Someone Maed a Gam3 W1th Z0mb1es!!1

[TheFlyingOrc]

Alright, normally, I am not one to post leetspeak, but it's worth doing on this occasion.

If you own a 360, you should buy I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!1

What is it? Why, it's a fantastic little two-stick shooter, downloadable from the Indie Games section.

But TFO, why should I buy ANOTHER 2-stick shooter? Well, because it's awesome. While short and not very challenging (the game lasts 13:37), it has excellent production value for a 1-man studio. The gameplay is fun, the song that goes along with it is hilarious, and there's a level of polish on everything. Also, well done indie efforts like this should be supported.

And the best part?
$1. 80 Microsoft points for a game that not only will provide you at least 15 minutes of entertainment, but might provide more in the long run. The game is only about 3.5 stars out of 5, but the sucker is $1. I promise it will be roughly the best dollar you'll ever spend.

Anyone else played it?

[JayVe]

I hate how all the big-name studios are simply cashing-in on all the zombie phenomen...

One guy? One Dollar?

Sweet! Thanks for the find! :D

[TheFlyingOrc]

I hate how all the big-name studios are simply cashing-in on all the zombie phenomen...

One guy? One Dollar?

Sweet! Thanks for the find! :D

It's actually only kinda a zombie game. There's a 2-minute segment that sends up Asteroids, and a part near the end that seems inspired by Geometry Wars.

Also, to sell it better to people, here's a link to the theme music, which is the best game music of all time:

http://ska-studios.com/files/epicopus.mp3

[Dukefrukem]

I hate how all the big-name studios are simply cashing-in on all the zombie phenomen...

One guy? One Dollar?

Sweet! Thanks for the find! :D

It's the same with Hollywood right now.

[TheFlyingOrc]

It's the same with Hollywood right now.

This is very true. It's our fault, though. Nerds started it.

[Yeti2005]

I love this game! I bought this and the Fishing Girl game. Both are $1 and very entertaining.

[Suave Peanut]

I bought this a few weeks ago after being thoroughly entertained by the demo. Great fun.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I bought this a few weeks ago after being thoroughly entertained by the demo. Great fun.

It's hard to play 4 player because everyone is busy laughing.

[National Kato]

I'll take more zombies over teenage vampires any day.

[Ondo]

Anyone else played it?
I've played it, and it is indeed awesome. It's worth mentioning that it's from the same guy that made the Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.

I'm hoping the theme song makes its way onto the Rock Band Network, as I'd gladly pay another $1 for it in Rock Band. It'd have to be cut down to be shorter than 10 minutes, though. That seems like a good idea regardless, though.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I'm hoping the theme song makes its way onto the Rock Band Network, as I'd gladly pay another $1 for it in Rock Band. It'd have to be cut down to be shorter than 10 minutes, though. That seems like a good idea regardless, though.

This is the best idea.

[Jeffool]

I've nudged a few COGgers in the direction of this game; I'm glad to see I'm not the only one loving it! Hell, it's better than You Have To Burn The Rope, because there's actually PLAY involved! AND the song's better!

[MachEnergy]

The only reason I haven't picked it up is how similar it looks to Crimsonland. Maybe if I had some couch buddies for multiplayer, I would consider it.....oh wait, that's two reasons.

[Tayaya]

Was definitely worth the price of admission. Needs a leaderboard, though..... I broke 800,000 finally and the only person that will ever know for sure is me. I want bragging rights when I crack a million.

[Narradisall]

Great laugh. I think I finished it on my first go or does it not end? It was getting pretty intense towards the then.

I need to local co-op this with some friends. Only had 791,000 I think.

[Inspector Fowler]

Does the game actually end? I gave in and bought it. I suck hard at twin stick shooters. I made it a little over 700,000 and bought the farm. It was getting so crazy I can't imagine doing a whole lot better...

[Narradisall]

Does the game actually end? I gave in and bought it. I suck hard at twin stick shooters. I made it a little over 700,000 and bought the farm. It was getting so crazy I can't imagine doing a whole lot better...

Did you reach the end of the song when you were at 700,000?

