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[axisofweevils]

Mock/lock if old.
Interesting Frozenbyte interview with NintendoLife:

“Early in 2012, Nintendo had approached us and we had some time to think out the details,” Mikael recalls. “Around [the] end of February we made the choice to focus on the Wii U and from there on it has been an interesting ride.”

Developers can now charge what they want for their content; previously, Nintendo controlled price points by looking at the features of titles and assigning values accordingly, which incensed several companies. Trine 2: Director's Cut costs a little more than on other consoles, but Mikael says that this is because of the amount of extra content. “The original Trine 2 is out on other platforms for about $15 and the Goblin Menace expansion on Steam for around $7, so this adding up to somewhere around $20 sounded like a right price. Basically we just wanted it to be slightly more expensive due to the fact that we feel it had a lot more content compared to [the versions on] other consoles.”

In Europe, Frozenbyte was able to launch the game with a promotional price point: it's 20% off until the end of the year. “Most of our regular revenues are fuelled by sales,” Mikael shares. “Previous console versions of Trine 2 have sold fairly poorly due to lack of visibility on the digital market places. This all, of course, compared to Steam, where even a small sale can stir up a huge spike in sales.” He continues: “We knew from our history that this is where our strength was so we wanted to start strong even with our first console launch experience.” With Trine 2: Director's Cut currently near the top of the eShop sales charts, it's a move that seems to have paid off. Mikael notes that the game has sold “fairly well according to our calculations”, though with the system only out for a few weeks it's still a little too early to get a full picture.

A patch is already on the way for Trine 2: Director's Cut. The update will include in-game voice chat for online co-operative play, extra languages, additional controller support and adjustments, plus a few visual tweaks. It's a significant upgrade for a game on a Nintendo platform, especially since, until 3DS came along, very few titles got updated at all previously. With this update as yet unreleased, Mikael can't comment fully on limitations of the patching process right now, other than to say that “there are some, but not as much as before”. It is known, however, that developers can update titles for free.

Miiverse has certainly gone down well with Wii U users; the communities are bustling, and Trine 2: Director's Cut's is no different. Frozenbyte has been paying attention and gathered “a lot” of feedback from the service. “The new thing being the ability to draw comments — mostly we have just been drawing back to them, so it's a lot of fun,” smiles Mikael. There are plans to add more Miiverse features “soon-ish” – “mainly things that will make the whole experience nicer” — though there are no concrete details for now.

Frozenbyte's pre-launch optimism appears to have converted well at this point. “Everything is going great so far, but we are really looking forward to being a part of the community in the future to see it grow,” says Mikael. On Wii U's starting position in general, he summarises that it “looks excellent so far”, though admits that “these things are really long terms plans and anything could happen when the competition arrives”. To finish, Mikael delivers a tantalising tease about Frozenbyte's future Wii U output, however: “We are very interested in working on it again. Who knows, but if everything goes well maybe even sooner than many might suspect.”

Read the link for full article:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...ozenbyte_on_the_first_days_of_the_wii_u_eshop

 

[Zarovitch]

I'll buy it soon.

They think about a patch to support voice chat, is it out now?

 

[XenodudeX]

Farily well , but not "really well" and even "well".

 

[Terrell]

Well, it's currently the #1 seller on the Canadian eShop. So that's something.

 

[Phazon]

I think a lot of US people are waiting for a sale.

 

[herod]

It's excellent, best of both worlds control-wise.

 

[thekonamicode]

I'm planning on buying it this week!

 

[axisofweevils]

I'll buy it soon.

They think about a patch to support voice chat, is it out now?

Updated OP with the quote about the patch.

A patch is already on the way for Trine 2: Director's Cut. The update will include in-game voice chat for online co-operative play, extra languages, additional controller support and adjustments, plus a few visual tweaks. It's a significant upgrade for a game on a Nintendo platform, especially since, until 3DS came along, very few titles got updated at all previously. With this update as yet unreleased, Mikael can't comment fully on limitations of the patching process right now, other than to say that “there are some, but not as much as before”. It is known, however, that developers can update titles for free.

 

[Joseph Flemming]

I'm getting this in a couple days. Can't wait, it looks glorious.

