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The Flame in the Flood has its best debut on Switch - "Smashed expectations"

OCD Guy

Member
Not sure why we need “concrete data”. Surely as Switch owners, all we should care about is that developers feel it’s worthwhile releasing a game on the platform.

Trust me, the only thing that’s “concrete” is if a developer/publisher won’t make profit releasing their game on a platform, then they won’t make any future releases. Based on the fact that The flame in the flood has sold more than they anticipated will result in them likely to bring more games on the platform. Had the game under delivered, they’d certainly think twice.

It’s news like this that will push some people into considering bringing their software over to the Switch. The reality is certain developers and more importantly publishers, are waiting at the sidelines to see how the market is on the Switch. I welcome any news like this to be honest....
 
How is coming into these threads and going "We need numbers or this is meaningless" when the developers themselves are saying they are happy/pleased/excited about the results productive in any way, shape, or form?

Obviously if we have concrete data it'd be better, but for whatever reason, indies are not allowed to disclose specific numbers, and thus why they can only say if they are happy with sales so far or not. A reasonable person would understand and acknowledge this by now instead of being a broken record, because this is all we're going to get for now, and that's still better than nothing.



I get the feeling if I just said "amazing" in all these threads, you wouldn't have the same opinion on the matter.
 
Very suspect indeed to keep wondering about concrete data/numbers. :p
Are you going to accuse me to have some secret agenda ?

You don't need an agenda (though lots of people here do of course) to be predictable and/or boring and/or redundant after a point.

Just for clarities sake let's do a hypothetical just so I have an understanding of your end goal. Say in a year's time there's an indie game, a moderately decent indie game that launches simultaneously on Switch as with PS/Xbox/PC and that game is the 600th game released on the Switch and let's say that game sells very well on the Switch, possibly the best out of all platforms. Will you repeat yourself even then? Or will there be enough 'competition' by then for that result to be earned? Or will it have to be the 700th game? 800th? Where's the line drawn for you? When and only when the Switch has as many games released on it as the PS4?

You can write 5000 more of these redundant texts if it makes you happy but so I'm not constantly rolling my eyes at your every comment on this subject I'd like to understand where the line is for you. Give us that at the very least.
 

Fiendcode

Member
Well as I said, it IS positive news regardless. Why would you want to see my comment as negative ? Although about the crowded release schedule, it's interesting that you put Bomberman R and USF2 there, which are basically low budgeted efforts. Hence my comment about how the schedule isn't crowded, yet.
Except the schedule IS crowded, and it’s crowded with other indies and big publisher games that DIRECTLY compete with indies. I’m not sure why this isn’t sinking in for you?

And as far as AAA, there’s Nintendo’s own unusually heavy lineup. You know, the games people actually buy these system for in the first place. And beyond that all 3 categories (Nintendo, big 3rd party, indie) are doing above and beyond expectations. All ships are rising here.
 
You don't need an agenda (though lots of people here do of course) to be predictable and/or boring and/or redundant after a point.

Just for clarities sake let's do a hypothetical just so I have an understanding of your end goal. Say in a year's time there's an indie game, a moderately decent indie game that launches simultaneously on Switch as with PS/Xbox/PC and that game is the 600th game released on the Switch and let's say that game sells very well on the Switch, possibly the best out of all platforms. Will you repeat yourself even then? Or will there be enough 'competition' by then for that result to be earned? Or will it have to be the 700th game? 800th? Where's the line drawn for you? When and only when the Switch has as many games released on it as the PS4?

You can write 5000 more of these redundant texts if it makes you happy but so I'm not constantly rolling my eyes at your every comment on thi subject I'd like to understand here the line is for you. Give us that at the very least.


You know, I wouldn't have to be "redundant" if you at least cared to read what I wrote before. Because I already gave the answer. Competition or release schedule is both about number but also quality of said releases.



Except the schedule IS crowded, and it's crowded with other indies and big publisher games that DIRECTLY compete with indies. I'm not sure why this isn't sinking in for you?

And as far as AAA, there's Nintendo's own unusually heavy lineup. You know, the games people actually buy these system for in the first place. And beyond that all 3 categories (Nintendo, big 3rd party, indie) are doing above and beyond expectations. All ships are rising here.



