Support NeoGAF

[truth-lasers]

PR from Introversion.

Darwinians will be all over XBLA on Feb 10th
We are excited to announce the release date for Darwinia+ on Xbox Live Arcade. The game will be launched through XBLA on Wednesday 10th February 2010 and will cost 1200 points.

It’s been a long battle with Microsoft and their particularly high standards; in the end we are really thankful for their advice and help in completing this long and challenging game project. We have come to think of Darwinia+ as the Director's Cut as it has surpassed our expectations of what we were originally looking to create and now looks and feels smoother than ever. As Darwinia+ is our first adventure onto a games console this also marks an extra special celebration for Introversion.

We would also like to take this opportunity to give a special thank-you to everyone, especially the press and the fans for their continued support for Introversion, and as ever we look forward to reading some really interesting reviews and user comments. Without you guys Introversion’s lasting dream of creating true original games would not be a possible. Again many thanks.

The Darwinia+ game trailer: www.darwiniaplus.com

 

[toythatkills]

Price fail.

¬_¬

 

[godhandiscen]

That's a badass trailer. I would have to see how it controls though.

 

[V_Ben]

Price fail.

¬_¬

how? its two full games! darwinia and multiwinia! its superb value

 

[Stumpokapow]

Given that Introversion has basically said that if this game performs poorly, they will shut down, and given that none of the lower tier 1200 point games have performed well, I guess we can confirm this as the death knell for Introversion?

 

[Dynoro]

Price fail.

¬_¬

Pretty much; not double dipping at 1200 allards

 

[toythatkills]

how? its two full games! darwinia and multiwinia! its superb value

I have literally no interest in Multiwinia, but if I did, it's £2 on PC. Combined with £2.80 for Darwinia.

800 I'd have gone to, 1200, no.

 

[Dead Prince]

Given that Introversion has basically said that if this game performs poorly, they will shut down, and given that none of the lower tier 1200 point games have performed well, I guess we can confirm this as the death knell for Introversion?

there's still PSN! :lol.

 

[speculawyer]

I'm sorry but I just don't like the look of the game.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I'll try out the demo.

 

[PrimevilKneivel]

I agree that 1200 pts isn't an unfair price, but it does seem to be more than people are willing to pay.

 

[Pete Rock]

I'll easily cough up the change, getting my friends to do the same will be the hard part :lol

 

[Nasreddin]

I agree that 1200 pts isn't an unfair price, but it does seem to be more than people are willing to pay.

The real problem is that the XBLA version is at least one year too late. However, if the trial is fun I will bite.

 

[Rad-]

At 800 I'd grab this but at 1200 I'm 50/50. I'll try the demo and decide then.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Will not buy straight away at this price. Really sick of this price tbh

 

[Fragamemnon]

Rough break on the price-it'll drive people off from even trying the demo. Granted, the game has enough content and production values to warrant the price, but a quirky odd game like this needs to really not drive people away before they even play it.

 

[jlevel13]

I'm curious how it will control with a stick. I agree that the price seems high, especially if they're hoping to attract some new people to check out the game. More XBLA games should have a first week discount or something to get people to give it a shot. Definitely worried that at that price there won't be much of a player base for the multiwinia part...

 

[LordAlu]

Looking forward to this, got both Darwinia and Multiwinia on PC and they enjoyed them a lot. More than happy to support a small company like Introversion for their work too.

 

[oracrest]

nice, I still haven't played all the way through the original.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Rough break on the price-it'll drive people off from even trying the demo. Granted, the game has enough content and production values to warrant the price, but a quirky odd game like this needs to really not drive people away before they even play it.

If they're threatening to close down, it seems obvious that they couldn't afford to launch at the 800 price point. They need the $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

[charlequin]

This game... is not going to sell well. :/

 

[toythatkills]

If they're threatening to close down, it seems obvious that they couldn't afford to launch at the 800 price point. They need the $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

But they're going to sell so substantially less at 1200 as to make it a terrible decision.

I guess the plan is to take advantage of all the Darwinia fanboys at launch that'd pay whatever they hell they charge and maybe one or two sales more, and then Deal of the Week it in a few months to mop up the people that wanted it for 800.

 

[Natakuu]

1200? Pass.

 

[Stumpokapow]

If they're threatening to close down, it seems obvious that they couldn't afford to launch at the 800 price point. They need the $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

except they don't set the price point, their publisher does

 

[Mad_Ban]

I'll be using the demo to decide if this is worth 1200 points. It certainly looks...interesting.

 

[Lé Blade Runner]

Can the PC-players give us a more in-depth 'preview' of sorts? What makes the game fun? Is it challeging? How does the multiplayer work?

The trailer intrigued me, and I dig the art-style ( kind of ). I just want to know more.

 

[TheSeks]

there's still PSN! :lol.

B-B-But, Introversion... Sony said "NO!"

(Or whatever the fuck excuse they made)

1200 points == $15 IIRC. Which is "Yeah... thanks, but no." For a four-five(?) year old game.

 

[thetrin]

If they really needed the money, they should have set it at 800, and relied on higher sales rather than expecting low numbers, and putting it at 1200.

