The Game That Started The Indie Revolution
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- čas přidán 21. 03. 2024
- Nowadays, some of the most popular games in the world are indie. But before the late 2000’s, almost nobody played them. So what happened?
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just got this game yesterday and it was amazing its called post void i have like 7 hours
Terraria
Cosmic Wheel of Sisterhood, yes.
Followed by:
Hush Hush: Only Your Love Can Save them.
&
Ori and the Blind Forest
Yeah
Oxygen Not Included.
Without even watching and based on the thumbnail: that’s Braid
Hot take possibly, Its a good game, but its far from the game that kicked off the indie boom, that'd be Cave Story from 2004.
Cave Story may be important in that it inspired many devs and would-be devs, but it didn't spark the revolution.
Braid gets the title, because (as this video details) it convinced the digital marketplace companies to open their doors to Indies and others to invest in making them successful.
@@renewagain6956 Cave Story still won awards and stuff WAYYY before Braid, it still was the game that opened eyes.
Braid just helped, Cave Story is the real pioneer.
@@renewagain6956 Cave Story is still far more important.
First of all, Cave Story opened many eyes on indies as a viable concept, and for some people, made them realize indies were a thing they could play.
Second of all, if we are talking about like, awards and achievements, even prior to 2008, CS won several awards and nominations.
Braid was still important, it opened marketplaces to indies, but if CS didnt come out, Braid most likely wound'tve had a change, or even existed.
(just copy and pasting because you spammed my posts with this reply for some reason.)
@@DigiSpaceProductionsBig cave story fan and braid hater huh? Haha just kidding, you do have valid points though, cave story created the indie genre no question about it but you gotta remember, braid was a pretty big stepping stole for indies, it released at a time where indie games releasing digitally on consoles was unheard of. So it’s not just a useless game, both games revolutionized the indie industry of today and still hold up pretty well and should be remembered from decades to come.
Cave Story, Braid, Super Meat Boy, Fez and some few thousand flash games
CS was the true start.
OMG - did someone just recognize that gaming on the C64 flourished in the wake of the so-called "Video Game Crash"? I'm impressed.
Also everyone ignores arcades for some reason
@@thomasffrench3639
Might be because it's not quite in the same vein as home consoles
@@oscarguzman3017 still counts as video games
Americans think the 83's "Videogame Crash" was a global event, when in reality it was just the downfall of Atari's home consoles and their clones.
The gaming market was flourishing in many of their parts of the world at this same time, especially Japan. Even in the US, PC games and arcades were growing in popularity as Atari was failing. Parents were more convinced to buy home computers rather than home consoles for their kids because you could also play games on PC and also do more things with them.
The "Videogame Crash" was just American players switching from underpowered home consoles to PCs.
And certainly Nintendo didn't "saved" the videogame market. As I said before, the market was growing in other regions around the world, and Nintendo didn't had the same relevance as other companies had. In Europe and Brazil it was Sega's Master System that reached dominance in the home console market.
@@thomasffrench3639 It's just a speculation as to what the creators are thinking with their narrative. I don't believe I'm necessarily by.
i thought cave story was the start of the indie revolution
it was.
It definitely is
Yeah
It totally was.
Great video. I remember the indie revolution fondly. Castle Crashers, Trine, Bastion eventually. such a great turning point for the industry. Thanks for the nostalgia trip per usual lol
I think the flash platform marked the beginning of the indie revolution. Many developers have published their games on sites such as Newgrounds and Kongregate. Over the years, the quality has grown and many have gone into steam.
This developer is so wild he uses subversion instead of git for version control.
"What's subversion?"
Exactly.
He's incredibly condescending and arrogant too, Blow always put me off from playing any of this other titles.
@@S4rl4t4n to be fair he gets like a 100 "which game engine I should use" when he doesn't even considers one.
He actually has a ton of good insights even if what he's arguing might be incorrect. It's just entertaining to watch the guy also.
Subversion makes sense for assets, and it's not terrible for source code if you're not a very large and distributed group of developers. It's a different paradigm but it's not per se bad. In mid 2000s that was pretty much the only free source management solution (other than CVS which was same thing but worse), and for most things it's fine.
