• 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.

"Indies should definitely jump onto the PS Vita" - Retro City Rampage Developer

R

ragincajun77

Banned
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
For those unfamiliar with our RPGs, this is what our new game that's coming out soon currently looks like:

RS4_prSc6.png


CSH (which would be the one that we would be putting on the Vita) is going to look even better. Should look very awesome on the Vita's screen.
Click to expand...

Wow that looks awesome! It reminds me of Ys that I used to play on my turbografx 16 (CD). Man I wish I didn't get rid of that machine so many years ago.
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
ragincajun77 said:
Wow that looks awesome! It reminds me of Ys that I used to play on my turbografx 16 (CD). Man I wish I didn't get rid of that machine so many years ago.
Click to expand...

Thats what the Vita could bring back! *pokes all the other Indie developers*

...IN YOUR HANDS.
 
M

matmanx1

Member
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
For those unfamiliar with our RPGs, this is what our new game that's coming out soon currently looks like:

RS4_prSc6.png

RS4_prSc2.png

RS4WorldMap1.png

Battle2.png


CSH (which would be the one that we would be putting on the Vita) is going to look even better. Should look very awesome on the Vita's screen.
Click to expand...

I would loooooove to play this on the Vita. Please keep us informed!
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Pachterballs said:
SOLD!!!

make more of these. I hope its good.
Click to expand...

Considering all of their previous releases, I have no doubts it will turn out very good.

matmanx1 said:
I would loooooove to play this on the Vita. Please keep us informed!
Click to expand...

Well, he said that this game might not see a Vita release, but the game they are currently pitching (CSH). It was just an example of what to expect for people who dont know their games. Although, I certainly wouldnt mind getting it on Vita either. I'll buy it on PC anyway, but on Vita I might actually find the time to play it.
 
B

B-Genius

Unconfirmed Member
Figboy79 said:
My thoughts on the ports are "better a port than nothing at all." Many of the games that are ports I've never played, like Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, and Persona 4.

Some of the non-ports tends to get dismissed as "less than" a console game. While, technically, that may be true, I think games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Unit 13, Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation, etc, are being sold way, way short by a lot of gamers on gaf. There's this stigma that's been around since the early days of handheld gaming that portables are always inferior versions of console games. PlayStation All Stars is pretty much a perfect port, and I play it 99.9% of the time on my Vita. I prefer the Vita version, actually.

The thing I love the most about the system is its versatility. It can have "real" console experiences, and it can have bite sized games as well.
Click to expand...
Nailed it again with the bolded.

And again, it comes back to people's opinion about what a "real console experience" is, especially one that's had to be watered down to some extent.

For example, as a fan of the Wipeout games, the look and feel of Wipeout 2048 feels like the perfect portable version. Pure and Pulse were good enough at the time, but this takes it to a new standard. However, even having played through and enjoyed the Uncharted series, Golden Abyss doesn't do it for me (or at least, the demo didn't sell me).

As for the port situation, I couldn't agree more. UMvC3 is getting a lot more love from me than the vanilla version ever did on PS3, and almost nothing is sacrificed (I wasn't a hardcore online warrior or a stick player). Playing through MGS2 and 3 again is a dream, not just because of the PS2 nostalgia, but because they hold up really well even against modern games - not to mention with the instant pause/sleep/continue features of the Vita. And I still have things like Persona 4 and DoA5+ to look forward to, which I haven't played.

Roll on year 2 and beyond! Brand new IPs like Soul Sacrifice and Tearaway should get peoples' heads turning.
 
J

jwk94

Member
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
No, that's from a different studio:
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012...ntasy-book-ii-comes-to-ps3-ps-vita-next-year/
Click to expand...

Toma said:
Considering all of their previous releases, I have no doubts it will turn out very good.



Well, he said that this game might not see a Vita release, but the game they are currently pitching (CSH). It was just an example of what to expect for people who dont know their games. Although, I certainly wouldnt mind getting it on Vita either. I'll buy it on PC anyway, but on Vita I might actually find the time to play it.
Click to expand...

dang. I'd buy whatever game was pictured day 1
 
A

AranhaHunter

Banned
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
For those unfamiliar with our RPGs, this is what our new game that's coming out soon currently looks like:

RS4_prSc6.png

RS4_prSc2.png

RS4WorldMap1.png

Battle2.png


CSH (which would be the one that we would be putting on the Vita) is going to look even better. Should look very awesome on the Vita's screen.
Click to expand...