I feel like they didn't have faith that people would look at the game and pick it up on a whim.

 

[SapientWolf]

Price fail.

¬_¬

I paid $20 for the PC version and I feel the game is worth twice as much.

$15 for the best console RTS ever made is a steal. This is worse than the Trials HD pre-release price whining.

 

[R-111]

Played the PC demo for Darwinia and Multiwinia and enjoyed them both, but never got around to buying them, so I might download this. But why in the hell is price bothering so many people here? Is their a magical barrier between $10 and $15 that if downloadable games pass they are simply not worth it no matter the content? IT ONLY COST ANOTHER 5 DAMN DOLLARS for what is really two games packaged together. Its that shitty attitude and mindset that will prevent the digital downloads market from ever growing and realizing its full potential.

 

[LordAlu]

Can the PC-players give us a more in-depth 'preview' of sorts? What makes the game fun? Is it challeging? How does the multiplayer work?

The trailer intrigued me, and I dig the art-style ( kind of ). I just want to know more.

It's probably best to point you to the Wiki entry on it. Darwinia is a virtual world that's under threat by a virus, and you must help the Darwinians expel the virus by doing missions. It's very much an RTS.

Multiwinia was a sequel where the Darwinians had split into tribes and were fighting over the virtual world. You got various modes, such as Rocket Riot where the first to launch a rocket would win, but you had to go through tasks to get that rocket ready, such as fueling and filling with crew. Great fun to play in four player!

You can download the demo of Darwinia from here (19MB) and Multiwinia here (48MB). The 360 version is supposed to have better graphics with an improved framerate too, along with better tutorials and on-screen help stuff, and an improved interface for using the controller.

 

[mrgone]

edit: bloops, thanks LordAlu

 

[Cerebral Assassin]

Given that Introversion has basically said that if this game performs poorly, they will shut down, and given that none of the lower tier 1200 point games have performed well, I guess we can confirm this as the death knell for Introversion?

How much did Space Giraffe sell?(there's a interview in the XBLA thread & the guy says if it sells as well as SG they will be OK.)

 

[nli10]

Sold!!

I have points ready too.

I wanted to try this out ages ago, but I never really sit in front of the computer to play games anymore as it's my work machine.

Will buy any add ons needed if this is good as it's right up my street. 10 quid is a fair price too.

 

[shintoki]

Rough break on the price-it'll drive people off from even trying the demo. Granted, the game has enough content and production values to warrant the price, but a quirky odd game like this needs to really not drive people away before they even play it.

Wasn't there a comparision chart about steam sales showing how at 25% off. The title would sell about 70% more. While at 50% the title would sell nearly 300% more

I figure the gap between 1200 and 800 point games is similar.

 

[Dipswitch]

Too expensive by far. If their survival depends on people paying $15 for this, they're in serious trouble.

 

[Lé Blade Runner]

It's probably best to point you to the Wiki entry on it. Darwinia is a virtual world that's under threat by a virus, and you must help the Darwinians expel the virus by doing missions. It's very much an RTS.

Multiwinia was a sequel where the Darwinians had split into tribes and were fighting over the virtual world. You got various modes, such as Rocket Riot where the first to launch a rocket would win, but you had to go through tasks to get that rocket ready, such as fueling and filling with crew. Great fun to play in four player!

You can download the demo of Darwinia from here (19MB) and Multiwinia here (48MB). The 360 version is supposed to have better graphics with an improved framerate too, along with better tutorials and on-screen help stuff, and an improved interface for using the controller.

Allright, thanks. I'll try the demos.

 

[HurricaneJesus]

I picked this up on Steam a while back, and it is an enjoyable game. Will pick this up at some point.

 

[Haunted]

Given that Introversion has basically said that if this game performs poorly, they will shut down, and given that none of the lower tier 1200 point games have performed well, I guess we can confirm this as the death knell for Introversion?

Noooo

I want to see how Subversion turns out!

 

[REMEMBER CITADEL]

I will never understand you, people. Bitching over a $5 (!) difference for a great indie game (two games, in this case), while lamenting the death of innovation and risk-taking in other threads. Core gamers are really a strange bunch.

 

[Shig]

I will never understand you, people. Bitching over a $5 (!) difference for a great indie game (two games, in this case), while lamenting the death of innovation and risk-taking in other threads. Core gamers are really a strange bunch.

I wouldn't necessarily take all of the concern as a direct commentary on the game's quality.

Pricing a game based on what a very small segment of the market insists it's worth, rather than attempting to feel out a price that the larger market will react positively to, is bad juju.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I will never understand you, people. Bitching over a $5 (!) difference for a great indie game (two games, in this case), while lamenting the death of innovation and risk-taking in other threads. Core gamers are really a strange bunch.

It's mostly a big(ger) number and thus a psychological barrier. Considering everything that Multiwinia and Darwinia, by themselves, offer on PC, I don't have a problem with the price packaged together and highly customized and polished for console control and the console experience.

 

[charlequin]

I will never understand you, people. Bitching over a $5 (!) difference for a great indie game (two games, in this case), while lamenting the death of innovation and risk-taking in other threads. Core gamers are really a strange bunch.

