Thought this was really interesting: Valve is introducing a new service in August called "Greenlight" where Steam community members basically vote for which indie games Steam is going to pick up. Could be a really great way to get some of the more obscure indie stuff on here without having to go through Valve's somewhat arbitrary approval process.
It does seem to just be Valve trying to get community popularity automated, instead of "how many people bitched to support about us not having Random Indie Game Y"
Which is fine. Admitting they can't reliably spot the interesting indie titles with the staff and time they have, and that the focus of fans is free and scales better, is just sensible. And all they've committed to is they're more likely to focus their attention on inspecting games that have attracted interest. Also makes the process of selecting games more transparent which is good PR.
Is a man not entitled to the hurf of his durf? - Simond