Joystiq

Clover developer disappointed by poor sales

Xav de Matos — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST

Developer Binary Tweed has admitted sales of its first Xbox Live Community title Clover have not met expectations. Speaking with Digital Spy, Binary Tweed community managing director Daniel Jones said his team "definitely won't recoup costs" from Microsoft's indie games service alone.

Despite strong critical reception for the title, Jones says the Xbox Live Community Games market -- being re-branded 'Indie Games' in July -- is "prohibitively small to be financially viable." According to Jones, Binary Tweed may only use the Community Games market as an "an arena for proving concepts" in the future.

While Clover has failed to capture much attention from gamers, Jones says having a salable product to showcase to publishers (rather than a demo) has helped open doors for the team's future. "Although I can't talk about specifics at the moment, Clover's critical acclaim has opened doors to Binary Tweed." Jones recommends Clover fans keep an eye on the developer's official site for news in the coming weeks. We recommend you stop playing with that XBLCG Fart app and check out Clover.

Gallery: Clover

Clover developer disappointed by poor sales originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Live: 'Community Games' become 'Indie Games'

Randy Nelson — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:15:00 EST

Microsoft has released version 3.1 of its XNA Game Studio software to independent developers and, in doing so, revealed that a name change is in store for what's now known as Xbox Live Community Games. Beginning in July, these indie games will be known as ... Xbox Live Indie Games. We like it! Though it's not fully spelled out in today's notes from XNA HQ, we'd expect to see Live's game downloads section update with the new name sometime in July as well.

Also incoming is the ability for Xbox Live users to rate the newly-dubbed Indie Games -- the lack of such functionality has so far made tracking down the really good indie offerings on Live a chore.

[Via Kotaku]

Xbox Live: 'Community Games' become 'Indie Games' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xbox Live Top 10: Humanity survives another week

David Hinkle — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:20:00 EST

Today is a day to be proud, Xbox Live enthusiast. For one more week, you've managed to keep the menacing onslaught of undead Nazis at bay, allowing our children to sleep safely and our brains to remain snugly tucked away in our skulls. Humanity's silver-haired reporter, one Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, explains that Call of Duty: World at War was the top game played the week of January 19th on Xbox Live.

He was also able to break down the data for people who used their Xbox for things other than fighting the good fight. Like lazing around and playing Xbox Live Arcade games. See the list of draft dodgers past the jump.

Continue reading Xbox Live Top 10: Humanity survives another week

Xbox Live Top 10: Humanity survives another week originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A poor man's Braid: Clover on Xbox Live

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:57:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

Click for more watercolors!

We know, you can't always judge a book by its cover -- a game by its screens. But "Braid clone" was the first thing that came to mind when we saw Clover, a forthcoming Xbox Live ~~Arcade~~, no, "Community Games" title. And let's face it, the Community Games channel is still the playpen for the bastard children of Xbox Live. It's like a pet shop window: you glance at it, feel an inkling of "Should I?" and then proceed on down the street to the Arcade.

But a closer look at that doggie in the window, Clover, reveals a game worth considering. Developed by indie outlet Binary Tweed Ltd., Clover is, in the words of its British maker, "a plot-driven platformer in the style of classic titles such as Fantastic Dizzy that sees the player solve logical puzzles by collecting items, talking to a diverse cast of characters and exploring artistically realised environments." It follows Binary Tweed's motto -- "New games that are a bit like old games, but better" -- by injecting modern trends like autosave and the dissolution of lives and health into the game's traditional framework. Still, Clover promises to be very much about death, as the orphaned player must deal with the sudden demise of the in-game mother and the larger political themes at play. A heady romp for a mere 400 ($5) when Clover releases in Q1 2009 (that's soon!).

Gallery: Clover

A poor man's Braid: Clover on Xbox Live originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kodu is the new Boku: Xbox Live's 'LittleBigPlanet'

James Ransom-Wiley — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, CES

Microsoft pulled no punches during its CES keynote, shuffling an "actual 12-year-old girl" onstage to demonstrate its newly renamed Xbox Live Community Game "Kodu." Apparently too reminiscent of the failed 80s-era adult juice, the former name, Boku, was dropped in favor of the less associable two-syllabler. But we digress. Kodu is still easily described as a LittleBigPlanet-esque effort, but on a much simpler scale -- and probably far less "brilliant," in the Brits' all-purpose sense of the word.

Sparrow, that 12-year-old we mentioned, apparently did create a "pretty impressive" game using Kodu, described by Engadget as, "Katamari meets light-cycles from Tron. It's totally bizarre -- now her and Robbie [Bach] are using cycles to steal rocks from each other." Actually, sounds brilliant to us.

