Stop moaning about indie games on PS4 and start celebrating them

Sean Davies of PSgamer: The PS4 is quickly becoming the new home for the best that indie gaming has to offer. The Swapper, Nidhogg, Spelunky, Rollers of the Realm, Habitat: A Thousand Generations In Orbit, Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty and, of course, No Man’s Sky are being joined by hundreds of of other independently developed games heading to the PS4.

With each announcement of a new indie game coming to the PS4 that we cover at PSGamer, I have noticed a pattern emerging – that of abject negativity. “Great, another game that belongs on Facebook”, “More indie sh*t?”, “Less Indies, more AAA” and “Looks like a rubbish ZX Spectrum game” are common comments on any PS4 indie game article on N4G or Reddit and it is beginning to frustrate the life out of me. These comments are often counter intuitive, small minded and sometimes, plain stupid. We should be embracing the console indie revolution that Sony are attempting to spear head with the PS4 and PSVita instead of moaning about them and here is why.

[WilliamUsher]

Yeah I don't understand the gripes about having lots of games to choose from.

Mercenary Kings is still one of the best games this generation, and if it wasn't for an indie team we wouldn't have the game at all.

[BitbyDeath]

I just got the platinum for it the other day. Brilliant game.

[Prime157]

Wait, it has a platinum? How'd I miss that?

Time to play more.

[RantandRave]

@WilliamUsher

I don't have anything against indies. I believe the gripes come from the lack of higher quality content being released on PS4 via indies (8 bit graphics) and before anyone says it I know it's ARTISTIC CHOICE of dev.

I feel the gamers frustration may come from games they want to play being pushed back til 2015+ in glorious 1080p 30-60fps and then Sony's appeasement stage of sorry in the meantime play these stunningly creative indie 8 bit games.

I don't know but in the end it's just an opinion and you know what those are like lol.

[XtraTrstrL]

You'll understand once the PS Store becomes as cluttered as iOS and android with complete trash that you have to sift through to find a game worth anything.

[Prime157]

With that logic there will be no big budget games in the red on meta critic, right?

Oh, I see 4 out of 9 are AAA flops...

The problem isn't having the games to play, the problem is steam/xbox/psn finding a good way to curate their stores so we can sift out the subjective junk easily. Some people hate ___ and some people love it.

The best way to do so now is to read reviews and decide. Or start with a demo if applicable. Having more games is not a bad thing.

Indie games in the green: Fez, Guacamelee, towefall, the swapper, resogun, trine, transistor, rogue legacy, sportsfriends, steamworld dig, 1001 spikes, don't starve, stick it to the man...

One could argue that games like strider, pixeljunk, and child of light are of the same quality as many idies, but these studios found publisher backings.

I just find people to be lazy, irresponsible consumers.

[Redlogic]

Seriously, reviews are so hard to find these days. If only there was a news site for gamers that posted them in one convenient space.....**lightbulb**

[Starks]

Implying that they either are iOS and Android games or there is no quality control, which is sheer ignorance coming from you.

Edit: @GiggMan

Isn't there already a section on the PS Store for indie titles? If not, the option to selectively search what you want?

[GiggMan]

That is my only gripe. It needs be sorted better in the ps store. Maybe add Indie to the sort filter or something like that.

As it is now it's starting to get cluttered.

[vegnadragon]

The only problem that i have with the PS indies is the lack of exclusive indie games, i know it is hard to make a indie exclusive due to profit reasons, but most of those indie games out there are cheaper on the PC.

What I would want from indies are the games like Journey, SuperStar Dust, Resogun, fat princesses, flower.

[MrSwankSinatra]

Nobody purchased a 400 dollar next generation console to play phone games. If you want those types of games fine, but don't blast another persons opinion for not wanting these types of games. I don't get this whole agenda of trying to shove indies down peoples throats. An this whole creativity excuse is just straight BS. Please explain to me how it's creative to play as a floppy octopus that is the father of human children, how is it creative to play as a multi color sperm cell? Those ideas are stupid and you people put it off as creative. If that's creativity then gaming has really become stretched for ideas.

[godofboobees]

You know nothing. Indie games are the back bone of this industry. Every big name studio synonymous with gaming started out as Indie studios. To bash and spout ridiculous shit like that just makes you unaware of what the fuck is actually going on since day one of gaming. Now go have a coke and a fucking smile

[Death]

How is it people still fail to understand the difference between an indie developer and independent studio?

Indie is the new term for Homebrew. It is an incredibly small developer with an even smaller budget. Most are done in their basement/garage, but some larger developers are quitting triple A to make budget games that have low risk and high rewards.

