E3: Multimedia and slideshow

Games that make you think and game developers and publishers who think for themselves. Both were highlights of this year's video game summit.
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Eric Parsons / Star staff. Game developers Todd Furmanski, left, watches as Mike Rossmassler plays Night Journey at the Indie Games Showcase.

SANTA MONICA — It's a good time to be independent.

More than ever, independent artists of all sorts have a better chance of getting their work before a wide audience — including independent game developers.

Online distribution of games reduces costs and gives small development studios the clout once strictly held by large, well-financed groups. That means the games small developers are creating, which often feature the freshest ideas and newest concepts, are getting more attention in the marketplace.

Developers can reach beyond the PC market, where indie games are traditionally found, and go into the mainstream market on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii, said Kellee Santiago, president of That Game Co. in Santa Monica. And publishers are more willing to take risks and fund projects they wouldn't have in the past because of the lower costs.

"It's really awesome," she said.

With a staff that recently grew to eight, That Game Co. has two games out, both developed when its two founders were students at the University of Southern California. One of those games, "flOw," has been turned into a game for the PS3. The other game, "Cloud," has had more than a million downloads as a PC game. The company also has a three-game deal with Sony.

A different focus

The games focus on evoking certain emotions as they are played. In the case of "Cloud," a hospital-bound boy dreams he can fly, collect clouds and draw with them. Santiago said the game evokes a universal emotion of being a child and finding shapes in the clouds.

Santiago said she and "flOw's" creator, Jenova Chen, founded the company "to continue making experimental games that explore different emotions that aren't currently found in the video game market."

That's not to say she doesn't like the video games out there — Santiago admits to playing "tons" of Gears of War. But she said it is important to continue to provide variety and explore what else can be done with games.

The goal of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab at USC is to ask difficult questions, take on risky subjects and interesting projects and explore various types of game play, said Tracy Fullerton, co-director of the lab and the faculty adviser on "Cloud."

Fullerton is game designer on "Night Journey," a game that was on display along with "Cloud" and other independent games at the Indie Game Showcase at the E3 Media & Business Summit last week in Santa Monica.

"These are very experimental games, very different types of games than you're going to see at the rest of the show," she said.

"Night Journey" takes the works of artist Bill Viola and combines them with verses from poets and mystics. A meditative game, it is about reflection and memory.

"There are no ticking clocks or scores," Fullerton said.

Attracting a new crowd

Todd Furmanski, the main programmer on "Night Journey," said those who know Viola's works are more likely to be found in a gallery than in front of a gaming system.

The game is simple so someone in a gallery setting could pick it up and play. Furmanski said independent games provide a way to find new audiences through games that don't look or act like mainstream games.

"I've been finding a lot of interesting, different kinds of games are finding a mark where a lot of mainstream commercial games haven't been," he said.

The video game industry today could be compared with the movie industry 15 years ago, said Mike Wilson, chief executive officer of Gamecock Media Group, an independent game publisher.

Major companies were controlling the investment in movies and churning out big sequels and formulaic concepts, he said.

"Artists started finding money elsewhere. It was really a matter of finding your own investors," he said. "We're seeing that this year in games for the first time."

Finding new money

While there have always been small independent video game developers — "like little indie record labels," Wilson said — now is the time of big indie.

The money is finally materializing behind the ideas to drive them into the mainstream.

Private investors are backing companies such as Gamecock, game publisher Brash Entertainment or publisher Codemasters, which was bought by a venture capital firm.

Success stories make it easier to attract more money.

"It's definitely a movement," Wilson said.

On the Net:

http://www.thatgamecompany.com

http://interactive.usc.edu/research/games

http://www.gamecockmedia.com