Indie Links Round-Up: Faces In The Crowd

Video games are still a relatively young medium, which is why New Media Rights are still a fuzzy issue – and why it’s big news that the music to a game got a Grammy nomination.

Video games are still a relatively young medium, which is why New Media Rights are still a fuzzy issue – and why it’s big news that the music to a game got a Grammy nomination. Read about this and more in today’s Indie Links.

Journey ‘s Soundtrack Has Been Nominated For A Grammy(Kotaku)
“The nominations for the 55th Grammy Awards have been revealed, and for PS3 gamers there’s quite the surprise: Austin Wintory’s wonderful score for PSN title Journey has been nominated for Best Score Soundtrack.”

Teleglitch(TIGSource)
“ Teleglitchis a top-down shooter set in a gloomy military research facility. The game reminds me of Doom in terms of theme and pacing, but has more of a survival horror bent to it, with scarce ammunition and high-damaging, fast-moving monsters. In a lot of ways, it feels like what I wanted Doom 3 to be – a mostly action-based game with less gimmicky horror elements.”

Drox Operative Impressions(Out of Eight)
“…Overall, Drox Operative is a fine adaptation of the action role-playing game to a space 4X setting, providing varied quests, interesting diplomacy, randomly generated worlds, lots of items to equip, and multiple victory conditions.”

Abobo’s Big Adventure(PixelProspector)
“ Abobo’s Big Adventureis a big tribute to the NES in which you play through 9 different NES games: Double Dragon, Super Mario Bros (Underwater Level), Urban Champion, Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight, Pro Wrestling, Mega Man, Contra and Punch-out.”

Ow, My Fourth Wall: Shadow of the Game(Rock, Paper, Scissors)
“ Shadow Of The Game isn’t an MMO. It’s an RPG with an MMO in it. A single-player game in which your character takes part in an MMO which is played within the game, but it’s not actually an MMO because it’s all single-player, and and RPG, except it’s really more of a visual novel… This is the work of indies DeRailGames, and is, we’re told, about the boundaries between online identities and those of something called ‘real life’.”

New Media Rights: You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Be An Indie Developer(Joystiq)
“Imagine you’re a game developer, working on an independent project for two years. You spend $10,000 of your own savings on assets, artists and sound designers, and finally you release the game for $0.99, expecting to break even, maybe, in a few years. Three months after launch, you get a letter from a lawyer yelling at you in all capital letters, alleging you’ve violated federal statutes and if you don’t take your game down immediately, you’ll be sued for everything you’re worth, and your friends and family are going down with you. What would you do?”

Indie City Games Indie Developer Collective Hosting Month-Long Drinking-Themed Game Jam(Polygon)
“Chicago-based indie collective Indie City Gamesis hosting a drinking-themed game jam beginning today and ending Jan. 6, the Six Pack Jam, the organization announced today. The jam will commemorate the completion of Indie City’s arcade cabinet packed with games developed by the group, which currently resides in Chicago’s Emporium Arcade and Bar. The jam will have participants create drinking-centric video games. Interested participants can sign up for the jam over at it’s official webpage.”

STEALER Interview: Music And Visuals “Can’t Be Taken Separately”(IndieGames)
“The release of a cyberpunk-infused trailerfor Winged Doom’s STEALER took everyone who didn’t follow the Journey to Hammerdaledeveloper by surprise last week. Fans gushed for its nostalgic, gritty visuals and sci-fi sounds. Rather modestly, developer Winged Doom believes the rise in fame was all thanks to the music. People certainly couldn’t figure out what kind of gameplay to get excited over, based on the trailer.”