I’m currently occupied putting the finishing touches on Soulcaster II and haven’t had much time to work on this site, but I’m going to write a quick note here to address the new game since Indie Games Winter Uprising has been announced.
The concept grew from a conversation I had with Robert Boyd of Zeboyd Games (Breath of Death VII and the upcoming Cthulhu Saves the World) at the start of this month. This was when we were first displaced on the dashboard and sales were in the gutter. I asked him if he wanted to release Cthulhu at the same time that I released Soulcaster II, so we could do some cross promotion. Even though the games are different genres, they target the same demographic so if we can get someone to visit the channel for one, maybe she’ll buy the other as well? If we were releasing $59.95 retail games, it would be ludicrous to synchronize releases because we would clearly cannibalize each other. But really, the sales issue on XBLIG is due to lack of traffic, not someone deciding how he’s going to spend his $3 monthly gaming budget.
Robert was into the idea and thought we should take it to the next level. If we coordinate two releases, why not coordinate 12? Let’s see who’s releasing something exciting in the next month and get them on board. We decided to focus on high quality, non-avatar games for this event, to put our best foot forward to the gaming community.
More traffic = more sales = more revenue for Microsoft = increased likelihood of promoting Indie Games on the dashboard. That’s the theory at least.
Or maybe we end up just cannibalizing one another’s sales. Wouldn’t that be ironic!
I just wanted to say huge props to Robert for not only wrangling the devs together on the XNA forums, but for handling the press release as well. It’s good to have the pull of a hit like BODVII on your record–the press pays attention. Once I’m done with my game I can put forth some marketing as well. I guess a trailer is in order! But first things first…gotta finish this game in the next week.
I for one plan to still play them all so you’ll all be getting a sale from me even if the do come out at the same time.
I adore the XBLIG scene and plan to support this event 100%. I also, hope word gets out about it so all the devs involved can gain a success from it. I’ll even try to spread the word as best as I can possible. I would love to see this become an annual (or even bi-annual if you consider a beginning of June event when game releases are a little slower) event so that XBLIG gets more recognition. Goodluck to all devs involved, I hope for nothing but the greatest of success.
P.S. I’d love to get myself involved in one of this events too if I can gather enough time to finish a game.
This is looking mint!
I must ask also, who is doing those beautiful beats? I am in love with the music, I can hope it will be the sound you’re using for the game? YES?! Please say yes? Please 🙁
Chris.
Yes! This is one of the background tracks for the game, and the rest of the soundtrack is done in this 80’s redbook audio style. Glad you like it! You won’t be disappointed with the rest of the soundtrack…