cyberheater
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It's a pity I've already got this on Steam or I would have bought this.
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Frozenbyte: Early Days of the Wii U eShop / Trine 2 sales going "fairly well"
- Thread starter axisofweevils
- Start date
Joel here - just to comment on this, Mikael probably should've said just "well". That's what he/we mean.
I can't disclose sales numbers as per Nintendo's policy (not that we'd be the first in line to do that anyway), but we are happy with them. And by contrast we are not happy with the XBLA/PSN numbers - it seems like they are very hit-driven nowadays and only the top-3 or top-10 games really sell well unless there's a huge marketing budget attached or similar hype garnered through other means. Quality by itself doesn't seem to matter much. This is bad news for us because quality is our strongest weapon in the marketing/quality/positioning triangle.Anyhow I'm fairly confident in saying that Wii U will be our best console platform. Whether it's the "launch effect" or eShop's better visibility, or the general quality of the game and the great word of mouth - thanks to everybody! - or sheer luck, I don't know - but we'll take it.
On the discount for North America: We'd love to do it but it's starting to seem like it's not yet going to be possible (just saw the Chasing Aurora tweets about the same). That's a shame and I don't really have any real info on it, however it wouldn't surprise me if this is simply a launch-related issue - systems not in place etc. We're definitely doing best in Europe so we'd love to replicate that on the other side of the pond too but we're taking it easy, everything has gone so smooth so far that a little bump in the road is not a big deal.
Speaking of ponds... Australia & NZ will get the game along with the update, should be no issues anymore, although of course the wait still continues (one of those moments where you wish for a time machine, as it was really just one extra hour from our side to get age rating process started, and we could have avoided all this trouble). The update itself has been 'done' and is being reviewed by Nintendo, so we're waiting to hear if they find anything bad on the tech side (like a crash or something). If they don't, then we hope to release the update by the end of the week (both Europe and America). If something bad is found, then it might have to wait an extra week or two, as we're giving our guys some well-deserved holiday vacations and Nintendo probably has their own too... But I'm still hopeful everything works out in time!
- Joel, Frozenbyte team, developers of Trine 2: Director's Cut
Thank you, Joel. I really like how you interact with the people who play your game. Seems like Miiverse is the perfect companion to Trine 2, by the way - when someone is stuck, they get help almost instantly! I bet that people who would normally have given up in a difficult spot now keep on playing thanks to the Miiverse-integration.
Well, you've guaranteed got my purchase the instant that sale goes live in North America -- whenever that may be!
walking fiend
Member
I will definitely buy the game when deluxe Wii Us become available in Canada, it is really gorgeous and seems to have a lot of content.
But it is interesting that Europe is your best territory; I know being a European dev helps, but at least in the UK it seems the Wii U isn't doing well [unless, of course, in the NA it is doing even worse...].
I personally hope Wii U manages to bridge the GAP between AAA games and App developers on the console market, and hopefully we'll see a resurgence of smaller to middle sized developers [and games] on consoles.
Farily confident, but not "really confident" and even "confident".JoelFB said:Anyhow I'm fairly confident in saying that Wii U will be our best console platform. Whether it's the "launch effect" or eShop's better visibility, or the general quality of the game and the great word of mouth - thanks to everybody! - or sheer luck, I don't know - but we'll take it.
Kidding )
)But it is interesting that Europe is your best territory; I know being a European dev helps, but at least in the UK it seems the Wii U isn't doing well [unless, of course, in the NA it is doing even worse...].
I personally hope Wii U manages to bridge the GAP between AAA games and App developers on the console market, and hopefully we'll see a resurgence of smaller to middle sized developers [and games] on consoles.
Would you care to elaborate on what you're hinting at here?
axisofweevils
Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
Joel here - just to comment on this, Mikael probably should've said just "well". That's what he/we mean.
Thanks for the update, Joel. Pleased to see a game with so much effort put into it is doing so well.
This is the perfect rebuttal to the "third party games don't sell on Nintendo platforms" myth.
Joel here - just to comment on this, Mikael probably should've said just "well". That's what he/we mean.
Anyhow I'm fairly confident in saying that Wii U will be our best console platform. Whether it's the "launch effect" or eShop's better visibility, or the general quality of the game and the great word of mouth - thanks to everybody! - or sheer luck, I don't know - but we'll take it.
