[News/Rant] Reflecting on the XNA community games

(No review today either thanks to a head-splitting headache that prohibits me from spending too much time in front of a screen.)

Following their disclosure of the sales figures for the XNA community games, Gamasutra's Patrick Klepek has written a lengthy and detailed article on whether or not Microsoft's support of independent games has been a success or not. You'll have to read the article for yourself to find out, however.

Personally, I have to say I've been fairly underwhelmed by the entire concept so far. As the creator of arguably the best community game so far, Weapon of Choice, mentions in the Gamasutra article, it's almost impossible for someone not familiar with the Xbox Live Marketplace to even find the community game they want in there.

Hell, I'm a big fan/supporter (an afficionado, if you will) of all sorts of independent games, and I've often found myself unable to care about finding out which of the community games are any good. There's too many of them, with no way of finding out what is what unless you download the trial version and try them for yourself, a process that becomes tedious before long.

The fact that Microsoft does not seem to promote any of the games either (with the obvious exception of Dishwasher: Dead Samurai that became a full-blown Arcade title, part of the prestigious "Days of Arcade" line on top of that) doesn't really help either.

Taking a look at other communities built around independent games, an inclusion of a way for users to rate games seems obvious. Even if it's something that can be abused, good games should still gather a positive buzz. A way to award games on a regular basis (perhaps monthly?) could also help.

TL;DR Version

For one, however, these articles have finally managed to convince me to stop being cheap and buy Weapon of Choice. Hopefully, we'll get more of those in the future rather than massage simulators.

(Don't ask).