Press Pass: Going Indie
Is the game press paying enough attention to obscure games from independent developers? Press Pass investigates.
11/24/2008 8:42 PM | 8 Comments | Page 3 of 3
Publisher Introversion is worried that a dearth of reviews is hurting its latest release,
Multiwinia.
The good news for these publishers is that many journalists seem to have a vested interest in really pulling for the little guy. "I think independent games are 'in vogue' right now, which can be great for indies, and that does mean that in some cases, they get covered a lot more," says Carless "When I think about the indie game coverage which is most important ... to a certain extent, they are creating a community and evangelizing to it, rather than, say, telling someone what score out of 10 that they gave a game."
Or, as Gillen put it in his 2005 message to indie developers, "We're on your side. Generally speaking. ... Everyone likes an underdog, and games journalists more than most. ... You're an indie developer. Don't be afraid to play it up or underestimate how, as the rest of the industry marches toward kerzillion dollar budgets, that makes you attractive to the press. You represent the ideal of why we want to write about games in the first place."
