Jonathan Blow talks Braid pricing

by Justin McElroy { Aug 6th 2008 at 2:30PM }

There's a really interesting discussion going on in the comments section at Braid designer Jonathan Blow's official blog, as he attempts to explain why he's a bit disappointed the game has to arrive for 1200 ($15), rather than the 800 ($10) points he would have preferred.

Though he says Microsoft pushed the $15 price point, he admits he's also got his own financial concerns to consider that make the price a lot more palatable. Blow also says he's worried about ending up like Jeff Minter, who wanted his game Space Giraffe affordably priced but didn't recoup enough as a result. It's a surprisingly frank discussion, and one well worth checking out.

Gallery: Braid

Tags: braid, jonathan-blow, xbla

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 2:37PM

It sucks this guy doesn't have more say in the pricing for a game he slaved over basically by himself. I'm for the lower pricing because I don't think the game is all that great but meh I don't have to like everything.

xFenixKnightx (RRoD hath striketh upon me 08-03-2008) @ Aug 6th 2008 2:43PM

OK, we get it! You think is sucks. How many more posts are you gonna make about it? You even went to X3F.com to simply say it sucks. Get over it! Go put an add in the newspaper or something but stop posting it here. I myself and many other might enjoy this title.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 2:46PM

Nobody's forcing you to read my comments. Also, my opinion doesn't effect your opinion of the game for you does it? No, it doesn't.

Me not enjoying it doesn't mean you cannot. So grow up and if you don't like my comments don't read them. Simple as that.

Fenix @ Aug 6th 2008 2:53PM

Agreed, now I'll just add you to my (skip this guys comments) list whenever I see one of your wonderful posts.

riggs @ Aug 6th 2008 2:58PM

and u can skip over the articles if u dont like it, so practice what you preach.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 3:00PM

Oh, NOEZ my world is crushed!! The famous FenixKnight can't handle someone disagreeing with him on something my purpose in life is now forfeit.

How will I go on, HOW I ASK YOU!?

E.J. @ Aug 6th 2008 3:21PM

Dude, you've been harping about how this game sucks even before release. Shut the hell up already.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 3:25PM

I have never outright said the game sucks. I said in my opinion its not something I see the appeal in. I don't get why everyone takes someone not liking something as much as they do as a personal attack.

If you like Braid more power to you. Enjoy the game why do you care what I have to say about it? It's nothing against Braid or anyone that likes the game I (as in myself alone)don't see what the big fuss is about.

So why spend/waste time trying to convince me otherwise if you enjoy it?

Fenix @ Aug 6th 2008 3:35PM

Oh really? You've never outright said it sucked? Then who the hell wrote this?

"Also, I think Braid sucks....that is all."

Dude, that is PHAIL right there. P H A I L!!! Oops, forgot you were on my list. I shouldn't have even read that nonsense.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 3:40PM

Dude, whatever. Obviously me not liking this game somehow effects your quality of life which is why you feel the need to jump down my throat about not liking it.

So Braids great its awesome! Do you feel better now? Is your day or mind somehow eased by some validating your purchase because they agree with you? I hope so...

Fenix @ Aug 6th 2008 3:52PM

Seriously man, all I was just trying to say was relax. There was no need for crapping on the game as much as you did. What did YOU achieve? Did that make YOU feel better and YOUR day more pleasant?

j.howlett @ Aug 6th 2008 4:11PM

what sucks is he said it sucks that the creator doesn't have more say in pricing. he said he didn't think the game was great but he doesn't have to like everything. i can't find him harping doom and gloom on the game from a quick glance through his post history.

ZenGaijin @ Aug 6th 2008 4:22PM

Meh, no hard feelings. All I am saying is give peace a chance.

But yeah not a fan of Braid but sorry if it felt like I was raining all over it.

rivaldi22 @ Aug 6th 2008 2:41PM

I might buy this JUST to support the guy. I liked the demo, though thought it was a bit much. Hearing that he really would have liked it to be 10 instead of 15 is nice to hear.

PA's game, while still great, was 20, and they were pretty unapologetic about it. I think it's worth 20, but this bit with Braid helps to show that he really wasn't in it to make a profit, just to recoup losses and get it out there.

Duke @ Aug 6th 2008 2:47PM

I found it strange that he didn't think it was a big deal that the game was $5 more than people wanted. When that equates to 1/3 of the total price, its a pretty big price difference.

rivaldi22 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:07PM

True, RELATIVELY it's a big increase, but it's not a great ABSOLUTE increase. Considering that the increase is the same as a deli sandwich, I don't struggle as hard to reason acquiescing to the price.

