You're reading stuff that isn't there.
Only I'm not. That's not even close to what I said.
But that's what it breaks down to with your logic. More risk isn't worth it and higher print runs is higher risk. I'm trying to come up with ideas on how to increase their print runs and all you're doing is saying things like they'll sell less, scalpers won't buy, etc. Increasing print runs which reduces how limited something is has those same effects so if you're going to argue what I'm suggesting doesn't work, then you may as well be arguing that they shouldn't increase print runs either.
They're not increasing the print run in your model, man. The print run will be entirely up to demand. Meaning that if only 500 people order a shitty game in your half an hour pre-order window, the print run is 500 (or whatever Sony's minimum requirement is). You're then printing on demand, not increasing print runs.
And again: LRG is providing a service to developers. The whole idea is that they can lure devs (in most cases, because there might be some for who a physical copy in itself is enough) into doing a physical run by making it worth their while financially. You keep ignoring that part.
But the net effect is they would be. You keep trying to say that Night Trap wouldn't have sold more if they had guaranteed every copy sold in the first 10 minutes. I think anyone else would come to the conclusion they would have. That's an increase in print run for that release, not a decrease. You keep thinking that somehow sales will go down because a sale is now guaranteed in a small window. It's not going to be given how they sell currently because most people aren't paying attention to how many are available when they buy on release day. They just know it's limited and they have a small window to get a copy. This allows more people to get a copy rather than discouraging people from buying one. You keep trying to equate a traditional preorder to a limited time sale window which are two different things. There's nothing stopping a release from selling only 500 copies now and now they'd be stuck with the extra thousand or two that they manufactured up front.
Again, that's not what I said.
But who needs facts nowadays anyway? Those are so 20th century. You're totally right.
What are you trying to say then when you keep saying we don't know that? You keep trying to put some doubt this would have happened when I think everyone, except you, knows it would have sold more since demand was way under estimated. You trying to dispute my suggest being applied to Night Trap based on your conclusions before is saying Night Trap would have sold less which is completely false.
It simply doesn't work that way in the games industry (and in software development in general). Release dates are announced way before games go gold. Your whole argument is just an unrealistic thought experiment.
I work in the industry and know how it works to push a game to a gold master to get in time for manufacturing. It's not unrealistic to know what the turn around time is for manufacturing and how having a gold master disc ready to go is a lot more predictable than an unfinished release candidate.
Because it's a temporary thing. Customers have been getting their LRG games always close after ordering until now. You however want to institutionalize delays. Wanna see outrage over delays? Go read some GaijinWorks threads on here.
I think if established how it works and it guarantees you a copy, people would be willing to wait. People complain about delays when they're told one thing and then something else happens. Even before it would still be at least a week or two before a game would arrive so it's not like their turn around time was quick to begin with. Plus with Skullgirls, it has had numerous delays. Even with a manufacturing delay, it's likely a one time delay. People had problems with Skullgirls not being finished, multiple delays and an unknown time frame of release. So yes, it's a terrible example. Let's look at Night Trap, that's available digitally now but anyone who bought physical is waiting. Heck, Night Trap hasn't even started shipping yet. There hasn't been some mass uproar and hit to LRG's business as a result. If you lay it out clearly ahead of time what's going to happen and clearly communicate, people will understand.
And once more, you're reading stuff that isn't there.
They're considering it. They've been considering a subscription system as well for a long while now. Afaik there is no subscription system. The actually funny thing is that you're drawing conclusions from Josh and Doug thinking out loud on a panel.
Also, they're not considering doing what you suggested. They're considering doing something hybrid.
Why would they consider something that you clearly say won't work? Or maybe the fact is it could work. I haven't even said every release should be done this way. However, I do think you have clear cases like Wonder Boy, Night Trap, and Ys Origin, where it's not even hindsight, that you could have found a better way of handling it while keeping the limited aspect as well. It's quite simple. You take a game to experiment with this and then you sell it under that model and see how sales stack up against what you projected would have been your print run initially. If you sell way more, then there's clearly something to be gained from that method. It's a controllable experiment that has plenty of data to be learned from. You can even track based on repeat customers and new customers to see how sales distribution is too. It's fun watching you try to spin it though after it's come out that it's being considered.
