Indie Game Exam Question 3 (FINAL) (Gaming)

by Leisandir , Virginia, USA, Monday, October 14, 2013, 09:32 (4058 days ago) @ Cody Miller

You're stuck, as always, on black and white. No nation is independent because it relies on resources and interactions with other nations. No person is free because everyone must conform to laws, even if they are only the natural laws.

In terms of media, "indie" doesn't mean total independence from all pre-existing support structures; it just means independence of support from a large publisher.

Indie music is music which is produced independent of a record label. It doesn't matter if it's distributed via MySpace, Bandcamp, Facebook, e-mail, or by hollering off your back porch, it is still independent, because indie doesn't mean independent of everything, but specifically of a record company. There is music which is called indie inaccurately, because it fits a style that folks have come to associate with indie music but has been picked up. It is a state of being, not a style of production.

Journey isn't indie because it's published, as you pointed out, by a major publisher. Whether or not a game is distributed on Steam or XBLA or whatever is irrelevant. Counterstrike was an indie game, because it was developed independent of Valve. It no longer is, because it has been picked up by Valve.