On the discount for North America: We'd love to do it but it's starting to seem like it's not yet going to be possible (just saw the Chasing Aurora tweets about the same). That's a shame and I don't really have any real info on it, however it wouldn't surprise me if this is simply a launch-related issue - systems not in place etc. We're definitely doing best in Europe so we'd love to replicate that on the other side of the pond too but we're taking it easy, everything has gone so smooth so far that a little bump in the road is not a big deal.
Speaking of ponds... Australia & NZ will get the game along with the update, should be no issues anymore, although of course the wait still continues (one of those moments where you wish for a time machine, as it was really just one extra hour from our side to get age rating process started, and we could have avoided all this trouble). The update itself has been 'done' and is being reviewed by Nintendo, so we're waiting to hear if they find anything bad on the tech side (like a crash or something). If they don't, then we hope to release the update by the end of the week (both Europe and America). If something bad is found, then it might have to wait an extra week or two, as we're giving our guys some well-deserved holiday vacations and Nintendo probably has their own too... But I'm still hopeful everything works out in time!
- Joel, Frozenbyte team, developers of Trine 2: Director's Cut
Hey Joel!!!
I spoke with one of you guys at E3 and I have to say, as a customer (bought the wii u version), YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!
Also I have to say miiverse is awesome for the title. I think is a great way for people to be exposed to this and other great games in the system´s launch. Im sure its very gratifying for you guys to see the gamers reception and response to your labor of love.
Im so glad you are seeing success on the system, the game rocks, the wii u gamepad implementation is fantastic, and the content and quality packed in there is awesome. I am recommending the title to everyone I know.
Keep up the excellent work!
Anyhow I'm fairly confident in saying that Wii U will be our best console platform. Whether it's the "launch effect" or eShop's better visibility, or the general quality of the game and the great word of mouth - thanks to everybody! - or sheer luck, I don't know - but we'll take it.
Probably both but I'd like to add, Nintendo hardcore fans are pretty rewarding when a game is well done and get a good treatment on their console; That's something you can sense on a Nintendo system.
Premium 10% off surely help, too.
Catchpenny
Member
Positive things about the Wii U, third party support and the eshop?
Thread won't make it to 300 posts.
Thread won't make it to 300 posts.
yeah, good third party games do sell. I have already bought five third party games (ZombiU, Sonic, Trine, Nano Assault and Puddle).
Without numbers this proves shit tbh.
In a way. I think the satisfaction at Frozenbyte is more important for the download scene on Wii U. Nintendo's online shop policy with the original Wii was downright horrible and honestly hostile towards small developers. The Wii U might receive it's healthy amount of criticism, their new approach with eShop is one of the brightest aspects of the console at this point in time.
Yeah, I bet Frozenbyte is just lying because [reasons].
And you deserve it!Anyhow I'm fairly confident in saying that Wii U will be our best console platform. Whether it's the "launch effect" or eShop's better visibility, or the general quality of the game and the great word of mouth - thanks to everybody! - or sheer luck, I don't know - but we'll take it.
Anyway, what about true Miiverse integration? I might be wrong, but I think Plaza visibility is somehow related to how active the communities are, and with proper integration, community activity should rise quite a bit. And going by other platforms, better visibility usually means better sales. Not really that important right now as you're basically on the Plaza since launch, but it could become relevant down the line, when competition gets tougher.
When you asked for three guesses, it seemed as though you had some sort of culprit in mind.
The real question is why, though.
I find this bit to be pretty shocking tbh. I'm not sure though whether Joel is talking about sheer sales volume when comparing eshop to XBLA/PSN or if he means sales trajectory. The latter would make a lot more sense than the former which would seem outright impossible considering the difference in installed base. In any case, congrats! I'm sure Trine 2 will be one of those games that keeps on selling for quite awhile. I know I intend to pick it up eventually, most likely when that first sale hits in NA.
How do you get stuck in a Trine game? Seriously I played them both.
Until someone speaks up about sales numbers, the theory stands. I do feel like both XBLA and PSN are growing stagnant with sales but I never thought Trine was that great of a game, certainly not better than the best games on the platform.
Fox Mulder
Member
The leaderboards in the xbla version of trine 2 currently shows total number of scores at 59,653. Not the most accurate way to determine sales, but at least that many unique gamer tags have played the game enough to get on there.
I don't see how it would be that hard for the wiiu version to beat that, especially with it getting great visibility in the empty launch eshop.
