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I've talked to you guys a little about Chrono Cross' soundtrack before. For Kirk Hamilton's weekly music block over at Kotaku (Kotaku has "programming" now, if you hadn't heard), he asked me to kick in some thoughts, and I elaborated some on why it's absolutely my favorite soundtrack in games. I've been replaying Chrono Cross lately and it only serves to emphasize for me how massively overlooked and underrated the game is. Chrono Trigger was a tough act to follow. More on that soon -- promise.
For everyone asking me "should I buy a PlayStation Vita," I'm like, "well, do you want it? Are those games you want to play, and can you afford it?" I mean, if the answer to all three questions are yes, you should get it.
Me, I really like the thing. Of course, the great delusion of game journalists is that their likes and dislikes have anything to do with the market and what consumers will actually buy. I've written my impressions and thoughts on the device and its tough-to-call role in the complicated portable landscape over at Gamasutra, if you'd like to check it out and weigh in.
In other cool ideas that depend on complicated marketplaces, I've written an editorial about transmedia gaming and entertainment. Where's that glorious transmedia future we were promised?
Speaking of the future, I'm part of this classy quarterly futurist magazine called Arc. If you look at the other contributors you might see why I'm wondering if someone just put me in there by mistake. It's super awesome, and you can check it out on digital platforms or in print.
That's about it for now, aside from a very important music recommendation. For my birthday last year I threw an enormous loft party with many of our friends' bands, and Ava Luna, one of my favorite locals, was awesome enough to play. They continue to get bigger and more awesome, and now they have a new record out and the famously difficult-to-please Chris Weingarten likes them enough to put their record on Spin so that you can stream it, so you should. They're really good.

Nope, The Journey Down HD is still not available for purchase. However, we do have this glorious trailer here to make the waiting even worse. The original version of this lovely little point & click adventure received a lot of positive feedback and, well, for good reason. It's pretty nifty. In case you've never heard of the game before, here's a convenient link that will permit you to download the first iteration of the game.

Unless you're an unrepentant cynic, The Fabulous Screech is probably going to make you melt a little on the inside. It might even inspire a few tears. Before we launch into a description of the game itself, here's a little bit of a background. A few months ago, Jonas Kyratzes was comissioned by a girl named Angie to create a present for her boyfriend who is a big fan of Kyratzes's work. Because money was short, the game was designed to be a combination of Christmas, Valentine's and anniversary gift.

The Fabulous Screech is set within the world of Oddness Standing, the setting first introduced in The Book of Living Magic. And as is often the case with Kyratzes's games, there isn't all that much to outside of clicking on things and enjoying the read but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The game opens with you being told that your partner has acquired a ticket for you, a ticket for a rather fabulous performance. Eventually, you'll find yourself visiting The Fabulous Screech's past, Heaven and a variety of weird and wonderful things. Have you ever wondered what God's carpet would be made of? Do you think he gets post cards? Things like this get answered.

The game's short, whimsical and everything you would expect from a Kyratzes production. Are you having a bad day? Go play it. It will probably get a smile out of you unless, of course, you don't like cats.

Play The Fabulous Screech here.

Indie Loop Garden is a sort of match-making site for developers to add custom sound in their indie games. The site was created by Vince Webb and has a pretty strong lineup of audio talent behind it, with such soundtracks as Fez (Rich Vreeland), Hydorah (G87), Soulcaster(Ian Stocker) and Aiko Island (Sean Beeson).

The website seeks to offer a service to developers who prefer to invest in high quality custom sound for their projects. "Our site is aimed at connecting them with these composers of different musical styles to save them the trouble of trawling through forums as well as equipping them with some useful resources along the way," says Webb. "We strongly believe that original tailored sound is integral in creating a special gameplay experience."

I spoke with Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace) briefly about the new site. He says that he can't yet speak about any experiences with jobs from the website, given the site is only a few days old. While I recognized some of the audio developers on the list, I wondered if any more would or could join. Vreeland replied, "I don't believe we're looking for more members at this point. We're all focusing on certain styles of music so as to not over-compete with each other. If we had more members that would make things more difficult to manage."

