Baconsammy
Banned
I agree. I just get sick of downloading lots of patches for the same apps on iOS because they missed something with the prior patch. If it means lots of updates with additions/improvements to the games, I'm fine with that.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Devs can set price and sales on Wii U's eShop
- Thread starter KillerTravis
- Start date
I agree. I just get sick of downloading lots of patches for the same apps on iOS because they missed something with the prior patch. If it means lots of updates with additions/improvements to the games, I'm fine with that.
Trine 2 = $19.99
Deputy Dangle
Member
This and free patches are exactly what I wanted to hear. I already buy plenty of downloadable games as it is so knowing that Nintendo is treating indie devs well with the Wii U is great in my book.
LiquidSolid
Member
Or maybe it'll make them realise that their game prices are idiotic and that they'd grow the industry a hell of a lot easier if people could actually afford more games. Why do you think mid-tier games have been almost completely killed off?
Agree that Nintendo probably won't care about it though. And the lack of promoting their store will result in less traffic and thus, less sales.
This is great. There are so many 360 games that could be patched but aren't since it isn't financially feasible for the developer to do so. Seen so many times where a developer sat on a patch they really wanted to release but it would have lost them money.
edit: or a dev takes the strategy of an update well down the road, since they wait for any possible bugs to crop up and be fixed before submitting their patch.
edit: or a dev takes the strategy of an update well down the road, since they wait for any possible bugs to crop up and be fixed before submitting their patch.
Given how Steam has turned out, this idea that developers/publishers will just let their games languish and not bother to put them on sale/promote them couldn't be further from the truth.
Phife Dawg
Member
Well that is true, there are some culprits on Steam as well. But this is insanely better than having devs/pubs pay for patches and discourage fixing games.
LiquidSolid
Member
Given that Valve themselves convince devs/pubs to put their games on sale, I've absolutely no clue how you could've come to that conclusion. Why do you think Steam sales became a big thing? Because Valve pushed it as much as they could and it, in turn, became a huge promotional tool for the service.
Sitting back and expecting devs/pubs to do the work for you is lazy and ineffective.
Edit: Actually, leaving it up to the devs/pubs is closer to what Sony was doing a couple of years ago. Their sales are much better now that they've put some effort in.
Woah this is really a great news, hopefully Sony and Microsoft will "copy"
kidding
fabricated backlash
Member
So I can blame the developers for overpricing their games now? Great.
Awesome.
Seems pretty constistent with the information we got so far. Free Unity in the devkit, good offering on eShop so far - obviously some devs are already investing in the Wii U future.
I'm not sure if every dev can handle the freedom they have now though. At best, eShop would have very good games with competitive prices, at worst it would be the same race-to-the-bottom we've seen on iOS.
I'm not sure if every dev can handle the freedom they have now though. At best, eShop would have very good games with competitive prices, at worst it would be the same race-to-the-bottom we've seen on iOS.
Steam does provide the space for sales with their dedicated sales periods, but so far as I know it's still up to developers whether they want to get involved or not.
I'd agree that Nintendo should have set sales periods for the holidays or whatnot, though.
Had completely forgotten about the Unity deal, which makes a whole lot more sense now that we have this news. As well as stories of Nintendo actually going after indie devs.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Wow. This is a long way from the Nintendo that wouldn't let Super Meat Boy go over 40MB. Love it.
Jawmuncher
Member
Ahh that makes a little more sense.
hopefully Ubisoft is the first to make a move since im seriously surprised they have their titles marked at MSRP on the store.
hopefully Ubisoft is the first to make a move since im seriously surprised they have their titles marked at MSRP on the store.
Steam is regional too.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Yeah, as someone living in Europe wishing to purchase Scribblenauts I can attest to this :\
Twitter really is the best tool for quickly disliking people you previously thought were interesting. Writing every thought out in 140 characters easily damages public impression.
I'm not that ruffled by the fact that Ryan Payton doesn't care about the Wii U, just the way he wrote this tweet is grating. Makes me regret paying Kickstarter money for his cellphone game (Republique).
Ryan Payton had to face the prospect of his Kickstarter failing to reach its funding goal before he even considered a PC/Mac version, and even then they aren't going to do it until after they've made the iOS version. So it's not surprising in the least that he wouldn't be a fan of the Wii U.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Nintendoes what everyone don't.