Awesome, thanks for posting. Loving the game so far, it basically single handedly sold WiiU to my friend the other day
Looking forward to the patch for those gamma level corrections
Hah, must've been either me or Mikael then. Easy to spot - Mikael is the outgoing social guy, I'm the quiet nerd more at ease at the keyboard.
And yeah Miiverse has been a surprise to us, it's awesome to see so many posts and drawings. We were thinking about some of the (simple) possibilities before launch but didn't really have the time to start experimenting, but now that it's proven to be very popular and things have eased up, I think we're going to give it a shot... And indeed it might help sales even further so makes sense from that point too.
(but as always, no promises just yet)I'm talking about trajectory/projection - however it's based on some good real numbers and not just some long-tail projection for 12 months or something like that. We're not doing mindblowing units but it does look good to us, and the fact that this is still the launch period makes things very interesting (i.e. how much legs we will have in say, 6 months time). The Leaderboards on XBLA are reasonably accurate so that's a baseline. I have no doubt that we'll pass the XBLA numbers with the eShop, it's just a question of how many months it takes...
The great thing in our mind is that there's still hope for downloadable games on consoles. We had started to doubt this after seeing how many games failed on XBLA/PSN... The Wii U eShop is able to pull in respectable numbers and that means it's another platform that can be considered for development. It's quite important that independent developers like us are not 100% dependent on any one platform - Steam tends to be the best channel for most developers and for us the Mac App Store has done well on a constant basis, and now Wii U is set to become a third pillar. This provides a lot of added stability and eases cashflow projections - all of which help us plan the next project(s) (and in our case hopefully allows us to take the time and not have to do any compromises... Trine 2 still suffered from some minor things on that front, Trine 2: Goblin Menace was much better, and now hopefully the next project can remain "pure").
Anyhow thanks guys, it is great to hear the feedback and thoughts.
This isn't the first time we've heard a developer talk about how the initial promise of XBLA/PSN hasn't quite lived up to the reality, especially when there are better options on offer outside of consoles.
Which isn't surprising when you think about it. If there is one area where consoles face the most competition from smartphones, tablets, and Steam, it's with digital download only titles. Which is why not just Nintendo, but Microsoft and Sony need to do a lot to improve their services. Both in terms of visibility on the platform but also stuff like pricing and patching policies.
playingwithfire
Member
Bought this discounted on the UK eShop.
Whenever I'm stuck I pause, open Miiverse post a sceenshot and say 'help'. You get people responding with advice within moments, it's so cool.
Great game, I hope it does really well on Wii U.
Whenever I'm stuck I pause, open Miiverse post a sceenshot and say 'help'. You get people responding with advice within moments, it's so cool.
Great game, I hope it does really well on Wii U.
I plan on picking this game up when it is discounted on the eShop, but I'm more interested in my NoA won't discount stuff. Seems strange when other regions have more flexibility. Too many restrictions doesn't help and essentially drives developers to other platforms. But then, no one seems to understand NoA, not even NoA. Heh, I used to work there and we'd talk about this kind of stuff all the time.
Conrad Link
Member
One day when it comes out on the NZ/Aus store I can actually buy it and support their efforts.
Instead it just sits there showing off to me on the Plaza and Miiverse trolling instead. :|
Instead it just sits there showing off to me on the Plaza and Miiverse trolling instead. :|
gamergirly
Member
I could care less. Its refreshing at the moment
Awesome
I think a lot of it also has to do with how nintendo is giving downloadable indie games equal promotion and real estate alongside $60 retail titles on the eshop front page with a constantly shuffling layout. They're going to need a better category system shortly once the library gets big enough but hopefully they continue to promote indie games on equal footing.
Really? Where did anyone from the company state this?
Smiles and Cries
Member
thanks Joel!
A little Miiverse integration goes a long way to getting me to spend more hours on a game it seems. So glad to hear that the hope is still possible for a developer to explore patching in at least some basic elements into a released product. If you do this I'll be on it and drawing at every checkpoint in the game to miiverse if possible. Nintendo Land's community is only as large as it is due to that integration, I wish you guys the same level of following.
A little Miiverse integration goes a long way to getting me to spend more hours on a game it seems. So glad to hear that the hope is still possible for a developer to explore patching in at least some basic elements into a released product. If you do this I'll be on it and drawing at every checkpoint in the game to miiverse if possible. Nintendo Land's community is only as large as it is due to that integration, I wish you guys the same level of following.
Me too!