The site appeared a little bare-bones, so I asked what he thought could help improve its current state. "Word of mouth, feedback from composers and developers, regular content, a professional layout, these are some things that could help improve the site over time."

Vreeland also clarified what Indie Loop Garden offers that other audio dev forums or portals do not. "Indie Loop Garden is a direct connection to some pretty good composers who are expecting to be contacted. Forums and portals are great too, but Vince is trying to appeal to folks who might be prone to buying 'ready made' music, or folks who might be looking for a go-to place."

Fresh out of Beta, Indie game distribution service Indievania have today launched proper, with over 200 DRM free indie games available. To celebrate the launch and to get lots of eyeballs looking at their marketplace, they've got a load of games reduced, with some great titles available for just a bit of pocket change.

Operated by Capsized developer, Alientrap, Indievania is an Indie games portal where "100% of the cost of the game goes to the developer", minus transaction fees. A far bigger share than many other services offer.

On sale are:
Defy Gravity Extended - $1
Swift*Stitch - $1.40
Cardinal Quest - $1
Dragons vs Spaceships - $1
Inside a Star Filled Sky - $1.99
Blocks that matter - $1
Metal Dead - $1
Climb to the Top of the Castle! - $1
Milkstone Studios Bundle - $1
Wizorb - $1
BEEP - $2
Chulhu Saves the World & Breath of Death VII - $1


Some great games at particularly low prices, anything there tickle your fancy? The sale is going to be running for "A few weeks", so you can take your time to ponder any purchases.

Mike Bithell, designer behind the graphically abstract puzzle platformer Thomas Was Alone has uploaded a new gallery of screenshots, showing off some of how the game has progressed since we last saw it.

I was fortunate enough to get an early hands on with this at Gamecity in Nottingham last year, and it's a promising little title. You take control of several different abstract shapes, with characteristics that you'd expect based on the their appearance. The tall thin block is tall and thin, the tiny little square is tiny and little, and so on. You switch between them, and need to use their different properties to work out how to get them all from A to B. Fun stuff.

Have a poke at the rest of the new screenshots over at Flickr. It's coming to PC/Mac and is due for a release some time in April/May. More info over at thomaswasalone.com.

Following up on the recent App Store launch of Caverns of Minos, tireless veteran developer Jeff Minter has completed work on an iOS update for his classic shooter Gridrunner, which should see release soon, pending Apple's approval.

Originally released in 1982 for a variety of PC platforms, Gridrunner is a frantic shooter that expands on core gameplay elements from arcade titles like Centipede and Tempest. It saw sequels in 2002's shareware release Gridrunner++ and in 2010's Gridrunner Revolution.

The new iOS version of Gridrunner recalls the look and feel of '80s arcade machines -- the attract mode is especially Namco-ish in its presentation. Gridrunner for iOS will feature iCade support when it arrives in the App Store this month.

Brian Soulliard, creator of the crossover beat-'em-up Indie Brawl, has released The Ultimate Celebration, a free PC platformer designed for speed-running.

The Ultimate Collection takes a laid-back approach to the genre; players cannot die, and obstacles and enemies only temporarily hinder progress. The plot is equally easygoing, as players must seek out 20 friends and invite them to a party.

"The heart of the experience is exploring the miniature world that the game takes place in," Soulliard notes. "The different locations can be explored in any order, but you will need to navigate them all to find every friend."

MiniBoss has released a free demo to coincide with the release of its charming puzzle-platformer Out There Somewhere. While I haven't played the full version, I did enjoy my experience with the demo overall.

The introductory horizontal shmup section doesn't last long enough for me, but the bread and butter gameplay is all about platforming with a portal gun. This isn't your standard, GLaDOS-fearing portal gun that requires exit and entry portals. Only one shot must impact a wall to make your character warp to the point of impact. The warping act also conserves your momentum, such that the jump you begin will complete after the warp. This becomes invaluable to avoid pits and enemies, circumvent or exploit different-colored laser fields, and retrieve your ship's parts.

