An interview with Raigan and Mare of Metanet Software, the development team responsible for unleashing N+ for the Xbox Live Arcade service. (mugshot by Edmund McMillen)

Hi guys, let's begin with a short introduction of yourselves.

R: Hi, I'm Raigan.

M: and I'm Mare. We're both amazing people.

R: Also, I will take over typing since Mare hates my weird ergo-keyboard.

We're in Toronto, it's snowing finally. Our hobbies include: playing video games. And reading video game blogs and manuals.

Since N is making an appearance on a couple of consoles and handheld platforms, can you give us a summary of what's coming on where?

One version of N+ will be out for Xbox360 Live Arcade, we worked very closely with the developer Nick (in Vancouver) and did all the levels, it is definitely exactly how we would have wanted it to be: pretty much N, on Xbox.

An interview with haowan, creator of TIGSource's B-Game winning entry - Cottage of Doom.

Let's begin with a little introduction of yourself.

Haha, ok. I'm Alex, I'm 29 and I've been into developing games since I was given a Vic 20 along time ago. Uh, what else? I'm from the UK, I nearly failed my degree because I was programming an asteroids game, and I recently had my wife cut off my dreadlocks (that she put in).

How does it feel to win TIGSource's inaugural competition? Considering that they were many old hats like cactus and Petri Purho who had participated as well.

Ah, if only I had won the inaugural competition - alas, I don't think I'm sexy enough. Winning the competition (B-Game) was awesome, though as I said at the time, it was the run up to the deadline and seeing what other people were doing that was the most fun. cactus didn't enter. :D

Rückblende (Flashback) is an interactive animation movie originally intended as a diploma project in visual communication. The story of the film is about a man confronted with his childhood memories while walking around a summerhouse in the woods, where he used to spend the holidays with his parents. The more he dwells in his memories, a secret seems to be unravelling.

The surrounding and the inside of the house were built as a model, while the appearing characters from the memories were drawn with a pencil and animated with white lines on top of the photographed model background.

Name: Rückblende
Developer: Nils Deneken
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 600MB
Direct download link: Click here

A quick ten-minute interview with the developer of Everyday Shooter, and a couple of other cool games.

How has the reception for PSN's Everyday Shooter (ES) been, and what's next for Queasy Games? More collaborative efforts with Santa Monica Studios? And will there be any releases from you next year?

Well, there's a substantial amount of press and most of the comments seem positive, so I guess it's been ok? As for what's next for Queasy Games, well, I have a rule where I keep my next project under wraps until it's almost done. If I don't, then I never end up finishing it. It's a rule my friend and I made up when we were kids writing code. We'd always talk about what cool new feature was going to be in our game/app but then we'd never do it. Finally, we decided only to tell each other if we can show each other. It's a great motivator. Release next year? Dunno!

In a recent interview, you mentioned that you were planning on making more freeware games. Can we expect a new one in the near future?

Let's just say I DO want to make a freeware game, but there's just so little time. :( But if I do, it probably won't be a big affair like Gate 88.

A couple of screenshots from Metanet Software's N+ for the Xbox 360 Live Arcade can be found at The Way of the Ninja.

The third episode in the Fedora Spade series has been released. If you played the first two, you'll probably like this one. If you haven't, it's an adventure game with a detective motif: you have to search for and gather clues to solve a case.

Orchard-L also began requesting donations with this game. He lives in Indonesia, where most people make only a few dollars a day. So donations to him would go a long way.

Name: Fedora Spade: Death Wears a Fedora
Developer: RPGCreations
Category: Detective/Adventure
Type: Freeware, but donations requested
Size: 3MB
Direct download link: Click here

messhof, of Punishment fame, will soon be releasing a new game called FLYWRENCH. He just posted a gameplay video at Eo.

"The game itself is nearly done-- I'm just working on the soundtrack. I'm going to be out of town for thanksgiving, so expect a release tuesday or wednesday next week."

An interview with Charlie Ngo (Kairos), the developer of Varia and Kairuga.

Let's begin with a short introduction about yourself, for readers who are unfamiliar with your works.

I'm a 16 year old teen who likes to play shmups and also make them. I only make releases like once a year due to school and whatnot. My two releases include the shmups Kairuga and Varia, both have the glowy vector sort of feel to them.

