Xbox Live Indie Game Uprising Returning For Summer, Taking Nominations

Organizers are currently accepting nominations for titles to be included in a planned summer revival of last year's Xbox Live Indie Games Winter Uprising, which is slated to start August 22. Over 30 titles have already been submitted to be considered in the new Uprising, which is being organized by indie game developers and writers Dave Voyles and Kris Steele. Those interested in joining the competition can submit their titles through June 27, in advance of community voting scheduled for July. "Our goal is clear: Just as the previous Uprising had successfully done, we are raising consumer awareness and displaying some of the best and most diverse titles which the service has to offer to developers and consumers alike," write the organizers on the Uprising planning site. The currently tentative plans call for two titles to be actively promoted each week through the end of the Uprising on September 12. The timing puts the event at the tail end of Microsoft's annual Summer of Arcade promotion, which starts July 20, and overlaps with the announcement of finalists in Microsoft's Dream.build.play indie competition on August 22. Last December's Indie Games Winter Uprising included 14 titles from a number of relatively well-know indie game makers. Winter Uprising organizer and Zeboyd Games founder Robert Boyd reported the promotion saw spotty results overall, largely due to problems coordinating releases thanks to technical problems with the Indie Games submission process. Microsoft has since added publishing control to the service to allow for better release coordination.