Independent developers are third parties. At the dawn of gaming many of our well established third parties started small, but had a big budget to work with from their publishers.

[spacedelete]

exactly and whats funny is i can better free indie games on my phone. these indie games on consoles are overpriced and terrible. its sad how people use indie games with cardboard graphics to be innovative. i can name about less than 10 good indies the rest are trailer trash style games.

[starchild]

A lot of great games come from indie developers and Sony's policies are allowing many of those great indie games to come to PS4. There's nothing wrong with more games.

The problem for me is, I am a PC and PS4 owner, so most of those indie games are already available on my PC, and in most cases, for less money. There is a wider breadth of indie games available on the PC than any other gaming platform.

So, really, I'm waiting for the AAA exclusives for my PS4. I've enjoyed Infamous Second Son and The Last of Us Remastered and I'm looking forward to Infamous First Light and LittleBigPlanet 3, but I hope Sony keeps a focus on those outstanding AAA exclusives they have long been known for.

[PeaSFor]

More games>Less games
More choices>Less choices

its pretty easy to understand.

[LordMaim]

Well said, sir.

[LightDiego]

Indie games are great, Sony should continue bringing these titles for PS4.

[Starks]

Since small developers do not have the burden of having huge budgets, they get to utilize their wide array of creativity more, despite the lack of budgets they may have. Which is an extremely good thing, because that means more quality driven games with a lot more depth to them than some big blockbuster title.

[spacedelete]

i don't understand this logic that just because its an indie game its automatically good so stfu and stop complaining about other people complaining.

just like AAA games theres only a small amount of good indies. i don't know were this hipster fad has come from tbh. if you wanted indies then go buy a Wii U. i bought a next gen console for next gen games.

[Spotie]

Nobody is claiming that every indie is automatically good. There ARE, however, people treating every indie as bad.

Dunno what internet you've been paying attention to...

[gangsta_red]

Actually there ARE people treating every indie game as more games to chose from, regardless of if the game is good or not.

Quantity doesn't equal quality.

There are over thousands of indie games on the 360 and most of them are pure crap. Should those games be as celebrated as the ones sony fanboys seem to celebrate for the PS4?

For a machine that costs 400 dollars I expect to play more than just PC ports and games ported from mobile or vita.

[spacedelete]

Nobody ? all i see from trolls are that indie games are innovative and fun while making out that all AAA games are like COD. i've seen people accused of being a brainless COD gamer just because they don't like indies when that person which is beyond stupid.

if i want indies i'll download them for free on my cellphone which are not only are free but it suits indies better. why would you want to play an indie game on a 60 inch TV ? especially when you have better made AAA games which are made for home experience.

[KentBlake]

No Man's Sky is an indie game. If that's not a next-gen game, I don't know what is.

[Starks]

"stop complaining about other people complaining."

So you want people to stop complaining about people complaining about there being too many indie titles? Dumbass much? I don't get how your AAA games are being hindered by having more companies put their titles on consoles. If anything, you should be the one not complaining at all.

[Starks]

Who would want to play on a touchscreen phone anyways? See, you're just as stupid and clearly ignorant like the others who says they hate indies. How about you fund the indies money to make games with subpar quality and lack of any essence of creativity? Amazing to see that you people cannot find the brains to think this out thoroughly, but whatever.

[Razjin]

Unless you have been in the position of a indie developer you shouldn't be complaining especially since most of your so called developers started off small and work there way up. The low budget indies games might not be for you but at the end of the day these small teams will eventual branch off into bigger teams or join those AAA teams. Just got to be patient with this kind of stuff or go to school and learn how to make them yourself.

[ado908]

The problem is with next gen consoles released there have been more indie games than retailed one's. Otherwise wth is the point in owning a next gen console that is supposedly 10x stronger than the previous gen.

[BitbyDeath]

There is a lot more indie studios than AAA ones. Support them and they will grow. Remember all devs start as indie.

[ado908]

I didn't say anything about AAA studios. Games like little big planet is an AA funded game yet its an outstanding game. Im talking about studios that release retailed games as a whole. Sure there are plenty of indie studios but a lot of them don't release their games for sony or Microsoft. Alot of indies are released on ios playforms, it doesn't necessarily merit the right to release more indies than actual retailed games. Its bad for buisness and there's a reason this article was made and why others label next gens indieboxes. If they want to keep selling then more games with the quality of red dead, the last of us, uncharted, fallout, gta need to be released. Hell its amazing AA funded games like littlebigplanet, Alan wake, Sly cooper, Demon souls (my favorite game of last gen) were released and had such pure quality

[BitbyDeath]

There is a huge difference between mobile indie games and pc/console indie games.

