Tim Hurley: "I think we’re all in agreement that Portal was a great game, and (if indie games are the barometer) quite the inspiration to a number of developers. I’ve dished out plenty of admonitions right here on the site, to studios that have either lifted the storyline wholesale for their own use, or shoehorned the idea into their game when it didn’t even require it. Smudged Cat Games‘ Gateways (240 MSP) is probably the most blatant offender of them thus far. Scientist-type ‘Ed’ finds and uses a ‘gateway gun’, which is Valve’s portal gun in every way but name."
Smell that? That sharp, intoxicating aroma? Assuming you haven't forgotten to do the washing up, that's probably the smell of possibility. Microsoft's ID@Xbox program represents a serious and very overdue step up for self-publishing on Xbox - long consigned to the sporadically fecund depths of the Xbox Live Indie Games channel.
Buddy Acker of SpawnFirst writes: "The Xbox Live Indie Games section of the Xbox Live Marketplace is depressing. I’ll actually go a step further: it’s utter junk. Most of the games available on it are poor clones of popular games, games filled with pictures of barely clothed cartoon women or farting games rife with quicktime events. Most people will stick with Xbox Live Arcade when attempting to find an independent game to play because otherwise their efforts will be akin to searching for a dime in a fountain full of pennies and cement."
After a long wait, Mac and Linux users will be able to enjoy Smudged Cat Games’ hit title Gateways. The Mac and Linux versions of Gateways will be available for $5 through Steam and directly from the developer.