xna-community-games
Latest
Ocean Scenes developer gives inside look into XNA platform
We've heard from a number of XNA Community Games developers since the publication of GamerBytes' in-depth look at XNA sales statistics. While these indie devs have all provided some interesting insight into the infantile platform, we were curious to hear what a more casual member of the Creators Club thought about the service.Adam Holmes, developer of the ultra soothing pseudo-game Ocean Scenes, provided us with just such a viewpoint. A self-proclaimed "hobbyist," Holmes' take on the XNA Community Games service is more optimistic than most. You can check out our entire interview (along with some tranquilizing images of lovely oceanic vistas) after the jump!
GamerBytes study shows disappointing sales for XNA Community Games
Considering certain independent iPhone App developers have been making towering mountains of cash, you'd think that the financial status of the XNA Community Games market would be just as favorable. However, according to a recent report from GamerBytes, who dug up the sales figures of a number of XNA titles, this couldn't be further from the truth -- the combined sales total of the 24 titles they tracked was a mere 23,907 purchases, with an underwhelming conversion rate (ratio of people who purchase a game to total demo downloads) of just 7.1 percent.Of course, with no impetus on the developers to reveal their financial data, the report is far from conclusive. When queried about their sales statistics, many of the developers gave rough estimates (or no answer at all), and a few of the service's "high-profile" titles, such as Colosseum and CarneyVale: Showtime, are completely unaccounted for. Take GamerBytes' conclusions with a few grains of salt, but based on their research, it certainly seems XNA Community Games have gotten off to a molasses-slow start.
Some creators disappointed with XNA Community Games sales
If indie devs thought that XNA Community Games would be the ticket to untold riches ... well, let's just say they may not want to toss their name tags and hairnets just yet. Mobeen Fikree, the force behind caffeine monster software, revealed his XNA sales numbers, which he deemed disappointing. Of the 7595 downloads his game DUOtrix had received, only 157 were converted into full purchases, a conversion rate of around two percent. Unsurprisingly, Fikree doesn't think its an issue with his game's quality, rather blaming the lack of a user-rating system that allows the best games to rise to the top. Though it didn't disclose all the numbers, Mommy's Best Games agreed, saying that the sales of fairly well-publicized Weapon of Choice fell well below expectations. Are you an XNA dev with numbers to share? Let us know!
GamerBytes picks top XNA Community Games
One of our New Year's resolutions is to do better at keeping up with all the XNA Community Games (it's a long-time-coming, we know). In the meanwhile, GamerBytes and XNPlay have picked up the slack, and have chosen the top games on the service from 2008.Taking the top slots are Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp, Ultratron and vertical ragdoll platformer CarneyVale: Showtime, which you really have to see to "get." Don't worry, we've put a video of it after the break.
Counting Rupees: Royalty Screwed
Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks alternate in contributing Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming: Gamers were outraged in recent weeks by a rumor that Xbox Live Arcade royalties were being cut in half for developers; in fact, some developers were reportedly considering moving development from XBLA to the PlayStation Network because of the cuts. It was less clear why Microsoft would do something like this: At first glance, it appears to stifle independent game development and reduce the overall quality of XBLA as a platform. Clearly, Microsoft is just being greedy, right?Perhaps, but it's certainly not as clearcut as it seems at first glance. Although any changes to the royalty structure will mean changes -- and potentially significant ones -- for XBLA, they may still be beneficial in the long run for some people, possibly even increasing indie development.As is often the case with rumors, there's more to the story than a simple royalty cut. Let's think first about what the costs and benefits of the changes are to both developers and Microsoft, after which we can decide why the action might have been taken in the first place and what it all means to us as gamers. From a developer's perspective, the cost is pretty clear: Up to 35% of the total revenues of a game. Does the developer receive any benefits? Yes, some: As reported, developers will no longer have to pay for features like worldwide ratings or localization, which both reduces costs and potentially provides access to a larger international market. And from Microsoft's standpoint, the costs and benefits are essentially reversed: It no longer has to pay the royalties, but it does need to provide some additional services.
GDC08: Download deadline extended for XNA trials
If you still haven't found the time to download all seven free XNA Community Game trials then we ask, why the heck not? These game trials are only available on a very limited basis. Originally, they were only available for download until this Sunday and playable through March 9th when they'll turn into non-playable lumps of megabytes. But we've just been informed that the download period has been extended to Tuesday, February 26th at midnight pacific due to a few GDC attendees complaining that they wouldn't be home before the download deadline. So, that's good news for fanboys who are die-hard procrastinators or those who are away from home (possibly on vacation) until Monday. Now you have absolutely no reason not to download and try these XNA Community Games. If anything, you'll have to at least try The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, Little Gamers and JellyCar just for us. Go. Download. NOW!