The game only lasts a set time, by 700k you must have been near the end and when it does end it suddenly kills you and all your lifes remaining are converted into points I think. I've managed 791k, but as someone above said they got above 800k. I couldnt see you getting much more as their simply isnt the time. You could probably squeeze a few more kills in and get lucky with the life drops, don't die you might be able to get some more.

[Variable Gear]

This is very true. It's our fault, though. Nerds started it.
Just vote with your dollar and all that... Oh wait, that doesn't work, does it?

[Narradisall]

Just vote with your dollar and all that... Oh wait, that doesn't work, does it?

It does actually!

Just the majority of people that say it don't follow through. :p

[Variable Gear]

It does actually!

Just the majority of people that say it don't follow through. :p
No, it doesn't work, because the company that produced the failure cannot be certain what made an individual decide to not monetarily support a project. If people don't buy [Obscure International Game X], that took ton of time to localize because of some minuscule flaw the localization team made somewhere along the way, it's unlikely that further entries in that series would be released here, despite the fact that the original game was great, though flawed, and there is enough of an audience to warrant further localization attempts.

People always talk about voting with your wallet, but it's a load of garbage. There are tons of idiots out there willing to lap up any release in a certain franchise merely because it exists, and, if you do choose to avoid supporting the company their efforts go completely unrewarded.

[Inspector Fowler]

The cynic in me agrees with VG. Sadly. I bought the game, but then I wondered how many sales this game will actually get, and how much of each 80 points this guy actually see.

I see games like Arkham Asylum, and I want to choke Warner Bros and say, "SEE! If you give your developers the time to make a great game, they will! No more rushed-out-the-door movie tie-in bullshit, understand?! Stop diluting my favorite franchises!"

But I know that Warner Bros will only see all the money it raked in, and they'll take the engine, farm it to another developer, and tell them to crank out sequels as fast as possible. They never learn. They don't understand why it's so popular. The money is all they see.

And if it hadn't sold well? No worries - it would have confirmed their fear that actually investing in a 70 year old franchise with tens of millions of fans wasn't worth it. Sigh.

[TheFlyingOrc]

The cynic in me agrees with VG. Sadly. I bought the game, but then I wondered how many sales this game will actually get, and how much of each 80 points this guy actually see.

The guy has over 20,000 reviews. He's probably sold tens of thousands of copies, and as long as he gets half of it, the guy deserves it. It's not a job, but it's a hobby with good supplemental income.

edit: However, many Indie games (especially those not at the $1 mark) have only 30-40 reviews. They got a couple hundred bucks back for what must have been hundreds of hours of work.

[cppcrusader]

I've played it, and it is indeed awesome. It's worth mentioning that it's from the same guy that made the Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.


Well that's all you had to say for me to pick it up. I'll grab this later after dinner.

[Inspector Fowler]

As a resume builder, it's probably totally worth it if you're serious about game design/production/coding/etc. If you can make something that demonstrates your creativity and skill for potential employers, it could be a faster way up the career path for you in the future.

In the short term, though, for a lot of these guys, it's probably a lot of work with very little reward. Unless you get picked up fast because something about your creative vision matched what a dev house needed, I'd think that making these games would be a huge labor of love that wasn't really reciprocated with money.

Not that money is everything, I guess. But even indie developers need to eat and pay rent.

[Ondo]

I bought the game, but then I wondered how many sales this game will actually get, and how much of each 80 points this guy actually see.
He gets 70% of the revenue.

Well that's all you had to say for me to pick it up. I'll grab this later after dinner.
Then I should mention he has a couple of other games up on Indie Games - ZP2K9 (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585501ba/?bt=0&sb=1&mt=32&gu=66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802585501ba&p=1&of=0) and ZSX4 Guitarpocalypse (http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550129/). They're both 200 points right now, but on October 22nd they'll automatically change to 80 points unless the developer changes the price to 240 or 400 before then.

[SilentScreams]

This music is officially now in my top 10 video game songs of all time. If Microsoft got their act together and started accepting PayPal, or giving their UK customers the option to use UK specific credit/debit cards, then I might actually buy some XBLA stuff.