Critter Crunch dev praises Sony's support of indie games
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Nov 20th 2009 at 6:30PM } 
Vella's praise echoes similar sentiments from other PSN developers, like Shatter's Mario Wynands. In addition to free development tools, Vella noted other benefits by partnering with Sony. Critter Crunch was promoted heavily on the PlayStation Network via the PlayStation.Blog, Pulse and banners on the PlayStation Store. Most importantly, though, Sony "treated us like we weren't a small nobody developer from Toronto."
In spite of Sony's best intentions, though, Vella notes that sales aren't quite where they should be on the PSN. "It's still a fraction of what XBLA is doing, and we know that," he admitted. "But that's okay for us because they let us do what we wanted to do." Apparently what they want to do now is work on a zombie game.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nathan-DTS [He is your father] @ Nov 20th 2009 6:37PM
THAT GUY HAS MY NAME, GET HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nathan-DTS [He is your father] @ Nov 20th 2009 6:43PM
My mistake, he's got no -.
Markez @ Nov 20th 2009 6:53PM
I got an email from him after I made my Critter Crunch pumpkins, OH MAN I ROOL
rells009 @ Nov 20th 2009 6:38PM
Awesome.
A.T. @ Nov 20th 2009 6:40PM
Well, apparently we can't have enough zombie, indie, zombie indie, or indie zombie games. So bring it on!
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 6:44PM
This is another reason I like Sony, they take risks. Whether it be a new IP that seems risky (I.E Flower) or supporting Indy devs.
This is the way I see it
Sony = The Beatles
Microsoft = Metallica
Marius Returns @ Nov 20th 2009 6:46PM
eww, dont compare Sony to trash like the Beatles
Its more like
Sony = Lady Gaga
Microsoft = Britney Spears
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 6:48PM
Oh, and Nintendo, you can be... Michael Jackson, I guess...
/Has nothing against MJ
Xoonaka @ Nov 20th 2009 6:48PM
...wow. Beatles are trash... but Gaga isn't?
I don't even like the Beatles that much, but if Lady Gaga isn't closer to trash then they are, I don't know what the world is coming to.
Marius Returns @ Nov 20th 2009 6:50PM
Nintendo = Miley Cyrus
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 6:52PM
I just deleted you off my friend's list, even if you were joking
Anyways, the reason I made that comparison is because Sony are peace loving ever changing company where as MS is a tough market player better suited for the mainstream. As for Nintendo, well, they were in their prime years ago, now they just arget little kids and not "hardcore" players. Make sense?
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 6:53PM
*Target
Marius Returns @ Nov 20th 2009 6:54PM
i had you in my friend list? :O
Dropeti @ Nov 20th 2009 6:55PM
@Marius:
You, sir, left me speechless.
Maybe you should try watching a different channel other than MTV and/or getting out more, listening to some ACTUAL music?
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:06PM
Yeah, you are MariusElijah, aren't you?
tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 20th 2009 7:22PM
"Sony = The Beatles
Microsoft = Metallica"
Microsoft wins then. Maybe that's why they're more popular and doing better than Sony this gen :P
Traceur_Ryuk [Founder of The Anti-EMCB(tm) and co-leader of ATDF] (PSN: Ryuk_shinigami) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:26PM
That's basically what I said. Microsoft is more suited for the mainstream. But (imo) Sony has much better content.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 20th 2009 7:33PM
LOL @ Metallica being better than The Beatles. Thats FAIL if I've ever seen it right there.
While we're making fun comparisons I'll make one of my own.
PS3 = Peyton Manning
360 = Drew Brees
Wii = Doug Flutie
deaftly (PSN,LIVE,STEAM) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:50PM
All of your comparisons are wrong and stupid.
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 8:23PM
brees is THE MAN. manning is cool too. but don't get me started on brady...
ladykiller @ Nov 20th 2009 9:58PM
lol yea they always take risks. that's why critter crunch is a completely different puzzle game from tetris and Uncharted was by no means inspired by Indiana Jones and Gears of War. and let's not forget killzone 1+2 which have absolutely no WW2 underpinnings.
sony rips-off more than any other company and that extends beyond games. they stuck a gun to the critter crunch devs' heads and handed them this press release.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 21st 2009 1:56AM
@ladykiller
Dude Critter Crunch is nothing like Tetris. It's obvious you've never played it so no need to even bother. By your logic everything can be traced back as a ripoff of pong.
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 6:44PM
too bad this didn't sell as well as it should have. you can tell when a dev puts its love into a game, and this is one of those games.
Solace @ Nov 20th 2009 7:21PM
it actually started to do really well and was in the top 10 recently
tmacairjordan87 @ Nov 20th 2009 7:24PM
Top 10 =/= selling well.
If #1 only sells 500 games that month, that's hardly a victory even if it is #1.
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 7:25PM
still doesn't mean it sold as well as it should have.
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 7:34PM
yeah... tmac beat me to it, but we essentially said the same thing.
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 20th 2009 7:41PM
It is selling better though. I agree with Sly that it's an awesome game as well. It's just got so much damn personality. Reminds of me that Ghibli movie Totoro. Like when your on the map and you try to move to a spot thats not unlocked and the little bugger shakes his fat little cute head ... thats the bees knees right there.
