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The Witness price revealed ($39.99 / 36.99)
- Thread starter Cyberia
- Start date
Blow told us much more about this game during development than just the length.
Number of puzzles is already a known, 667 at least, game world size is as pointless a metric as duration. Quality, enjoyment, depth? That's up to you. A game consisting of a single hallway could be one of the deepest/best/most enjoyable experiences you've ever had, like P.T. for many.
You want the developer to quantify these (subjective) things that can't be quantified. If you want to know more about the Witness, go look for interviews where he talks about game instead of trying to find 'sell me on it' bulletpoints on GAF.
Here's a start. This interview was posted earlier in the thread and Blow goes into the design philosophy of the game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGsY9j9VMnQ
Bloody_Five
Banned
I found out that the name of the studio founded by Jonathan Blow is "Thekla".
In Ancient Greek, Thekla means "God's fame".
Another clue?
In Ancient Greek, Thekla means "God's fame".
Another clue?
$4 per letter. Which seems decent value.
But as is typical with greedy devs these days, they've added 'the' to make the game appear better value that it really is. Without that padding, it would be a ridiculous $5.71 per letter.
Compare that to the amaxing value for money you are getting with 'Tom Clancy's The Division'. Only $2.85 per letter, and they throw in an apostrophe *completely free*
Buying members of the public look a cheaper physical new releases as rubbish game therefore poor sales, or they could a limited edition run.
How many copies would a average retail store stock, less than 5 on most occasions. These niche titles are supported by gamer's rather the mass market consumer, so I can understand the developers stance.
No matter what they charge people moan, they can't win any way. Just look at the success of free to play games. Paying for cosmetic items is the biggest waste of money but people pay it.
How many copies would a average retail store stock, less than 5 on most occasions. These niche titles are supported by gamer's rather the mass market consumer, so I can understand the developers stance.
No matter what they charge people moan, they can't win any way. Just look at the success of free to play games. Paying for cosmetic items is the biggest waste of money but people pay it.
Ugh, I really do dislike the arbitrary valuation automatically assigned to indie/digital only games. The price is a non issue for me - primarily because I won't pick it up at launch (thanks, PSN wishlist functionality [finally]), but also because what I know of the game is intriguing and that's enough for me to take the plunge even on a full price game.
Hey now. The sorrow emote is worth every piece of silver I paid.
? No it doesn't. It's PS4/PC. I mean ffs have you even seen the gameplay footage? It's not coming to iOS. No way.
SentryDown
Member
That's not the point though, I know the game and what it has to offer, I'm just sad that they need to justify a price by giving us the technical sheet (it's even worse on the PS Blog with this chart with the number of game files nobody will understand). We're talking of video games, not vacuum cleaners, there's an experience behind the code and my enjoyment isn't measured in dollars spent per hour
travisbickle
Member
Would something like this really attract a lot of attention on the shelves?
Outside of the USA, yes. PS4 sells in a lot of new places that haven't been brainwashed to refuse games without a gun and or woman's arse on the box.
AHA-Lambda
Member
It's not so much specs as market, why iOS? How much will it be if it's already $40 on PC and console? So how much will it really sell there?
I just wonder why bother with iOS, it is a wasteland, especially for premium titles
And people pay up to 20 quid for shitty Early Access games on Steam.
Boggles the mind.
I wonder if Blow included a guide for reviewers. I'd be pretty stressed out if I had to finish this game in a week or two without being able to look up hints online if I'm stuck.
darkinstinct
...lacks reading comprehension.
Blow said just days ago that it will be out for iOS in three months. But sure, it's not coming. It was built from the beginning with PC, iOS and Android in mind. That's probably the reason why the lighting is flat. It's great art design for sure but from a technological view it is rather bland. Of course it won't run at 60 fps on iOS devices but the amount of polygons can easily be handled by those at 30 fps.
Well obviously yeah but if some of the puzzles are as hard as Blow is saying they are it means a bunch of reviewers simply won't have seen everything the game's got to offer.
I imagine the same thing happened when Braid originally came out on XBLA, how many of them got to the real ending?