MiniBoss's Pedro Medeiros (a.k.a. Santo or Saint11) won Ludum Dare #22 with the clever platformer Frostbite. Their pixelated, exploratory platforming skills show again in the demo of Out There Somewhere. The developers stated on Desura the game lasts about 2-3 hours on the first playthrough, with extra time required to get all the secrets.

Out There Somewhere is available for purchase on Desura or direct from the developer for $4.99. While only a PC version is available now, the studio states a Mac version is in the plans.

Action Button Entertainment, a reportedly vile outfit headed up by the infamous new games journalist Tim Rogers, has launched the iOS shooter Ziggurat, its first release for any platform.

Boasting 16-bit graphics, 8-bit music, and "immeasurable chaos," Ziggurat puts players in the role of "The Last Human on Earth, fighting to die as The Last Human in the Universe." Armed only with a laser rifle, players must fend off as many approaching enemies as possible before succumbing to the inevitable.

The controls are very well suited for touch screens, and the charge mechanic proves to be quite satisfying. I also enjoy the way explosions can be chained to take out surrounding enemies -- it gives the experience a crunchy, Missile Command-ish appeal that few games manage to replicate.

Ziggurat is priced at 99 cents. If you aren't yet sold on the concept, a trailer featuring a sales pitch from Rogers himself can be seen after the break below.

Increpare's Promises is a simple-looking, single-room puzzle game that will ask you to do little except think hard and ponder the value of your word. Here, your goal is to access a room guarded by three doors. To do so, you're going to have to get three keys. Conveniently enough, the people holding the keys are all within reach. You just have to go up to them and make a request. Yes, that's all it takes. At a glance, this isn't a hard task. You won't have to fight any dragons for those keys. However, each of these guys will make you promise them certain things. For instance, one of them is going to make you swear never to tread on ground you've walked on before.

The neat thing about Promises is the fact that you can break these vows.However, if you're caught doing so, you can expect to be told off. Curious? Play the game here. (Many thanks to ortoslon for finding this one.)

If you're one of those people who simply must have all their games on Steam and have been putting off an afternoon with Realm of the Mad God for that solitary reason, you have no more excuses. Realm of the Mad God is currently available on Steam as a free-to-play title. For those who've missed the memo, Realm of the Mad God is kind of like a co-operative bullet hell of sorts. You have one life. You get to pick a class and after that, you'll have the opportunity to rampage through the pixelated landscape in an attempt to gather as much fame and fortune as possible. Once you die, however, you're going to have to level up another one from scratch. Official site here.

How long have I waited for a sequel to Gravity Bone? Just over 3 years in fact. And then out it pops, casually available as part of a Kickstarter project, not a care in the world. Thirty Flights of Loving is the latest release from Blendo Games, and continues the story from the original block-headed spy saga.

Here's the catch though - it's currently only available through a Kickstarter for the Idle Thumbs podcast. Now, if you're a fan of Idle Thumbs, then that's going to be no problem. However, if you're not an Idle Thumbs listener, then the $30 that is being asked for Thirty Flights of Loving may well be just a tad more than you're willing to pay, especially when it is described as a "video game short story".

Still, it's inevitable that the game will be made properly available once the Kickstarter is over, so if you're not down with throwing $30 at it, you can always wait.

Purveyors of games involving strategic thinking and cerebral engagement, Arcen Games, have permanently slashed the prices of their currently released games. Whether you're after their RTS on an intergalactic scale, AI: War, or their inventive and stylish block puzzle game, Tidalis, the price of entry is now lower than ever before.

Here's the updated pricing:
AI War: Alien Bundle - $16.99/£11.99
AI War: Fleet Command - $9.99/£6.99
AI War: The Zenith Remnant - $4.99/£3.99
AI War: Children of Neinzul - $1.99/£1.59
AI War: Light of the Spire - $4.99/£3.99
Tidalis - $4.90/£3.99

As linked above, the new prices are live on Steam already, as they are on the Arcen Store, and they're in the process of updating the other places that sell their games too..

