14 DAY TRIAL // Innovation plays a big part in the creation of games these days, as a lot of people have gotten bored of the same old tried-and-true method of creating titles, filled with stereotypes for every game genre. That's why the phenomenon of independently developed titles has become so big, with small games such as World of Goo or the very popular Castle Crashers having turned so widely known.
But in terms of arcade titles, Jonathan Blow's Braid has really changed the way we view small platformer games. Initially launched for the Xbox 360, as part of the Summer of Arcade promotion, the title brought a lot of new things and a story that left players choosing their own motivation. As we have recently heard that it would soon hit the PC, Blow has decided to reveal more details about the pricing.
Although Braid was already announced by Stardock to sell at 19.95 dollars, the creator has just revealed on his blog that a price drop would be made and that the title would now sell for only 15 dollars. The reason for this reduction is that Blow wants to make his game attractive to a large number of people.
“I don't care that much about the PC release price. The XBLA version was nicely profitable, and my goal with the PC release is mainly to get the game out to a wider audience. Sure, it would be nice to earn the optimal amount of money from that release - I have interesting ideas for games that I want to make in the future, and making games is very expensive, and I will probably have to hire people to help! But ultimately, I would rather have people talking about the game itself, what they like and dislike about it, than about how many American Fiat Currency Dollars it costs.”
Such a train of thought is something that a lot of game developers should be following, and place the customer first. Although profitability must still be the number one concern for developers and publishers, gamers still must hold an important role for them. Look forward to playing Braid on the PC on March 31.