Braid = 3 years and $180k worth of development

[Queasy]

Link

As the budgets for videogames continue to explode, the efforts of the independent game designer are often overlooked. Jonathan Blow, 36, spent about three years developing Braid, a game for Xbox Live Arcade, Microsoft's downloadable games program. The game, which was released this week, has already been well-received, winning praise for a seamless connection between its story and its gameplay.

Braid follows a lovelorn traveler named Tim as he searches for a princess he once abandoned. Starting with empty, dimly lit rooms in his house, Tim moves from level to level in search of her, unlocking doors and discovering pieces of Impressionist paintings. A brooding, baroque soundtrack and colorful watercolor scenery accompany the melancholic tale.

Players can rewind the action indefinitely, meaning that they never die. Each level has a twist in time. In one level, for example, Tim casts a "shadow" which mimics all of his movements when the player adjusts the action. In another, time flows forward when Tim walks to the right and flows backward when he moves to the left. (The game is named after the braid of hair Tim sees on the princess, but the title is also a reference to the interweaving of time.)

While videogame budgets at big studios can be millions of dollars, Mr. Blow estimates that he spent more than $180,000 of his own money during the past three years to develop Braid. He also took time off from his job as a videogame-industry consultant to focus on his project. "I have no idea how well Braid will sell," he says. "Realistically though, I could lose all of that [money]." Microsoft picked up the game in 2007 and decided to publish it for Xbox Live Arcade. It will sell for $15, a higher price than most downloadable games on the platform.

Mr. Blow is one of the more vocal leaders in the independent games movement that seeks to offer alternatives to the high-profile titles that dominate the gaming world. Mr. Blow says most videogames are deliberately too easy and that most rewards in games are superficial. He says that add-ons like fireworks after each level aren't real rewards. "Congratulations should be proportionate," he says. In Braid, players are rewarded with the satisfaction of knowing that they have solved difficult problems and are unraveling the game's story.

Such a mind-set often puts Mr. Blow at odds with the bulk of the videogame industry. "It's kind of like punk rock," says Jesper Juul, a video game researcher at the Singapore-MIT Game Lab, about Mr. Blow's attitude. "They were a reaction to big progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd who had these elaborate tours."

And like principled adherents of punk, Mr. Blow is known for maintaining his artistic vision in the face of criticism. He says that Microsoft asked him to add clues after user testing suggested that players sometimes needed help. "I had a line and I would've pulled the game and eaten the loss," he says.

Scott Austin, director of digitally distributed games for Xbox Live, says ultimately the developer has final say. "It's his intellectual property and he can do what wants."

Because Braid can be difficult, some players may not be able to finish and address their questions about the plot. Mr. Blow says that's intentional. "Let me provide a longer-term challenge," he says. "That's why there aren't any hints."

Braid sold almost 30,000 units in the first week.

I've never seen so much attention paid to a single game's price, cost, and sales like this one. At least not on XBLA. Most of it probably driven by Blow because he's been very outspoken.

 

[BD2003]

Despite the fact that by all accounts its a very good game, I really was hoping this game would bomb miserably. 1200 points is going to become the standard, and seeing how XBLA games never drop in price like the retail games, its really going to make me question these purchases far more.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: BD2003
Despite the fact that by all accounts its a very good game, I really was hoping this game would bomb miserably. 1200 points is going to become the standard, and seeing how XBLA games never drop in price like the retail games, its really going to make me question these purchases far more.

Castle Crashers is going to be 1200 points as well. It looks like MS is going to use the 1200 point level for AAA XBLA titles now.

 

[UpgradeFailure]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: BD2003
Despite the fact that by all accounts its a very good game, I really was hoping this game would bomb miserably. 1200 points is going to become the standard, and seeing how XBLA games never drop in price like the retail games, its really going to make me question these purchases far more.

Castle Crashers is going to be 1200 points as well. It looks like MS is going to use the 1200 point level for AAA XBLA titles now.

Blah to that. If that's the new standard price, at least let me buy 1200 points at once

 

[Piuc2020]

At least the guy made his money back, it encourages more developers to make "fun" games and not all the hollywood-esque titles we get nowadays (some are not bad though).