Whilst you're at it, it's worth considering preordering their upcoming procedurally generated survival sidescroller, A Valley Without Wind. Preordering nets you a 50% discount, and instant access to the current beta build. Impressions from the initial beta release here, although it's had a sizeable amount of updates since then.

It's always sad to see previous collaborators fall out, especially when it's over business matters. But that's what seems to have happened here. Spilt Milk, the indie studio behind the iOS and Android snake-a-like Hard Lines, are at the centre of a row over ownership of the game. In a statement to IndieGames.com, programmer Nicoll Hunt has alleged that Andrew Smith, Spilt Milk Managing Director, is withholding his share of the revenue unless he agrees to sign away his rights to the game.

Whilst Spilt Milk Studios is Smith's (one man) company, he isn't a coder, so he collaborates with other developers to make his games, although the exact division of labour on Hard Lines is one area where there seems to be disagreement.

We don't know exactly what has gone on during the development, release and subsequent dispute over Hard Lines, all we can do is present both sides of the story, and hope that the individuals concerned can find a resolution before ending up in court.

Here's Nicoll's statement in full:

"Last year I spent most of my spare time developing an iOS game called Hard Lines. It's been described as Geometry Wars 2 meets Tron, and is something I'm intensely proud of. Which makes someone else claiming ownership of my work for it all the more unpleasant.

I was the sole coder & main developer for Hard Lines, and conceived the initial idea for the game. Spilt Milk Studios contributed some of the design and art, and handled the PR & marketing, while a 3rd party composed the soundtrack (apart from the rather awesome credits song, that was my girlfriend and me :).

In simple terms, I was the developer and Spilt Milk Studios was the publisher.

When I refused to sign away my rights to the game Spilt Milk Studios terminated the contract between us, stopped paying me my share of the revenue, and claimed full ownership of all my work and intellectual property. This was at the start of December 2011 and made for a pretty stressful Christmas.

I've since spoken with a very helpful and experienced games lawyer and sent a cease and desist notice to Spilt Milk Studios. More recently I have also sent one to Apple, after Spilt Milk Studios failed to adhere to the original notice. It's now only a matter of time before Hard Lines is removed from sale altogether.

This will probably all come as a bit of a surprise, but I can't stand by while my work is passed off as someone else's. It's wrong, goes against everything indie development should be, and most importantly, I don't want it to happen to anyone else."

And then here's Andrew's version of events:

"The whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion, and I'm very disappointed it's come to this sort of attention-grabbing situation. Not least because I've spent my every waking hour working to make Hard Lines a success ever since we started the game on the 1st January 2011. My full time job is to try and make the best games I can and collaborating with him saw some great success - which is why it upsets me to see that tainted now.

I love Hard Lines, and I'm really saddened that my part in its design and conception is not fully recognised by my former partner-in-indie. I did cancel the contract between us (under the terms of said contract) - the dispute only arose because Nicoll said he didn't want to work on Hard Lines any more, but still wanted 50% share of revenue on all future platforms - not just the ones he coded. This, as anybody out there can probably tell, made it commercially impossible to develop, say, a Steam version, a Windows Phone version, or whatever. I had no choice but to terminate the contract, although I do wish to point out that I have no intention of stopping sending him his fair share - all I intended to do was wipe the slate clean and start talking about a fair contract to move forward with.

What this does mean, and since he's seen fit to involve lawyers, is that neither of us is able to develop it - and I am wary of talking about it - any further. As for the cease & desist, Apple got in touch, but only to ask us to resolve the situation between us, nothing more. I did not ignore it. I asked for more discourse on the subject from his lawyers, to no avail. It's a purely commercial dispute, and all I want to do is discuss a way that we can come to terms so that creating future Hard Lines content is viable, but Nicoll has consistently refused to negotiate.

