I've been having a ton of fun playing #IDARB on Xbox One, as it provides a breath of fresh air to the pixel-art indie scene, specifically thanks to its tight gameplay, crazy customization options and fulsome Twitch/Twitter support. Behind of all of the irreverent wackiness, nostalgia and flashing lights, there is real depth to the game. I can see why Other Ocean and Microsoft Studios are positioning the game as sort of an e-sport and Twitch phenomenon, because the amount of nuance you can put on shots is really something. That's to say nothing of the defensive strategies that can develop when multiple people are playing the field and using all of the geometry at their disposal.

But what really pops out about IDARB is its truly forward-thinking integration of Twitch, Twitter and the concept of the "hashbomb." In other words, there are many ways to interact with people who are actively playing a game. That provides something tangibly exciting right now for IDARB, but it also dangles a potentially awesome concept for others games to experiment with. The question is: will other developers pick up the ball (or flying disc)?

The ability to spectate is cool on its own, as that's something that not enough games are embracing these days. The promise of watching from a seat in the arena or stadium is sort of a pipe dream from days gone by, but Twitch (and other services) have swept in to provide a reasonably coherent spectating experience for sports games. About the only problem is the delay, but that's not up to the game creators.

To be fair, IDARB deserves a bit of a knock for only supporting two Xbox Ones (eight players) over Xbox Live, but it is understandable. It's probably a networking nightmare, and the devs are endeavouring to enable support for four consoles, which would allow for 2v2 action. Still, the absolute focus on multiple people enjoying the game (locally or online) and crowds of users interacting with the game via Twitch and Twitter is something worth getting excited about. It puts into sharp relief some of the recent efforts from EA and 2K, two companies who — one might cynically say — appear to be more worried about digital currency and fake trading cards than actually building meaningful zeitgeist and passionate communities around their games.

The ability to affect change in a game of IDARB is an exciting idea. I absolutely love Other Ocean's willingness to try absolutely anything. It provides so much variety to the action, and it keeps things feeling unpredictable and full of possibilities. The options in the game are so well done, too, so that you can actually decide how much interactivity people can have on a game — and through what services. It's clear that a bunch of the nonsense on display is just meant as an in-joke, but the ability to turn out the lights or activate the ball/disc as a bomb, which changes scoring possibilities, is an interesting game-changer.

What excites me is the possibility of a developer taking a lot of these spectator/participator concepts to an even bigger scale, but also with some added focus. It's a lot of fun having Rick Astley fly across the screen, to be sure, but how about a sports game where users actually affected the properties of the arena or the rules of the game in a substantive way? What about the concept of the crowd, spectating via Twitch, actually exerting momentum for one team or another? The "Twitch Plays Pokemon" success, if you can call it that, showed that there is something fascinating about a giant of tug of war happening between throngs of users. It would be interesting seeing developers trying to harness all of those people for very specific games or experiences.

Maybe crowds in future games are sourced for more passive data, such as polls, comments or actual commentary. It could be even something where certain broadcasters, groups or personalities begin to develop a feel that's uniquely their own — much like Twitch already — and they are granted powers within the game to affect change. What about the concept of special referees for wrestling games or hockey? Or a game where dealing with antagonism of other users is the game?

None of this has to be bound to real sports or silly sports either. It's certainly fair to argue that wackier properties like a Mutant League or an IDARB or an NFL Blitz or something lend themselves to this sort of third-party manipulation, but serious games could go the more passive route, utilizing options mentioned above. I feel a lot of the big sports have sort of underutilized community creation in a lot of ways, with some meaningful exceptions (The Golf Club), and that's an area where users can have an impact without impugning the legitimacy of the sport.

Wherever the future goes for sports games, it's definitely going to involve multiplayer and social media. When you see something as clever as IDARB and its crowd participation, it makes you hopeful for all of the creative people out there in the genre and what they could possibly do with such an inspired premise.