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Indie Games:why do gamers disregard them when it comes to a system's library?

K

Kimawolf

Member
Reading a Switch thread, I noticed something which is slightly troubling; some gamers simply don't count indie games as "real games". They only view AAA games or known franchises as "real games".

I noticed this also with Playstation and PC as well. My question is why are indie games seen as "lesser" by the more mainstream gaming community? Is it simply conditioning to believe that a real game HAS to come from a big studio or have a big budget? Is it the graphics (some PC indies are simply stunning btw) or something else?
 
Caffeine

Caffeine

Member
idk I personally see them as something that adds to the library, Im glad for the devs and reach out to other platforms. I probably own it on pc so its whatever if it comes out on something else for me unless i love the game I wont own a second copy on another platform.
 
S

sleepwalkcapsules

Member
I don't get either, especially with the Switch as its portability give any game a whole different way of playing.

My theory is that it comes from the fact that indie games are almost always available on PC (and run well on the low-end configs), so it being available on a console doesn't adds too much? That's how it works for me... but as I've said, Switch makes this decision not that easy.
 
P

Primethius

Banned
Never go into a PS Plus thread, it'll break your heart to see a bunch of dismissive posts in the same vein.

I find it incredibly dumb but eh, I love games, not the budgets. So it seems bizarre to me too.
 
H

Holy Order Sol

Member
They only don't count for console wars purposes.
Sane people who enjoy video games are most likely going to buy some of them on whatever platform is convenient for them and play the shit out of them because many are great.
 
R

Raylan Targaryen

Member
Kimawolf said:
I noticed this also with Playstation and PC as well. My question is why are indie games seen as "lesser" by the more mainstream gaming community? Is it simply conditioning to believe that a real game HAS to come from a big studio or have a big budget? Is it the graphics (some PC indies are simply stunning btw) or something else?
Click to expand...

Like 15 of the 25 top played games on Steam are indie. Of those 10 that aren't, 3 are Valve games, 2 Civs, GTA and Bethesda games.

Dr. Black Jack said:
Speak of the devil!
Click to expand...

That's not stupidity, elitism or fanboyism?
 
M

Mattakuevan

Member
Idk, its pretty weird and comes off as immature console warring.

That or it has to do with the games not being exclusive most of the time.
 
S

Shadowhelper

Banned
Indie games tend to have tight controls, as many retro games do. I really appreciate that. I love indie games. I think they're better than AAA games. Only Breathe of the Wild is worth it.

I have a friend who refuses to touch indie games and is in love with ultra graphics. He has poor taste, and once threw a hissy fit when he was losing in Street Fighter.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
If its a Switch or Vita, portability is a legit factor to consider.

But for consoles I think indies are disregarded in game library discussions because pretty much any pc can run them considering how many are 2D. You can just play it on your student laptop or even tablet increasingly.
 
T

TheGreatMightyPoo

Banned
People delusionally think more money means better games which is a flawed premise to say the least.
Same thing with low budget movies versus blockbusters.
 
S

SoRuffShoNuff

Member
People don't spend 400 bucks to play games that are available on poor powered laptops and look like NES games. If more were the quality of Bastion, Ori and the Blind Forest, or Castle Crashers people would care. Microsoft did a great job showcasing indie games that actually looked nice with Summer of Arcade.

To me indie games for the most part are the filler you get for free on PS+.
 
B

Bgamer90

Banned
The Technomancer said:
Literally 80% of the reason I'm excited to own a Switch is indie titles
Click to expand...

Same -- especially the 2D platformers.

Anyway, people dismiss them because they aren't AAA which is funny because a good number that do this say "games were better 15+ years ago" (games that share the same styles/features of many indie titles).
 
S

Smasher89

Member
Marketing, some games have more "pushing power" towards getting sold then others.
Just look at no man skys marketing, it did help towards selling alot of games.

Usually people (including myself) have missed the new indie games and haven't dived deeper into them.
 
L

Lucentto

Banned
To be honest I don't really care much for Indies, not really sure why. I rarely find their contents interesting compared to non-indie games.
 
LordRaptor

LordRaptor

Member
SoRuffShoNuff said:
People don't spend 400 bucks to play games that are available on poor powered laptops and look like NES games. If more were the quality of Bastion, Ori and the Blind Forest, or Castle Crashers people would care. Microsoft did a great job showcasing indie games that actually looked nice with Summer of Arcade.

To me indie games for the most part are the filler you get for free on PS+.
Click to expand...
yutRrqm.gif
 
Mithos

Mithos

Member
I personally do not buy hardware for Indie titles, I only look at Indie titles after the fact of getting a certain hardware, and even then because only digital I almost never buy anything.
 
P

phanphare

Banned
it's a perception thing, mostly

people are so used to proper published games in boxes sold at retail for a certain price so indie games are all lumped together (regardless of factors like genre, budget, price, etc.) because they're different

it'd be like people dismissing music from artists who put their stuff on soundcloud and bandcamp
 
Wonko_C

Wonko_C

Member
Some people still have that outdated notion that a game MUST exploit the consoles to their 100% of its capabilities, or they will feel cheated. They kind of remind me of PS1/PS2-era Sony and their anti-2D politics that made us miss on a lot of fantastic games that never made it outside of Japan.
 
M

Mafro

Member
SoRuffShoNuff said:
People don't spend 400 bucks to play games that are available on poor powered laptops and look like NES games. If more were the quality of Bastion, Ori and the Blind Forest, or Castle Crashers people would care. Microsoft did a great job showcasing indie games that actually looked nice with Summer of Arcade.

