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“If you thought that the Xbox LIVE Indie Games service was just filled with massage apps, clones, and garbage, think again! We are fighting back against mediocrity and lameness in the best way we know how — by releasing amazing games!”

That’s the declaration of the developers behind the Indie Games Winter Uprising, and they absolutely nailed it with their description of the Indie Games channel. It’s unbearably hard to find quality content, and everyone knows it. That said, there are gems to be found — and this group is trying to raise awareness.

The so-called uprising consists of 14 separate games, all of which are releasing on the service during the first week of December. It’s quite cool to see these indies come together; that’s definitely become the big trend amongst other designers and the independent scene in general.

Why can’t we be friends?

So, we’ve been doing this show for a month now, over a month if you count the pilot episode that we shot in late September. I wonder if we’ve gotten any better? I hope so. We sure are trying hard. But not too hard! That would we bad. One thing I’ve learned from doing this show; you are never supposed to try too hard, or too little. You must always try the exact right amount, or else you suck and should die in a fire.

As for this episode, it’s pretty amazing. Chad Concelmo and Jim Sterling both make an appearance, we talk about that Mario 3 remake, Rockstar upcoming blockbuster L.A. Noire, Adam Sandler’s PIXELS movie, the creator of Tetris, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. We also recap the whopping seven reviews, including Call of Duty: Black Ops, Kinectimals, and Goldeneye Wii. If you’re not into reading reviews, but still want to know what other people think about videogames, than this video recap will totally be your thing.

Also, we’re still giving away that platformer prize pack to anyone who subscribes to us on Youtube or iTunes (in HD or large sizes). It’s pretty awesome.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Sony Online Entertainment’s studios in Austin and see the work they’ve been doing on DC Universe Online. During my time there, I was given the opportunity to play four solid hours of an internal beta starting from character creation.

I’ll be talking more about the experience of playing the first few hours of the game in another preview. Since this is the first chance we’ve had to get a good look at the options for building heroes and villains in the game, I thought it best to chronicle the creation of my own mighty villain.

Armed with the expectation that I would have to make a character of some kind at this event, I started fleshing out some ideas in my head. I could have simply selected one of the quick-create configurations and tinkered until I had something suitably weird but I enjoy the exercise of dreaming up characters. It seems silly to say it, but the concept I had going in was of a chubby kid with a sunny disposition whose good nature and telekinetic abilities would always seem him through the day.

See, the silly thing was thinking that I could make the character chubby. While heroes and villains come in a few sizes, with three different levels to choose from, they’re all in shape. This should not have mattered to me — it certainly has no bearing on the game — but it instantly changed my character concept. If he couldn’t be fat, by God, he’d be villainous. I must be mad.

I selected the runtiest model available and moved on to choose my mentor. These are iconic DC characters who set the tone for your progression through the game and represent your character’s aspirations. Since I had made the decision to follow the path of evil, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were not options. I could choose from Joker, Lex Luthor and Circe. Now, I don’t truck with witchcraft and I wouldn’t follow Joker anywhere but Luthor has style. This was a no-brainer and meant that I would begin my adventures in Metropolis.

Next we have power selection. There are six different types of powers available in DC Universe Online, but don’t let that fool you into thinking the options are small in number. Each of the six sets of powers – Fire, Ice, Gadgets, Mental, Nature and Sorcery — has two different development trees within them. Each of those trees has more than a dozen powers and buffs to build up, allowing for a considerable variety of character loadouts. While I couldn’t make him tubby, I still wanted my villain to be telekinetic and selected the Mental powers.

Powers in mind, so to speak, it was time to consider how else my character would be mixing it up with his enemies. DC Universe Online is a very action-oriented game and every character comes prepared to fight with more than just super-abilities. There are ten combat options available and include unarmed combat styles, melee and ranged weapons. Regardless of what you choose all have short and long-range capability and have development trees of their own which open up new combos and attacks as you progress. Keeping with my theme of mental abilities and appreciating the exotic nature, I decided to equip my villain with energy blasts from his hands.

The choice which followed was movement. This determines, obviously, how your character will move within the world. Metropolis and Gotham are both huge environments that would take forever to traverse without superpowers. So, every character will have the power of flight, acrobatics or super-speed to help them get around. These powers level up as well, making great distances even easier to traverse. I could not see my villain being willing to dirty his feet with the soil of the common man, so flight was the only way to go.

Then it was time to figure out the aesthetics of my villain, starting with the skins. There are a bunch of different animal designs which I can’t say looked all that appealing. On the other hand, the robot skin looks a lot like Michael Jackson’s robot form in Moonwalker, which is awesome. There are a ton of these to choose from and all can have their colors adjusted, so people should have no trouble finding one they like if they want something a little less human. I did not, so I moved on after scanning through the options.

There are also a bunch of different faces and hairstyles to choose from. The hair in particular had a lot of options to choose from with everything from afros to crew cuts represented. The face variety is less impressive but I also can’t imagine folks spending a lot of time examining each other’s facial features when everyone is wearing an ostentatious costume. I gave bad guy a side part which made him look a little bit like a kid and called it a day.

My work with the character creator at its end, my future lord of villainy was ready to take his first steps toward global domination. The only thing left was to think of a name. It would have to be something dignified and strong, a name which would inspire compatriots with admiration and enemies with terror.

