Gamecast: How to improve the quality of the games we play.

Now to take a few steps back and explore the thinking behind my idea.

Some of the most exiting games I've played over the last couple of years or so have been developed by small teams of people, sometimes just one indie-game creator. Cave Story, the work of Cactus, Braid and many others (from here) spring to mind, Superflat, my brother.

Now of those examples I've given, each individual game has a different story behind how it did or didn't come to fruition. You guys probably are more clued up than me, so sorry if any of the following is inaccurate: Braid required a huge amount of the dev's own money to get noticed, Cactus, as far as I;m aware, is yet to have recognition his talents surely demand, Cave Story is going to get released on Wii, but it's taken forever to get to that stage

What if there was a way that we could subscribe to the developer's output? The specific games I've mentioned are perhaps too large for the kind of service I'm looking for - but the people who make them, make many smaller indie games throughout the year. So imagine after my first taste of Cave Story, I was able to Google Pixel, the creator, on my I phone, and sign up for a monthly debit service that guarantees me his next game, automatically downloaded on to my phone when it becomes available. Or computer, or XBL PSN, whatever.

You'd be like 'Oh shit, cool, it's the 5th of the month, I wonder what weird delight I'm gonna be playing on my lunch break today!' Even if it was just a quick 2 hour game, it would be a real breath of fresh air rushing through the gaming isles of game stores.

Indie games can be personal, evocative, strange. All the things that make Okami and No More Heroes the critically acclaimed but under-selling games that they are. These guys, like Superflat, Cactus, can knock out really interesting and playable games in a matter of weeks - having people subscribe to their output would encourage them to finish and polish their products, and more importantly, bring fresh, unseen, gameplay experiences and original mechanics in to the public eye and media, which is only a positive thing for the industry.

What do you think?