How did you start off with game development, and since when? A bit of history would be great, considering that GM users are getting younger and younger every day and they need all the help and pointers they could get.

I started doing real work back in the end of 2005. I used to play all the quality games made in GM and wonder how someone could make that in this program; I started experimenting and learning by example for the most part, and then finally made a real game and released Kairuga during the summer of 2006. The one thing I would recommend to kids who want to develop games is that it is no easy task to create a good game that appeals well. They should remember that the hardest part of development is finishing the game itself.

How does it feel to win the latest Shmup-Dev Competition? It's quite an achievement, considering that past winners and runner-ups have joined the same compo as well.

It feels great, really. I didn't expect that I'd win, considering I originally joined the competition not for the sake of winning, but just for fun. Some encouragement from a few respected people and a bit of thought and it just ended up like that.

I swear, this game just gets awesomer and awesomer every day.

- download hi-res trailer, right click to save
- soundtrack preview
- The Underside preview

NIGORO member Naramura has announced the first details of the group's next game on their development blog. According to him, the fifth game will have an academic setting and perhaps be easiest to play with a touchpad. The title has been decided, but it won't be announced until later because the title alone would give away a lot of the game.

Eden's Aegis is a new vertical shooter from x.x, featuring two playable characters and the usual array of boss fights commonly seen in all of his other releases.

Hold the Z key to shoot, tap the X key to launch a bomb and use the C key to activate your special weapon. This trial release is limited to one level only.

Name: Eden's Aegis
Developer: x.x
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

A quick ten-minute interview with the creator of Wizball.

Any info you'd like to share about yourself as an introduction?

Ooh, I think I've whored my thoughts enough all over the internet that anyone with a passing familiarity with remakes or indie games will have heard of "that Graham arsehole", so there's really nothing to say.

How has the response to your Wizball remake been so far? Any favorite comments or feedbacks?

It's been really good, yes. Me and Smila have been very pleased with the response, although there were a few bugs and issues which needed sorting out shortly after release. The Mac version should be out soon, too. The nicest response was seeing my old arch nemesis Weibo De Wit saying he thought it was great, which was really big of him.

Frogs and Mice: Erik Hermansen has revealed details about the DROD spin-off created exclusively for GarageGames' new InstantAction web site, to be launched early next year.

Dwarf Fortress: Dwarf Fortress updated. [change list]

Mission to Mars: Mateusz Skutnik (Submachine, Covert Front series) releases a new platformer entitled Mission to Mars.

Kongregate: The popular web games portal has announced five development studios funded from $20,000 to $100,000 to create original, large-scale Flash games exclusive to the site. [source: GameSetWatch]

A quick ten-minute interview with Paul Eres, creator of Immortal Defense.

Are you still working on Immortal Defense? Were you happy with the results of RPGC's first commercial game?

I'm still working on ID, yes, on the level editor and a few other improvements, which are taking longer than I planned for. And I'm happy with the results yes, but I'd have been happy with any results. One thing I predicted was that I wanted to sell 100 copies in a year. It's already been more than 100 in 6 months, so it was more than I expected.

You submitted Immortal Defense (ID) into IGF. How do you rate your chances?

I'd guess 20% chance of being in the finals, 0.1% chance of winning. ^_^ But predicting the future is hard, so that's just based on my feelings about how my game compares to the others and how the judging process works and so on.

A quick ten-minute interview with cactus, done just today. Depending on the response, it could turn into a regular thing involving other developers as well.

How many entries are you planning to submit for the YoYoGames Winter Competition? (the one in which the winner gets $1,000 cash)

One I suppose. I don't think I have time for more than that. I'm also aiming for something rather ambitious, so I don't see any point in going for multiple entries.

Could you give us a little hint about what your competition entry would be like?

I'm trying to do something I haven't tried before, so I'm going for an exploration platfomer with a longer storyline than my previous games have featured. Might throw in some smaller RPG elements while I'm at it, a bit like Cave Story perhaps.

Noitu Love 2: Joakim Sandberg interviewed by Gamasutra. [konjak.org]

Independent Games Festival: Simon Carless interviewed by Michael Samyn.

Democracy 2: A web site for Cliff Harris' sequel to his popular political simulator is online. A demo will be posted soon.

Metanet Software: metablog updated.