writer and academic Alex Ross (@Alexrosswrites) returns for part two of our examination of the indie game world via a few documentaries. this time we cover the post-indie boom, aka the time of the "indiepocalypse" and beyond from 2015 till today. first we look at the depressing vanity project/indie survival story "Surviving Indie" from late 2016, then we look at a dense but surprisingly quality documentary about the indie game scene in China called "Indie Games In China" aka "Alonewalk" from 2018 and talk about the ...
writer and academic Alex Ross (@Alexrosswrites) returns for part two of our examination of the indie game world via a few documentaries. this time we cover the post-indie boom, aka the time of the "indiepocalypse" and beyond from 2015 till today. first we look at the depressing vanity project/indie survival story "Surviving Indie" from late 2016, then we look at a dense but surprisingly quality documentary about the indie game scene in China called "Indie Games In China" aka "Alonewalk" from 2018 and talk about the endlessly complex landscape for game development in China. and then... we do the ill-advised and look at this year's E3 "Wholesome Direct" stream, a subject of much intense discourse.
things referenced in the episode:
"Spinning is winning" a research paper that Alex is a co-author on: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1469540521993931
2017 Failure Workshop at GDC featuring Tim Rogers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H67itWCG1JY
Surviving Indie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7CWZhhBMSo
news article about Ryan Zehm: http://ireader.olivesoftware.com/Olive/iReader/IdahoStatesmanPress/SharedArticle.ashx?document=ISM%5C2016%5C01%5C25&article=Ar00108
Ryan Zehm's sneaking into GDC video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF2NlwJjEm0
Indie Games in China (aka Alonewalk): https://store.steampowered.com/app/825400/Indie_Games_in_China/
EGM article about the state of China's indie game scene: https://egmnow.com/the-closing-walls-around-chinas-independent-game-development-scene/
long video essay by youtuber NeverKnowsBest on the Chinese indie scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrTZ_UeUxM
Gao Ming's ludum dare page: https://ldjam.com/users/gao-ming/games
2021 E3 Wholesome Direct stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ozqhc7YXd3M
article in the verge on "The Rise of Wholesome Games": https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/10/21172972/games-wholesome-themes-uwu-frog-detective-wattam-sokpop-keita-takahashi
People Make Games video on Zach Barth and Minecraft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__Nq2vNcpIo
as always, you can support this podcast (and me) on patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ellaguro
outro music is "Home" from the FEZ ost by Disasterpeace
intro music (as always) is "Museum Agony" from the Stretch Panic ost by Norio Hanzawa
View more
