The first place I read the mantra “Gameplay over Glitz” was at “Manifesto Games.” And as of just a couple days ago, they announced they are shutting down.

Derek Yu of “The Independent Gaming Source” gave an interesting response to why Manifesto had to shutter its doors and it primarily had to do with external market forces with more power and prestige, such as XBLA, becoming indie distribution channels.

The issue is a Catch-22 situation.  A publisher or distribution network like XBLA takes a huge chunk of profits away from the indies. And without some sort of promotional power, the sheer amount of indie games that are vying for attention is staggering.  There is so many games to sort through that finding anything of value in the indie community is difficult without the aid of major press or blogs to point people in the right direction.  Thus citing the need for some sort of publisher or marketing firm that can grab some attention.

How in the world does the indie community solve this problem?