Indie has been the new buzzword for the last few years. Remember a while back when EA were trying to make indie games? Yes, that happened. Some people throw the word around too easily, mistaking one for the other. There are games with publishers that look indie like Bastion, or Shank. Then there are games that don't look indie, but still are, like Worms, Ravaged, Section 8. Did you know that Serious Sam is indie? Indie is not something new. A game should be called indie if it has no financial support from a publisher.

The term indie should only be used to indicate the way the game was funded and is in no way indicative of the final game. In this respect, I treat indies like any other in term of how I view them. I'll like a game if it's good, not judging by how it was funded. Don't judge a book by its cover. Not having a publisher has its perks though. It's no secret that most indie games try something new or different because no one orders them to make the next big thing and the developers trust in their own abilities.

What I do see differently is my purchase decision. This is due to all of the bundles. I have bought some games only to see them later in bundles. I bought Amnesia a year ago. If I would have waited a month, I would have gotten it at half that price. I still haven't played it. I bought it again in the HiB. I don't see the point of buying them if they will be in a bundle later down the line. My backlog is already too big.

Greenlight is a good idea, executed badly. There was that thread on the forum about visual novels being allowed on steam, there was a submission to greenlight for an X-rated game that was immediately pulled. The point of greenlight was to put the power in the hands of the users, and open up the system. It doesn't seem that was very true. I also don't know by what standard a game gets to go to greenlight and what just gets put directly on the store. A Monopoly game was released a few days ago and it looks very unprofessional. Why didn't that go through greenlight? Why do big publishers have their way and skip it? It seems fair that they shouldn't be above the 'law'.

Thanks xamon, but I really don't want aids.