That's where we cant and wont agree though. You consider USF2 or Bomberman R as "big releases" which makes the schedule crowded. I consider these as low budget releases. (And understand me, I don't mean that solely on the developpement budget).
 

Hero

Member
I get the feeling if I just said "amazing" in all these threads, you wouldn't have the same opinion on the matter.

Of course not, because one is acknowledging the success of the developers from their own mouths, and what you're doing currently is rubbing your chin and going "Yeah but we need context and concrete data to determine what success is." Pretty sure nobody cares more about what the success criteria of the game sales are more than the developers, and you are trying to paint it as if we need to be more critical of it.
 
You know, I wouldn't have to be "redundant" if you at least cared to read what I wrote before. Because I already gave the answer. Competition or release schedule is both about number but also quality of said releases.

I can very safely say I've read your comments, for what they're worth. But can you at least answer the hypothetical please? I edited it for further clarification.

An 80 metacritic indie, simultaneous launch across all platforms, 600th game on Switch, let's say 1 of a dozen games launching that week.

Will you *still* be decrying these threads just because PC/PS4 exist also? Because if so... I'm sorry, it's just a shame at that point.
 

Fiendcode

Member
You know, I wouldn't have to be "redundant" if you at least cared to read what I wrote before. Because I already gave the answer. Competition or release schedule is both about number but also quality of said releases.
I mean, it generally doesn’t get much higher quality than 1st party Nintendo?

That's where we cant and wont agree though. You consider USF2 or Bomberman R as "big releases" which makes the schedule crowded. I consider these as low budget releases. (And understand me, I don't mean that solely on the developpement budget).
I never said that, indeed I directly likened these games to indie releases. As in they’re MORE DIRECTLY COMPETITIVE with things like Shovel Knight, Stardew Valley, eyc.
 

Shahadan

Member
Just learn to ignore GhostTrick, he's just the kind of people who keep annoying you with their points so often and so much that in the end whether they're right or not doesn't matter anymore.
He just wants to talk.

On topic, I can't help but feel the game sold mostly on its graphics alone since there aren't a lot of indies looking like that on switch at the moment. I'm not sure many people had heard of it before or even if it's that interestng to actually play.
 
Just learn to ignore GhostTrick, he's just the kind of people who keep annoying you with their points so often and so much that in the end whether they're right or not doesn't matter anymore.
He just wants to talk.

On topic, I can't help but feel the game sold mostly on its graphics alone since there aren't a lot of indies looking like that on switch at the moment. I'm not sure many people had heard of it before or even if it's that interestng to actually play.

Being powered by Unreal Engine 4 really is a selling point on Switch right now. I want to see what developers can do with the tools.
 

Mello, pls :")


I can very safely say I've read your comments, for what they're worth. But can you at least answer the hypothetical please? I edited it for further clarification.

An 80 metacritic indie, simultaneous launch across all platforms, 600th game on Switch, let's say 1 of a dozen games launching that week.

Will you *still* be decrying these threads just because PC/PS4 exist also? Because if so... I'm sorry, it's just a shame at that point.


As for being crowded, it'll depend on the library quality at the moment. As I said:
It's easier for Flame in the Flood to release on Switch when in the same week, it released alongside Wulverblade, Yono and the Celestial Elephant, Tiny Barbarian DX, Squareboy VS Bullies and Neon Chrome rather than Flame in the Flood to release on PS4 when in the same week, it released alongside Gravity Rush 2, Resident Evil VII, 2064: Read Only Memories, RWBY: Grim Eclipse, Cursed Castle EX, Fate/EXTELLA.

Switch is relatively new, so it's easier for a few indies to shine against smaller one. There's no The Witness or Hollow Knight (yet) to compete with. Of course, we're going to get there. But we're still not here yet.

And why concrete data is important, because it allows to say if it did well compared to releases performing bad or if it did well by itself. A game like Wonderboy unfortunately seems to not have sold a lot of units overall. Same for Oceanhorn on other platforms. So, if it's about outselling games that sold 30k units in total, it's more about the big picture being rather sad for these games. If it's about outselling games that sold 200k units in total, then it means something really amazing for Switch, to sell more than such a big amount for these games.
 