Patches is good news, but I don't get the love of free pricing? Don't PS3, vita and 360 already let publishers set prices for full games?
mostly those end up as MSRP because publishers don't want to piss off retail. Properly progressive would be to state your digital prices would be based on street price averages or something that allows for digital to not be almost guaranteed the most expensive way to buy a game
For smaller games, there is a risk of racing to zeo like ios.
mostly those end up as MSRP because publishers don't want to piss off retail. Properly progressive would be to state your digital prices would be based on street price averages or something that allows for digital to not be almost guaranteed the most expensive way to buy a game
For smaller games, there is a risk of racing to zeo like ios.
Because yay, capitalism!
But seriously, I think it's good because we can't blame Nintendo anymore for the prices. And while I do see the risk of the race to the bottom, I hope the approval mechanism at least sorts out the worst offenders.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Another nice aspect not really touched on in the article is the lower publisher thresholds for Nintendo. Trine 2 makes a perfect example too, while on PSN and XBLA Frozenbyte had to sign a deal with an established publisher (Atlus) on eShop they're able to selfpublish. This should be a big thing for Indies too.
LiquidSolid
Member
Of course it's up to the devs whether their games go on sale or not, it's still their product. The point is that Valve tries to convince them to put their games on sale and that's why so many publishers take part.
And it's just the big sales events that they do this with. Why do you think they have a sale every day and often on weekends? Valve pro-actively pitches sales to developers.
If you think that all Nintendo needs to do is set a sales period and they'll see sales to rival Steam, you're completely fooling yourself.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Didn't see this posted yet, but Develop had a nice piece on Wii U development with quotes from Straight Right, Ubisoft Montpellier, Heavy Iron, Epic, Gamebase, Shin'en and Frozenbyte.
http://www.develop-online.net/features/1772/Wii-U-Developer-reaction
Some choice quotes:
http://www.develop-online.net/features/1772/Wii-U-Developer-reaction
Some choice quotes:
Straight Right said:
Ubi Montpellier said:
Epic said:
Shin'en said:
Frozenbyte said:
Frozenbyte said:
Looking forward to getting them both this Friday. If there is more downloadable content like these two on the system then retail games will have to fight harder for my attention and money.
lunchwithyuzo
Banned
Trine 2 snd NANeo were my 2 eShop buys too. Easily the two best looking games on the system, which was a surprise. Deferred rendering and procedural assets ftw I guess.
Hard to top Darksiders 2 for me. I'll pick up Trine 2 sometime this month when I can get eShop cards. My wife and I can have a go at it after we finish some of the games we have currently.
IsntChrisL
Member
I know you're banned and all BUT: this is not true. Indies don't have the same cash as the big devs. That's why you won't see a second patch for Fez. WiiWare was far from ideal for devs but it still managed to garner support. Now look at the eShop. It's practically Steam on a console (when it comes to pricing/patches). There's little downside for devs so long as they can afford to port the game. There's been a lot of vocal frustration towards XBLA and MS' policies from indie developers. A few months back, Team Meat was pissed that MS wouldn't let them put their own game on sale.
Indies will flock to whoever caters to them the most, not who necessarily has the higher core gamer count. You gotta remember that most indie studios only consist of a few key staff. They aren't run the same as EA/Activision/Capcom/etc.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
Free DLC, updates/patches, and ability to do sales and set your own price? Wow, Nintendo made some very smart decisions there. It is still much more difficult to get authorized to develop on their platforms than it is to do so on iOS or PS Mobile though.
On the other hand I assume a line DOES inevitably need to be drawn, and Nintendo may well have picked a good one to weed out the chaff or at least ensure more reliable compatibility than you'd get from iOS or especially Android. Sony (with PSN) and especially Microsoft were definitely putting that line too far towards tight control though, the requirement of a publisher alone seriously hindered how relevant Microsoft could be for indie developers.
What's the big deal? Remove the name/career and you have the writings of a fifth-tier GAF poster.
That's not necessarily a bad thing: it means the store won't be flooded with dozens of copyright infringements, joke and bogus apps every hour. Your game will have (at least) a whole week for itself in the front page without having to pay a beer to someone at Apple, so you'll get a number of sales you'd never get on iOS without buying marketing from cross-install companies like TapJoy and its ilk.
I'm working on iOS/Android games and it gets quite hectic, specially if you want to make more "traditional" games with aren't IAP experiments.
Indies are flocking to Ouya and we have no idea if gamers will even really support it.
Also the reaction to this has been for independant developers to abandon console development altogether, with a lot more focusing on iOS/PC/Mac. With Jonathan Blow, I guess, being the classic example.
All three console manufacturers need to work a lot harder, because I don't think the trend of late hasn't been that great for console digital download platforms. With a few exceptions. Especially with so many stories of developers seeing much better sales on, say, PC for example.