Video pinball has seen a resurgence in popularity recently with the success of Zen Studios' Pinball FX and the Farsight's classic table compilation Pinball Arcade. Despite early efforts like Pinball Quest and the Devil's Crush series, however, few video pinball titles attempt to add depth that goes beyond simple mode progression and score-based gameplay.

This Spring, the Netherlands-based Paladin Studios plans to self-publish its own unique take on the genre, Momonga Pinball Adventures, for iOS and Android devices.

Momonga Pinball Adventures features traditional pinball objectives mixed with level-based gameplay -- the result is somewhat like a pinball platformer. The gameplay clips shown above bring to mind Sony's super-bizarre (but awesome!) Flipnic for the PlayStation 2, which is definitely a good thing.

Indie Loop Garden is a sort of match-making site for developers to add custom sound in their indie games. The site was created by Vince Webb and has a pretty strong lineup of audio talent behind it, with such soundtracks as Fez (Rich Vreeland), Hydorah (G87), Soulcaster(Ian Stocker) and Aiko Island (Sean Beeson).

The website seeks to offer a service to developers who prefer to invest in high quality custom sound for their projects. "Our site is aimed at connecting them with these composers of different musical styles to save them the trouble of trawling through forums as well as equipping them with some useful resources along the way," says Webb. "We strongly believe that original tailored sound is integral in creating a special gameplay experience."

I spoke with Rich Vreeland (Disasterpeace) briefly about the new site. He says that he can't yet speak about any experiences with jobs from the website, given the site is only a few days old. While I recognized some of the audio developers on the list, I wondered if any more would or could join. Vreeland replied, "I don't believe we're looking for more members at this point. We're all focusing on certain styles of music so as to not over-compete with each other. If we had more members that would make things more difficult to manage."

The site appeared a little bare-bones, so I asked what he thought could help improve its current state. "Word of mouth, feedback from composers and developers, regular content, a professional layout, these are some things that could help improve the site over time."

Vreeland also clarified what Indie Loop Garden offers that other audio dev forums or portals do not. "Indie Loop Garden is a direct connection to some pretty good composers who are expecting to be contacted. Forums and portals are great too, but Vince is trying to appeal to folks who might be prone to buying 'ready made' music, or folks who might be looking for a go-to place."

Following up on the recent App Store launch of Caverns of Minos, tireless veteran developer Jeff Minter has completed work on an iOS update for his classic shooter Gridrunner, which should see release soon, pending Apple's approval.

Originally released in 1982 for a variety of PC platforms, Gridrunner is a frantic shooter that expands on core gameplay elements from arcade titles like Centipede and Tempest. It saw sequels in 2002's shareware release Gridrunner++ and in 2010's Gridrunner Revolution.

The new iOS version of Gridrunner recalls the look and feel of '80s arcade machines -- the attract mode is especially Namco-ish in its presentation. Gridrunner for iOS will feature iCade support when it arrives in the App Store this month.

Action Button Entertainment, a reportedly vile outfit headed up by the infamous new games journalist Tim Rogers, has launched the iOS shooter Ziggurat, its first release for any platform.

Boasting 16-bit graphics, 8-bit music, and "immeasurable chaos," Ziggurat puts players in the role of "The Last Human on Earth, fighting to die as The Last Human in the Universe." Armed only with a laser rifle, players must fend off as many approaching enemies as possible before succumbing to the inevitable.

The controls are very well suited for touch screens, and the charge mechanic proves to be quite satisfying. I also enjoy the way explosions can be chained to take out surrounding enemies -- it gives the experience a crunchy, Missile Command-ish appeal that few games manage to replicate.

Ziggurat is priced at 99 cents. If you aren't yet sold on the concept, a trailer featuring a sales pitch from Rogers himself can be seen after the break below.

Game Jam The Documentary is the latest slice-of-indie film looking to gauge audience interest. The IndieGoGo slogan is "4 Teams 4 Games 48 Hours. An in depth look into game jams and the experience of creating a game under extreme pressure."

Troy Morrissey and Ryan Cox have less than 10 days to reach their $4,500 goal. The fundraiser is for the film team to travel to GDC to speak to jammers from around the world. Interviews with the following are planned if they can afford their trip: Matt Hammill-creator of Gesundheit!, Miguel Sternberg-Spooky Squid Games, Chris Hecker-Indie Game Jam, Gorm Lai-Global Game Jam, Ian Schreiber-Global Game Jam, Martin Jonasson-No More Sweden, and Mike Kasprzak-Ludum Dare/Sykhronics Entertainment.

