All hail Xbox Empire!!

I wonder how Itagaki feels about Ninja Gaiden being relegated to a garbage franchise since his departure? 

Is there any particular reason as to why you like Dead or Alive?

People are happy to pay more for indie games now, says Below developer

Free-to-play or other non-premium revenue schemes aren't necessarily the way to go

Once upon a time, downloadable indie games were felt to be categorically inferior to big budget boxed releases. And today? I'm not so sure. Nor is Capybara's co-founder Nathan Vella, one of the men behind the recent Super Time Forceand the upcoming Below - he thinks that players are more comfortable now with higher pricepoints for smaller-scale indie titles, and that to make content available for free is potentially to do your own work a disservice.

"I don't think it's good when developers are approaching their players and fans, giving them something for no charge when they really feel it should have had a charge associated with it," Vella commented in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. "I would hate for developers to do PS Plus or Games With Gold unless they really wanted to get the game in tons of players' hands."

Both Microsoft and Sony now offer monthly free games to those who take out an online subscription - on Xbox 360, you'll currently get to keep the games after your subscription ends. Vella reckons this approach and free-to-play models at large have pros and cons for developers.

"If you just want to get it out to as many people as possible, that is a noble goal and I would never fault anyone for doing it. But if you're doing it because you're thinking you can make a bit more money this way or this is going to be totally worth it for you, I think that's a bit of a scary proposition just because it doesn't necessarily value your work as highly as I think people should value their work."

This obviously flies in the face of much editorialising about "demise" of the upfront cost model (I've argued that it's on the way out myself). According to Vella, there has, in fact, never been a better time to invite players to cough up at the door. "I definitely think times have shifted because quantity and quality have shifted. There are more smaller, downloadable games, but there are also more great smaller, downloadable games.

"Transistor at $20? No one even thinks twice. And $20 used to be like, 'No way an independent game can be $20. That's crazy!' And now it's pretty common, pretty accepted, pretty comfortable. And deservedly so."

The challenge, whatever your choice of revenue model, is simply to get noticed. "The fact that both ID@Xbox and third-party at Sony have proven they're willing to put [indie] games on the front page is a big step. I hope that continues as the number of games on each platform grows. It's easier to do when there are fewer games at the beginning of the console cycle.

"But hopefully the games do well enough [to] convince them to keep pushing... In all cases, getting your game discovered is the biggest challenge, on Steam, on the App Store, on consoles, on toaster ovens. It's all a challenge to get that prime space. Those big f'n banners are important. They matter a lot more than people are willing to admit."

For more about Below, Capybara's latest (and most ambitious) game, read my own interview with Vella.