Right, so I'm aware that we haven't really shut up about these games since they hit the spotlight, but bear with me for a moment.

See, Zombie Cow Studios have decided to burst their banks and publish elsewhere. Not just any elsewhere, mind, but on the biggest elsewhere ever to make itself available to indies. Yes, that's right, Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please! are both on Steam, for nothing more than five United States Monetary Units. Yeah, that's not really cheaper than its original price on their official site, but Steam is almost unanimously agreed (that's unanimous among my multitude of usually conflicting opinions) to be the simplest and easiest way to grab your indie games.

Good luck, Zombie Cow Studios. I hope this helps you make a killing so that you can keep on making good adventure games.

- Chippit

"Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy" - Tim O'Reilly. Is that a killer quote or what?

Gamasutra is currently running a feature entitled Building Buzz for Indie Games. The link has been spreading all over the Internet, and it only seems fair that we put it here too. Not least because the article references my very own Zero Budget Indie Marketing Guide in its reading list, and seems to have followed a similar path of research in some cases.

Okay, but enough with the self-backpatting crap: the Gama article is bloody good and deserves a read. And while you're at it, have a lookie in the direction of Frozen Synapse, the game that the author is currently working on.

-Nandrew

Over on the Game.Dev forum, contributor DukeOFprunes pointed out this really kickass list of readings and other linkage from Gaming Horror. It covers an impressive variety of topics: stuff related to business, indie communities, engines, tech, assets and ... well, go on and just have a look at the collection. There's a lot of stuff to peruse at your leisure, and the law of raw quantity (disclaimer: not an actual law) states that something there will pique your interest.

I was really happy to come across this: not only is it a fairly comprehensive list of information, but it spares me the chore of looking up my own news to post today. Taking advantage of other people's investigative journalism rocks!

News pic related. But only in an insider-joke kind of way.

-Nandrew

GameCareerGuide.com graces us with a compelling argument in favour of independent development, showing how true innovation is only likely to arise from independent sources. The piece reasons that, due to its inherent nature, the flexibility of indie development gives it a considerable reign of freedom (and potential) over larger development projects.

While these may not be groundbreaking positions, their presentation offers the standpoint a whole lot of weight. Particularly notable is how the article makes a strong argument while simultaneously succeeding in not understating the value of large, commercial projects built by triple-A studios and massive teams. As such, the piece remains realistic and relevant, and, simply, is a darned good read.

Plus it has a really rough screenshot of an early Braid prototype – before Hellerman was recruited to provide the game with pretties – which is a stark reminder that everything has humble roots. The image alone is worth the price of admission, and that price is nothing more than clicking this link.

- Chippit

This one is a quickie because there's not much to be said that hasn't been said on the official Team Fortress 2 blog already:

(1) Valve are cool and stuff.

(2) Team Fortress 2 is cool and stuff.

(3) Valve are showing us how they make TF2 maps.

There's a few videos on the link that go into the process with some detail: anybody who is interested in learning a little more about level design (and that should be EVERYBODY, regardless of chosen gaming discipline) should check it out.

Hey, at least it's fun and colourful. Which is probably the real reason why I posted this. It's kinda like how Chippit gets me to write articles by dangling rainbow tinsel in front of my face and shouting "WHEEE!" every 30 seconds.

-Nandrew