Granted for most projects, git is my default choice, and it does fit the current open source infrastructure so much better as a whole.
web flash games were very indie too, I remember playing on Miniclip often when I was a kid:)
The game that truly started the indie revolution was one that everyone forgets, but it did what almost no other indie game could, on August 7th 2002 it was released on Newgrounds, it became so absurdly popular that it got ports to Wii, Xbox, PS2, 360 and even Gameboy Advance. The game got a sequel last year.
Did you figure out which game I'm talking about? Alien Hominid.
It also got a gamecube port that sold really poorly
I always loved indie and triple AAA (good) games but indie is one of the most unique and fascinating thing that shape it’s genre and I loved it
Ngl it wasn't Braid that kicked things off, it was Cave Story, you can't deny that; it also came before Braid, in 2004 vs Braid in 2008.
Yeah, pretty much everyone credits cave story and there were already quite a few indies inspired by it by the time braid came out
I was about to write this. Thanks.
Cave Story may be important in that it inspired many devs and would-be devs, but it didn't spark the revolution.
Braid gets the title, because (as this video details) it convinced the digital marketplace companies to open their doors to Indies and others to invest in making them successful.
I’d argue both games are pretty revolutionary for different things. Cave Story started the whole genre, Braid (while a bit outdated today) showed to big major companies that small games can deliver incredible impact and started the indie genre on digital stores. I also wanna mention Alien Hominid which sadly goes under the raider when talking about the revolutionary side of things, but it was the first fully indie to have a console release so I think it deserved a mention too.
@@renewagain6956 Cave Story is still far more important.
First of all, Cave Story opened many eyes on indies as a viable concept, and for some people, made them realize indies were a thing they could play.
Second of all, if we are talking about like, awards and achievements, even prior to 2008, CS won several awards and nominations.
Braid was still important, it opened marketplaces to indies, but if CS didnt come out, Braid most likely wound'tve had a change, or even existed.
In my personal opinion, cave story is THE game that started the indie revolution.
Cave as in the company who made lots of shmups or different?
@@DrakonDHeraltz what
Cave Story planted the seed, but Xbox Live Arcade watered it. If it weren't for games like Braid, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, Spelunky etc. we wouldn't be blessed with the indie renaissance of today.
you forget flash game era, its golden age of indie game
Although I'm about to mention a game that is actually a AAA game, I think it was also really important for the indie scene. Mega Man 9 really helped bring back the retro aesthetic which helped indie games get recognition as well.
Another great video! Thanks so much for making these!
I think, like most things, Braid wasn't the reason but more an inevitable re-alignment of business models following the GFC that was also happening at the time.
The indie Dev surge in 2008 was also supercharged by the release of the iPhone 3G the same year with the app store. XNA and Unity also gained a lot of momentum as the previously established models for AAA started to fail and crack under the strain of the GFC.
I can only speak from a domestic perspective but the Australian dollar was around 46c USD pre GFC, but a few months in and it was near parity making one cheap Aussie Dev studios (Pandemic, Krome, THQ, Creative Assembly) suddenly twice as expensive so they all shut down or moved overseas.
This left lots of experienced devs the option to follow the work overseas or to go indie, which is why I think so many of the early breakout iOS games came out of Australia (Fruit Ninja, Air traffic controller, Ski Safari etc)
Also Cave Story in 2004 kicking off a surge
Heyy, I've just discovered your channel today and I've spent the last 3 hours and 20 minutes watching 16 of your videos (I left 11 for next time ;P ) and I must say they are amazing. The quality of editing, the pace of the video, the research and certainly the fact that you don't just address problems but also give inside into possible future solutions is amazing. Your vids are very entertaining and informative and you have definitely earned a subscriber. In a couple hours you've become my favourite game channel, I hope to see you grow because you certainly deserve it. If somehow you read this comment, have a great day and good luck on the youtube journey.
Microsoft really reached out to developers to develop indie games on the 360. I remember them coming to my college. I lived in Hawaii. A Microsoft rep flew out to Oahu, came over to the North Shore, on the opposite side of the island from Honolulu and Waikiki and pretty much all the fun stuff, just to talk about XNA, which is what they were calling their indie section, complete with tools to develop on the Xbox 360. I remember attending because they were giving away a free 360 (just the core model, but whatever. Free $300 console).