If people aren't ready to pay $15 for the game, I'm afraid that's pretty much tough noogies. I don't have a magical infinite supply of money and this game isn't just trying to justify it in a vacuum, but against every other game out there that an end user could spend $15 on, and especially the other games that are available on the XBLA service for $15. In that specific context, you pretty much have a few standout hits -- Battlefield, Shadow Complex, Braid, and Trials HD -- that have blown the doors off at $15, and then a huge field strewn with the bodies of titles that crashed and burned at that pricepoint -- especially those, like Death Tank, that are multiplayer-oriented and therefore even less worthwhile at that price since the high price guaranteed they would never have an active community.

I do have a great deal of sympathy for the developers based on the presumption that MS set this price point without consulting them and therefore they're locked in to the terrible sales they're going to get as a result, but it's entirely reasonable to disapprove of the price point itself. There's no compelling reason for this game to be priced higher than $10.

Pricing a game based on what a very small segment of the market insists it's worth, rather than attempting to feel out a price that the larger market will react positively to, is bad juju.

Exactly. The closely-attuned PC indie scenesters have already given their money to the developers for Darwinia -- the only purpose of an XBLA release is to attract a wider audience, maybe people who need to be eased in to playing something like a psychedelic Tron RTS with (superficially) garish and non-shiny graphics, which in turn means pricing it to actually attract that wider audience.

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Would have bit at 800pts. Weird that $5 can make a difference, but it does.

 

[SapientWolf]

If people aren't ready to pay $15 for the game, I'm afraid that's pretty much tough noogies. I don't have a magical infinite supply of money and this game isn't just trying to justify it in a vacuum, but against every other game out there that an end user could spend $15 on, and especially the other games that are available on the XBLA service for $15. In that specific context, you pretty much have a few standout hits -- Battlefield, Shadow Complex, Braid, and Trials HD -- that have blown the doors off at $15, and then a huge field strewn with the bodies of titles that crashed and burned at that pricepoint -- especially those, like Death Tank, that are multiplayer-oriented and therefore even less worthwhile at that price since the high price guaranteed they would never have an active community.

I do have a great deal of sympathy for the developers based on the presumption that MS set this price point without consulting them and therefore they're locked in to the terrible sales they're going to get as a result, but it's entirely reasonable to disapprove of the price point itself. There's no compelling reason for this game to be priced higher than $10.

Exactly. The closely-attuned PC indie scenesters have already given their money to the developers for Darwinia -- the only purpose of an XBLA release is to attract a wider audience, maybe people who need to be eased in to playing something like a psychedelic Tron RTS with (superficially) garish and non-shiny graphics, which in turn means pricing it to actually attract that wider audience.

I think the price, coupled with positive reviews, may help to inform gamers that this is a premium product.

I don't think the fact that Darwinia+ was a PC cult hit / critic's darling is a mark against it. Like N+ and Trials HD before it, the game has a cult following ready to promote the game through word of mouth. Some may even double dip. The D+ XBLA thread has almost 50k views on the Introversion forums.

Given that Introversion has basically said that if this game performs poorly, they will shut down, and given that none of the lower tier 1200 point games have performed well, I guess we can confirm this as the death knell for Introversion?

Darwinia+ ain't lower tier. It's every bit as good as all the other A-list XBLA titles. Now, whether that quality translates into sales remains to be seen. Its aesthetics are a lot more experimental and avant-garde than the aforementioned titles but the gameplay is solid.

I don't know if the game is going to be a hit but I'm confident that this title won't sink Introversion.

 

[charlequin]

I don't think the fact that Darwinia+ was a PC cult hit / critic's darling is a mark against it.

I'm not saying it's a mark against it, but that enthusiasm from a crowd who have actively chosen to seek out unique and distinct experiences from non-established developers are likely to value certain qualities more highly and not be put off by potentially rough or unusual presentation.

Like N+ and Trials HD before it, the game has a cult following ready to promote the game through word of mouth.

N+ was 800 allards.

Darwinia+ ain't lower tier.

Lower-tier as in it's not getting the full promotional push. Trials HD, Castle Crashers, Braid, and Shadow Complex were all given pushes as part of "X of Arcade" promotions and heavily marketed through both traditional channels and on XBL itself.

 

[Jonnyram]

I will never understand you, people. Bitching over a $5 (!) difference for a great indie game (two games, in this case), while lamenting the death of innovation and risk-taking in other threads. Core gamers are really a strange bunch.

If you were comparing $50 to $45, it wouldn't be so bad, but it's $15 versus $10. The psychological difference is massive.

 

[Alphahawk]

I'm intrested in giving it a try, to actually know what the fucking game is. Not so hot on the price point though. If this is really a case of the developers laying all their eggs into one basket, it's a pretty dumb idea for them to launch at the most expensive pricepoint XBLA allows.

 

[sooperkool]

Should be Defcon

 

[Acosta]

I preordered Darwinia for a bit less of 20 euros with the discount, and it was well worth it. Darwinia + Multiwinia for 15$ it´s a fantastic deal.