 

[KaOTiK]

Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: BD2003
Despite the fact that by all accounts its a very good game, I really was hoping this game would bomb miserably. 1200 points is going to become the standard, and seeing how XBLA games never drop in price like the retail games, its really going to make me question these purchases far more.

Castle Crashers is going to be 1200 points as well. It looks like MS is going to use the 1200 point level for AAA XBLA titles now.

Blah to that. If that's the new standard price, at least let me buy 1200 points at once

I find it totally retarded that you can't buy in that amount either. But really I find the whole point system to be a total fuck up and a way to screw people out of a dollar or less.

I thought Braid was cool and unique, but I won't buy it at its current price point, just like I laughed and won't touch the Penny Arcade game at its as well.

Castle Crashers I have waited for a very very long time. But I probably won't buy it at $15 as well unless it has a lot of replay value. A big thing I guess for me is, if I am paying more then $10 for a game I want physical media of it or I want to be able to personally back it up on one of my harddrives just in case.

I don't like the fact that if the company gets bought out/goes under that my games are probably lost? No thanks. I'm starting to warm up to steam some, only because I can fully back up the games though.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: KaOTiK
I don't like the fact that if the company gets bought out/goes under that my games are probably lost? No thanks. I'm starting to warm up to steam some, only because I can fully back up the games though.

I don't think MS is going down anytime soon.

If the games are really high quality games like Braid, Penny Arcade Adventures, and what Castle Crashers look like it is going to be, the 1200 price point doesn't bother me that much. If they start putting games like Assault Heroes, Coffeetime Crosswords, Band of Bugs, etc...then it will be an issue.

 

[BD2003]

To be fair there are still $5 and $10 games being released, but I see price as more of a production values thing than anything else. There's nothing about braid that makes it look anything special compared to all of the other $10 games, especially when games like BC:Rearmed, Rez HD, Ikaruga etc are all $10. Penny arcade was able to justify its price compared to the others at least.

That being said, there is absolutely no way in the world I'm paying more than $5 for mega man 9.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: KaOTiK
I don't like the fact that if the company gets bought out/goes under that my games are probably lost? No thanks. I'm starting to warm up to steam some, only because I can fully back up the games though.

I don't think MS is going down anytime soon.

If the games are really high quality games like Braid, Penny Arcade Adventures, and what Castle Crashers look like it is going to be, the 1200 price point doesn't bother me that much. If they start putting games like Assault Heroes, Coffeetime Crosswords, Band of Bugs, etc...then it will be an issue.

I don't think Microsoft is going anywhere, but they did screw their MSN Music store customers, unless something has changed with that. I'm willing to take the chance on cheap games, but I'll always prefer to own the physical media if possible.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: BD2003
To be fair there are still $5 and $10 games being released, but I see price as more of a production values thing than anything else. There's nothing about braid that makes it look anything special compared to all of the other $10 games, especially when games like BC:Rearmed, Rez HD, Ikaruga etc are all $10. Penny arcade was able to justify its price compared to the others at least.

That being said, there is absolutely no way in the world I'm paying more than $5 for mega man 9.

BC:Rearmed was going to be $15. But the developer put it up for a vote to the community between $10 and $15. Obviously, consumers are going to choose the cheaper price.

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: BD2003
To be fair there are still $5 and $10 games being released, but I see price as more of a production values thing than anything else. There's nothing about braid that makes it look anything special compared to all of the other $10 games, especially when games like BC:Rearmed, Rez HD, Ikaruga etc are all $10. Penny arcade was able to justify its price compared to the others at least.

That being said, there is absolutely no way in the world I'm paying more than $5 for mega man 9.

BC:Rearmed was going to be $15. But the developer put it up for a vote to the community between $10 and $15. Obviously, consumers are going to choose the cheaper price.

Yeah there are still quality games coming out for the $5 and $10 price points as has been said. I got in on the Target 1600 point card deal and I've used some of the points on Geometry Wars Evolved (man its one fun as hell game) and I'm sure there will be other 800 point games that are coming out that will be worth my while.