 

[tuffy]

Miiverse seems tailor-made for games like Trine 2. When people get stuck in a room, they can just hop on, pose a question (with screenshot) and get a bunch of suggestions from other people. It's like the digital equivalent of asking all your pals how to get through a tricky part of the game.

 

[Kevtones]

Bought it last week, love it.

 

[Het_Nkik]

I think a lot of US people are waiting for a sale.

I'm waiting for that patch they said they were working on.

 

[NateDrake]

Bought it and love it.

 

[Neo C.]

Played it with my bro this weekend. Definitely worth the money.

 

[Korgill]

I'm waiting for that patch they said they were working on.

I'd bet a sale will happen when the patch hits. If they are able.

 

[Fredrik]

Great to hear! I bought it day 1 in EU. Well worth all the praise it gets.

 

[warerare]

We now have sales on Little Inferno and Chasing Aurora heading to Europe this Thursday, no signs as to whether NoA are following suit just yet.

 

[Twenty7KVN]

Farily well , but not "really well" and even "well".

That's better than "fairly poorly".Anyway this game does look great i might pick this up when i get a wii-u.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

Farily well , but not "really well" and even "well".

"Fairly well" could be both > "well" and < "well" depending on how you see it. When I read "fairly well" I get the impression that it did better than well.

 

[zroid]

NoA stands for No sales and A poor eShop layout

 

[Fox Mulder]

I loved the first trine on the ps3, but never got around to playing the sequel. I'm also a hater of purchases tied to hardware, so I haven't even really bothered to look at anything in the shop yet. Hearing that it may have a sale is getting me interested though.

 

[Zarovitch]

NoA stands for No sales and A poor eShop layout

What? The eShop look great.

 

[dragonflys545]

I'm surprised it did fairly well with the $20 price point.

 

[Clay Davis]

I'm surprised it did fairly well with the $20 price point.

it's reduced in the uk and possibly the rest of the eu. maybe that's where the bulk of the sales are from?

 

[Colonel Mustard]

NoA stands for No sales and A poor eShop layout

If WiiU's eShop layout is poor then everything sucks. The 3DS' storefront could be a bit better but the WiiU's is simple to navigate, easy to understand and everything that's new has pretty good visibility. Huge improvement, IMO.

 

[zroid]

What? The eShop look great.

If WiiU's eShop layout is poor then everything sucks. The 3DS' storefront could be a bit better but the WiiU's is simple to navigate, easy to understand and everything that's new has pretty good visibility. Huge improvement, IMO.

I was just referring to how it's worse than NoE's eShop ;(

like, no demo section, etc

 

[btkadams]

If WiiU's eShop layout is poor then everything sucks. The 3DS' storefront could be a bit better but the WiiU's is simple to navigate, easy to understand and everything that's new has pretty good visibility. Huge improvement, IMO.

the 3ds store is AWFUL, but i agree with you the wii u one is pretty good. i like it.

 

[John Harker]

the 3ds store is AWFUL, but i agree with you the wii u one is pretty good. i like it.

I like it too. Though I wish you could scroll sideways too like a carousel on some of the categories... there really arent a lot of tiles on the main page. Weird that you cant.

 

[SaintMadeOfPlaster]

NoA stands for No sales and A poor eShop layout

zing?

 

[ScRYeD]

It's #1 here in Australia the biggest gaming market in the world.......oh wait we don't have it: (

 

[Smiles and Cries]

deserves more sales

 

[Hoodbury]

Farily well , but not "really well" and even "well".

True, but still better than "Fairly poor", "really poor", and even "poor".

 

[The Boat]

NoA stands for No sales and A poor eShop layout

Except it's up to the publisher to decide when to do sales.

 

[Eric C]

I think a lot of US people are waiting for a sale.

It's been the #1 Seller on the US eShop, according to Nintendo's own eshop charts.