Mobile phone games have literally no depth to them. I enjoy Family Guy QFS as much as the next person but they are no way near on the same level as something like Outlast, Mercenary Kings, Pixel Junk Shooter etc

[ado908]

Well lets put it this way. If you want to represent your brand and if us the consumers want to buy a next gen console. Would you be happier with super meat boy, plants vs zombies, limbo, peggle, super stardust HD, flower or would you be more happier with elder scrolls, metal gear solid, final fantasy, demon/dark souls, left 4 dead, portal, super smash bros? You see where im going? If I want to buy a next gen console to showcase the power and capabilities of its hardware and to show its a step up from last gen how are you suppose to represent the new consoles with games that can be ported to tablets and last gen systems. Sony and Microsoft need new retailed I.Ps not remakes and indie games. This is the longest I waited to purchase a new system and I been gaming for over 20 years.

[BitbyDeath]

You shouldn't have to pick one or the other.
You get both. Every devs start small.

Anyone remember Marathon? Bungie made that. Without that you would not see Halo or Destiny.

Anyone remember Jazz Jackrabbit? Epic Games made that, if you ditched them back in the day you would not have gotten Gears, Unreal etc.

Anyone remember Ghosts N Goblins? Capcom made that.

And the list goes on. Everyone starts indie. If you never supported those companies then they never would have gained the money to make AAA titles.

Indies we see today are the future of gaming.

[ado908]

Do you even understand what I'm talking about? The problem is that sony and micrsoft are releasing more indies than retailed games. This is 2014 and we are out with the playstation 4 and xbox one. What happened to all the games devs made last gen? Did they all magically stop making retailed games and started making indies? You are arguing that developers start off as indies and move onto being bigger developers, obviously. But why is it the ps3 and xbox 360 are known for their quality retailed games and NOT for indie games yet consoles basically 8-10 years later are catering mostly indie games. Do you understand? Where are those same developers that made the ps3 and 360 known, now? Now as in our current gen cycle. Thats the problem. I don't care about small indies in 2014 making indie games. It seems to me that both Sony and Microsoft released the ps4 and xbone too early because they were not ready. This year and last is known for nothinf but delays, remasters, and nothing but indies. This is the core of the problem.

[BitbyDeath]

Not a large difference if we leave out FTP and only include the big games.

PS3
Resistance
Motorstorm
Folklore

PS4
Knack
Killzone
inFamous SS
Last of Us

[Almir908]

Sorry I had to use another account to comment. In the time span of how long the ps4 has been out how do you only count 3 games for ps3? You have a last gen game put on the ps4 list, you exactly proved my point that 2013-2014 sucks for both ps4 and xbone. In 2006-2007 the ps3 already has uncharted debuted, assassins creed debuted, oblivion, bioshock, ninja gaiden sigma, bioshock debuted, warhawk, lair, halo 3, gears of war, heavenly sword, project gotham racing, the orange box, cod4 which is the best cod, super mario galaxy, debut of mass effect, portal, debut of skate and crackdown. Nothing you can put for future releases on ps4 and xbone can come close to that list let alone the crap releases now.

[BitbyDeath]

Oh, I was only listing PS4 games and not Xbox, and also neglected multiplats to keep it cleaner. We have had a lot though.

Most of those PS exclusives you mentioned did come out in 2007 but not on or before early August.

Hence why I also left out the big titles for the rest of the year.

Anyways this is my last bub, so have a good night!

[Almir908]

You can take half that list off and it still would be more than what the xbone and ps4 offers. It isn't just the quantity but quality wise this gen doesn't compete. And im also talking about future releases for 2014 which isn't much either. But okay man good day/night to you too

[XtraTrstrL]

Exactly.

[FayZ_]

indie games are like unsigned musicians, most of them suck and the the only ones that make it usually get signed. AAA is all i care about & ps4 only has ND.

[dragon82]

Please stop gaming!!!

[iSuperSaiyanGod]

We'll I didn't buy a $400 console to play indies . So I will continue to complain ...

[Quofo]

Dead on. 100 percent correct. I didn't buy a brand new 400 dollar system to play the same crap games I could still play on PS3. Bring on the real titles! So far me owning a PS4 seems like a waste. Just sits there and collects dust. No good games. My PS3 is getting more play lately.