Oregano

Member
Mello, pls :")





As for being crowded, it'll depend on the library quality at the moment. As I said:


Switch is relatively new, so it's easier for a few indies to shine against smaller one. There's no The Witness or Hollow Knight (yet) to compete with. Of course, we're going to get there. But we're still not here yet.

And why concrete data is important, because it allows to say if it did well compared to releases performing bad or if it did well by itself. A game like Wonderboy unfortunately seems to not have sold a lot of units overall. Same for Oceanhorn on other platforms. So, if it's about outselling games that sold 30k units in total, it's more about the big picture being rather sad for these games. If it's about outselling games that sold 200k units in total, then it means something really amazing for Switch, to sell more than such a big amount for these games.

The week before The Flame in the Flood had Volgarr the Viking, Axiom Verge and Stardew Valley.
 
Games like Stardew Valley, Golf Story, Axiom Verge, and Steamworld Dig 2 aren't any less special than something like The Witness or Hollow Knight.

When Hollow Knight lands on Switch (or even The Witness, if it ever happens), it's not suddenly going to suck all of the air out of the room.
 

OCD Guy

Member
On topic, I can't help but feel the game sold mostly on its graphics alone since there aren't a lot of indies looking like that on switch at the moment. I'm not sure many people had heard of it before or even if it's that interestng to actually play.

For me personally the way it looks is a big draw. While there are many games released recently on the Switch that are well regarded I just lose interest as soon as I see the graphics. I can’t get behind the retro style 8bit/16bit (whatever you call them) games like Golf Story, Stardew Valley etc.

Shovel Knight for example is meant to be awesome, but Hollow Knight is more appealing to me.

Games like Stardew Valley, Golf Story, Axiom Verge, and Steamworld Dig 2 aren't any less special than something like The Witness or Hollow Knight.

When Hollow Knight lands on Switch (or even The Witness, if it ever happens), it's not suddenly going to suck all of the air out of the room.

You’re probably right, I don’t know what it is but I just can’t bring myself to buy a game that looks like that. It’s not that I’m even a graphics whore. Steamworld dig 2 is acceptable to me, Shovel Knight style isn’t.
 
The week before The Flame in the Flood had Volgarr the Viking, Axiom Verge and Stardew Valley.



Which is neat, but then again, far from reaching competitive heights on other markets, which then again, is totally NORMAL and expected.
Heck, this is why there's an indie gold rush to begin with. Because there's a place to make for now.
 
Mello, pls :")





As for being crowded, it'll depend on the library quality at the moment. As I said:


Switch is relatively new, so it's easier for a few indies to shine against smaller one. There's no The Witness or Hollow Knight (yet) to compete with. Of course, we're going to get there. But we're still not here yet.

And why concrete data is important, because it allows to say if it did well compared to releases performing bad or if it did well by itself. A game like Wonderboy unfortunately seems to not have sold a lot of units overall. Same for Oceanhorn on other platforms. So, if it's about outselling games that sold 30k units in total, it's more about the big picture being rather sad for these games. If it's about outselling games that sold 200k units in total, then it means something really amazing for Switch, to sell more than such a big amount for these games.

Thanks for your clarification. Again you're absolutely right, and this game is a good example of your overall point for sure about a good amount of quality to complete with. Let's hope on the week the Switch gets Animal Crossing that whatever indie games launch that week also do well, I think if/when that happens that will be very good indeed, along with the likes of Hollow Knight/Darkest Dungeon/Yooka-Laylee/Morphie's Law adding to the list of games selling well on the system.
 

Lijik

Member
i dont get the point of the list Ghost Trick keeps trotting out at fucking all, if it wasnt for the obvious juggernaut that is RE7 the point seemingly boils down to "Flame in the Flood released with a bunch of other smaller titles twice, but this time its easier to stand out cus i said so arbitrarily"
 
i dont get the point of the list Ghost Trick keeps trotting out at fucking all, if it wasnt for the obvious juggernaut that is RE7 the point seemingly boils down to "Flame in the Flood released with a bunch of smaller titles twice, but this time its easier to stand out cus i said so arbitrarily"



On the release week AND in general. But in the case of Flame in the Flood, it's also important because that's what the thread is about: "Best launch day".


