5 ms·

Hard to really get a sense of tone from text quotes of a cynical game dev, but I got the feeling that he comes across as entitled to sales. For a remaster of a

by hbosch 2y ago

Hard to really get a sense of tone from text quotes of a cynical game dev, but I got the feeling that he comes across as entitled to sales. For a remaster of a game from 2008. Sorry, but you cannot expect "a million" sales for a project like that... doesn't this guy have like 2 or 3 games "close to release" for like a year now? Maybe he'd do better to release one of those. I'm not sure you get to feel snobby about "dogshit sales" when you release 2 games in 16 years.

phailhaus 2y ago
Braid is a legendary indie game, it's not crazy to expect decent sales from an anniversary edition.
- slowhadoken 2y ago
  And yet it didn’t sale.
- djur 2y ago
  It's a legendary indie game in part because everybody played it. It was in the Humble Indie Bundle 2 in 2010, which means its market value approached "free copy in a Cracker Jack box" at that point. Braid 2 might have sold better.
- pixelpoet 2y ago
  Myst was legendary too, and sold very well. Let's be real, it wasn't actually that fun, but we had other reasons to enjoy it at the time (in my case, I was learning production rendering). It too would sell like "dogshit" today.
  - badsectoracula 2y ago
    Funny you say that because there was a recent VR remake of Myst which got some decent reviews :-).
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    Myst wasn't that fun?? I know a lot of gamers, including my younger-than-Myst daughter, who very much feel the opposite. "Fun" is subjective.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- AdmiralAsshat 2y ago
  Couple reasons I can think of: - Lack of marketing. The first time I'm hearing of a Braid remaster is from the creator bitching about its poor sales. - Lack of replayability. Most people who played it the first time are probably satisfied with their playthrough and not convinces that they need to go through it again. - Lack of value add. The game went on sale all the time on Steam, XBX, PSN, etc. I'm pretty sure I got the Steam version on a Humble Bundle for a few bucks, and I believe I had the PS3 or PS4 version as a free game on PS+ one month. Given that I could never muster the interest to finish the original game (which I can still happily play on Steam, mind you), I'm not sure why I'd want to buy the game again. I think this was a miscalculation on the team's part that there would be sizable interest in a remaster. I mean I enjoyed World of Goo back in the day, too, but I don't feel like I need a remaster of that, either. Then again, this is the guy that IIRC put all of his earnings from Braid directly into The Witness's development (essentially making it another make-or-break title even after Braid's success), so you get the feeling that however talented a developer he might be, maybe the guy needs someone above him to spot-check his financial decisions.
  - dsissitka 2y ago
    It was also delayed for over three years.
- nothercastle 2y ago
  It’s famous but is not that unique compared to everything else that came out since. It doesn’t have a crazy dedicated community like Diablo, wing commander, doom, etc.
- gaws 2y ago
  > it's not crazy to expect decent Define "decent"
santoshalper 2y ago
If you actually watch the video, he does not come across entitled to sales. He comes across as someone who is disappointed that his product didn't do better, and someone who is worried about his company like most small business owners.
- djur 2y ago
  Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Blow, but this clearly wasn't just a cash grab -- it sounds like a decent amount of time and money went into the remaster. I think it's fine for him to be personally upset that it didn't do better, especially because people's livelihoods are on the line. That's not the same as feeling entitled to sales.

by hbosch 2y ago

phailhaus 2y ago

Braid is a legendary indie game, it's not crazy to expect decent sales from an anniversary edition.

slowhadoken 2y ago
And yet it didn’t sale.
djur 2y ago
It's a legendary indie game in part because everybody played it. It was in the Humble Indie Bundle 2 in 2010, which means its market value approached "free copy in a Cracker Jack box" at that point. Braid 2 might have sold better.
pixelpoet 2y ago
Myst was legendary too, and sold very well. Let's be real, it wasn't actually that fun, but we had other reasons to enjoy it at the time (in my case, I was learning production rendering). It too would sell like "dogshit" today.
- badsectoracula 2y ago
  Funny you say that because there was a recent VR remake of Myst which got some decent reviews :-).
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Myst wasn't that fun?? I know a lot of gamers, including my younger-than-Myst daughter, who very much feel the opposite. "Fun" is subjective.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
AdmiralAsshat 2y ago
Couple reasons I can think of: - Lack of marketing. The first time I'm hearing of a Braid remaster is from the creator bitching about its poor sales. - Lack of replayability. Most people who played it the first time are probably satisfied with their playthrough and not convinces that they need to go through it again. - Lack of value add. The game went on sale all the time on Steam, XBX, PSN, etc. I'm pretty sure I got the Steam version on a Humble Bundle for a few bucks, and I believe I had the PS3 or PS4 version as a free game on PS+ one month. Given that I could never muster the interest to finish the original game (which I can still happily play on Steam, mind you), I'm not sure why I'd want to buy the game again. I think this was a miscalculation on the team's part that there would be sizable interest in a remaster. I mean I enjoyed World of Goo back in the day, too, but I don't feel like I need a remaster of that, either. Then again, this is the guy that IIRC put all of his earnings from Braid directly into The Witness's development (essentially making it another make-or-break title even after Braid's success), so you get the feeling that however talented a developer he might be, maybe the guy needs someone above him to spot-check his financial decisions.
- dsissitka 2y ago
  It was also delayed for over three years.
nothercastle 2y ago
It’s famous but is not that unique compared to everything else that came out since. It doesn’t have a crazy dedicated community like Diablo, wing commander, doom, etc.
gaws 2y ago
> it's not crazy to expect decent Define "decent"

santoshalper 2y ago

If you actually watch the video, he does not come across entitled to sales. He comes across as someone who is disappointed that his product didn't do better, and someone who is worried about his company like most small business owners.

djur 2y ago
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Blow, but this clearly wasn't just a cash grab -- it sounds like a decent amount of time and money went into the remaster. I think it's fine for him to be personally upset that it didn't do better, especially because people's livelihoods are on the line. That's not the same as feeling entitled to sales.