It's definitely a personal decision, with the discretion left to each's own.

Noshino @ Aug 6th 2008 3:10PM

You can't really compare it to PA's game, the price for their game is much more reasonable if you take in mind all the resources to make it...

Seriously, how can you compare a company to a 1-man team?

baby sea tuna @ Aug 6th 2008 3:17PM

Good point. If anything Blow deserves *more* money than Hothead if he ended up making the game by himself! On top of that, his name is Blow...which, along with hookers, is what he should be spending his extra $5 per unit on!

rivaldi22 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:19PM

I wasn't comparing their games, I was comparing their approaches to consumer's disappointment. I was saying that Blow handled it a bit better, in my opinion.

Where PA were like "It's worth it, go fuck yourselves," where Blow was like "I wanted it to be 10, but I'm fucking poor and made the game by myself, cut me some slack, plz."

Duke @ Aug 6th 2008 3:34PM

"True, RELATIVELY it's a big increase, but it's not a great ABSOLUTE increase."

A relative increase that large is an absolutely large increase to me.

rivaldi22 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:41PM

Is that your idea of a bad pun?

I mean it in the sense that, in absolute comparison, 5 dollars is not much, considering many things that we buy last a much shorter amount of time than Braid would and cost more than 15 dollars.

Duke @ Aug 6th 2008 3:59PM

This is going in circles. If a price increase of 1/3 is not much to you then fine. I am ok with the price of the game - I was commenting on how I found the devs comments on the price change odd, not on the value of the game versus the price change.

rivaldi22 @ Aug 6th 2008 4:23PM

I agree. I guess the point is that I see it as a 5 dollar increase, which I'm okay with, and you see it as a 1/3 increase, which is--understandably--a more drastic change.

HOWEVER, we both feel that it's still a reasonable price, so that's good.

Duke @ Aug 6th 2008 4:49PM

Yuppers!

Jfk Aok @ Aug 6th 2008 4:51PM

Duke,
The game has NO real value. You can not sell it so you're analogy is useless. It isn't stocks. The game is not WORTH 10 dollars and it's not WORTH 15. It, however, COSTS what it COSTS.
And to work with your lame logic, the game costs 1/4 of what games now cost retail. No tax and can buy it immediately and play it 15 minutes later. The game takes at least 5 hours to beat the first time... if you're darn smart. 5 * 4 = 20 hours of gameplay if it cost 60 bucks.
That's longer than it took me to beat cod4 and gears of war combined.

OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ Aug 6th 2008 2:43PM

You know how you can end up not pulling a Space Giraffe?

Make a better game than Space Giraffe.

I didn't care how much Minter whined. All I knew was that I paid for his game and I didn't like it.

Obie @ Aug 6th 2008 6:48PM

Agreed, Space Giraffe didn't sell because it was garbage, not because of it's pricing.
800 points is the sweet spot for me, anything over that I will wait on.

Shogan @ Aug 6th 2008 2:46PM

I think he could make more money selling the game for $10 than 15. At $10, I'd have surely given it a chance, but $15 is a turn-off. I know it's not his fault, and it's Microsoft trying to make more money with ALL the XBLA titles, but it is what it is. Sorry dude.

Christopher Grant @ Aug 6th 2008 2:59PM

Well, that's the movie theater popcorn dilemma. I don't think it's that clear cut – also, we'll never know which is the case. For the reviews the game is getting, $15 sounds like a reasonable price and that's probably one reason why MS thought it could charge more.

BIGFAT @ Aug 6th 2008 3:15PM

no 15 dollar is not a reasonable price for a arcade game because once you go over 10 dollars your options open open up more. for 10 dollars all i can really get is a good arcade game but with 15 dollars i can get a pretty good used game, which has a better dollar per value ratio. so when you go over 10 dollars i find that i can get value from my money elsewhere.

Noshino @ Aug 6th 2008 3:18PM

But Chris, one of the problems is that companies such as PA and Insomniac are releasing digitally distributed games for almost the same price, and according to reviewers/screens/videos they seem to have higher production values than Braid

bobartig @ Aug 6th 2008 3:42PM

Everybody always says "lower price = more customers = win", but you are ignoring the fact that there is an optimal price point, and it is not always the fabulously affordable "what I think its worth" price that gamers have in their heads.

