Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The mind, body and soul of Savygamer tells me that, after recently mentioning it would become Freeware, the Spirit Engine 2 has been released in the format. It’s a bit of a shame, in some ways – it’s a critically celebrated indie-game which never managed to find a proper audience, for a number of reasons. On the other hand, it’s a bit of a brilliant thing – it’s a splendid, novel take on the RPG with a whole lot of charm, which I wrote about here. You can get it here or see a boss-fight below…
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Yesterday, CrispyGamer quoted another of Kyle Orland’s press-pass columns, this time about Indie games coverage in the mainstream press. One bit made me sit right up…

Of course, there are exceptions. Indie games like Braid, Everyday Shooter and World of Goo, to name but a few, have broken out of obscurity thanks largely to glowing coverage from the press. These success stories, though, can help obscure how shallow the indie coverage is on most sites. “In the last half year I’ve seen people give a lot of attention to a few [indie] games, but less so to the second tier,” Gillen says.

God, I sound so hot. Anyway, that was followed by…

Game Tunnel’s Carroll agrees, calling out most sites’ coverage for inconsistency. “Some games, like Audiosurf, get noticed; others, like The Spirit Engine 2, don’t. … Lots of sites will cover indie games with a few great articles in a month and then not mention anything for months.”

And the RPS chatroom said as one: The Whatyoutalkingaboutwillis Engine?
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