[one2thr]

Or you could have just waited, until the system(s) started to get the games that YOU prefer. Instead of dropping said, $400 on a gaming console(s) that is, still in its infancy stage.

[BitbyDeath]

Don't buy them then, you would still have the same amount of AAA titles today with or without indies.

[MasterCornholio]

The PS4 is more open to Indie developers than the Xbox One. That due to the way Sony has their policies. With that said I find it pathetic that some people believe that having more Indie games eliminates AAA games. A studio that produces a game like No Mans Sky isn't going to stop developers like Ubisoft, EA, Sony Santa Monica, Media Molecule, NaughtyDog etc from releasing AAA games on the system. People have to accept that Indie games can be very good and that having more variety in a library of games is never a bad thing.

[Summons75]

I mean the only thing I can understand is 90% of indies are crap for pure rip offs of successful games but still there are a lot of great indies, why complain?

[DragonKnight]

While more games is always better, people are getting the impression that, at least with the PS4, Sony wasn't ready for the gen and are leaning way too much on the indie scene to cover for their lack of preparation. There's also the idea that a lot of indie games suffer from the problem of being very similar to each other, we don't want shovelware becoming commonplace.

I don't want the PS4 to become a place where we get less of the AAA games that really satisfy our itches because indies are taking over that, while possibly great in their own right, don't necessarily compare to the AAA experiences that we've become accustomed to.

[system22]

I actually agree. I don't think the x1 or ps4 were quite ready yet, and that ms and sony ended up just trying to race each other to the gate... hence all the big "next gen" games coming in 2015. I don't mind the indie games available on the ps4, but considering I bought a "next gen" console" to get "next gen" experiences, the indies while good, don't scratch that itch. they are all games that could be run on the ps3, or even the ps2 for that matter. Thats not a bad thing, its just not why i bought a ps4.

[system22]

i don't mind the indie games. a lot of them are surprisingly good and affordable. my gripe is just a lack AAA games to compliment them.... to exploit the power of the system. a lot of this stuff I could have played on the ps3 or 360. i realize graphics don't make a great game, but I could have/should have just waited til the end of the year to upgrade.

[KentBlake]

What people don't seem to understand is that having MORE indie games doesn't mean LESS AAA games. They're made by different studios, so one doesn't hurt the other.

I think having more choice is always better.

[ado908]

Sure it does alot of those resources can be used to make retail games with quality.

[uth11]

no it wouldn't. Those indie studios would still be churning out the same games, except they wouldn't be porting them to PS4

[AnteCash]

You do know what indie developer means?
They don't have tens of million dollars and teams of 150 making the game.

[dragon82]

@ado908

I think you should find a new hobby because you know nothing about this one.

[Corpser]

Because a lot of these are already on PC and are cheaper there, and you don't need a beefy gaming pc to play them, they play fine on a cheap laptop .

The Swapper was already part of a humble bundle that pc gamers can get for next to nothing, yet they want ps4 owners to pay $15?

[strickers]

I wonder how many of the "lack of AAA games on XB1/PS4" brigade how owned launch systems before??
These 2 systems have had loads and many big franchises too.
As for Indies, I don't differentiate in buying habits. I buy the games I like the look of and budgets don't concern me.
I've enjoying some smaller titles and loved Infamous/ Destiny.
My top choice is Destiny for the year but I think the new downloadable games filling the gap( they aren't all Indies) rather than B level games suits me more. I'd rather play a 6 hour mini RPG than a full size, retail weak shooter or ATV game. That's what we used to fill gaps with. They cost as much as AAA games( or close), often lasted as long but were lame by comparison.
Now we get something different, fresh, cheap and short.

[SideNote]

My gripe is that what's really the point of these next gen systems with Indie games that are last gen. They could easily stay on ps3 and xbox 360, and apart from the graphics of AAA games, what's new. I went back to owning last gen because that's where the games are.

[khellendros1]

How about gamers just stop moaning so much in general.

[XtraTrstrL]

LoL, who wrote this, Sony? I just want a game I can't play on Steam already. So it feels like PS+ is worth something (on PS4), more than just a paywall to get into online mode for retail games.

[_LarZen_]

Some people have gotten in their heads that if the PS4 did not have so many Indie games there would be more AAA games.

And that is not the case, the PS4 would then just have a less variety. Something close to the selection of games on the XBO.

And who wants less variety? Only a dumbass would.

[hello12]

I have a PC this caters for all types of gamers. My point would be why own a console if its lacks exclusives?

Your on the wrong platform if you want a variety of games. Its common sense.

