A month ago, we told you about the Xbox Live Indie Games Summer Uprising. The community-created event originally began last winter, as a way to showcase some of the better titles that appear on the Xbox Live indie marketplace. Over the last month, developers have submitted their games, hoping to grab the featured spots when the event begins at the end of August. Today, the top eight indie games have been announced, and you'll even have a chance to vote on which games will take the last two slots.
The eight developer-chosen indie games cover a fairly wide spectrum of genres, including retro role-playing, fighting, action-adventure, and even train simulation. Yes, train simulation. Looking at the site, it appears there were 66 games entered into the event, an impressive number of titles for a completely independent, community-driven showcase.
Each of the eight games – which you can check out on the site – look interesting, but if I had to pick a title that stands out to me, it would have to be "Speedrunner HD." Judging by the game's trailer, "Speedrunner" is a quick-paced, racing platformer where you'll guide a character on foot through rather perilous maps. You'll have run, jump, and use a grappling hook to reach the end of each level before a bomb explodes. It's not an entirely new game -- there's a previous browser version available -- but the new HD iteration looks great, and also offers multiplayer. I'm looking forward to some crazy, competitive racing with friends.
Starting on August 1, you can head over to the Indie Uprising Facebook page to place your vote for the final two headlining games. Community voting concludes on August 15, with the two winners announced the following day.
The Summer Uprising games will release between August 22 and September 2.