Loved playing Shark Attack Death Match.
Great video. I discovered Braid through XBLA but particularly that documentary about indie games around that time. Forget the name but it also included Super Meat Boy and Fez. I bought all three and they were each magnificent. Braid, however, was truly one of the best experiences I'd ever been through. I constantly played the track "Maenam" from the game. Braid is a 10/10 game and one of the most important ever made.
Very cool editing!
Great video. It's always fascinating to look back at what paved the way for the current wave of games.
Great great documentary 👍👍👍
I'd argue both games are pretty revolutionary for different things. Cave Story started the whole genre, Braid (while a bit outdated today) showed to big major companies that small games can deliver incredible impact and started the indie genre on digital stores. I also wanna mention Alien Hominid which sadly goes under the raider when talking about the revolutionary side of things, but it was the first fully indie to have a console release so I think it deserved a mention too.
Nowadays, some of the most popular games in the world are indie. But before the late 2000’s, almost nobody played them. So what happened?
Some of my favorite games are obscure Indie games from 2000s
These are Chzo Mythos and Iji
Cave story
I am addicted to your videos ❤
Braid is a great game, but in my opinion it was not the one that started the indie movement (not even the 2nd or 3rd place). It is true that it was one of the early cases of commercial success, and that by itself inspired others to believe. But on my view and experience it started way before. I would highlight Cave Story (or Doukutsu Monogatari on the original language) as one of the main inspirations - Indie games terminology only popularised after it, and in the early days it was on the top list on every forum (it was released way before Braid, 4 years before). Alongside it, one could mention also Dwarf Fortress (from same time as Cave Story), UnReal World (even older, but got more popular later) and Spelunky (same time as Braid), Geometry Wars (anither commercial success before Braid). Cave Story was incredible, a single man work that took 5 years, when it was released in every Nerd forum it was being played and tons of people had avatars from it, it was the one that made everyone believe in the possibility of a single programmer being able to release a video game with success solo.
Braid came 4 years after, and was one of the 1st ones with commercial success (the others were more freeware oriented), which made the believers believe even more, but the flame was already there (I remember playing indie games and searching lists on Forums for them before it). The biggest Indie game success story ever was Minecraft (commercially) and even it was inspired by Dwarf Fortress way before. But I agree, that in went more mainstream later by Braid and company release.
Nice video
Ofc you skip over the bed room coders of the UK(Manic Miner), and only mention RPG Maker as a recent phenomenon despite starting in the 80s and it's most famous title being made in 1996, with many others being released well before Braid, especially by Japanese devs who could buy the software officially and so officially release their games(and this on top of the non-rpg maker indie devs making games, one of the famous series being Touhou(1997)), with foreign RM devs having to rely on unofficial translations. Even then, with the UK bedroom coders, of those who were published in the publishing houses, I'd still count as indies since sole purpose of these houses was to seek out indie devs, and guess what one of these games were? Elite. I would classify that game as an indie game all considering(made by two people after all), and that game is very influential. Tbh i don't think what makes indie games is whether it's published by a company or not but more whether the team is small or even made by single person(like with many early game devs) and as well as the actual game devs themselves being the face behind the game not the name of the company or the publisher(like the bedroom coders of the UK). This is what I think is alluring of indie games!/helps to put the charm in their games and what people are truly want to come back and see again and so look for in indie devs.
In fact, I would say the rise of CZcamsrs and streamers playing indie titles is what really kickstarted the popularity of indie games and brought them to the larger audience. The likes of Pewdiepie, Markiplier and Jacksepticeye did more for indie games than anyone or any company could do before or after with the sheer amount eyeballs they got on these games, and imo, it's only close second was adobe flash with the many sites that hosted the games made in Flash.
Nice video.
I thought it was Cavestory or Super Meat Boy that kickstarted the indie wave.
Oh well, probably Cavestory was still before Indie became a label.
Either way, this too is one of the times were Valve was wrong.
i forgot its name. thanks for making me remember it.
Fear an hunger
What this video is telling me is that Microsoft* were the ones to Kickstart the indie scene.
Bride was a great game, but there were a bunch of great indie games already, like Cave Story.
The game itself wasn't the catalyst for the indie revolution, rather, it was the position it was put in.