If Jonathan ends up selling 9000 copies at $15, but he would have sold 10,000 at $10, and say 13,000 at $5 then that price decrease just cost him $35000. An additional price cut would cost him another $20000.

At $15, more of his customers are going to end up feeling that it wasn't "worth" the full amount, but he still ends up banking more dough, which in turn allows him to keep going as an indie dev.

The fact is, there is not an infinite population of indie gamers that his XBLA title will appeal to. Meaning that his sales will be less flexible to price changes.

J @ Aug 6th 2008 2:57PM

This was a pass for me when all I had was screenshots to go on and until I read articles that explained the game-play in a deeper manner. I'll be picking this up whenever I get reconnected to live.

I don't base my purchases solely on Review scores, but A "9" from Edge is a feat in and of itself.

Shagittarius @ Aug 6th 2008 3:34PM

Edge hands out 9s like theres no tomorrow WTF are you talking about?

J @ Aug 6th 2008 4:06PM

I very well could be wrong, but I'm not used to seeing such a high score for a relatively not-so-hyped xbla title.

Good Lord, who pissed in everyone's cheerios this morning?

Shagittarius @ Aug 6th 2008 4:08PM

I eat Grape Nutz jack azz!

Duke @ Aug 6th 2008 4:17PM

Shag, sorry about that whole grape nuts thing. You know, I just had to go, drank a lot of coffee, wasn't really paying attention. Well, you know, I'm sorry man.

J @ Aug 6th 2008 4:32PM

You're right. Although that wasn't directed just at you, it was a bit presumptuous and they (grape nuts) are rather good with Honey... it really tends to cover up the uric aftertaste, just fyi ;)

3cubed @ Aug 6th 2008 2:58PM

Its too bad that Microsoft wouldn't let him price it at 10$. I would've seriously considered it since I really haven't played a good 2D platformer since NSMB.

copa @ Aug 6th 2008 2:59PM

I love how when people complain about crap like horse armor that gets posted on XBLM, Microsoft says, "Don't blame us. We just host a marketplace for people to sell their shit."

But if a developer once to actually test free market principles by using a lower price to move more product, Microsoft says, "Fuck that. You're not charging enough."

BIGFAT @ Aug 6th 2008 2:59PM

How does he expect me to pay 15$ for a game that he doesn't have confidence in. He is basically telling me to pay 15$ not because the game is worth it, but because he thinks its not going to sell and he thinks i should pay more to cover the loss.

bad business.

Dr. Stabbingworth @ Aug 6th 2008 6:29PM

Also, why do people think they should pay more because one person made it instead of a team? Sorry, but I pay for the game, not the sob story behind it.

No disc
5 hours of gameplay, tops
No possibility of selling/loaning

When I can get a physical copy of a game like Mass Effect or Gears or whatever for $20 then $15 for this is insane.

Saria the Cat @ Aug 7th 2008 4:13AM

What I want to know is why some people put the $ sign AFTER the price number. Why 15$ instead of $15? Is it because $ = "dollars" and 15 = "fifteen," and you say "fifteen dollars" in real life? This is truly the real question that should be answered in this whole debacle.

samfish @ Aug 6th 2008 3:00PM

Wasn't the consensus on Space Giraffe that it sucked or at least was kind of niche?
...not that a platform/puzzle hybrid isn't niche, either.

Anyway, $15 bucks isn't a bad price to me if there's enough content. If you can beat the game in like 2 or 3 hours, sure it's a rip. But if it's a 15 hour game, I don't mind paying $15 dollars.

Assuming I actually like the game in question, of course.

BIGFAT @ Aug 6th 2008 3:17PM

it less then 3 hours unless you get stuck on a puzzle.

Jacksons @ Aug 6th 2008 3:02PM

He's an arrogant som'bitch, but at least he delivers.

ScottG13 @ Aug 6th 2008 3:09PM

I'm heading home in a couple hours to purchase and play this. I support small developers on XBLA and PSN that produce good games. If I can squeeze 10 hours of fun out of a DLC game, I'm pumped. That's $50 or $45 I didn't pay at retail for a disc.

xrayzwei @ Aug 6th 2008 3:11PM

Am I the only one that thinks relating this to Space Giraffe is weird? I mean who was waiting on bated breath for that game. Most of my friends were excited to hear about Braid and thought Minter's game was a joke.

I'm also putting this out here: if you liked the demo, but are getting hung up on the price, rumor has it that Target will have 1600 pt cards for 14.99 next week. Save up those pennies kids.