Stardew Valley is as big as they come indie wise, don't be ridiculous.


It is, except on other markets, you have a lot of titles as big as Stardew Valley.
 

Oregano

Member
Which is neat, but then again, far from reaching competitive heights on other markets, which then again, is totally NORMAL and expected.
Heck, this is why there's an indie gold rush to begin with. Because there's a place to make for now.

Stardew Valley is as big as they come indie wise, don't be ridiculous.
 

Lijik

Member
On the release week AND in general. But in the case of Flame in the Flood, it's also important because that's what the thread is about: "Best launch day".





It is, except on other markets, you have a lot of titles as big as Stardew Valley.
that doesnt clear up why you think the bulk that list that isnt as different as youre pretending is relevant to your argument at all.
 
Mello, pls :")





As for being crowded, it'll depend on the library quality at the moment. As I said:


Switch is relatively new, so it's easier for a few indies to shine against smaller one. There's no The Witness or Hollow Knight (yet) to compete with. Of course, we're going to get there. But we're still not here yet.

And why concrete data is important, because it allows to say if it did well compared to releases performing bad or if it did well by itself. A game like Wonderboy unfortunately seems to not have sold a lot of units overall. Same for Oceanhorn on other platforms. So, if it's about outselling games that sold 30k units in total, it's more about the big picture being rather sad for these games. If it's about outselling games that sold 200k units in total, then it means something really amazing for Switch, to sell more than such a big amount for these games.
lol I dont even care I just want to mess with you
 

Malice215

Member
I love hearing these stories because these games have to compete with the flood of other available indie titles, retro games, and mobile games that are being ported over to the Switch which is now getting 10-12 games a week on the eShop, along with competing for attention with the huge titles being produced from Nintendo.

The Switch is a great place to play games and certain titles are benefiting.
 

Sulik2

Member
The switch right now is just what Xbox Live Arcade or Steam was in 2008. In a well curated marketplace without a lot of games, small games sell many more copies. I still feel like there should be a Steam competitor that takes this idea on PC and only puts up a handful of well vetted and certified titles each month that all sell well.
 

Crash331

Member
This game seems interesting, but is it a typical rogue like where a death resets ALL progress?

I don't like games like that, but games like Dead Cells are fine where I have an underlying goal that I am working towards that makes me incrementally stronger and more likely to survive longer on the next run.
 

Tangeroo

Member
This game seems interesting, but is it a typical rogue like where a death resets ALL progress?

I don't like games like that, but games like Dead Cells are fine where I have an underlying goal that I am working towards that makes me incrementally stronger and more likely to survive longer on the next run.

You have an invincible dog with six inventory slots. If you die and start a new game, the dog retains whatever it was holding at the time. The game also has a checkpoint system which allows you to respawn with everything you had up until that point. The checkpoints are fairly far apart but if you can't stand a full redo, you have the option to restore most of your progress.
 

DrGrus

Member
The switch right now is just what Xbox Live Arcade or Steam was in 2008. In a well curated marketplace without a lot of games, small games sell many more copies. I still feel like there should be a Steam competitor that takes this idea on PC and only puts up a handful of well vetted and certified titles each month that all sell well.

Sounds a little bit like GOG.
 

hank_tree

Member
Many is representative of what number exactly?

Can you name, say 20 indies as big as these titles on PS4/XB1 but not Switch? 10? Should I give more Switch examples while we’re at it?

