Topic: Why do so many people hate Indie Games?

I saw this piece on IGN and thought I'd share it. Pretty long article but it makes some solid points. I've seen a quite few people on this site automatically shoot down most indie titles which I think is pretty unfair considering how a good amount of indie/lower budget titles are really good(goty caliber even like Shovel Knight). This article may not change people's opinions on indies, which is okay, but I just find it ironic that people will dismiss a good indie title but rather buy SMB3 for like the 5th time. Anyway, I think it's a good article and most people should read it.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/29/why-do-so-many-people-...

Ignorance and self-justification.

Your welcome.

There are a lot of cool indie games, but there are also a lot of crappy ones. It's a huge mixed bag.

You just summed up everything ever.

Yeah, I know.

Same thing about AAA games.

Truf

I finished reading the article. I find it funny that it didn't mention Nintendo at all. I see Nintendo as where Indie and AAA meet. Some how Nintendo is constantly making games that look amazing and are big $60 experiences while also keeping their budgets down and getting praise from both Reviewers and Gamers. On the flip side Nintendo is also hated by many for not being "mature." (the hating part is similar, not the "mature" part)

People hate indie games?

Wait, people hate independently-created games? Maybe it's because I've been stuck in the indie wonderland of PC gaming for a while, but I see hating indie games as hating people who eat salads. Sure, salads might not be your preferred food, but it's not affecting you in any way.

With that out of the way, I at least want to reiterate something that was mentioned in the article; The term, "Indie Game," has become so broad that it's lost a lot of meaning. Heck, some people call Sanctum 2 an, "Indie," game despite the developer (Coffee Stain Studios) being comprised of literally several dozen people. We need to reign in how often we use that term and learn how to appropriately apply it.

to be fair, so did you

What I found to be more baffling is how there was a time when indie games were supposed to be automatically good.

For me, I grade any game the same on how it appeals to me. Sure, there will be bias with the creators. On one hand, a good developer (Nintendo) will have more priority whereas a bad developer (Square Enix, don't hate) will have lower priority, but if someone is new, then I will be neutral to them

Case in point, I bought Shovel Knight and loved it. Therefore I will be more receptive to Yacht games. I don't really care if the creator is indie or not.

However, to counter the point against SMB3, it is a game that is known to be good. The advantage of VC games is that you already know whether they are good or not most of the time and few purchases are risky ones. That's why some may favor a VC title over an indie title

Funny because I was talking about this with a friend of mine who works for Sony Playstation. My supersecret theory is that gamers nowdays don't want to just play the big games, they want to play the big games that are relevant 'that' specific moment they choose to buy them. They want to bring their AAA game home as soon as possible (noticed the dangerous popularity of pre-orders??), play it and share their experience with million of people who did the same thing. Big budget games have this kind of "community" quality - you know millions of people are going to get them and rave/rant on the internet and a lot of players want to follow that, or be a part of that - it's a process of tension and release, in a sense.
Now, indie games may turn out better, but usually they don't kick up that kind of storm big releases do. GTAV was the defining event of 2013 - Shovel Knight is probably better but doesn't feel like capturing these times as well as GTAV. For all laypeople know, it could have been released 20 years ago.
Gaming on consoles has become more and more of a social activity, and as many social things, it's more about the "significance" than the actual quality.

**this supersecret theory also explains why I keep finding two years old PS3 games in the bargain bin for one sixth of their original price.

people tend to mistake price and game's development budget with quality, that's why even bad AAA games can sell decently and have a good number of fans.
it's the old mentality of "if there's more money involved it must be better" that still didn't die

This is my favorite Indy game~

You beat me to it.

I don't think people hate indy games per se but if you want to play indy games, you don't need a console most indy games have low system requirements so you don't have to worry about having a cutting edge pc like you would with triple A games and they cost peanuts in steam...... so people who buy consoles like PS4, Wii U and specially the Vita, get a bit angry when there's a lack of triple A games and people come and say like, 'but there is all this awesome indies" because indies is not the reason they bought the console for

You must be blind then.

Most indie games are underwhelming for a segment that's born out of freedom. Plus alot of the games being 8/16 bit homages has become grating.

TBH I can't take the article seriously as they use the word hate, to me before I read it seemed like they were going for sensationalism which I do my best to avoid.