA titles like Star Wars Battlefront and Call of Duty taking over the media, it could often shadow the news about upcoming indie titles. I feel as though the indie game scene is one that is still growing as with the introduction of free game engines like Unity Personal, and Unreal Engine 4, people are able to create games in their bedroom with relative ease.
Take Unturned as an example. This game, released in July 2014 is a simple, zombie survival game which has become one of the most popular free-to-play games on Steam with a 90% positive rating on Steam (Store.steampowered.com, 2017) The game was created by Nelson Sexton, which at the time of release, was only 16. This shows how easy it is for small indie developers to get a start into the gaming industry.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/
Unturned not only has been in constant development since it’s release, with regular updates, it allows for members of the community to create mods and maps for the game. This helps increase the community and turns what once started as a single person’s game, into one that is being influenced by thousands of people. Because of this, I don’t believe the term “indie” has become meaningless at all, however with the constant media attention of big game companies, it can make it hard for the small indie developers to get noticed.
Bibliography
Anderson, N. (2017). First encounter: COMPUTE! magazine and its glorious, tedious type-in code. [online] Ars Technica. Available at: https://arstechnica.com/staff/2012/12/first-encounter-compute-magazine-and-its-glorious-tedious-type-in-code/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
Store.steampowered.com. (2017). Unturned on Steam. [online] Available at: http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Spacewar!. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar! [Accessed 6 Dec. 2017].
Useful Links
http://store.steampowered.com/app/304930/Unturned/