A example of a game being a catalyst by itself would be FNAF, the reason CZcamsrs played it, was because the game had already become popular prior* to them making videos on it, those videos just boosted the already existing success.
Cave story. Ever heard of it?
7:30 And I have doubts about whether this has changed since...
How the fuck does this video drop the day after I learn about who Jonathan Blow from that popular Witness Critique video
I always get Limbo and Braid confused due to the silhouette style in the hub area
Doom and footbal manager. Where is the time. I have being playing them back in the time. Look were we are now in game world. Despite all the issues with the game industry these day's i feel blessed i still can enjoy our common hobby. What a beautiful time this is....That also may be said from time to time i do find.
This guy did Braid? I watched a making of many, many years ago and then a more recent video of his youtube channel. Didn't make the connection that it is the same person
I'd argue that Xbox Summer of Arcade helped immensely. Edit: lol, commented before I watched the video
it does look like valve was expanding a lot in a "wide" direction 6:26. the idea of accepting anything that isn't monopolized capitalism would definitely ruffle some feathers up there where the wide people live.
I originally played braid on Xbox back in the day. But now I bot it in my steam library. Lol XD
You could make an argument for World Of Goo, but it's all good.
great video, i love it
Braid in thumbnail.
Does video game streaming help promote games?
What? Braid didn't start it, it was Cave Story.
Braid and the other Xbox live arcade games would get buried if they released today
Cave story is the goat
I say EarthBound was one of the biggest ones
idk why my dumb ass said Spelunky lol
play LAMPY STEAM GAME ON NEXT VIDEO
Microsoft was so nice, updating your game on XBLA only cost 10000 dollars for developers, per update.
Man you do look like someone from 80s.
Hi
The game that started the indie revolution is Cave Story, not Braid
Doesn't the character at 4:22 look like Trump and the final character look like a grown up Barron Trump? lol
Xbox 360 was one of the best consoles of all time despite the red ring of death it set a precedent for a lot of trends both good and bad lol
I think so too. So sad to see how far Xbox has fallen. 😢 360 changed the game!
@nickaguirre2196 eh sad to see how far gaming has fallen. The PS5 library can't hold a candle to the PS2's which came out 24 years ago. Nintendo charges full price for 6 year old underpowered children's games. Gaming in general sucks these days.
@@GoodfellasX21 It isn`t all bad but yeah the PS5 library is not great. Also Nintendo games are for everyone not just for children.
@@GoodfellasX21 "Nintendo charges full price for 6 year old underpowered children's games" the thing is, those games are actually CHEAPER than what they should be costing. the original super mario bros series would cost $120+ if you factor inflation
@@GoodfellasX21 So you think a game only has value if it is new? So you think that GTA San Andreas is worth less than the Gollum game?
I thought Slender Man was the first successful indie game on Steam, followed by DayZ Mod and others alike.
He took way too long to get to the point can someone tell me what the indie game was?
Braid
Cave story was the actual first good indie that was successful and made other games try the indie route.
But he wanted to show the braid perspective of stuff related to this
@@guilhermedecarvalhofernand1629 Thank you so much
@@guilhermedecarvalhofernand1629 I mean I like both games so you can keep on hating…
Microsoft is a good guy for once!
we straight up lying now?
I'm rooting for Indie games to upstage the so-called AAA games. AAA gaming is a dying breed. Especially with political activists now infiltrating into our games. Embedding "the message" into our games. Even movies and tv series are affected. I'm in my late 30s and back in my time games were heaps mad fun and took really long to finish. Now days games are becoming less entertaining more like a cash cow thanks to MTX and DLC. I miss the days when we received FINISHED games. I'm hoping for the next gaming crash imo to give indie developers a fighting chance.
I find it funny that you mentioned Hollow Knight but you only showed a clip of Palworld
You dont think its cave story?
Or what about all of the indie games made in the 80s and 90s by bedroom programmers?
Did you just watch that one documentary and you think that means you know what you're talking about?
Braid was OK but it was far from the game that started the indie revolution
Unfortunately. The guy that made it seems to know everything and makes it a point to let everyone know on youtube. Not my cup of tea
Just wrong. Cave story did it. L would change the title of the video.
Saying indie games are "revolution " is pathetic
braids main character looks like jschlatt