I think my favorite would be Cloning Clyde.

Some other favorites are:
Rocketbowl (the original and the new one on Xbox live)
Richochet Xtreme (basically a modern version of breakout)
N+
Alien Hominid (especially the PDA minigame with stick figures.)
Castle Crashers
Braid

I like the Telltale games I've played (Sam and Max season 1 and Strongbad.)

I did not like Ikaruga. I also did not like that Dishwasher the Dead Samurai. The demo level was fun, but it got old fast.

I also play "niche" games that are not independent, such as Bombastic, R-type Final, Disgaea, Retro Game Challenge, etc.

I can't say that I really distinguish between indie games and corporate games, it's really more a matter of like/dislike. The gaming news I get is mostly from the SA message board, and enough people post there and are vociferous with their opinions that you can figure out what you would like and what you wouldn't like based on previous recommendations. One thing that I have learned is that you can't trust game reviews from magazines or the big gaming sites...essentially anybody that takes advertising money from game companies is pretty much a shill, and those sources pretty much focus on corporate games anyway.

Reviews that come to mind as being horrible and misleading were Black & White (I haven't trusted a review since then), Spore and all of the pantshitting surrounding that game, and Oblivion and the failed promises that resulted from it.

So, back on topic to your question about finding out about indie games, it really is a matter of people talking about them on the internet. Over on SA a lot of the talk is about roguelikes, games like Dwarf Fortress, Braid, etc. I suppose it just takes enough people talking about the quality of the game and its' gameplay to get me interested. I never bother with Kotaku or GameFAQS or GamePlanet or anything else because all of the interesting stuff just ends up on SA anyway. Mostly they mock everything.

I'm probably firmly in the minority here in that I don't care about games or gaming, indie or no. Still like reading what you have to say, though. Why do I get the feeling you could write a helluva op-ed piece?

I don't go out of my way, but I usually play them if someone has a recommendation. I like Warning Forever a lot.

I'm pretty bad at picking up new games at all, being deep in my WoW addiction. Generally if my XBL friends tell me something's decent I might pick it up out of boredom.

I am fairly suggestable though, your review of Torment a couple of weeks back reminded me I hadn't completed it. queue one trip to Ebay!

Actually I failed terribly, but I do have a couple days left to drop the class without further boning my GPA. :\

Glad you enjoyed Warning Forever. I'm a huge fan of hardcore shmup action!

No problem on that...I actually spend most of my time over there in YCS, acting like an idiot with a bunch of other people acting like idiots. It's sort of a subforum for people who think the regular Games forum on SA is a bit too serious. Just a warning, though, YCS isn't necessarily friendly...it's mostly just retarded. In a fun way, of course.