Off the top of my head:
Firewatch
The Witness
Transistor
Bastion
Soma
Talos Principle
Dear Esther
Everybodys gone to the Rapture
Invisible Inc
Volume
Journey
Broken Age
The Swapper
Towerfall
Thomas Was Alone
Cuphead
Spelunky
Fez
Gone Home
Cosmic Star Heroine
Nidhogg
Nidhogg 2
Inside
Enter the Gungeon
Titan Souls
Night in the Woods
The Sexy Brutale
Terraria
Hotline Miami 2
Down well
Flint hook
Samurai Gunn
Tacoma
Hyper Light Drifter
Amplitude
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons
Dust An Elysian Tale
GalakZ
Grim Fandango
Day of the Tentacle
Hand of Fate
Limbo
Rogue Legacy
Nuclear Throne
Olliolli
Olliolli 2
Rebel Galaxy
Skullgirls
Stealth Inc
Super Meat Boy
Super Time Force
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga 2

And so on. Loads more.
 

Hero

Member
Off the top of my head:
Firewatch
The Witness
Transistor
Bastion
Soma
Talos Principle
Dear Esther
Everybodys gone to the Rapture
Invisible Inc
Volume
Journey
Broken Age
The Swapper
Towerfall
Thomas Was Alone
Cuphead
Spelunky
Fez
Gone Home
Cosmic Star Heroine
Nidhogg
Nidhogg 2
Inside
Enter the Gungeon
Titan Souls
Night in the Woods
The Sexy Brutale
Terraria
Hotline Miami 2
Down well
Flint hook
Samurai Gunn
Tacoma
Hyper Light Drifter
Amplitude
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons
Dust An Elysian Tale
GalakZ
Grim Fandango
Day of the Tentacle
Hand of Fate
Limbo
Rogue Legacy
Nuclear Throne
Olliolli
Olliolli 2
Rebel Galaxy
Skullgirls
Stealth Inc
Super Meat Boy
Super Time Force
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga 2

And so on. Loads more.

You think all of these are even on the same level as Stardew Valley, Shovel Knight, Binding of Isaac, and Cave Story? Are you serious?
 

Hero

Member
Some of them are. Some of them are only as big as Shantae or Steamworld, as in the post above.

I think even Shantae or Steamworld are bigger than the majority of the ones you posted.

Not to mention there's a decent amount on the list that have been announced on Switch. Regardless this argument seems frail at best.
 

hank_tree

Member
I think even Shantae or Steamworld are bigger than the majority of the ones you posted.

Not to mention there's a decent amount on the list that have been announced on Switch. Regardless this argument seems frail at best.


You can keep moving those goalposts all you want. It doesn't change the facts. And my list is nowhere near complete.

Edit: There is less competition for people's attention on Switch at the moment. I can't believe anyone is arguing that point.

Also a lot of these games are really suited to the Switch hardware/ audience. It's a combination of those factors and a few more that are leading to these early success stories.

I hope it continues.
 

Fiendcode

Member
Off the top of my head:
Firewatch
The Witness
Transistor
Bastion
Soma
Talos Principle
Dear Esther
Everybodys gone to the Rapture
Invisible Inc
Volume
Journey
Broken Age
The Swapper
Towerfall
Thomas Was Alone
Cuphead
Spelunky
Fez
Gone Home
Cosmic Star Heroine
Nidhogg
Nidhogg 2
Inside
Enter the Gungeon
Titan Souls
Night in the Woods
The Sexy Brutale
Terraria
Hotline Miami 2
Down well
Flint hook
Samurai Gunn
Tacoma
Hyper Light Drifter
Amplitude
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons
Dust An Elysian Tale
GalakZ
Grim Fandango
Day of the Tentacle
Hand of Fate
Limbo
Rogue Legacy
Nuclear Throne
Olliolli
Olliolli 2
Rebel Galaxy
Skullgirls
Stealth Inc
Super Meat Boy
Super Time Force
The Banner Saga
The Banner Saga 2

And so on. Loads more.
Some of these are coming from big publishers (even Sony actually), were released after The Flame in the Flood (Jan 2017), just aren’t indie games (Lucasarts adventures?) or aren’t actually that successful. It’s not like I named Snipperclips or Rocket League for example.
 

Hero

Member
You can keep moving those goalposts all you want. It doesn’t change the facts. And my list is nowhere near complete.

What goalposts? I wasn't the one that even posed the question. None of those are as big as Stardew Valley. How often were you seeing people begging for GalakZ on Switch?
 

The James

Neo Member
Nice performance from the Switch again. I hope this keeps up as the ecosystem matures.

