Amazon Debuts Multi-Platform Indie Games Store 67
An anonymous reader writes "Amazon today announced an initiative to help indie game developers promote and sell their games: the Indie Games Store. The dedicated storefront is a new category in Amazon's Digital Video Games Store, designed specifically to help indie games for PC, Mac, and the Web get noticed. The store appears to be US-only, but if you don't live there you should be able to get away with just putting in an American address. Most of the games are Steam downloads, so where you are in the world shouldn't matter too much."
Humble (Score:5, Funny)
It's like the Humble Bundle but not humble and not a bundle!
Re: (Score:3)
The first product I became aware of through this service, was a bundle of Double Fine games. Not humble. But a bundle.
Pretty good too, $9.99 for Brutal Legend, The Cave and a bunch more.
I already own The Cave, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle etc.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The first product I became aware of through this service, was a bundle of Double Fine games. Not humble. But a bundle.
I take it you missed the recent Humble Bundle last month that had all of Double Fine's games except The Cave, including (if you paid enough) the next one that they haven't released yet?
Humble no, Bundle yes (Score:2)
It's like the Humble Bundle but not humble and not a bundle!
It may not be humble, but the front page clearly lists nine indie game bundles (5 games in each), under a heading "Indie Bundles - 100% of sales to developers".
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
"Personally I think its great and is just one more example of how now that the consoles are all going to online only DRM boxes that PC gaming is the way to go."
Why do you pretend PC gaming is any different? Console DRM has always followed PC DRM not led it. It's near impossible to find offline games for the PC now, everything on Steam is activated and installed online, EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard all force you to be online to activate and to play half the time now.
I'd love it if what you say is true, but it's not
Re: (Score:2)
So... redudant to the steam store (Score:2)
I don't see the point. Amazon sells indie games. Steam sells indie games. Once amazon gets you to install steam, why would you use amazon for the next purchase?
Re:So... redudant to the steam store (Score:4, Insightful)
An indie record label is one that's not owned/controlled by a major corporation. If its records are stocked by HMV, or Amazon, the label is no less independent.
By analogy, if an indie games developer gets their product stocked by a corporate retailer, that doesn't stop them being an indie developer.
Re: (Score:1)
It does, however, lower their hipster cred.
Re:So... redudant to the steam store (Score:4, Funny)
So, not really any downsides to this, then.
Re: (Score:2)
An indie record label is one that's not owned/controlled by a major corporation. If its records are stocked by HMV, or Amazon, the label is no less independent.
By analogy, if an indie games developer gets their product stocked by a corporate retailer, that doesn't stop them being an indie developer.
so Blizzards StarCraft 2 is an indie title?
there's some game titles now labeled as indie even though there is major marketing pushing banked by big players behind 'em who are also paying for the development.. *cough sony buying exclusivity AND SENDING FUCKING SCARFS TO EVERY FUCKING TV REVIEWER ON THE WORLD*.........
imho putting them in indie or not baskets is stupid. there wasn't such distinction in computer games 20 years ago even though the mechanics how things went were exactly the same, just on a bit s
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
except this isnt factored in when purchasing steam keys, you get a key, you redeem it in seconds, same as buying it directly from Steam.
Starting with their past winter sales steam has very much sucked compared to just about every other game retailer out there, greenman, gamersgate, amazon are among just a few who sold games (Steam keys) at much larger discounts than steam even came close to during their sales.
Do not want. Or need. (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't buy games with any form of DRM, Steam included. Most of the last few games I've bought have been through the Humble Bundle Store, and not just the bundles - I bought FTL through the store, for example.
Re: (Score:2)
I do have a problem with IP being IP for too long, via excessive patent and copyright laws, but that is a legislative and societal issue, not a DRM or technical one.
Re:Do not want. Or need. (Score:4, Informative)
If you're always online, Steam's DRM is reasonably unobtrusive. But if you regularly use its offline mode, it's a bit of a pain in the ass.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd say offline mode has worked well for me most of the time, but a few times it has choked and refused to load the app I wanted. Maybe two or three times out of thirty-ish tries? So not a huge pain, but certainly aggravating when it fails.
Re: (Score:2)
It seems to depend partly on the game.
Defcon just always kept reverting back to trial mode for me when I bought and played it via Steam and I had to reload it each time until it went into licensed mode.
I've also had games I just couldn't activate for a few days when I tried which was annoying because I always felt there was something distinctly wrong about a third party telling me I couldn't use a product I'd paid for until they got their arse into gear.
I agree 99% of the time it works fine, but fundamental
So what's the point? (Score:2)
If they're just re-packaging steam crap, why waste the time and effort? If someone is willing to buy indie games off Steam, they will. Steam is hardly an unknown at this point. And it's no good to anyone who isn't willing to deal with Steam, either.
So basically, they want to be yet another middle-man.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Not usually, no. You don't often see Sweetbay going to Publix and buying up all their store-brand Cheerios to put on their own shelves.
If they were setting up an ALTERNATIVE to Steam, your comparison might be more apt.
Re:So what's the point? (Score:4, Interesting)
Sometimes buying through Amazon to get a Steam license is actually cheaper than buying directly through Steam. I bought the Stronghold series plus Civ V and IV on Amazon, which were all redeemed as Steam licenses, because it was the same price as just the Stronghold series directly on Steam.
The nice thing about middle-men is that sometimes they fight each other.
Re: (Score:2)
Okay, I'll admit that I wasn't expecting that. So is Amazon taking the loss, I wonder, or is the publisher dissing Steam by letting them sell the licenses?