US Wii U eShop
December 14th 2012 1:00AM EST

Recent Best Sellers
1 Trine 2
2 Nano Assault Neo
3 New Super Mario Bros. U
4 Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition
5 Little Inferno
6 Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
7 ZombiU
8 Scribblenauts Unlimited
9 Assassin's Creed III
10 Darksiders II
11 Chasing Aurora
12 Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
13 Tekken Tag Tournament
14 Nintendo Land
15 Madden NFL 13
16 Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
17 Disney Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two
18 Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth
19 Rabbids Land
20 Just Dance 4


All Best Sellers
1 Trine 2
2 Nano Assault Neo
3 New Super Mario Bros. U
4 Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition
5 Little Inferno
6 ZombiU
7 Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
8 Scribblenauts Unlimited
9 Assassin's Creed III
10 Chasing Aurora
11 Darksiders II
12 Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
13 Nintendo Land
14 Tekken Tag Tournament
15 Madden NFL 13
16 Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
17 Disney Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two
18 Just Dance 4
19 Rabbids Land
20 NBA 2K13

 

[zroid]

Except it's up to the publisher to decide when to do sales.

Haven't you been following? Evidently publishers want to have sales in North America (as in Europe), but are unable to for some undisclosed reason. Three guesses what that is.

 

[axisofweevils]

Except it's up to the publisher to decide when to do sales.

Doesn't seem to be the case when you look at Broken Rules' replies on twitter to people asking why Chasing Aurora on sale in US yet

They say they want to, but they can't yet, and you'd have to ask NoA why.

 

[The Boat]

Haven't you been following? Evidently publishers want to have sales in North America (as in Europe), but are unable to for some undisclosed reason. Three guesses what that is.

Source? Never read anything about this.
Edit:

Doesn't seem to be the case when you look at Broken Rules' replies on twitter to people asking why Chasing Aurora on sale in US yet

They say they want to, but they can't yet, and you'd have to ask NoA why.

Ah OK. Didn't get that impression from Joel when he talked about it, but haven't been following with that much attention.

 

[richiek]

Farily well , but not "really well" and even "well".

Seriously? Are we really playing the semantics game here?

 

[Smiles and Cries]

It's been the #1 Seller on the US eShop, according to Nintendo's own eshop charts.

#15 is Batman right no so that chart must update often, Trine2 still owns #1

 

[The Giant]

It's #1 here in Australia the biggest gaming market in the world.......oh wait we don't have it: (

I think it's coming out this week in australia.

 

[Visualante2]

Do we know if that chart is revenue or sales? Trine 2 is fortunate in being one of the launch games, it's a very quiet store currently. As it gets busier will the store suffer the same discover-ability issues as PSN and 360?

 

[Mpl90]

#15 is Batman right no so that chart must update often, Trine2 still owns #1

If it's like 3DS eShop charts, it's probably updated every hour.

 

[Drago]

Haven't you been following? Evidently publishers want to have sales in North America (as in Europe), but are unable to for some undisclosed reason. Three guesses what that is.

Man, if NoA is preventing sales then that's a new low for them.

What is the purpose behind that?

 

[NeoRausch]

huh what? in gam voice chat? will that ne over the Pad-Mic?
i only knew about the gamma correction. nice1


i didn't even start online 2-Player for now. is it good?....


i didn't really really start the game at all. so if anybody is up for some 2 player shitfest, my NNID is:
NeoRausch
(send your GAF name in the friendrequest or i wont accept)

as said, super early in the game and almost no experience at all. like it so far. but voice chat will be perfect for some puzzles.

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

I understand the extra content is an added value, but as some one who already got the game way cheaper on PSN during a sale I can't bring myself to spring for it again at that price, definitive console version or not. Even with a 20% off sale it would cost more than the standard pricing on other patforms. Bums me out because I would love to support this port barring the price of entry. I appreciate seeing a dev actually making that extra effort with a Wii U port for once though!

 

[Coolwhip]

The patch is this week right? Getting it when the patch goes live.

 

[JavyOO7]

So NOE has some sales and NOA refuses to have even one sale? omfg

 

[GrotesqueBeauty]

Man, if NoA is preventing sales then that's a new low for them.

What is the purpose behind that?

Gotta be the same philosophy that kept them from localizing already translated games during awful software droughts and waiting until the Wii was all but dead before releasing budget versions of games that had long since sold millions or tens of millions of units. I understand not wanting to cannabalize your own software six months after launching it, but Nintendo takes these things to ridiculous extremes. They need to realize that their products don't exist in a vacuum, and that nickle and diming the fanbase ultimately opens more doors for the competition than it protects Nintendo's interests.

 

[massoluk]

Miiverse is so going to get copied by the rest of the industry.

 

[nubbe]

Everyone in the games business need to learn from Valve