Dat Retro feel!

Man I'm definitely interested. If the random battles occurrences are not ridiculously often, the price is reasonable, and the game ends up being good, I'll buy it.

Seems like you're pretty certain you're bringing it to vita too. Make it day and date with the PC version please. When can we look forward to your game, i.e. when is your target release date for it?
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
AranhaHunter said:
Dat Retro feel!

Man I'm definitely interested. If the random battles occurrences are not ridiculously often, the price is reasonable, and the game ends up being good, I'll buy it.

Seems like you're pretty certain you're bringing it to vita too. Make it day and date with the PC version please. When can we look forward to your game, i.e. when is your target release date for it?
Click to expand...

The pictured game is NOT the one they are considering to bring over. The game they were actually talking about (CSH) is still in a stage where they consider a Kickstarter and have no footage. It was just an example of what games Zeboyd is making for those unfamiliar with their games.

But all of their games so far were way inexpensive, great and well designed. So at least you dont need to fear about that :)
 
I

Intru

Member
Toma said:
Popular Indie games that have been announced for Vita:
Hotline Miami
Bit.Trip Runner 2
Binding of Issac
Click to expand...

That right there made my day. I'd play Isaac on the Vita all the time.

Guess I'll be waiting for the Vita version of Runner 2 and Hotline Miami to get them.
 
A

AranhaHunter

Banned
Toma said:
The pictured game is NOT the one they are considering to bring over. The game they were actually talking about (CSH) is still in a stage where they consider a Kickstarter and have no footage. It was just an example of what games Zeboyd is making for those unfamiliar with their games.

But all of their games so far were way inexpensive, great and well designed. So at least you dont need to fear about that :)
Click to expand...

I know but he said it would look similar to that, but better.
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
AranhaHunter said:
Dat Retro feel!

Man I'm definitely interested. If the random battles occurrences are not ridiculously often, the price is reasonable, and the game ends up being good, I'll buy it.

Seems like you're pretty certain you're bringing it to vita too. Make it day and date with the PC version please. When can we look forward to your game, i.e. when is your target release date for it?
Click to expand...

Actually, there are no random battles. :)

The one I showed, Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 should be coming out very soon (I'm hoping April). Same price as Precipice of Darkness 3 ($5) with an option to buy both 3 & 4 in a bundle at a discount. CSH, the game that we're strongly thinking about putting on the Vita (in addition to PC), is still in the planning stages so that wouldn't be out until mid-2014 at the earliest.
 
J

jrDev

Member
wilflare said:
Does Vita/PlayStation not have Unity support like the 3DS?
Click to expand...

Ouren said:
It does!
Escape Plan is Unity.
Click to expand...
Unity has Playstation 3 support (I will need a link for Unity building to vita). Costs a penny though...dunno about Vita. And I'm not so sure about 3DS...can you provide a link for this? I've been developing for Unity a couple years now and I've never seen 3DS or Vita export...
 
W

WORLDTree

Member
jrDev said:
Unity has Playstation 3 support (I will need a link for Unity building to vita). Costs a penny though...dunno about Vita. And I'm not so sure about 3DS...can you provide a link for this? I've been developing for Unity a couple years now and I've never seen 3DS or Vita export...
Click to expand...

This is actually a question I have had myself for a long time. My partner and I are thinking of using Unity for our 3D projects, and it would be awesome if I could easy export Unity games to Vita, did the Escape Plan devs ever release any info on working with Unity on Vita?
 
M

Man-is-Obsolete

Member
WORLDTree said:
This is actually a question I have had myself for a long time. My partner and I are thinking of using Unity for our 3D projects, and it would be awesome if I could easy export Unity games to Vita, did the Escape Plan devs ever release any info on working with Unity on Vita?
Click to expand...

You guys should tweet one of the Sony guys. Shanewatch or shahid (spelling may be wrong). They seem willing to help and would probably give you the details you seek.
 