Interesting.
Re: (Score:2)
Steam allows the developer to distribute steam keys on their own at no cost (I think not 100% sure though). They can set any price they want too and subcontract out to other agencies. This is different from Apple which charges for every key you distribute on your own. If Amazon and the developer agrees to sell the game at a reduced price when its on special, then Amazon and the developer make money (but maybe the developer lost money by not having steam do the selling). Many developers will sell their game
Re: (Score:1)
PC, Mac, and Web games? (Score:4, Interesting)
Not indie enough for me, I use Linux. I'll stick with the Humble Bundle, which gives me direct downloads, Ubuntu Software Center and Steam.
I've been assured by many vendors that once I put Linux on it, it's no longer a PC - so I just shut off my brain and think on those terms.
Indie? (Score:5, Interesting)
The first five games I see when I go there are from Microsoft, Sega, and Warner Brothers. If that is who us indies are competing with for space in Amazon's indie store, I'm not sure what they are calling it indie.
Re: (Score:3)
I didn't check past the first two, but Mark of the Ninja and The Cave are both written by indie developers, and published by large publishers.
Although Double Fine might be getting too big to count; as if Creation was an "indie" record label when Oasis were at peak popularity.
Re: (Score:2)
I guess that's fair enough. But I don't think they really need Amazon's help getting noticed if companies like Microsoft and Sega are on the job.
Re:Indie? (Score:4, Insightful)
and published by large publishers
I think that's stretching the definition of "indie" unto meaninglessness.
Re: (Score:1)
Big corporations have jumped on the "indie" bandwagon and brand their lower-budget games as "indie" for marketing purporses. EA is also one of those who love to do that.
on the contrary (Score:4, Interesting)
I love steam. It means I can keep my game catalog as I upgrade my machine, switch operating systems, switch platforms... my games are mine. While I can't sell used games, I always try them out non-steam first before I decide I'm going to purchase them. Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer. To me, it's the best DRM out there, and the benefits outweigh my dislike for DRM.
Re:on the contrary (Score:4, Insightful)
Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer
Unless you have the unmitigated gall to object to any change they might decide to shove into their TOS. If that's the case, well then fuck you, peasant. Eat it, or kiss your library goodbye.
Steam is certainly "DRM done right," as so many love to parrot: You do what they say, or they take your games away. That's what DRM is supposed to do, after all.
Re:on the contrary (Score:4, Interesting)
Or a more common case - the game is no longer able to be distributed. I have stuff in my steam library that cannot be downloaded. They don't show up anymore. I can install them from backups (a good idea to backup your library), but if you don't download and back up your library regularly, you can find yourself with the inability to play games you bought.
Yes, you own the license, but you just cannot reinstall it from Steam via download. You can restore a backup and authorize it against your account, though.
Anyhow, I did come across something interesting - people were dissing the Xbox One because of the used game fees and saying they're going to get a PC and play on that. Of course, used gaming on PCs is dead since Steam doesn't let you transfer purchases (without account trickery, that is). Which made things interesting - you don't want an xbox because of the used game fees, so you get a PC and buy games new?
Re: (Score:1)
This is the first I've ever heard of this - could you provide some evidence?
Re: (Score:2)
This is the first I've ever heard of this - could you provide some evidence?
iirc some bigger title did it last year.. like you have the usual 3 installs, steam or not.
Re: (Score:2)
It can happen when a publisher goes bankrupt or gets taken over - Valve may then lose the right to distribute that publisher's games.
It means that you don't just have to worry about Valve going bust, or changing hands as a risk for losing some or all of your games, but any games company you buy from - if it goes bust or gets sold you could arbitrarily be cut off from ever downloading or playing them again via Steam.
Of course, they forget to make this clear to you until it actually happens.
Re: (Score:3)
"I love steam. It means I can keep my game catalog as I upgrade my machine, switch operating systems, switch platforms... my games are mine. While I can't sell used games, I always try them out non-steam first before I decide I'm going to purchase them. Steam guarantees that I'll have those games available to me no matter what happens to my computer. To me, it's the best DRM out there, and the benefits outweigh my dislike for DRM."
A long time ago, in an age before Steam, we had these things called CDs, DVDs
Re: (Score:1)
Theres plenty of benefits over physical media, whether these are worth it to you or not is up to the person:
-no physical media to lose, I cant count the number of games I've lost in moves over the years
-also no lost keys to go along with the first one
-no tedious installs, pick all the games you want and let it download/install, when its done everything is ready to go
-no updating, all updates are handled automatically
-dlc (if you consider that a benefit, could 50/50 on that one)
-a built in online community f
Re: (Score:2)
"-no physical media to lose, I cant count the number of games I've lost in moves over the years"
You can lose account details, or even have them hacked (not necessarily on your system) with varying degrees of success in getting them back.
"-also no lost keys to go along with the first one"
Irrelevant. You don't need keys in the first place if you don't have DRM. Or if you do have them anyway it doesn't matter if you lose some random key on the net if you lose yours.
"-no tedious installs, pick all the games you
The word indie lost it's meaning (Score:1)
Indie used to mean independently created, now it just means "looks like something that a 'quirky' sheepster would enjoy"
What's in an address (Score:2)
No mention of linux anywhere (Score:3, Insightful)
It's hardly a multiplatform store when the linux versions of these games are not listed anywhere in sight. What a pointless service.
Re: (Score:1)
to bad that ios and windows phone are locked into (Score:2)
to bad that ios and windows phone are locked into one app store.
can they make there own Cydia store for ios?