Get More Indie Gaming Goodness With The Little Big Bunch

[Andy Chalk]

Get More Indie Gaming Goodness With The Little Big Bunch

In case you haven't blown all your money on cheap indie game collections yet, here's one more: the Little Big Bunch!

This is getting out of hand. Seriously, there are enough indie game collections floating around right now to keep you playing until the holiday season in 2012. But if you're a hardcore gaming machine who blew through 200 hours of Skyrim in a single weekend, then I have good news: more is on the way!

Actually, it's already here. Feast your eyes on the GamesAid [http://www.getgamesgo.com/little-big-bunch], a U.K.-based organization that acts as "a broker of charitable activity" on behalf of the videogame industry, distributing funds to children's charities related to education, health, housing and social welfare.

And what will you get for your hard-earned, hopefully-more-than-$1.50? Explodemon, Frozen Synapse and Munch's Odyssey, all DRM-free, an activation key for New Star Soccer 5 and the Steamworks-based Serious Sam: Double D. That's a solid collection by any measure, so don't be cheap - kick in a few bucks and get your indie on!



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[Owyn_Merrilin]

I'm surprised no-one has commented on this yet. It's a good bundle, but you have to sign up for the (apparently British) digital distribution platform that sponsors it, and what's more, while the screen where you put in the amount and proportion you want to pay shows dollars by default, the checkout screen defaults to British pounds, in the same numerical amount, rather than in a converted amount. If you read the fine print, you can switch it to dollars or Euros, but it's not immediately obvious; I'm sure a lot of people are overpaying by a factor of about 1.6[footnote]I just checked Google's currency converter; the pound is currently higher than the usual figure of 1.5[/footnote] That's just shady, and does not fit the ethos of a "pay what you want" indie bundle.

Plus, Serious Sam: Double D and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee are not indie games. One is a spinoff of a AAA game, and the other is a AAA game from last gen. Hardly "indie." Granted, those were two of the three reasons I wanted the bundle...

 

[oplinger]

The overlap of the bundles is killing me. Especially when I can't gift the games..

Also, I do feel sort of awkward being compelled to buy a game I didn't even really like on the Xbox 10 years ago XD

 

[coolguy5678]

I'm not sure I should point this out, but it's possible to pay $0... just type 0 into the box, then click "buy" now, and it skips the payment screen. If you do pay something, you have to pay at least $1.50 (to cover processing cost).

 

[Andy Chalk]

And if you do that, you are a douche.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Plus, Serious Sam: Double D and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee are not indie games. One is a spinoff of a AAA game, and the other is a AAA game from last gen. Hardly "indie." Granted, those were two of the three reasons I wanted the bundle...

I don't think that "triple-A" means what you think it means. I suspect the same might hold true for "indie."

 

[Tiamat666]

But if you're a hardcore gaming machine who blew through 200 hours of Skyrim in a single weekend, then I have good news: more is on the way!

You would need a time machine or possibly travel at almost the speed of light to accomplish that. Although depending on the definition of "blowing time on games" I suppose it is possible to play four instances of Skyrim simultaneously during 48 hours for a 192hrs total Skyrim gaming time.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Plus, Serious Sam: Double D and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee are not indie games. One is a spinoff of a AAA game, and the other is a AAA game from last gen. Hardly "indie." Granted, those were two of the three reasons I wanted the bundle...

I don't think that "triple-A" means what you think it means. I suspect the same might hold true for "indie."

Eh, they're big games, and they actually get sold in stores. They may not be full blown AAA titles, but indie does not begin to describe it; more like single-A or B+ at the lowest. Indie games, to me, are games that bypass the big publishers, or at most go through a digital distribution platform. Munch's Odysee very much did not bypass the major publishers, nor do the non-spinoff entries in the Serious Sam series.

Edit: And if Serious Sam isn't a AAA series, I don't know what is. Just because it's made by a European developer doesn't mean it's not designed as the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster movie. The Oddworld series, likewise, was AAA for at least its first two entries; maybe Munch's Oddysee was different, though.

 

[blalien]

Are the games Steam redeemable?

