Topic: The Official "Help with Indie Games" Thread

Stuff like :

DuckTales Remastered
Castle of Illusion
Bionic Commando : Rearmed
Double Dragon : Neon
Megaman 9
Child of Light
Strider

Is a different category completely (And they have more in common with each other than the indies).

Most of these are pre-existing franchises which the big company (Capcom for instance) outsources to smaller studios. Is it correct to call them "indie"? Yes and no. The big company probably puts the money upfront and has a say on the content of the game, so they are not very indie in this regard.
But to the audience (who couldn't care less if Capcom pays in advance or the game comes from a loan the developers took at the bank) those are smaller products, built with a limited budget and a niche audience in mind (the retro enthusiast, for example), making them indie, if not de facto at least in scope. Most of these games feature mechanics that are simple and limited (in quantity) and focus more on gameplay than bells and whistles, making them very close to the indie culture.
Are you implying that these games should be in a category of their own because they are published by a big company therefore they have to sell as many copies as possible therefore they tone down the difficulty level?! Because I'm not getting into another discussion about modern games being too easy.

It is hard to apply the concept of being "indie" the way you want, at least on console where even quintessential indie games like Super Meat Boy or Braid (done by two or three-men studios) have to "sign" with Microsoft or whatever and depend on them for release, advertising and distribution, and probably even in the technical department when it comes to using their kits. It is only natural that things got mixed up and, like in music, the word "indie" is just a description of the scope of the project and its target audience rather than a number of qualities that a product should respect. Actual state of affair, "indie" is a good generic term that the audience can grasp instantly and it helps them to understand what's the proportion of the game they are getting into. No objection from me here - if I wanted to play pure, no-compromises, unadulterated indie games built by people who couldn't give a damn about the money, the glory and the audience, I would still be playing my old ZX Spectrum.

I'll add to this and say they also do a very good job of giving you the highlights of the NES games, for example if you don't want to play all of Metroid but just the classic moment of beating Mother Brain then you can or use the Frog Mario power up in Super Mario Bros 3 or being told to take a sword in Zelda etc.