I like surrealism, so I guess obscure would kind of fit in with that. I don't think surrealism is inherently pretentious, so being purposefully "obscure" (whatever that entails) doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be pretentious. It all depends on the execution.

cactus kinda popularized surreal actually.

I play lots of games that I think are great but almost nobody else seems to like. Nothing pretentious about it. Each to their own.

i could name a number but..

Soul Jelly: http://labtanner.com/gamedev/index.php?title=GameDevVI:Soul_Jelly

A Common Thread: Rami Ismail - http://quote-un-quote.tumblr.com/post/40956198533/interview-indiedev-rami-ismail

new interview I did with Renaud Bédard: http://quote-un-quote.tumblr.com/post/39079991588/interview-indie-dev-renaud-b-dard

Here's a new interview I did with twitter user and Ludum Dare enthusiast, azurenimbus: http://quote-un-quote.tumblr.com/post/37961074543/interview-with-indie-dev-azurenimbus

I still want Rick Dangerous 3.

Wayback machine can be helpful: http://web.archive.org/web/20081006085358/http://www.planetfreeplay.com/interview/6/

As a player, minimalism works really well for me. If a game is based on one or two relatively simple-to-learn mechanics, there isn't always the need to dress them up or create a narrative for the sake of having a narrative.

Eh. I don't know anything about decreasing article quality or possible average game quality, but at least I do know that Simon is still doing good work. In addition to his great Under The Radar and Quote-Unquote series, he recently started a blog called Oddities which, knowing him, is likely to have some good stuff on it if he keeps it up.

Also yeah, why does freeindiegam.es have such worthless quotes

The name is Steve actually but thanks for the kind words.. I do what I can. :-]

As someone that occasionally contributed alongside Tim way back, I miss the Indygamer blogspot days (I missed them the moment he sold it) and always loved the 'no bullshit' way that Tim wrote about games and the sheer amount of ground he was able to cover each day (seriously, the man was a machine) but accepted a long time ago that it would never be the same again.

I actually wrote for indiegames.com for a couple of months not so long ago but I don't read it very much anymore. I hold no ill feelings towards it.. it's just different.

I have no issue with freeindiegam.es personally. Since it isn't run as a money thing, the quote system allows more ground to be covered.

As for 'setting the bar low', I always laugh when people say this.. everyone has different tastes. Doing this for one person is probably doing the exact opposite for another.

That was the end of the 2nd series of Underrated Indie Games. If you're after more of the same, check out my new blog, Oddities.

Thanks.

Here's the "finale" of my 2nd youtube series of Underrated Indie Games (click on picture for playlist):

                                 

I started a new blog called Oddities when I ended this series (it's pretty much Underrated Indie Games in blog form)(click on pic):

           

Video: [Under the Radar Part 200]: Typesphere [Stephen Lavelle]

5 word or less summary: Destroy letters by typing words.

Play: http://ded.increpare.com/~locus/typesphere/

Video: [Under the Radar Part 199]: A Tale About Life, Death and a Looser [Sebastien Benard]

5 word or less summary: Choose path - birth to death.

Play: http://deepnight.net/games/ld21-looserlife/

Video: [Under the Radar Part 198]: Dig Dig Bit Fury [1-2-3 Blast On!]

5 word or less summary: Dig for coins / pay tax.

Download / Play: http://www.icarusproudbottom.com/ddbf/