[Steve Ince]

XBox Live is a little beyond my skill set I'm afraid.

[Eureka]

Aim high buddy. Aim high!

[Steve Ince]

But know your limitations...

Never let go of your dreams. One day you'll stand in somebodys face and say "What do you think you're doing with that game? Are you copying it?"

[Steve Ince]

My dreams are pretty grand, I just don't have the programming skills to create a version that would run on XBox live. And I don't have the time to learn...

[Kolzig]

I bought the game as download and I would buy it as a CD version too.
And if the CD version has some extras bundled with it, that would be just almost too awesome.

[Steve Ince]

Thanks Kolzig.

What's really telling about this poll is that there have been nearly 400 views of this thread but only 12 votes. I think that I have my answer...

[jacog]

Steve Ince: Would it be rude of me to ask if you could divulge sales figures for Mr S Goes N vs estimated amount of time spent making it? Or PM me if you are willing to share with a single peep namely me of the aforementioned PM.

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by jacog

Steve Ince: Would it be rude of me to ask if you could divulge sales figures for Mr S Goes N vs estimated amount of time spent making it? Or PM me if you are willing to share with a single peep namely me of the aforementioned PM.

Let me put it this way:

I was hoping to sell 2000 copies to give me a good return for the amount of time I invested in creating the game. Even 1000 copies would have given me a reasonable sum (minus the money paid for the music) but as I'm struggling to even reach a tenth of that I'm left in a position where I'm still owing money out.

Perhaps I should have done the game in a similar visual style to Mr. Robot (by Moonpod Games http://www.moonpod.com/ ), which has lots of similarities to Nutso in terms of gameplay style.

By the way, my earlier comment was meant to be tongue in cheek, but looking back I don't think it came across that way.

[jacog]

Much truth there is in jest. But it's not good news. I would also like to see a breakdown of what your marketing strategy is/was, but now I am just getting nosy. I mean, have you identified a target demographic and done some research about where you might find them? Also, have you ever considered a lower profit margin in favour of bigger sales by selling through vendors like casual games vendors. I had a chat with the marketing manager for one such company, and he told me 2000 units was about a worst case scenario for anything they publish on their site. This is not a discussion for this thread though.

[Kolzig]

I'm sad to hear that such a good game hasn't sold well, what is wrong with people and especially the adventure community? I thought they especially would love this kind of nice little game...

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by jacog

Much truth there is in jest. But it's not good news. I would also like to see a breakdown of what your marketing strategy is/was, but now I am just getting nosy. I mean, have you identified a target demographic and done some research about where you might find them? Also, have you ever considered a lower profit margin in favour of bigger sales by selling through vendors like casual games vendors. I had a chat with the marketing manager for one such company, and he told me 2000 units was about a worst case scenario for anything they publish on their site. This is not a discussion for this thread though.

I exlored this route to a point, but there were problems. Some portals think it's not a casual game. Some think it's too hard for the casual market. Some had some technical issues with it. Seems I couldn't win...

Originally Posted by Kolzig

I'm sad to hear that such a good game hasn't sold well, what is wrong with people and especially the adventure community? I thought they especially would love this kind of nice little game...

You can't blame people for not wanting to buy a game. If it isn't to their tastes there's nothing I can do, other than learn from the experience.

[Melanie68]

I saw this site in Marek's blog:

http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by Melanie68

I saw this site in Marek's blog:

http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/

What I thought was most interesting were Marek's thoughts on Manifesto and I find that I agree with him completely. I signed up with Manifesto and I can't say that it's done me a geat deal of good. And trying to make a game publishing venture out to be some sort of radical political movement is really a bit silly.

[bysmitty]

I know that you are asking about the feasibility of CD versions but I think a price drop might be more beneficial to sales. You are competing with many large budget games at that price point. Something in the range of $10-$15 would position Nutso more strategically against them.

Edit: For example Prey (2006), Painkiller: Gold (2004), and Psychonauts (2005) are all available on Steam for the same or less money than Nutso.

...bysmitty

[jacog]

Originally Posted by Steve Ince

I exlored this route to a point, but there were problems. Some portals think it's not a casual game. Some think it's too hard for the casual market. Some had some technical issues with it. Seems I couldn't win...

Wow, that is really unfortunate, and these people sound a tad daft if you ask me. I guess in the end no matter how good your product is, you still have to contend with overwelming stupidity. Can't really win I suppose. This is why there's so much tripe coming out of Hollywood too... but I digress.

How's the response elsewhere to having a CD version? The percentages here look good, but not the numbers. I don't quite understand though... My intuition tells me a lot of people download the game, play it, probably like it, but just can't bring themselves to tap in their credit card details for the full version. Also, shipping and fulfillment solutions... handle it all yourself for the UK, handle US orders through a fulfillment house in Michigan perhaps? Questions questions...

Sorry, getting a little carried away. I simultanously love and hate this stuff. I was technology strategist for an advertising/marketing firm for 5 years, and even though the job mostly sucked, I do sometimes miss it.

Originally Posted by bysmitty

I know that you are asking about the feasibility of CD versions but I think a price drop might be more beneficial to sales. You are competing with many large budget games at that price point. Something in the range of $10-$15 would position Nutso more strategically against them.

...bysmitty

I have to agree with you. I recently bought totally neverwinter nights, which is neverwinter nights including both the expansion packs. Now, this game is a little old(from 2003), but it costed about the same as Mr Smoozles Goes Nutso. I don't know about the size of Mr Smoozles Goes Nutso, but I figure it's less than the time I would have to spend to finish neverwinter nights with all the expansion packs.

But yeah, I'd love to support this game. So I'm seriously considering buying it now. Steve's one of the best.

All that said. I would be more willing to spend the money if I got a cd version instead of just a code I can accidently delete if I am not careful(I am an expert in loosing e-mails with activation codes).

[Junkface]

I keep meaning to buy it but only remember to late at night when my Mum's too asleep for me to borrow her credit card without upsetting my fickle conscience. However, I promise to purchase it tomorrow, god knows I've been considering it long eough. I think a major obstacle to many people accepting it may be the long load time at the beginning, as it is a somewhat worrying sign for people who haven't played the demo or are unfamiliar with your work. I realise this post is pretty pointless, as I trust that if it were something easily fixed you would have done so already but I somehow felt obliged to add that point anyhow. I'm saddened to hear the game hasn't done better for you, as it clearly is the product of a lot of talent and care.

[Steve Ince]

Originally Posted by bysmitty

I know that you are asking about the feasibility of CD versions but I think a price drop might be more beneficial to sales. You are competing with many large budget games at that price point. Something in the range of $10-$15 would position Nutso more strategically against them.

Edit: For example Prey (2006), Painkiller: Gold (2004), and Psychonauts (2005) are all available on Steam for the same or less money than Nutso.

...bysmitty

The exchange rates are a real pain at the moment. Compared to prices in the UK, what I'm charging is very reasonable. PC games normally sell for around 30 pounds with cheaper releases (HL2 Ep1) going for around 20 pounds. At current exchange rates this would equate to 60 and 40 dollars respectively.

If I reduced the price to 10 dollars, that would equate to 5 pounds and to me the game is more than a five pound game.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is no solution. Maybe I have a month at reduced price to see if it makes a difference. Maybe I need better marketing.

Here's another question: Of the people who already bought it, do you feel you paid too much?

[Kolzig]

Well you propably can guess my answer as I feel I didn't pay too much.