I found a local session of the latest Global Game Jam I attended to be quite exciting. I hope this project has captured and can present those moments of "extreme pressure" to make for a truly compelling piece. Game Jam The Documentary asks for your financial support today.

Spiceworx, a newly established venture that combines talent from the art collectives Famicon (Bart the General) and GHXYK2 (Swashbuckel Ur Seatbelts), has released an iOS port of its surreal Xbox Live Indie Games title RE: Get To Schol On Time.

RE: Get To Schol On Time includes a handful of wildly disparate levels, each of which features a strange objective. The game's opening level, for instance, asks players to sketch a portrait while being ridiculed by caricatures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson. You may not believe it at the time, but this proves to be the most coherent challenge in the game.

RE: Get To Schol On Time is available as a free download for a limited time.

Following up on a recent profile-boosting Xbox 360 dashboard update, Xbox Live Indie Games developers will soon receive another source of exposure courtesy of an independently-produced Windows Phone 7 app.

XBLIG Companion scrapes release data from xboxindies.com and compiles recommendations from XBLIG-centric sites, allowing users to easily access indie titles using a convenient, comprehensive search tool. Xbox Live Marketplace links can also be directly accessed, allowing users to purchase games and queue up downloads remotely.

The app is now being beta-tested, though a release date has not been announced. Developer Casey Young notes that iOS and Android ports are "not only doable, but most likely will happen."

[via Joystiq]

It's always sad to see previous collaborators fall out, especially when it's over business matters. But that's what seems to have happened here. Spilt Milk, the indie studio behind the iOS and Android snake-a-like Hard Lines, are at the centre of a row over ownership of the game. In a statement to IndieGames.com, programmer Nicoll Hunt has alleged that Andrew Smith, Spilt Milk Managing Director, is withholding his share of the revenue unless he agrees to sign away his rights to the game.

Whilst Spilt Milk Studios is Smith's (one man) company, he isn't a coder, so he collaborates with other developers to make his games, although the exact division of labour on Hard Lines is one area where there seems to be disagreement.

We don't know exactly what has gone on during the development, release and subsequent dispute over Hard Lines, all we can do is present both sides of the story, and hope that the individuals concerned can find a resolution before ending up in court.

Anyone who follows the indie gaming scene will no doubt have crossed paths with plenty of Stephen Lavelle's games before, although they may well know him better as "Increpare".

Lavelle has been pushing the boundaries of game mechanics for a good few years now, with short but deep experiences that can potentially cause the player to question what real innovation in video games is.

English Country Tune is Lavelle's first commercial title, all his previous releases having been free to download up to this point. All those years of honing his skills appear to have paid off too, as his first paid release has earned him an IGF nomination for Excellence In Design.

As part of Gamasutra's Road to the IGF series, Lavelle discusses why he decided to charge money for this game, and which elements he was forced to cut out of the final vision.

What is your background in making games?

It depends on the game. There are certain general inspirations and role-models, but most of no general interest. I feel like I haven't had a new thought in about two years, and I've more or less "used up" everything I could think of. So I'm trying to think of new things, and it's proving hard work. I let myself go, both culturally and intellectually, and now I'm paying the price. Grrr.

What development tools did you use to develop English Country Tune?

Unity. Music was a mix of Reason, Garageband and some custom-made tools (that are single-purpose enough to not be worth preparing for general consumption). Photoshop.

How long did you work on the game?

8 months in total, though I took some breaks during development.

Penny Arcade's massive consumer expo, PAX East, recently announced the six indie games they will showcase. Expo planners decided to showcase smart phone games exclusively this year because "not many [indie game competitions] seem to focus specifically on the mobile platforms."

These are the six indie games:

*Bean's Quest by Kumobius (iOS)
*Girls Like Robots by Popcannibal (Android)
*Lawnmower Challenge by Lunar Enigma (iOS)
*Not Without You by Bad Pilcrow (Windows Mobile)
*SpellTower by stfj (iOS)
*Super Crate Box by Vlambeer (iOS)

PAX East is one of the largest consumer gaming events, reaching almost 70,000 attendees last year. This week the event organizers sealed the deal with the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority to keep the event in Boston through 2023.

PAX East 2012 runs April 6-8 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. While three-day tickets are sold out, single-day tickets are still available for purchase.