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Comments: 124 +- Games: Penny Arcade Game Sees Record Breaking Numbers on Wednesday May 28 2008, @03:04PM
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Kotaku is reporting that the new Penny Arcade game is showing record breaking numbers, earning $330,000 in the first three days, surpassing previous record holder Worms HD. Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik was very pleased with the result saying: "Given that our price point was double the other games on that list I'm pretty f***ing happy. We fully expected some people to complain about the $20 price tag but we honestly felt like our game was worth it. Pricing something like this is tricky. Obviously you have to look at the length of time it will take someone to complete the game but you also need to factor in the quality of the experience."
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a little clarification (Score:5, Informative)
Re:a little clarification-even more (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:a little clarification (Score:5, Informative)
Actually what they said is rather funnier than that - he said that at first they were doing it for the money, but then it turned out there really wasn't any money, so now they are just doing it.
He did say they are hoping to actually see some profit around episode three, hopefully good sales of the first one moves up that timeframe for them. It's obvious they, and the game studio, put a lot of work into the title.
Parent
Port it to WiiWare (Score:3, Insightful)
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Re:Port it to WiiWare (Score:4, Informative)
So if you buy it for Xbox Live, you won't be able to play it anywhere else. If you buy it anywhere else, you'll be able to play it anywhere but a console.
Might still be worth it to get it on Live, just saying...
Parent
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Best $20 spent for a game (Score:4, Funny)
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It's not Portal... (Score:3, Insightful)
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This really isn't.
Oh, and Portal was a better game. Quality over quantity.
I'm not suprised. (Score:5, Informative)
-It is for more platforms that most mainstream games (Mac/Windows/Linux/Xbox360).
-The animated cutscenes were brilliantly done, especially how they used an animated version of the character you created at the start.
-The script was hilarious.
-The popularity of penny-arcade lent to easy advertising.
-It was only $20
Figures are 360 only!! (Score:4, Insightful)
-It is for more platforms that most mainstream games (Mac/Windows/Linux/Xbox360)...
I agree with the game being amazingly well done, and a lot of fun to play. But the reported figures are from one platform only (the 360) so they don't even really go so far as to show the benefits of the multi-platform release...
One thing it does go to show is that the value of the game lies in the artistry and storytelling, and since (in my opinion) the Penny Arcade guys are great at both it was a natural the game would be good - not to mention that as gamers they would know if the control scheme sucked and make them fix it.
Parent
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And that is why this game rocks. Without the writing it's just a fairly well-thought-out stereotypical RPG game, one that I would bore of within a half-hour of play. The writing is something else though, just enough intrigue to keep you going, and many bust-out-loud laughing moments.
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No.
It was sub-par writing. "Shit....as in Poop?" Seriously now. The plot was typical PA, but without the writing, it almost felt dull since we have seen most of the scenarios in PA comics already. The cutscenes kept up the tempo, and the way your customized character got included in the cutscenes (exactly as the character was designed) was a technically interesting exercise. The dialog never really picks up until the last "zone" with the intro the NPC gives, completely outshining t
Where? (Score:3, Informative)
An excellent example (Score:3, Interesting)
Will their example inspire less visible developers to explore distribution? I hope so.
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And obviously since this is episodic the next episode is not two years away (I hope).
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How many games on your hard drive... (Score:5, Interesting)
Its not like Penny Arcade descended down from heaven yesterday and declared "And let it be possible to sell video games, for money, over the Internet! So it is written, so shall it be done!" Its been done. The overwhelming majority of folks who do it fail to make any significant amount of money relative to the fair-market value of the time invested.
http://www.gameproducer.net/category/sales-statistics/ [gameproducer.net]
Those statistics aren't representative -- everyone likes hearing about the success stories (hint: most of the ones with numbers in the title). Vastly more numerous are results like these folks:
http://www.gameproducer.net/2006/09/20/sales-statistics-pharaohs-curse-gold-2000-yearly-sales/ [gameproducer.net]
Several man months of labor. $2,000 worth of sales.
Games are just a tough, tough market to make money in. Your core customers don't want to spend money and fly the Jolly Roger by default. Your product will be obsolete in 3 to 6 months, even for "casual" gaming. You have enormous expenditures for assets to remain competitive. Your customers have rather little loyalty and it is difficult to turn them into ongoing revenue streams.
Compare this to selling software on the shareware model: your core customers have problems and are willign to pay to solve them. Your core customers don't have LimeWire installed. Your product will last for years. Your expenditures on assets may cost less than a date (I started my software business with $60... working on hitting $20k this year, on about 2 hours a week). Your customers provide a built-in base of people to sell upgrades and new related products to, and they are often fanatically loyal to you.
