TIGSOURCE BABYSTEPS TOWARD AN ALL-INDIE STEAM/APP STORE
TIGSource’s Indie Game Database has been growing at a very healthy rate — having just now reached over 500 entries — and, to help foster further growth, the group has added a REST API to help spread its exhaustive cataloging. The most exciting development to come out of its new accessibility, though, is TigBox [PC only .zip].
According to TIGSource’s Jeff Lindsay, he and indie dev Ivan Safrin have been “toying with the idea a Steam or iTunes Store app for indie games” since the 2008 GDC, and TigBox is the first ‘v0.01 alpha’ step in that direction. The app currently only consists of two tabs — Your Games, and Get Games — and works by grabbing a list of the top rated TIGdb games, which can be automagically downloaded and installed with a double click.
I couldn’t get the app to actually, erm.. work (it creates folders for the games like a champ, but seems overly temperamental on which files it then wants to download or not), but the TIGers admit it’s more a proof of concept rushed out at the last minute. Either way, it’s certainly one of the most important projects to keep an eye on in 2009, and a fantastic idea to unionize and legitimize the motley crew of worldwide indies.
TIGdb Advances [TIGSource]
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