The article references "Passage" a game written by Jason Rohrer. If you haven't played it, you should - it's extremely hard to describe, but in short, it is a sort of simulation of life. Not like the Sims - it's about 300 seconds. At the end, you die.
But it can certainly find a place next to it. (A small place, think Primer vs. Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen.) There will always be a place for indie art, just as there will always be a much larger place for Dancing With the Stars or endless Pirates of The Caribbean sequels (which I enjoy, btw).
This is news? Small teams have been making games since back when that was the norm for the industry.
The juggernaut industrial game is the (comparatively) new phenomenon. The first games were what we'd today judge as indie, and it has always been possible to find that sort of game.
I think the last crop of indie games represents a significant point in time for the industry, though, and is worth writing about.
Yes there were always people making games for fun, but this is the first time a critical mass of people are feeling hung over from the industrial games. The industry itself feels it, and is taking notice.
Also a new phenomenon is that scale of the market has allowed these indie games to be financial viable as a primary income stream; making a game in a 2-3 person team or solo can be more than a hobby for the first time since the very earliest consoles.
I wish the article touched on Xbox's Community (now Indie) games. I spend more time on $1 games like I Made a Game With Zombies, Jump!, Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp and Miner Dig Deeper than I do on XBLA games like Trials HD and Geometry Wars.
Nah, you do have to drink the koolaid to an extent: C# w/XNA framework, but you can use the free VC# Express. Only costs would be $99/yr to publish to Xbox Indie; publishing to windows is free. There's an extensive community that's churning out some impressive games. [Along with a plethora of massage and drinking games]
http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/
Extremely unsettling to me, a very "momento mori" moment. Love the concept and execution though.