For some reason, (and they did have a reason) in the latest update to the XBOX360 dashboard, Indie Games were put into the Specialty Stores category, much to the chagrin of the Indie Games development community. According to the people behind the change, they thought that by listing Indie Games alongside Avatar items (also in the Specialty Stores), Indie Games would actually get more exposure versus when they were listed under “Games.”

Yeah, I don’t get it either.

Anyways, immediate torch & pitchfork type grassroots activities ensued and now Indie Games are Games once again. Thanks, XBOX Live team for such a fast response.

This situation reminds me of a problem I have been considering recently: whether or not I should list my upcoming game as an “Educational Game.” I suppose in the strictest sense, it is one, but on the other hand the combination of the words “educational” and “game” has somewhat of a negative connotation with the general audience of 360 gamers and probably beyond just that group as well.

One of the main goals of my project is to make a game that has educational value and entertainment value. Tricking players into learning stuff, if you will. If it is successful, design wise, then I don’t think people should judge it simply because I label it as educational, and the easiest way to avoid that would be to label it as something else, like an action game. Or a simulation.

Then again, maybe it does make more sense to simple call it what it is, allowing the people who are actually interested in learning the topic at hand to find my game more easily, and then letting their word of mouth carry the message that the game is fun in its own right as well.

Hmm. What would you do?

Kojima knows the world is kind on glum right now. That’s why he’s in LA, to brighten the world with his game announcements!

Really, this is what he said.

Apparently, that is the message of the teaser site. He hopes that the games industry will help clear the storm of our current reality.

By the way, it seems that video of the Konami conference will be available tomorrow, so I’ll fill in on the rest of their upcoming lineup when I see it for myself.

For now, the games:

- Metal Gear Arcade: Tactical Online Action. It’s going to be 3D, with special glasses. It’s an networked arcade game (using eKonami to link the machines) and apparently will come out in the US, at some point. Crazy.

- Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. The true continuation to the saga of Naked Snake (Big Boss). This point seems to be the theme of Kojima’s talks about Peacewalker. The Metal Gear Solid 4 team is making the game.
It’s set in 1974. There’s some sort of multiplayer as Kojima says that multiple people can get into the same box, as shown in the Sony presser trailer. Coming out 2010 for PSP.

- Metal Gear Solid Rising. It’s most definitely coming out on PS3 as the logo is in the trailer, along side the 360 one.
A couple more details: it’s a stealth action game starring Raiden. Apparently, the design process is much more western for this game. I’d say that means more prototyping, play-testing, and iteration. Probably why they aren’t talking any elements yet. What the game is today will probably be very different from what it becomes.

- Castlevania: Lord of Shadows. So, it’s now a Castlevania game. I’m not actually seeing this myself at the moment, but it appears to be a God of War style action game. It’s a open world style game.
Patrick Stewart is involved, as well as Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting), Jason Isaacs (Showtime’s Brotherhood), and Natasha McElhone (Showtime’s Californication). Coming 2010, to PS3 and 360.
It’s a rebirth of Castlevania, if you will.
Mercury Steam with Konami Europe is making the game, collaborating with Kojima Productions.
They’ll be revealing more in the near future, but they promise that this’ll be a good 3D Castlevania.

Square-Enix is having their press briefing now. So far, it’s mostly a FFXIV Q&A. The first thing brought us was that Square Enix is considering all platforms, including Microsoft hardware, so the possibility is that this will be a timed exclusive. It was confirmed that the game will be out on PS3 and PC in 2010, with a simultaneous worldwide launch in 4 languages.

Other little tidbits:

- The battle system they aren’t talking about yet, so expect it to be different than FFXI.

- FFXI development will continue, at least for this year. The hope is that people will play both, as they are expected to have separate communities.

- Lessons learned from making and running FFXI will be utilized in XIV, of course.

- The target is a more casual, WoW, like audience, so both party based questing as well as soloing as well.

- While similar races exist, the world of FFXIV is entirely separate from FFXI, so no character transferring will happen. Apparently, they wanted FFXI fans to be able to play a similar type of character in FFXIV.

- No beta news yet. Stay tuned.

- Some of the video footage was in game. Can you guess which parts? From what I could tell from the screenshots, graphics should be around the level of White Knight Chronicles, though with better art.

Thoughts?