J

Jhriad

Member
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
CSH, the game that we're strongly thinking about putting on the Vita (in addition to PC), is still in the planning stages so that wouldn't be out until mid-2014 at the earliest.
Click to expand...

Does that mean Rain Slick 3 & 4 aren't coming to PSN? I bought the first two on PSN a long time back and I've been hoping to see the new game(s) there as well.
 
R

RoninChaos

Member
This is good to hear. My friend CJ and I were talking about this today and all those indie hits on steam have no real reason to not end up on vita.
 
S

Sol1dus

Member
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
For those unfamiliar with our RPGs, this is what our new game that's coming out soon currently looks like:

RS4_prSc6.png

RS4_prSc2.png

RS4WorldMap1.png

Battle2.png


CSH (which would be the one that we would be putting on the Vita) is going to look even better. Should look very awesome on the Vita's screen.
Click to expand...

That looks super awesome! Good luck to you guys, can't wait to try it out.
 
C

ChackanKun

Member
Lone Survivor coming out for the Vita?!

BUY THAT SHIT!!

If indies really saved the Vita...lol that would be an unexpected turn of events!
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
ChackanKun said:
Lone Survivor coming out for the Vita?!

BUY THAT SHIT!!

If indies really saved the Vita...lol that would be an unexpected turn of events!
Click to expand...

The people who say this would be unexpected simply arent listening :p A few others and I were shouting that from the rooftops for a few months now.

bideogamer said:
Thread is making me want a Vita. Success?
Click to expand...

Success!
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
waypoetic said:
I'll buy Hotline Miami for the Vita. It's a cool game and it's made by swedes *raises flag*.
Click to expand...

Hopefully I can finally play that on Vita. On PC I got motion sickness from it :( I hate it when I buy a game, only to realize I cant play it, especially when its a top down game which work most of the time.
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
Jhriad said:
Does that mean Rain Slick 3 & 4 aren't coming to PSN? I bought the first two on PSN a long time back and I've been hoping to see the new game(s) there as well.
Click to expand...

Rain-Slick 3 & 4 coming to the PSN is highly unlikely. Delayed ports usually only sell a small fraction of what the game sold originally so we'd lose money big-time if we were to decide to try to port them now.

If decide to bring our next game after Rain-Slick 4 to the Vita, on the other hand, we could plan things so that it comes out at the same time as the PC version so that wouldn't be a problem.
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Rain-Slick 3 & 4 coming to the PSN is highly unlikely. Delayed ports usually only sell a small fraction of what the game sold originally so we'd lose money big-time if we were to decide to try to port them now.
Click to expand...

I am not all that sure about that tbh. Sure it might sell less than it potentially could have with a simultaneous release, but its not necessarily the same user base. Maybe there were other devs for Vita that you could ask for their (or Sonys) experiences on that matter and how these games sold?

Games that released later on Vita include (plus quite a few other Indie devs deciding to port their games to Vita now, see Machinarium/Lone Survivor/Frozen Synapse/ Hotline Miami/Snapshot/A Virus named Tom - all of which the Vita community is looking very much forward to):

Hustle Kings
Plants vs Zombies
Rayman Origins
Sine Mora

The Vita audience seems to be pretty hardcore about buying a game on "their" platform if they own a Vita as opposed to buying it on PS3 or Steam, especially if they know that these Vita ports are still coming down the line. We had many comments in the Vita thread that stated they would wait for the Vita release of Bit.Trip Runner 2 since they know its coming instead of biting the Steam early release. And I mean, there ARE quite a few devs doing the late Indie ports for Vita, but so far the Vita community seems to embrace that with open arms and especially considering the lack of native Vita RPG's on the system, I can barely imagine you not making the porting money back.
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
Toma said:
I am not all that sure about that tbh. Sure it might sell less than it potentially could have with a simultaneous release, but its not necessarily the same user base. Maybe there were other devs for Vita that you could ask for their (or Sonys) experiences on that matter?

