May 2011

FEATURES

Xbox Live Indie Games

By Robert Boyd, Nathan Fouts, Michael Muir, James Silva, and Ian Stocker

The Xbox Live Indie Games service began as an experiment to let developers publish their games on consoles directly. Since then, a number of standouts have emerged among the over 1,600 games. Here, we feature five excellent examples of the XBLIG spirit; Cthulu Saves the World, Shoot1UP, Epic Dungeon, ZP2KX, and Soulcaster II.

Game Engine Survey 2011

By Mark DeLoura

A lot has changed since our last engine survey in 2009, especially in regards to the treatment of indies. Engine providers have seen the writing on the wall, and now incorporate smaller platforms, while still supporting large-scale companies. Through extensive surveys, we attempt to discern what is most important to developers when choosing a new engine.

Game Dev Heroes

By Brandon Sheffield

In every game project, there are unsung heroes. There's the person that fixes the "unfixable" legacy bug, or devises the concept that ultimately makes the game fun, or finds the visual theme that ties everything together. We set out to find these people, and to sing their praises.