YianGaruga
Banned
So if you get really stuck at a puzzle early on your review should just be "The game is too hard for me, 3/10"?
thats better?
toythatkills
Member
I have decided that in every single |OT| for a AAA game in the future, I am going to post shit about how I am appalled at the $60 price tag because I don't like [insert genre here] games and I wouldn't pay more than $5 for a AAA game anyway and they're crazy if they think I'm paying $60 when their game only took a year or so to make because it's obviously only worth $5 so I'm just going to wait for a sale and everyone else should wait for a sale as well because it's bound to go on sale eventually because all AAA games go on sale in the end so you're an idiot if you buy it at launch for $60.
Visualante2
Member
Thanks to the internet, that 1% becomes 100%. Personally I'll try until I've exhausted everything that occurs to me and if I fail after that, and I'm enjoying the game enough to continue, I'll just Google the answer.
(Small ramble) Because "Indie" is still young, I think pricing is something that's still difficult to gauge.
For example, I remember buying Gone Home when it came out because I love Adventure/Horror (I know it didn't end up being horror) but after finishing it less than an HOUR later, I was incredibly annoyed that I had dropped £20. The game was fine but holy hell, it cost way too much.
That's from a content perspective, you then have critical analysis...
For example, 'Jouney'. Some people class that game as one of the best in the generation, some experience that transcends gaming. I thought it was fine/okay but my point is it was worth the money. It came out for a reasonable price considering playtime and replayability.
I think a lot of Indie games that are supposedly "deep" are scored higher despite the actual game design being lacking. The most recent example is "That Dragon Cancer" which scored highly at some outlets just for its subject matter when the actual game played incredibly badly.
So, when it comes to The Witness. I'm mostly going to be listening out for content, playtime and replayability at that price. I recently bought SOMA at full price which was £10 less than this and I didn't regret it at all. There's obviously a place for higher-priced "Indie" but they can't rest on their laurels of being unique.
For example, I remember buying Gone Home when it came out because I love Adventure/Horror (I know it didn't end up being horror) but after finishing it less than an HOUR later, I was incredibly annoyed that I had dropped £20. The game was fine but holy hell, it cost way too much.
That's from a content perspective, you then have critical analysis...
For example, 'Jouney'. Some people class that game as one of the best in the generation, some experience that transcends gaming. I thought it was fine/okay but my point is it was worth the money. It came out for a reasonable price considering playtime and replayability.
I think a lot of Indie games that are supposedly "deep" are scored higher despite the actual game design being lacking. The most recent example is "That Dragon Cancer" which scored highly at some outlets just for its subject matter when the actual game played incredibly badly.
So, when it comes to The Witness. I'm mostly going to be listening out for content, playtime and replayability at that price. I recently bought SOMA at full price which was £10 less than this and I didn't regret it at all. There's obviously a place for higher-priced "Indie" but they can't rest on their laurels of being unique.
Sutton Dagger
Member
Considering Braid is one of my favourite games of all time I'm definitely supporting Blow by buying the Witness.
I can agree with this; especially for games released in Q1/Q2.
By the fall, the price will be much more appealing to most.
Nice, one strike and your out policy huh.
I'll be waiting for that then. I always trade in my games.
I'm way more concerned about this than the price (which I have no real issues with).
But 40/50 hours completion time to just finish it? That seems a lot... The puzzles have to be pretty varied or extremely interesting to be engaging for this long. Haven't played Talos Principle yet, but apparenty that game is pretty long ánd good. Let's hope TW can achieve the same.
But 70 to 80 hours for 100%? Holy crap.
That's not really a problem for a nonlinear game.
Visualante2
Member
Talos Principle had a weird effect on me. Sometimes the puzzles were lacking but the narrative picked up, other times the narrative had a lull and the puzzles kept me going. I doubt it was the case for everyone because I played the game over a long week end. But that game was patchy. And it was just shy of 20 hours to see the main endings. There are some stars, sort of life in Braid where you have to break the game to get them. That adds a lot more duration.
More_Badass
Member
It is. I've asked Blow. (I write for a mobile gaming site)
Daffy Duck
Member
This game looks incredible, but I fear it's too deep for me lol.
Neverforget
Member
I'll wait for the sales, I'm interested to play it but not interested enough to pay it full price. Hopefully the game will deliver.
Do you have a source for that?
That blows my mind. Have mobile devices really gotten that powerful the they could run games in such a massive 3D environment? Never in a million years would I have thought phones could run what we've seen of the game so far.
thecouncil
Banned
40 - 50 hours to complete sounds even less appealing than the $40 pricetag.