Games that released later on Vita include (plus quite a few other Indie devs deciding to port their games to Vita now, see Machinarium/Lone Survivor/Frozen Synapse/ Hotline Miami/Snapshot/A Virus named Tom - all of which the Vita community is looking very much forward to):

Hustle Kings
Plants vs Zombies
Rayman Origins
Sine Mora

The Vita audience seems to be pretty hardcore about buying a game on "their" platform if they own a Vita as opposed to buying it on PS3 or Steam, especially if they know that these Vita ports are still coming down the line. We had many comments in the Vita thread that stated they would wait for the Vita release of Bit.Trip Runner 2 since they know its coming instead of biting the Steam early release.
Click to expand...

Hustle Kings and Rayman Origins were launch titles on the Vita so that's different (launch titles for any system have a tendency to sell much better than they would otherwise).

Based on leaderboard sizes last time I checked, Sine Mora didn't do so hot.

And Plants vs. Zombies is one of the best selling digital games of all time. A small fraction of original sales of PvZ is probably more than all of the money that Zeboyd Games has made in its entire existence.

Also something to keep in mind is that the games you mentioned were done by much bigger studios than ours. When they decide to do a port, they can assign it to a bunch of interns and low-level staff and keep making new games. In contrast, when we do a port, we either have to outsource it (making it even less likely that we'll be able to make money on it) or I have to do it, which means we no longer have a programmer to work on our new game.

If we were to port one of our older games, it would make a lot more sense to do Cthulhu Saves the World since that's by far our most popular game to date. But I still think it'll probably be best to just design our new engine to have support for Vita (in addition to PC and any other platforms we decide to target) and then stick our new games on it.

Oh and CSH doesn't have anything to do with Cthulhu. It's a sci-fi/spy RPG starring a female protagonist and with Chrono Trigger-style on-map battles. Really excited to get working on it full-time since we've been planning it for months.
 
F

FlutterPuffs

Member
Toma said:
I am not all that sure about that tbh. Sure it might sell less than it potentially could have with a simultaneous release, but its not necessarily the same user base. Maybe there were other devs for Vita that you could ask for their (or Sonys) experiences on that matter and how these games sold?

Games that released later on Vita include (plus quite a few other Indie devs deciding to port their games to Vita now, see Machinarium/Lone Survivor/Frozen Synapse/ Hotline Miami/Snapshot/A Virus named Tom - all of which the Vita community is looking very much forward to):

Hustle Kings
Plants vs Zombies
Rayman Origins
Sine Mora

The Vita audience seems to be pretty hardcore about buying a game on "their" platform if they own a Vita as opposed to buying it on PS3 or Steam, especially if they know that these Vita ports are still coming down the line. We had many comments in the Vita thread that stated they would wait for the Vita release of Bit.Trip Runner 2 since they know its coming instead of biting the Steam early release. And I mean, there ARE quite a few devs doing the late Indie ports for Vita, but so far the Vita community seems to embrace that with open arms and especially considering the lack of native Vita RPG's on the system, I can barely imagine you not making the porting money back.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. If I have to choose having an indie game on Vita or on Steam, it'll almost be a choice on the Vita for me. It's just so great to have those games on the go.
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Hustle Kings and Rayman Origins were launch titles on the Vita so that's different (launch titles for any system have a tendency to sell much better than they would otherwise).

Based on leaderboard sizes last time I checked, Sine Mora didn't do so hot.

And Plants vs. Zombies is one of the best selling digital games of all time. A small fraction of original sales of PvZ is probably more than all of the money that Zeboyd Games has made in its entire existence.

Also something to keep in mind is that the games you mentioned were done by much bigger studios than ours. When they decide to do a port, they can assign it to a bunch of interns and low-level staff and keep making new games. In contrast, when we do a port, we either have to outsource it (making it even less likely that we'll be able to make money on it) or I have to do it, which means we no longer have a programmer to work on our new game.

If we were to port one of our older games, it would make a lot more sense to do Cthulhu Saves the World since that's by far our most popular game to date. But I still think it'll probably be best to just design our new engine to have support for Vita (in addition to PC and any other platforms we decide to target) and then stick our new games on it.

Oh and CSH doesn't have anything to do with Cthulhu. It's a sci-fi/spy RPG starring a female protagonist and with Chrono Trigger-style on-map battles. Really excited to get working on it full-time since we've been planning it for months.
Click to expand...