Parent
It was a gold mine waiting to happen (Score:5, Funny)
yeah i bought it (Score:2)
Yep! (Score:2)
I'm glad that they're letting me transfer the key between my desktop and my laptop and my work computer. I'll gladly drop a few gold shekels for that.
Nice game (Score:4, Interesting)
It shows some symptoms of fetch quest syndrome, but the combat, art style, and shear volume of amusing things to see kept it from dragging.
Overall it's a very enjoyable game and I'm looking forward to the next episode.
For those interested in getting this for Xbox... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Bought it... (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
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Doesn't work too well, does it
Re:If you're thinking about the PC version: DRM (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:If you're thinking about the PC version: DRM (Score:5, Informative)
After the initial activation, you never again need a check or even an internet connection to play. That's the kind of copy protection I am comfortable with, and that's why it didn't stop me from purchasing it.
Parent
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Both sides of the DRM debate are really irrational about the whole issue; it's not a "moral" issue on either side. The seller wants to be fairly compensated for their product, the buyer wants to have full access to the thing that they buy, and they don't want to lose access at some later date because of issues with the DRM.
If these issues can be worked out, then there is no problem. So saying that people are losing their morals as the hassle goe
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Re:If you're thinking about the PC version: DRM (Score:5, Informative)
Quote from a dev:
We don't anticipate having to limit the number of redownloads but remember that each new machine or major hardware change may trigger a new key to be issued against your license. Our plan is to allow multiple installs and to be generous in that regard to cover murdered systems, planned upgrades, people wanting to play it on their PC and their Mac or even Linux box etc. Even if the limit is reached--a limit that we have not determined yet--we will be flexible in resetting or increasing the limit for paying customers. If you are registered, we will keep your license keys stored for you in your profile and you will be able to see the number of times that license has been used for various systems so there will be no surprises.
Original thread:
http://forum.playgreenhouse.com/jforum/posts/list/302.page [playgreenhouse.com]
Not quite as bad as our old friend SecuROM methinks.
Parent
Re:And if you're thinking about the Xbox version.. (Score:2)
Yes, it's called visual style.
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Remember, this isn't a movie where there's One True Aspect Ratio and something must be lost to fit it on another screen. This stuff is rendered in real time.
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I'm about to tell you...
Remember, this isn't a movie where there's One True Aspect Ratio
No, it's not a movie. But chances are you may have seen a movie. And having seen a movie, in that aspect ratio, helps provide previous visual context and helps the format feel more comfortable.
Beyond that, framing is totally up to the artist - in photography, some things look better totally square, others look better wide. It all depends
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I'm about to tell you...
Remember, this isn't a movie where there's One True Aspect Ratio
No, it's not a movie. But chances are you may have seen a movie. And having seen a movie, in that aspect ratio, helps provide previous visual context and helps the format feel more comfortable.
You're right, I have seen a movie. What an astute deduction, good sir.
But I've also seen TV. Lots more TV than movies, in fact. And I've seen games, every one of which (that I've seen) manages to fill the entire screen. So on the context and comfort scale, 4:3 wins out.
Beyond that, framing is totally up to the artist - in photography, some things look better totally square, others look better wide. It all depends on the content. And because the game is heavily built around art by artists, it simply would not look or feel the same if you simply arbitrarily hacked the thing to fill your ancient screen.
Gee, maybe they should've thought about that when they were coming up with the design. But it's funny - this sort of thing doesn't seem to stop everyone else from designing games that work equally well on 4:3 and 16:9 screens.
And that brings me to me last point, is that basically Penny Arcade would say you are a wanker for using such an ancient display device with modern consoles. Get with the program, it's not like small 720p sets cost that much at this point.
Why would I b
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Re:activation (Score:5, Insightful)
- Creating an account at the game's website
- With an email address!
- And a real name!
- And a credit card number!
- And a billing address!
to get the game in the first place.Parent
Re:activation (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
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Although, it definitely plays better on the 360 than on the PC. The interface is pretty much designed around a controller, and not a keyboard and mouse.
Re:Perhaps I Didn't Get the Memo... (Score:4, Informative)
Here's a tip: Click and hold the button down. At least one reviewer never figured this out. I admit it took me awhile.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
5 hours of gameplay != $20
Heard of Portal?
People bitched that Gears of War was 15-20 hours at $60. Not to mention Mass Effect around the same amount of time. So the PA game is the same 'quality' as GoW and Mass Effect?
Having played some Gears of War, I had a lot more fun with this. GoW was without meaningful plot and had kind of OK gameplay -- but really, it was all about the graphics. I'd rather watch a tech demo.
Let's not forget this runs off of the Torque gaming engine with the whopping price of $750 to use the engine commercially...
And what does that have to do with anything? At all?
Do yourself a favor -- download the demo. It's at least a third of the game, anyway. Then tell me it's not worth $20.
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