S2KILLINIT@ Yes he is because you can play every genre of video game on PC. I bought an xb1 for exclusives. If it had no exclusives i wouldn't have bothered? You don't even need to be clever to realise and know that.

[S2Killinit]

ummm no he is not. There is more games on PS4. end of that story.

[_LarZen_]

If you are a PC gamer then of course the selection of games that you would buy and play are much more limited then if you just own a console.

People seam to forget that when the PS3 and X360 launched we had the same situation for a while.
This time around the consoles have F2P and Indie games. So the amount of games and the variety is much bigger then last-gen.

For a gamer that only play on console the selection and the variety is better then ever. And complaining about how the selection of games is right now is just proving that people have forgotten last-gen launch.

You as a PC gamer should know that the big AAA games don't grow on trees and that one of the reasons why PC gaming is popular by many is the wide variety of games.

So you probably understand why I write that only a dumbass wants less variety.

[Elda]

I enjoy playing them,now they are basically void fillers until that AAA game is released,especially knowing the PS4 is in the beginning of it's life cycle & usually consoles lack AAA exclusives when they are new.

[hello12]

Its fairly obvious to me why Sony loves indies.

The company isn't doing well financially, thats why. This love for indies is borne out of necessity not love.

E3 2014 was telling. Sony has more first studios than Microsoft.

Only new game shown was Bloodborne!! Uncharted and the Order were all known about in 2013

[GoldenAxe007]

If there were little to no indie games coming out for PS4, the AAA game list would still remain the same. You'd just have huge gaps between AAA games with nothing new to come out. Remember last generation, that's what happened. One big game came out, then nothing for months.

At least this way, there are a lot of games that we can choose to buy and support while we wait for the bigger games.

[BattleAxe]

"Stop moaning about indie games on PS4 and start celebrating them"

People are free to give their opinions about consumer products, so deal with it. Could you imagine someone writing an article about an elected political party, and then telling the opposition supporters to stop moaning about it and celebrate the policies of the elected political party?

If the author wants to celebrate indie games, be my guest, but don't preach to other people, telling them what to do when they don't agree with your opinion. Ultimately people will vote with their wallets, and so only time will tell if Sony's strategy will work.

My opinion is that their current strategy won't work over the long run, and that this initial wave of PS4 owners are people who have owned an Xbox 360 or a PS3, and were hotly anticipating a jump in graphics and gameplay features for big game franchises and hot new IPs. Instead what they have gotten are an avalanche of indie games and remastered last generation games. If this goes on for much longer, I believe you'll see sales figures drop by quite a large margin.

[S2Killinit]

no body is moaning except those who don't have a PS4.

[mrmack00]

I think it's idiotic to complain about more games. There's no valid argument against indies.. You can't complain about lack of triple A as we are in the first year. EVERY generation, there's a drought at first until it picks up.. Developers aren't withholding triple A games to make indies so what's the #&!$ problem?

[wolfcreek]

godofboobees Said:

"You know nothing. Indie games are the back bone of this industry. Every big name studio synonymous with gaming started out as Indie studios. To bash and spout ridiculous shit like that just makes you unaware of what the fuck is actually going on since day one of gaming. Now go have a coke and a fucking smile"

Thats funny. name the games most sold in top 100 that are indie. Nintendo has almost all the top 20 games sold altime and they are first party dummy. I love tell tales games for example but they arent even on ps4 yet. I'm playing my 3ds and wiiu more than the ps4 .Why? First party games and not angry birds ps4

[Razjin]

Also What do people expect when the consoles are not even a year old.....plus if they didn't release any indie games during the in between times of the AAA games then gamers would be complaining even more. Another thing is they could have ended up like Nintendo and not have any games til their next year around which pretty much reduce the wii u to an irrelevant console. So what's up with the gaming community now and days?

[wolfcreek]

Yeah well when Nintendo wiiu didnt have any games for a year everyone said they are doomed. Now it's Sonys turn They knew they had a system coming out so no excuse.Thank God plants warfare is a week away that game is fun

[dragon82]

Sony has plenty of games so far. Just because they aren't your kind of games doesn't change the fact they are there.

Killzone Shadow Fall
inFAMOUS Second Son
Knack
The Last of Us
MLB The Show

Plus all the multiplats and downloadable games.

How is that not a good amount of games?

[mysteryraz11]

they just came out I have a pc and I still wouldnt waste a dime to play shitty indie games that are on it, pcs library is crap, console exclusives destroy everything and ps4 is even getting exclusive indies anyways