 

[oplinger]

Plus, Serious Sam: Double D and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee are not indie games. One is a spinoff of a AAA game, and the other is a AAA game from last gen. Hardly "indie." Granted, those were two of the three reasons I wanted the bundle...

I don't think that "triple-A" means what you think it means. I suspect the same might hold true for "indie."

Eh, they're big games, and they actually get sold in stores. They may not be full blown AAA titles, but indie does not begin to describe it; more like single-A or B+ at the lowest. Indie games, to me, are games that bypass the big publishers, or at most go through a digital distribution platform. Munch's Odysee very much did not bypass the major publishers, nor do the non-spinoff entries in the Serious Sam series.

Edit: And if Serious Sam isn't a AAA series, I don't know what is. Just because it's made by a European developer doesn't mean it's not designed as the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster movie. The Oddworld series, likewise, was AAA for at least its first two entries; maybe Munch's Oddysee was different, though.

Double D was made by an indie developer and published by croteam.

and AAA is similar to say...a school grade. A is good, but AA is better, and AAA is like the best ever.

and on a side note, Serious Sam 3 was published by Devolver Digital, unlike 2, which was published by 2k.

So I would say by your definition, serious sam is indie. Though you're spot on with munch's oddysee, which was published by Microsoft.

But it's the financial backing that makes an indie game, if I remember correctly. 2K may have distributed Serious Sam 2, but if they didn't give them any money, it'd still be considered indie. Same for Munch's Oddysee.

---

... Captcha: Israel Lies.

I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Plus, Serious Sam: Double D and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee are not indie games. One is a spinoff of a AAA game, and the other is a AAA game from last gen. Hardly "indie." Granted, those were two of the three reasons I wanted the bundle...

I don't think that "triple-A" means what you think it means. I suspect the same might hold true for "indie."

Eh, they're big games, and they actually get sold in stores. They may not be full blown AAA titles, but indie does not begin to describe it; more like single-A or B+ at the lowest. Indie games, to me, are games that bypass the big publishers, or at most go through a digital distribution platform. Munch's Odysee very much did not bypass the major publishers, nor do the non-spinoff entries in the Serious Sam series.

Edit: And if Serious Sam isn't a AAA series, I don't know what is. Just because it's made by a European developer doesn't mean it's not designed as the gaming equivalent of a blockbuster movie. The Oddworld series, likewise, was AAA for at least its first two entries; maybe Munch's Oddysee was different, though.

Double D was made by an indie developer and published by croteam.

and AAA is similar to say...a school grade. A is good, but AA is better, and AAA is like the best ever.

and on a side note, Serious Sam 3 was published by Devolver Digital, unlike 2, which was published by 2k.

So I would say by your definition, serious sam is indie. Though you're spot on with munch's oddysee, which was published by Microsoft.

But it's the financial backing that makes an indie game, if I remember correctly. 2K may have distributed Serious Sam 2, but if they didn't give them any money, it'd still be considered indie. Same for Munch's Oddysee.

---

... Captcha: Israel Lies.

I'm not sure how I should feel about that.

See, by my definition, it's a combination of the developer and the publisher. If either one of them is in the big leagues,it's not an indie game -- and if the indie studio makes the game as a work for hire spinoff of a AAA series, it doesn't count as an indie game. Croteam is a major league developer at this point, and they've traditionally published their games through major league publishers. If BFE is being published by a smaller publisher, that's cool, but it doesn't make it indie. For one thing, Croteam isn't indie. For another, any publisher with enough muscle to get a game into Walmart isn't indie, either. They may be small compared to 2K, but if they can get significant retail space, they aren't indie. Double D may be developed by an indie dev, but they were hired by Croteam (or someone representing Croteam) to make a 2D spinoff of a AAA series; that's why I said it was a spinoff of a AAA game, not that it was a AAA game itself. As for the definition of AAA, I think you're the one who's off here; it may have started out as a letter grade, but in this day and age AAA is to gaming as "Blockbuster" is to film; it means it's big, costs a relatively large amount of money to make, and it's the kind of stuff that keeps the studio afloat so they can either take risks on more interesting fare, or just rake in the profits. The actual quality really has nothing to do with it.

Also, is that really your Captcha? That's freakin' bizarre, at least if it came for Recaptcha. I didn't know Inglip was an anti-semite...