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 8:24PM
sadly, i don't have it yet. that'll change next week when i get some PSN cards. that means i'll also be able to finally get big surf island for burnout paradise and a TON of rock band DLC that i've been wanting badly (including the gorillaz!)
linebeginstoblur @ Nov 20th 2009 6:51PM
ANOTHER zombie game? When people speak of the zombie apocalypse, they're not talking about a time in which zombies take over, they're talking about a time in which zombie-based movies, games, books, etc. take over.
Seriously, I think we've had enough. Don't get me wrong, I think Capybara could make a good one. I also think Housemarque's Dead Nation will be fantastic. That doesn't mean the theme is any less tired already...
Sly @ Nov 20th 2009 6:58PM
zombies are better than vampires.
*looks at facebook for statuses about new moon*
yup. zombies are better.
Alton Brown (Now With Mystic Eyes of Death Perception!) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:03PM
Someone should make a movie about a girl who falls in love with a Beholder.
Finito (PSN: Wretched_Walrus) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:15PM
It finally came out in the EU store this week so I bought it even though I suck at action puzzle games. This game is so goddamn cute and funny, I love it.
Too bad about the zombie game though. It's very unoriginal by now. PSN already has Burn Zombie Burn, Zombie Apocalypse and the upcoming zombie game from the stardust hd devs.
PSN: Erdie (Now equipped with Wii!) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:50PM
This and the new Ratchet are the only two gamesl my PS3 has seen in a month. Love it!
PSN: Erdie (Now equipped with Wii!) @ Nov 20th 2009 7:52PM
gamesl? *sigh* the 's' and 'l' keys are right next to each other, I swear it!
Rask @ Nov 20th 2009 8:15PM
The stuff Microsoft is doing with Twisted Pixel, The Behemoth and Ninja Bee tends to prove that Microsoft supports small studios quite well.
But hey.. who am I to disagree with a Sony lone-in..
Rask @ Nov 20th 2009 8:16PM
That last line was supposed to read "love-in"..
Hydrophobicfish (PSN: HydrophobicFish) @ Nov 20th 2009 11:42PM
For every Twisted Pixel, you list, there's a PixelJunk... for every Behemoth, there's a Titan studios, for every ninja bee, there's a Sidhe (Shut up, it rhymes, that's how it's similar.
Then there's a Thatgamecompany, and several others.
Microsoft supports the indie devs, Sony gives them personal shoulder massages.
Nathan-DTS [He is your father] @ Nov 21st 2009 4:11PM
Rask, What Microsoft do for the indie devs who develop for the 360 isn't as much as creating an engine for them.
drdre74 @ Nov 20th 2009 8:54PM
If I didnt already have the iphone version I would have got it. I may still grab it later.
ladykiller @ Nov 20th 2009 10:03PM
kinda suspicious isn't it? well only the clever ones though, the sheep take it for what's read from whatever sony says.
it's included as a clause in their contract to give sony free positive press. of course the guys @ critter crunch are spewing BS - the xbla has a dedicated indie games channel for literally anybody to showcase their work and that's given us games like Dishwasher or even Braid. and it's clear sony keeps a tight noose over these devs which completely defies the notion of "indie", more like ball and chain. Braid was set free and allowed where Jonathan Blow wanted it to be, even on PSN now. would sony give that freedom to critter crunch? never, and it was taken from the iphone. poor guys. not that i would envy a game like critter crunch of which it's an overcharged puzzle game that is freeware on hundreds of flash sites.
KinjiroSSD @ Nov 20th 2009 11:49PM
It'll be ok. Just keep wearing your tin foil hat
johnnynumber5 @ Nov 21st 2009 1:59AM
Dude buzz off Critter Crunch has some serious spit and shine on it. The game is masterful. Don't hate just appreciate. Go play your blossoming XBLA games from the angelic MS that strong arms and forces companies to charge money for free DLC. Bitch.
Nathan-DTS [He is your father] @ Nov 21st 2009 4:16PM
I'm sorry but creating a free engine (multiplatform engine to) for any indie dev to use is just a great display of epic. Also, how does Microsoft having an Indie games section on the marketplace have toi do with anything?
Go troll somewhere else.
Beatnik-(PSN:Beatnik009) @ Nov 20th 2009 11:36PM
I played it earlier the only thing that is holding me back from buying it, is oddly enough my severe lack of funds
Lunastra78 (PSN: lunastra78) @ Nov 21st 2009 3:57AM
More people should buy this game. At least give the demo a chance, for me it was a must-buy about 10 seconds in. :)
shadowhowl1900 @ Nov 21st 2009 9:37AM
its sad that it didnt sell too well but come on how much cuter do u want the character want be, this is like hotcakes when my girlfriend comes over and awes at the loading screen
Akio Morita ... Deader than you @ Nov 21st 2009 12:24PM
I don't get the 'fraction of XBLA' comment...this game isn't on LIVE right? So why are they lamenting sales that might not have happened there either?
When you put out a game that has been out for a year on the iPhone, your sales will not be large...that's a pro-tip my friend.
That being said...I bought the game to support some T-dotians.
Overgauss @ Nov 21st 2009 2:08PM
Critter Crunch is a gateway drug to girlfriend gaming.