   what is an indie?
  im trying to compile a complete list of all game designers, developers, and publishers.  there are many places on the web where such a project is started but they are generally sorely incomplete and don't index the info very well.  im going to create a database that details:country of origin or operations;is the company/organization a designer, a developer, a publisher (and is it indie);what, if any, are the main featured titles;what, if any, is the main focus (eg. flight sims, add-ons, MMORPGs, ect.);what formats does the organization design/develope/publish for (eg. PC, Mac, PS2, ect.);what, if any, are the main associations (eg. ambrosia software publishes all of introversion's titles, alawar publishes all of aliasworlds entertainment's titles, ect.);example entry is:Actoz-Koreasoftware developer and publisherfocuses on MMORPGsPC formatorAmbrosia SoftwareUSindie? software developer and publisherPC and Mac formatassociations: Introversionmy question is: what is an indie designer/developer/publisher?  the definition seems kind of fuzzy: a developer or designer that is not affiliated with a major (established?) studio or publisher.  Is Abacus a such a publisher?  They have been around since the 70's, so are established, but are nowhere near as influential as, say, Activision.  Is an indie someone that does not receive funding from one of these "major" publishers?  Amaze Entertainment claims to be an independant developer, but major studios publish their titles.  Can there be an indie publisher?  Alawar seems to only publish titles from self-claimed indie developer Aliasworlds Entertainment.  Does this make Alawar an "indie publisher"?it seems to me that "indie" is more of a buzzword, with no set definition, that is applied to game designers working outside the major system of publishers and desing studios.  Being outside this system, they are able to freely create products without worrying about having to market them in a large scale way to the public.  That then begs the question: who is a member of this major system of publishers and studios?  What demarcates membership in this "system".  I've been reading on this, but there doesn't seem to be any "bright line" between indie and non-indie; rather it seems to be more of a feeling (hehe).  I'm wanting to be able to detail whether an organization is "indie" or not in my list so I need to get whatever info and input people have available.   
  I think indie is an independant developer, with no big resurses like EA etz.   ;  an indie developer generally has no formal association with the ESA.  Check out the IGF page, they probably have a better definition of what exactly makes a company an indie dev .   ;  hey!i went to the IGF site, as suggested, poked around and eventually emailed them.  They replied almost immediatly (less than 5 minutes)!!!  They said they had argued amongst themselves for some time over what makes somthing "indie".  They eventually arrived at "any developer that has not signed with a ESA associated publisher".  The letter also noted that there really is no simple answer, and that the word "indie" is used and misused in a million ways.  I'm going to go with their definition, but I still think that in the gamer community at large "independent developer" and "indie title" is still more of a buzzword or slogan; one that some developers like to hang on too, even past the point of truly being indie.   ;  I'm so indie my shirt don't fit!And have you checked out www.MobyGames.com?  It seems like it might be similar to what you are doing.   ;  Indie really is a buzzword these days. It used to mean a couple guys (girls) in a basement/garage making a game in their spare time. Nowadays established publishers/developers claim to be indie regardless of how many professional titles they've produced.The definition that I find best would be: A company founded, owned and still operated by a single person or group of people. If your company is publicly traded on the stock market, please drop the indie from your tag line. The size, or success of a company isn't really a determining factor in my opinion, but rather where resources are obtained. If it's someone's company rather than some conglomerate headed by shareholders then I would say that it's indie.   