To me indie games for the most part are the filler you get for free on PS+.
Click to expand...
I've had more fun playing Shovel Knight than 90% of AAA games from the past year or so.
 
P

protomouse

Member
The Technomancer said:
Literally 80% of the reason I'm excited to own a Switch is indie titles
Click to expand...

andthebeatgoeson said:
Indies on switch, on the go, give the platform life.
Click to expand...

wanderingprostheyltite said:
My sentiments as well. The more content the better.
Click to expand...

Ditto.

In terms of the Switch thread, the people arguing against indie games were mostly those trying to diminish the Switch lineup. Sony has done a good job at training their customers to expect indie games to be disposable freebie/give-aways. That's ultimately poisonous for all but a select few. Case in point:

SoRuffShoNuff said:
To me indie games for the most part are the filler you get for free on PS+.
Click to expand...
 
W

Wensih

Member
My "problem" with indie games is for me they're so ubiquitous that they're not really a selling point for the system, and so I tend to ignore yet another release of the same game, as indie games tend to have staggered releases, on another system (note: I'm not ignoring the game; I've just probably already played it or have the means to play it).

To me it's just not a talking point or reason to buy a new piece of hardware.
 
A

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
Indie games can be great, but I don't think many people buy a console in order to play them. They're the dessert, but you need an awesome main course first.
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
Many gamers associate a level of prestige to "hardcore gaming" that is usually measured by how much money a game costs to make
and therefore to buy and sometimes to run
.

If a game costs less to make
and therefore less to buy and probably less to run
, it's a low-prestige "indie" or "casual" game. If it's AAA, it's a high-prestige "hardcore" game.

But these distinctions are largely meaningless. Some games are good; other games are bad. Good games can be cheap or free; bad games can run you $120 if you get the deluxe edition and buy all the DLC.

In the end, they're all just games. And people who play them are all gamers.
 
I

Instro

Member
There's no problem with indie games. The Switch issue is more complex than that, because the system is not receiving any traditional software, and Nintendo is holding back indie development as well so the Switch not getting ports of current indie games either. Ports of old indie games that are widely available is hardly the most exciting thing ever.
 
B

Bowl0l

Member
I buy Indie games on Steam because of PC supporting titles for a long time unlike consoles limiting games bought to a console generation.
 
R

ryan13ts

Member
I'll be flat out honest, I'm one of those people that has doesn't actively regard most indie games the same way I would from standard developers and studios. It doesn't come from a malicious attitude that "Indie games aren't real games , they don't count" but more so that they sometimes lack what attracts me to games from this era. I think it's just a lack of overall graphical finesse in some games, and lack of polish (might not be the right word) compared to stuff from bigger studios that tends to make me not be anywhere near as interested in indie games compared to stuff coming from established developers.

That's not to say that I'm one of those people that instantly detract from anything that's from an indie studio, as I've played some stuff that would count in that genre that I ended up liking immesely, like Cave Story and Super Meat Boy, but I just don't find myself gravitating to this subset of games as a whole.. If that makes sense?
 
M

meppi

Member
Some of my most loved games of the past couple if year have been Enter the Gungeon, Steamworld Dig, Nuclear Throne and Spelunky.
So yeah, you can say indie games are a big deal to me.

Sure there's a bunch of crap being made as well and I'm quite certain that most people see those and think they all are shit.
But then again, just look at the AAA market. Look past the pretty graphics and you'll see truckload of pure garbage as well with a few diamonds in between.
 
D

Dark Cloud

Member
It's like gamers forget how lots of these companies started out. It's sad these guys put time and work in just like any big dev.
 
B

Blobbers

Member
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean when they say

"I don't like indie games" or "I don't like Japanese games"
 
W

whatever6352

Member
axisofweevils said:
Indie games can be great, but I don't think many people buy a console in order to play them. They're the dessert, but you need an awesome main course first.
Click to expand...

I agree with this post for example in my case What Became of Edith Finch is one of my favorite games of this year, but I wouldn't buy a console/pc to only play it. I would need some big AAA games in order to justify the purchase.
 
F

FStubbs

Member
Magic Mushroom said:
Yeah, as if indie games are a genre.
Click to expand...

When they say they don't like indie games, the only explanation is that they want the shiniest graphics possible in any given year. Which I hope means they own a high end PC or they're playing Horizon.

These are the people who would look at a game with 360/PS3 level graphics and say "makes my eyes bleed".
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Most are multiplat so they don't really play into purchase decisions and others just don't play them and stick to AAA stuff.
 
L

LegendofLex

Member
ryan13ts said:
I'll be flat out honest, I'm one of those people that has doesn't actively regard most indie games the same way I would from standard developers and studios. It doesn't come from a malicious attitude that "Indie games aren't real games , they don't count" but more so that they sometimes lack what attracts me to games from this era. I think it's just a lack of overall graphical finesse in some games, and lack of polish (might not be the right word) compared to stuff from bigger studios that tends to make me not be anywhere near as interested in indie games compared to stuff coming from established developers.

That's not to say that I'm one of those people that instantly detract from anything that's from an indie studio, as I've played some stuff that would count in that genre that I ended up liking immesely, like Cave Story and Super Meat Boy, but I just don't find myself gravitating to this subset of games as a whole.. If that makes sense?
Click to expand...

The word you're looking for is "production value."
 
D

Dr. Worm

Banned
A lot of console releases, especially on the Switch, are late ports of games many people already enjoyed on PC, so much of the enthusiasm and community has come and gone. Most people who play indie games own PCs, because that's where most release in the first place, so the console releases are catering more to the crowd that, up until about a decade ago, only played games with enough publisher backing to get released at retail; that's a mindset that still hasn't completely dissipated.
 
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