Hm, true. Thats probably easier for bigger studios. And I can also see that you are definitely more itching to get working onto a new project than rehashing your old ones over and over again (although I might finally finish it if I had CstW on Vita). Now I would like to know how Sine Mora actually did and how the Indie devs with their upcoming porting releases are going to do financially.
But seriously, I cannot see Hotline Miami NOT selling on Vita (or any of the other upcoming Indie games, except A Virus named Tom maybe). In any case, I hope CSH progresses as planned for you and that it may have the success CstW had. The Indie games also have the huge size advantage on Vita which makes them even more convincing to snag up. But who knows, maybe all these other Vita Indie games that are releasing will be successful enough to reconsider the stance on porting CstW ;)
 
R

Robert at Zeboyd Games

Banned
Oh, I think Hotline Miami will do well on the Vita too, but Hotline Miami has also sold noticeably better than Rain-Slick 3. Hotline Miami also has a higher price than our games.
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Robert at Zeboyd Games said:
Oh, I think Hotline Miami will do well on the Vita too, but Hotline Miami has also sold noticeably better than Rain-Slick 3. Hotline Miami also has a higher price than our games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, your recent games also have the issue of being a #3 and #4 game, which might get people not to pick them up just because they are parts of a series they might not have played before. I still couldnt play Rain Slick #3 and #4 (although I own them) because I am trying to force myself through #1 and #2. I'd definitely agree that Cthulhu would be the safest bet for a porting job to Vita.

Well, I sure hope I get to your Rain Slick games at one point, but right now it looks likelier that I'll play CSH on Vita before that happens ;)
 
B

Billen

Banned
Toma said:
Popular Indie games that have been announced for Vita:
Hotline Miami
Bit.Trip Runner 2
Binding of Issac
Frozen Synapse
Dragon Fantasy
Lone Survivor
Velocity HD
Machinarium
Rainbow Moon
Starlight Inception
A Virus named Tom
Vektropolis
Divekick
Guacamelee!
Luftrausers
Snapshot
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee New N' Tasty!
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee HD
Kick Beat
Thomas was alone
Click to expand...

That's it, I am buying myself a Vita.

Needs more Monster Hunter!
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Billen said:
That's it, I am buying myself a Vita.

Needs more Monster Hunter!
Click to expand...

Soul Sacrifice coming soon and God Eater 2 sometime later :)

Also, feel free to hop into the Vita thread if you want to ask about impressions or recommendations for anything. The Vita has a solid game library already with quite a few fun and interesting games (especially if you dont own some multiplat titles on PS3 already).

And I am very glad this thread finally gave the platform some positive recognition here on GAF outside of the Vita thread.
 
O

Ouren

Member
jrDev said:
Unity has Playstation 3 support (I will need a link for Unity building to vita). Costs a penny though...dunno about Vita. And I'm not so sure about 3DS...can you provide a link for this? I've been developing for Unity a couple years now and I've never seen 3DS or Vita export...
Click to expand...

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/05/square-enix-using-unity-for-vita-and-ps3-title/
Although not officially confirmed, Unity also supports the PlayStation Vita as can be seen on the game Escape Plan.
Click to expand...
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/124810-Escape-Plan-for-PS-Vita-made-with-Unity


There's an exporter.
You have to specially request it for whatever reason.
If you're a Unity dev, email them about it.
 
G

Game Guru

Member
I find the idea that Vita is a hit among indie game developers to be intriguing... Namely, there has been concern about how smartphones and tablets are doing compared to dedicated handhelds, but if Vita is doing well for people making games that would appear on smartphones and tablets, then maybe Vita could carve out a niche for itself. I'd probably not buy one at least unless it has Kindle and Comixology support though. I prefer reading on my handheld devices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Retro City Rampage: PS Vita version hitting retail
2 3
118
12K
NinjamicWZ replied
Retro City Rampage "DX" update comes WiiWare,PC,360,PSV/3, new on PS4&Mac,AU release!
36
6K
Seraphis Cain replied
Retro City Rampage creators working on a new Vita game
14
2K
Roto13 replied
PS Blog GDC Wrap-up: Indie Developers Choose PS4, PS3, PS Vita
2 3 4
197
26K
AznSniper replied
Retro City Rampage sales breakdown
2 3 4 5
202
22K
zroid replied
Top Bottom