Sadly it is this lack of willingness to communicate and reach a fair deal that has led to the current situation. I'm hopeful that my reputation as an open and honest developer reassures anyone reading this that my intention was never to steal the idea, and will never be. I've never claimed ownership, only co-creation and co-development. It's a really uncomfortable position to be in, because as I'm sure you know, I really do value being able to be completely transparent with Spilt Milk and what we get up to.

I am very disappointed he's chosen to take this course of action, but I'm still hopeful that in the end we can come to agreeable and fair terms, so that Hard Lines can thrive in the way it so richly deserves, and that its wonderful and loyal fans can experience even more fun with Lionel and friends."

To which Nicoll replied:

"Revisionist history of events aside, I'm glad that Spilt Milk Studios finally appears to be recognising my rights and look forward to receiving the money that has been withheld from me for the past 3 months. It's such a shame that I have been effectively forced to take these steps but do not see how it's acceptable, both morally and legally, for someone else to use my work and IP for a game I developed without my consent.

I'd like to thank indiegames.com for the opportunity to put my experience across and hope I can soon put this trying situation behind me. My next step is to continue work on my new projects, which I'll be announcing some, none or all of in the near future"

A rather messy situation, but perhaps one we are going to see cropping up again and again in the future as there's more and more money in the indie scene.

Perhaps this highlights the importance of having concrete written agreements between collaborators as early on in any development project as possible. In this situation it appears that there were contracts from relatively early on, but perhaps more comprehensive discussion of potential future plans at an early stage could have avoided this disagreement. At the very least, let's hope this serves as a learning experience for both parties, and ideally that they are able to find a resolution that satisfies them both.

This week on "Best Of Indie Games," we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week.

The goodies in this edition include a finalist entry in the Experimental Gameplay's 5 Buttons Competition, a new browser pick by provocative game designer Molleindustria, an experimental co-opt game set in space, plus the latest release from Viriax and Hydorah creator locomalito.

Here's some recent highlights from IndieGames.com:

Game Pick: 'SCP-087' (haversine, freeware)
"SCP-087 is a slightly odd little procedurally generated experiment in horror that will either have you jumping out of your seats or yawning dismissively."

Game Pick: 'Toy Stunt Bike 2' (Raoghard, commercial indie)
"Inspired by RedLynx's Trials series, the Toy Stunt Bike games challenge Xbox Avatar characters to race through a series of miniature motocross courses littered with common household items."

Game Pick: 'Porkerpillar' (Mommy's Best Games, freeware)
"Designed to be played using a unique setup of five large, pressure-sensitive buttons, Porkerpillar challenges players to feed babies sweets and guide them safely back to their mothers."

Game Pick: 'Hatoful Boyfriend' (Halfmoon, commercial indie)
"Hatoful Boyfriend tells a touching story in which the player is the only human student enrolled at a high school for birds. Drama and romance ensue among a dreamy cast of avian suitors."

Game Pick: 'Warp' (Trapdoor Inc., commercial indie)
"In Warp you take control of Zero, a kidnapped alien trying to escape from an underwater research facility. Using a range of powers like possession, creating echo decoy versions yourself, and indeed warping, you have to escape, and solve a load of puzzles on the way."

Game Pick: 'Unmanned' (Molleindustria, browser)
"it's hard to deny that Unmanned is an uncomfortable experience, something which is rather unsurprising given that it comes from the lords of provocative browser games."

Game Pick: 'Pixelry' (Evelend Games, commercial indie)
"Pixelry, a delightful portmanteau of Pixelated & Chivalry, offers players a chance to see what it would be like to be a medieval Knight made out of pixels."

Game Pick: 'The Blocks Cometh' (Halfbot, commercial indie)
"The Blocks Cometh challenges players to climb, dodge, and shoot their way through an endless rain of falling blocks. A series of updates followed the game's release last year, adding new characters, unlockable achievements, and a new GameBot Mode available as a 99-cent in-app purchase."