 

[tw1164]

I just wish the titles would be decrease in price after awhile. There's only 8 "arcade hits" available.

 

[blurredvision]

Hmm, I thought the demo showed tremendous potential for Braid, but I didn't want to buy it for $15. However, if this guy spent it out of his own pocket and put his love and livlihood into it, I may go ahead and pick it up. I can definitely respect that.

 

[erwos]

$15 is a fair price for a _very_ well-designed AAA-class game. $5-$10, though, is appropriate for most other stuff.

 

[I4AT]

When I don't like the price of an XBLA game I just don't buy it, so far I've bought zero.

 

[JoPh]

i still want to pick this game up... price is still got me on hold.

 

[Train]

considering MS pays 70% of xbla fees back to the developer, this guy made double his money back in the first week, good for him. It takes a lot to develop a complete game, not to mention a well designed one. Being good at graphics or programming is one thing, but also being abel to do the music, storyline, qa, etc, and tie them all together seamlessly requires a pretty wide array of skill and patience.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I have to agree that people are strange creatures. Between people saying they'd never pay a monthly fee for games while they spend $150/month on TV/Internet/phone which they probably use approximately the same as they do games, and the people who can't fathom paying $15 for a solid game (that probably would've sold for $40+ before services like Live Arcade), I just don't understand it. I shouldn't be surprised considering I know people who'll blow $100 on fast food in a single week but they refuse to pay $20 for a game or $10 for a CD they'd listen to a lot.

 

[dwell]

Originally posted by: Train
considering MS pays 70% of xbla fees back to the developer, this guy made double his money back in the first week, good for him. It takes a lot to develop a complete game, not to mention a well designed one. Being good at graphics or programming is one thing, but also being abel to do the music, storyline, qa, etc, and tie them all together seamlessly requires a pretty wide array of skill and patience.

Microsoft cut developer's fees in half to 35% a long time ago.

 

[erwos]

I just find it utterly bizarre that someone can pick a price point and say "I will never pay that for an XBLA game, regardless of quality". You'll pay $5 for a so-so game, but not $15 for a fantastic one?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Chris

Originally posted by: Train
considering MS pays 70% of xbla fees back to the developer, this guy made double his money back in the first week, good for him. It takes a lot to develop a complete game, not to mention a well designed one. Being good at graphics or programming is one thing, but also being abel to do the music, storyline, qa, etc, and tie them all together seamlessly requires a pretty wide array of skill and patience.

Microsoft cut developer's fees in half to 35% a long time ago.

But they picked up the QA testing and ESRB submission process. Seeing how each and every country has a different process with different fees, that is no small chunk of change.

 

[skace]

Mr. Blow says most videogames are deliberately too easy and that most rewards in games are superficial. He says that add-ons like fireworks after each level aren't real rewards. "Congratulations should be proportionate," he says.

Agreed so goddamn hard. I'd also consider this a somewhat recent trend that's been going downhill for the last say 6 years or so.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: Chris

Originally posted by: Train
considering MS pays 70% of xbla fees back to the developer, this guy made double his money back in the first week, good for him. It takes a lot to develop a complete game, not to mention a well designed one. Being good at graphics or programming is one thing, but also being abel to do the music, storyline, qa, etc, and tie them all together seamlessly requires a pretty wide array of skill and patience.

Microsoft cut developer's fees in half to 35% a long time ago.

Perhaps "Comminuty Games" are seperate from Regular xbla games. This was posted less than a month ago:

Once the game is reviewed and the price point set, you?re done. The game is listed on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and you?ll get a check every quarter, for up to 70% of the game?s total revenue in your own currency. Depending on your game?s success, you may even have your game advertised on Xbox 360 and other Microsoft online properties.

Granted they didn't gaurentee 70%, they said "up to 70%"

http://blogs.msdn.com/xna/arch...e-community-games.aspx

 

[Beev]

I think Braid was well worth the $15 I paid. I don't buy very many XBLA games at all. In fact, I think Braid is the only one I own. How much is 1942?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Beev
How much is 1942?

800 points