I hadn't heard of the game before I saw this, but it looks really good. I'll be buying it when I have a little space in my schedule. I wonder how many sales the game picked up due to the announcement of having good sales.
 

mnemonicj

Member
Every indie dev should release their game on Switch. EVERY ONE.

giphy.gif
 
You think all of these are even on the same level as Stardew Valley, Shovel Knight, Binding of Isaac, and Cave Story? Are you serious?

You think because those have physical releases, that they are these big huge titles? They aren't bud.

Most of those games that he listed, including the ones you listed for Switch has had their time to shine. It is just a matter of striking while the iron is hot and the investment for physical is obviously worth it for a brand new system.

Bastion, Galak-Z, Transistor, hotline Miami for example all had their days where they were the hotness.. stop kidding yourself with this nonsense. And There's, maybe like 1 or 2 games on the Switch (Mario Kart and Zelda) that can be perceived to be better than Cuphead. And I think Ori is better than 90% of the Switch's library.. and this is coming from a guy who is buying 2 more Switches this month.

Please.. them games you're talking about aren't jack.

Respect tho🤗
 

ronpontelle

Neo Member
Surely the size of the potential audience has to play a fairly major part in this, as well as the competition from other games? On other platforms games can get a relatively smaller piece of a much bigger pie.

I was unsure between this, Golf Story and Stardew Valley, but this looked more to my taste. I know people who have gone for one (or both!) of the other two.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
Surely the size of the potential audience has to play a fairly major part in this, as well as the competition from other games? On other platforms games can get a relatively smaller piece of a much bigger pie.

I was unsure between this, Golf Story and Stardew Valley, but this looked more to my taste. I know people who have gone for one (or both!) of the other two.

I don't know why people keep talking about "audience on the Switch" or that "the Switch has fewer games thus easier for a game to blow up" because Switch games do not only have to compete with other Switch games but also with PS4, Xbox, or PC games, considering that I imagine a vast majority of people are using Switch in tandem with something else, and that ehe 50 bucks you use to buy a game for Switch does not magically reappear when you want to buy a game on other platform. People make a conscious decision to spend their money on Switch games when they could spend it on games for other platforms. That's a fact when you see these successful stories of video games selling in the Switch.

And yet people keep yapping on and on and on and on and on about "starving audience" or "the competition for the games in Switch is minuscule." The competition for Switch games is minuscule if Switch is the *only* gaming platform available out there.
 
Just put Ghost Trick on ignore. Problem solved. I only have to read his posts when you quote him and argue with his anti-Nintendo stance (or something, very, very much against Switch success at least).


It is nice to read that indies have found success on Switch. The more they get money, the more they can release neat games.

That one game that was mentioned (space princess or something), didn't the devs go on a tantrum at some point? I mean, one way to make sure that you won't get a dev kit is to bitch and moan that Nintendo is unfair and sucks.

There was at least one dev complaining. The funny thing is, lots and lots of others haven't had anything but praise for Nintendo's indie handling.
 

ronpontelle

Neo Member
I don't know why people keep talking about "audience on the Switch" or that "the Switch has fewer games thus easier for a game to blow up" because Switch games do not only have to compete with other Switch games but also with PS4, Xbox, or PC games, considering that I imagine a vast majority of people are using Switch in tandem with something else, and that ehe 50 bucks you use to buy a game for Switch does not magically reappear when you want to buy a game on other platform. People make a conscious decision to spend their money on Switch games when they could spend it on games for other platforms. That's a fact when you see these successful stories of video games selling in the Switch.

And yet people keep yapping on and on and on and on and on about "starving audience" or "the competition for the games in Switch is minuscule." The competition for Switch games is minuscule if Switch is the *only* gaming platform available out there.

That is a good point.

Although personally my PS4 has taken a back seat and at the moment doesn't really enter my thinking (it's not been on since the Switch launched, and has been packed away in it's box for five months). That said, I am renovating a house and have a very young baby, so the Switch is ideal!

I'm sure that's not the case for most. In fact I know it's not the case for everyone I know with a Switch apart from two other people (both got young kids demanding their time and TV!).
 
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