Once economic analysts and social pundits got over the shockwaves of video game’s assault on our culture, they began to look at the nuances of the industry. For several years, there wasn’t a lot of product variation to look at outside of shooters, fantasy RPGs, and sports games. The Sims brought some variety and expanded the player base to more mature “casual gamers,” but for the most part the games have been for the young.

That is starting to change. Indie game developers catering to a more dedicated gaming community have been operating under the radar, for the most part. They are starting to get the recognition they deserve and that, in turn, is expanding the number and complexity of game genres that are hitting the market. Big game companies like Electronic Arts and Nintendo continue to produce sequels to their big money makers like Madden’s NFL Football and Zelda. Its sales are still huge, but as its audiences mature, the market finds space for games that go beyond sports, war and wizards.

“Indie” games are developing their own distribution channels. Valve, the company that had great success with Half Life, now distributes its games through its own online service, Steam. It sells directly to the player and provides the servers for the users of its games to play individually or in multiplayer format over the Internet. Its games come from a variety of developers and range from cartoonish and noir mysteries to empire building and more standard fare. Steam provides an outlet for some indie games to reach a larger audience.

Manifesto Games is a website dedicated to the support, promotion and distribution of independently produced video games. The site has game reviews, provides a sales mechanism for the various producers, provides a “top ten” list of current independent games, and has a Soapbox forum for comments, recommendations, complaints, etc. of active players.

Manifesto’s game review categories include some standards like Adventure, RPGs, and Sim/Tycoon games. But there are also categories like Schmup and Turn-based Strategy, categories that major producers don’t promote and, in the case of Schmup, probably don’t understand. It’s a term that seems to generally refer to games that recreate early spaceship shooters but with much cooler graphics and real storylines.

Many of the games found on Manifesto follow the outlines of conventional games, such as wargames and role-playing games, but incorporate some element of reality or human complexity not easily found in standard gaming fare. . There is a simulation game available on the site called Democracy. It’s not a concept that meets the standard of testosterone-based video games.

By virtue of distribution channels like Manifesto and Steam, indie developers have an opportunity for commercial exposure and hopefully some commercial success. This foot in the door of a huge commercial monolith has spawned outrageous creativity by expanding game genres into more original and complex formats.

It’s like good new bands outgrowing the record companies, introducing themselves via YouTube and MySpace and selling their CDs online. Independent game producers have created a marketplace that allows for creativity and product honesty.