Within A Deep Forest without question.

Also, I shill like fuck for it, but Mutant Storm got me into indie gaming. Furthermore, I think PomPom is a good example of a small shop blowing up, for any inspiring dev.

it's a rarity, but when it happens, it's fucking glorious. I remember play testing a few months back and getting totally enveloped by it to the point that I actually lost track of time and spent the remainder of my night playing rather than working on the game

most of the time tho, I just furrow my brow because the damn physics aren't working right. stupid math 

 
How embarrassing, I never responded to my own thread.

In-Person testing is the way to go...

I think this is painfully obvious now, as my limited run, distribution to my friends testing scheme so far has been an unmitigated disaster. I'm going to have to figure out a way to either setup a gaming night or just do one-on-one's with people once the game is at a point that I'm ready to receive gameplay feedback.

Keep us posted, based on the screenshots from your blog your game is looking very good

Thanks man, one day I'll actually update the thing with something useful

The Megaman 2 soundtrack is always ranked as an all-time great and rightly so, however, I think Megaman 1 gets the shaft anytime the series is brought up. Totally underrated.

Switching gears, but if you haven't played EVE: Online, you are missing out on a fantastic electronic soundtrack. Go here now and sample:
http://www.eve-online.com/download/music

I haven't played in over a year but I still listen to the soundtrack to this day.

And some old favorites: Wing Commander I, Need For Speed 3, F-Zero, Zelda 3

my daughter's father is totally into games. 

my dad played a little arcade Pacman like most people his age, but for him it was all about Tempest. He also brought home our wood grain, 2600 many many years ago so if nothing else, he's responsible for my addiction.

October One is right around the corner 

2009 it is, I guess.

fuckin sweet, I saw that video linked somewhere else and didn't put it together that it was you guys behind it. Congrats, that game looks awesome (and the video is hilarious)

We've just announced Goo. It's still early stages, but we're showing the video of the game which we initially sent to microsoft.

http://apaththroughpossibility.blogspot.com/

God it feels Good to finally write "Goo" on a forum.

pretty sure if you buy time directly through Live, you don't pay sales tax. So it's an even $50...

I think if you sign up for a new gamertag, it'll give you a month free instantly...

[1. Combat]

1. Combat
My first home video game. We played this hours on end and a big reason I got into gaming

2. Metroid / Megaman I (tie)
My first foray into side scrollers. Never really liked SMB as a kid and the open, non-linear aspect of Metroid and MM absolutely hooked me. That and the music, incredible, catchy songs that I still enjoy today

3. Wing Commander
One of my favorite games ever and a huge inspiration for my indie game hopes. WC was the reason I bought a PC and the reason I can still write an awesome config.sys file. Corny and fun as hell, enjoyed every second of it (even tho I mostly sucked)

4. Sports Games (NHL 93, Ice Hockey, Hardball, TV Sports Basketball, Front Page Football)
In my teen, jock years all I played was sports games. In fact, the very first game I ever attempted to program was a text-based basketball game. The NHL series is timeless and a perfect multiplayer game. TV Sports Basketball introduced me to the odds and ends of HEX editing game files and making everyone on my team awesome. The true golden age of sports games, when gameplay mattered most and EA was still small time.

5. Need For Speed 3 / F-Zero (tie)
I love, love arcade racers and these two are the penultimate for me. Perfect mix of challenge and control. Both allowed you to be creative and reactive rather than memorizing lines and still enjoy the game. And again, awesome soundtracks.

Not surprisingly, every game I've ever started to develop fits in that top 5. There's plenty more but I think this kinda encapsulates it for me in terms of influence.

I'm hoping, in 6-36 months, I'll still have the same enthusiasm for my game that I have right now.

really fun game, took forever to beat 3 then 4 never loaded... prob cause I sucked so many times on 3.

anyway, maybe some slight visual notification of when one is just about to pop would be helpful. Love the overall look and feel of the game, can't wait to see it progress.

PGR 3 and Within a Deep Forest. On occasion, I'll fire up F-Zero on the GBA. But I guess I'll be playing Halo 3 beta tomorrow :D

oh and my game, of course

setting limits on your projects is a good way to produce solid, focused work... as long as you're not purposely establishing those barriers because you are afraid to venture into new territory.

4. pancakes!!!

I'm not sure if it's because of my setup, but I get mostly crap performance with FRAPS at anything over 800x600, even recording at 1/2 size. And even then, it wouldn't record faster than the monitor's refresh rate from what I can tell.

Still, seems to be the best solution, at least for 3D games

It's a different kind of racism there, but I don't think it's any better than it is in the US. Marrying someone of a different race is virtually unthinkable to most people in Japan, whereas marrying someone of a different race is pretty common in the US.

The year I lived in Japan, I can honestly only think of a few times where I felt any sort of racism against me, the extent of which was prolonged stares or people refusing to sit next to me on the train. I knew people would talk shit or whatever, but nothing really beyond that. Never directly denied service or outwardly treated differently. Maybe things have changed since I left tho...

As for the marriage thing, I'm not sure you can make that broad of a generalization. My close friend who still lives there is marrying a Japanese girl. Her parents were upset at first, but they got over it. I'd agree it's way less common than the states, but I wouldn't deem it unthinkable by any stretch.

And it's true, I really do not like the right-wingers, driving around in their big black buses, broadcasting their scary propaganda at deafening levels, with their Yakuza drivers, going around intimidating everyone all day long.

ya that stuff was surreal, people there totally tolerate it 

Another one I found is Taksi:
http://taksi.sourceforge.net

seemed pretty full featured but I couldn't get it to recognize my game (most likely because it's 3D). Might want to give it a shot, it's free-fifty.

Yeah, making up words is fun.

wha? It's a perfectly cromulent word.

most recent video cards have an S-video out on the back. You can feed to a DV cam and record, then recapture the footage back. Massive, lossy technique but it works in a pinch.

Has anyone tried http://www.camstudio.org ?