Kodu was originally designed as a learning tool for kids, but Microsoft promises it's compatible with people ages "seven to 70." Players reportedly create their game worlds in mere minutes using a pool of 200 building blocks designed to drive simple gameplay concepts like vision, hearing and time. Kodu is scheduled for release this spring and has yet to be priced.

Update: Video after the break, and more details here. [Thanks EvilDud!]

Continue reading Kodu is the new Boku: Xbox Live's 'LittleBigPlanet'

Kodu is the new Boku: Xbox Live's 'LittleBigPlanet' originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MS to take larger cut of best-selling Community Games

Christopher Grant — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:28:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360

GameDaily BIZ got some details on the revenue sharing structure of the recently detailed Xbox Live Community Games. While we reported that developers could receive "up to 70%" of sales, Microsoft's Chris Satchell clarified the structure this way: "The better you're doing, the more we'll take." Sure, this sounds pretty cutthroat (newsflash: Microsoft is a business!) but the relationship here isn't dissimilar to traditional retail arrangements.

If your Community Game performs well, it will be plucked from the crowd and placed in the "storefront" where it should enjoy a great deal of promotion and, in turn, sales. Satchell says, "The game will spend most of its time at 70%, but if we're promoting you and you're getting more traffic, there will be a 10% to 30% marketing fee." Once it's out of the storefront - bam! - "you're back to 70% again." In other words, if you want more of your hard-earned ... uh, Microsoft Points to go to Bobby Developer and not Johnny Microsoft, wait until things have settled down a bit and the game has left the storefront for the relative anonymity of the crowd. Then, swoop in, make your purchase, and consider The Man stuck.

MS to take larger cut of best-selling Community Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games

Christopher Grant — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Microsoft Xbox 360

Following the official unveiling of the Xbox Live Community Games channel, we had the opportunity to speak with Boyd Multerer, general manager of XNA at Microsoft, about the initiative. We've assembled our questions and his answers into the eminently readable Q&A format, below, where we cover everything from cost to availability of trials to file size limitations to release scheduling to delisting to achievements and more. Read on!

How many games will be available on the service at launch?
It's "a different type of game in a different channel," Multerer told us. Since "nobody has ever done this before ... there's very little data to go on." In the first few weeks of the beta, over 100 games were submitted and over 60 games were passed through the peer certification, if that's any indication. In other words: You'll just have to wait for any kind of specific number, but you can probably assume several dozen games would be in the service on day one.

Will games still be able to graduate from Xbox Live Community Game to full-blown Xbox Live Arcade title?
"Yes," Multerer told us. "In fact, I hope to see more of it. Community Games is like the minor leaugues in baseball" where young talents can show off what they've got before making the jump to the majors. This wasn't the last time Multerer used the baseball metaphor.

How much will Xbox Live Community Games cost? How large will the files be?
Either 200, 400, or 800 Microsoft Points (that breaks down to roughly $2.50 to $10). The 200 point games will be limited to 50MB downloads, while the 400 or 800 point games will be limited to 150MB.

Will there be any free Xbox Live Community Games?
Nope. Multerer said that if a creator wanted to share his game for free with friends and family, he can send it to their Windows machine for free, "no problem." However, in "opening up that platform to a new market, [Microsoft] needs to prove that [they] can sell things on it." He did want to point out, though, that because they're not offering free games now, that "doesn't mean [they] won't ever look at making that happen."

Continue reading JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games

JoystiQ&A on Xbox Live Community Games originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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User-created Xbox Live games to cost as low as $2.50, devs get up to 70% revenue

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:35:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Online, Business

Microsoft confirmed today that the final phase of its XNA initiative would commence later this year when the "Community Games" channel is added to the Xbox Live Marketplace in the US, Canada and select European markets (other regions will be included in 2009 and "beyond"). User-created games will be sold at three price levels: 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50), 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Microsoft has committed to share up to 70% of revenue of an indie game with its developer. (~~In addition, we're presuming that some games will be offered for free.~~ Actually, no games will be free -- read our full Q&A with XNA GM Boyd Multerer right here!)

Microsoft expects that user-created contributions will double the number of downloadable games available on Xbox Live when the Community Games beta launches in the fall as part of the "New Xbox Experience." A peer-review system -- already in operation -- will theoretically keep these titles from coming under the watchful eye of the delisting committee. Though, just in case a few stinkers slip through the cracks, let's keep our fingers crossed for the availability of demo versions.

[Note: Above image is not an accurate depiction of XNA development conditions.]

User-created Xbox Live games to cost as low as $2.50, devs get up to 70% revenue originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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