Game Pick: 'Co-Op' (MoaCube & Marta Dzikowska, freeware)
"An experimental co-opt game set in space, Co-Op is a 'space shooter with no shooting'. Instead of endless bullets on unsuspecting enemies, you're going to have to co-ordinate with another player and slice through them with the power beam that connects both your ships."

Game Pick: '8bitMMO' (Archive Entertainment, browser)
"With a tile based freeform construction system, support for PVP battles, and loads of Lawyercats for you to fight, 8BitMMO is worth a look, especially if you've got any nostalgia for games from the 1980s."

Game Pick: 'AirMech' (Carbon Games, browser)
"AirMech is a fast-paced number that allows for both co-operative and competitive play, one that will have you right in the middle of the action."

Game Pick: 'Verminest' (Locomalito, freeware)
"Along with wave-based Galaga gameplay, Verminest also features vertically scrolling sequences straight out of Galaga '88, along with boss fights that pay tribute to fellow classics like Centipede."

Game Pick: 'Pizza Vs. Skeletons' (Riverman Media, commercial indie)
"The premise of Pizza Vs. Skeletons matches the mental picture conjured by its title. Players control a 25-foot-tall pizza that must roll over and crush armies of brittle skeletons."

Game Jam The Documentary is the latest slice-of-indie film looking to gauge audience interest. The IndieGoGo slogan is "4 Teams 4 Games 48 Hours. An in depth look into game jams and the experience of creating a game under extreme pressure."

Troy Morrissey and Ryan Cox have less than 10 days to reach their $4,500 goal. The fundraiser is for the film team to travel to GDC to speak to jammers from around the world. Interviews with the following are planned if they can afford their trip: Matt Hammill-creator of Gesundheit!, Miguel Sternberg-Spooky Squid Games, Chris Hecker-Indie Game Jam, Gorm Lai-Global Game Jam, Ian Schreiber-Global Game Jam, Martin Jonasson-No More Sweden, and Mike Kasprzak-Ludum Dare/Sykhronics Entertainment.

I found a local session of the latest Global Game Jam I attended to be quite exciting. I hope this project has captured and can present those moments of "extreme pressure" to make for a truly compelling piece. Game Jam The Documentary asks for your financial support today.

Spiceworx, a newly established venture that combines talent from the art collectives Famicon (Bart the General) and GHXYK2 (Swashbuckel Ur Seatbelts), has released an iOS port of its surreal Xbox Live Indie Games title RE: Get To Schol On Time.

RE: Get To Schol On Time includes a handful of wildly disparate levels, each of which features a strange objective. The game's opening level, for instance, asks players to sketch a portrait while being ridiculed by caricatures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson. You may not believe it at the time, but this proves to be the most coherent challenge in the game.

RE: Get To Schol On Time is available as a free download for a limited time.

Lazy Brain Games has set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund a proposed sequel to its "retro action climbing shooter" Infernal Edge.

Inspired by climbing sequences from classics like Strider and Contra III: The Alien Wars, Infernal Edge 2's gameplay centers around a grappling hook, which must be used to traverse deadly terrain and defeat boss enemies. Creator Johnny B notes that other new additions -- including camera rotation and a plasma saber -- are inspired by Sin & Punishment and Super Mario World, among other titles.

Lazy Brain Games hopes to raise $5,000 by March 13th.

Following up on a recent profile-boosting Xbox 360 dashboard update, Xbox Live Indie Games developers will soon receive another source of exposure courtesy of an independently-produced Windows Phone 7 app.

XBLIG Companion scrapes release data from xboxindies.com and compiles recommendations from XBLIG-centric sites, allowing users to easily access indie titles using a convenient, comprehensive search tool. Xbox Live Marketplace links can also be directly accessed, allowing users to purchase games and queue up downloads remotely.

The app is now being beta-tested, though a release date has not been announced. Developer Casey Young notes that iOS and Android ports are "not only doable, but most likely will happen."

[via Joystiq]