And so it was, on that day, that the great and powerful villain Steve came to conquer.

[Look for more of the adventures of Steve tomorrow in our hands-on preview!]

THQ has been getting out of its comfort zone lately, by turning some of its franchises into movie and television properties, and now, by experimenting with lower-priced games. CEO Brian Farrell talked with Gamasutra about some of these new strategies.

“We spent a lot of time in Asia watching that freemium model. I think our markets are migrating that way, but you see it more in iPhone and iPad games right now,” he said. As such, the next MX vs. ATV title will launch at $40, and this cheaper price will be supplemented by downloadable content.

An interesting concept, for sure. I could see it working quite well in the right hands. Of course, Farrell was quick to point out games with bigger budgets, like Homefront, would remain at the normal $60. He also mentioned that the Saints Row movie is still in the works. Yeah — it’s really happening.

The full announcement will be made next month. THQ is hoping to align this release with the launch of Saints Row 3, but Farrell mentioned that’s subject to change.

Interview: CEO Farrell On THQ’s Path Through The Changing Game Landscape [Gamasutra]

Today, Ubisoft has revealed the details of the Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance project it teased just yesterday. As suspected, it’s a short animated film, and its release will coincide with the November 16 launch of the game, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

Ascendance is said to bridge the gap between Assassin’s Creed II and the upcoming Brotherhood, with Ezio Auditore in the lead role. The film will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network, and “other digital channels” for $1.99.

At the EA San Francisco Showcase last night, I got to play around with The Sims Medieval. Now, because I don’t pay attention to things, I was unaware that a Sims game set in the middle ages was in the works. However, upon hearing about said game, I forgot that my mouth was full and immediately shouted “I WAMMA FEE,” and blasted Ben PerLee with taco particles. 

Initially, I assumed the game was going to be The Sims, but you know. With knights and thatched roofs and leprosy and stuff. This isn’t entirely the case. While it does feature a number of familiar (read: girly and dollhousey) features from regular, modern-day Sims – like picking out charming furniture and dressing up your Sims in the majestic petticoats — The Sims Medieval introduces some fantasy RPG elements. 

You start out by designing a monarch (and picking out his/her majestic petticoats) living in a meager throne room and monarch’s quarters (which you can then decorate with charming furniture.) From there, the traditional Sims gameplay stops. In order to expand your kingdom and unlock new Sims, you have to complete quests. For instance, if you go out and fight goblins, you’ll earn enough kingdom points to build a wizard’s tower, and then you’ve got a sorcerer who can learn spells and shoot lightning bolts at people, etc. 

There are ten different playable classes, like blacksmith, knight, bard, or morbidly obese albino drunkard priest. (Actually, that last one was just a character I created. I made him look like he was about to barf, and gave him a genuinely ridiculous-looking hat.) In the past, the audience for The Sims has been casual gamers, little girls, cruel amateur sociologists, and my ex. Meanwhile, games with medieval stuff like swords, wizards, and thatched roofs are more successful with the exact opposite demographic. I’m very curious to see how The Sims Medieval goes over. 

The Sims Medieval will be out next March. I’m sure we’ll have more coverage before then, because let’s face it… Resistance is FEUDAL. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

In Space no one can hear you vomit. However, in Dead Space 2 multiplayer not only can you hear vomit, you can taste it! In the new multiplayer you can take charge, or to be more precise, be overtaken as a Necromorph. In my interview with Dead Space 2 Producer Scott Probst, we dive limb-first in Dead Space’s multiplayer and get a talk’n about gore and body part dismemberment.

If you want more Dead Space’N you should also check out Ben PerLee’s article. Its filled so with so many more words than my video.

Super Meat Boy will eventually find its way to Xbox 360, Wii and PC, excluding as it will a PS3 release. Now, because you start stamping your feet and shouting “BIAS” while tears start to cloud your vision, make sure you direct your anger at the right people — Sony itself. 

“Why wont this question die? We have answered it publicly at least 15 times but it just never ends,” says Team Meat. “We can’t EVER do a PS3 version of Super Meat Boy because when we were going into negotiations with publishers, Sony was the only one that didn’t express much interest in the game. We assumed this meant they didn’t want the game, and [we] decided to sign with Nintendo and Microsoft.

“Our contracts excluded any release on PS3. We would have loved to do a PS3 version, but its not at all possible whatsoever now, so please stop asking about it.”

That legitimately surprises me. Sony has often demonstrated itself as welcoming of unique indie titles, leading to a PSN full of rich, varied and unique games. The fact it snubbed Team Meat is disappointing to say the least. Ah well, Sony’s loss is everybody else’s gain, apparently.

Team Meat “can’t EVER do a PS3 version” [Eurogamer]

Rock of Ages continues to look as stunning as ever in these new screenshots. That would be enough for me to go on, but ACE Team also threw in a bonus blog post for those of us who want a behind-the-scenes look at how the art style got to where it is now.

In it, Edmundo Bordeu talks about finding a balance between the number 2D items versus what objects are better suited for 3D. There’s also a rotating picture of a creepy, naked cardboard man. Your day won’t be complete until you watch him spin endlessly.

The post is a cool read, and I couldn’t be more excited to get my hands on Rock of Ages. There’s something about controlling a ball-shaped character in videogames that I find incredibly appealing.