The Indie Buskers want to turn your game ideas into real games

The Indie Buskers are Sophie Houlden (SWIFT*STITCH), Rat King Entertainment (Pitman), Sos Sosowski (Congress Chainsaw Massacre), Pekka Kujansuu (Tiny Hawk) and Ido Yehieli (Cardinal Quest). They’ve come up with a new kind of indie bundle that merges pay-what-you-want with the increasingly popular two-day game jam format.

Submit game ideas through their website and on the weekend of the 14th-15th of April they’ll turn the best five concepts into real games. The development process will be livestreamed and they’ll furnish you with all the progress bars and early builds you can handle. It’s free to submit ideas and watch their progress, and a bundle of all five games will be available on a pay-what-you-want (as long as you pay something) basis.
It’s a cool idea, and a smart way of supporting indie that also gives players a chance to get involved in the development process. It’s unlikely that at any point a man covered in shiny paint will traumatise children by standing very still and pretending to be a statue, and as such the concept has claimed an early lead over real life.

NCSoft explain why Guild Wars 2 collector’s edition is more expensive in Europe

We’re pretty excited about Guild Wars 2, and as these things go there have been few clouds on the horizon in terms of the amount of cash players will be expected to hand over. Even the announcement of in-game microtransactions has been handled with a degree of sensitivity.
Some players, however, have raised concerns about the pricing of the game’s recently-announced collector’s edition. It costs $149.99 in the US and €149.99/£129.99 in Europe – the problem being that $149.99, at the time of writing, is closer to £95/€115. We asked publisher NCSoft for comment on the price discrepancy.

“Currency fluctuations, distribution costs, taxes and market conditions in addition to the cost of goods are all contributing factors when setting pricing. These vary dramatically between NA and EU and our pricing is competitive and adjusted accordingly.”

If the collector’s editions are manufactured in the US then it’s likely that shipping its various books and figurines contribute to the extra cost – but it’s still a large difference, and something European players will have to consider carefully before committing to.
Guild Wars 2 Collectors Edition comes with a making-of book, 10″ figurine, soundtrack and art prints as well as bonus in-game items, beta access and a three-day head start when the game is finally released. It’ll be available to pre-purchase from the 10th of April.