Messages

1

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 19, 2008, 10:07:10 pm »

Yeah, the PR/Business person is probably going to be the best plan.  I just have a bad feeling he/she is going to recommend some of the stuff I talked about.

But more importantly, I just want to state again that there is nothing wrong with being assertive. An opportunity never taken is just as bad (or ever worse) as one lost. And I really don't think the Steam guys would be that annoyed if you made some sort of post on their general forums. What some of the rumors I heard from asking around in other forums this is a constant problem with the Steam personal. 

And really, it’s not like you're selling a crap product here. You've got the awards, the praise, and positive critic response. You've just needed help getting your name out there.

Edit: Assertive Example


E-mails Reverend Anthony from http://www.destructoid.com. He wrote a Indie Nation article on you Aquaria (in fact, the very first one: http://www.destructoid.com/indie-nation-1-aquaria-64079.phtml) and loved the game. I’m sure he would love to from you guys.

Hell, look at this quote from the above article:

All in all, Aquaria is damned good. If you're at all a fan of 2D adventures -- and if you aren't, what the hell is wrong with you -- you'll find something appealing in its labyrinth of caverns and corals. It feels retro, but totally new; classic, yet fresh. Little surprise it won the grand prize at IGF.

All you would have to do is send him an e-mail; you loved his write up on destructiod about Aquaria, loved the support he gave to Aquaria, and then explain your blight about Steam and having problems getting exposure. Then ask for any help he possible might be able to give.

That’s it. He likes the game, and I’m sure would love to hear from you guys. Alex, you would have nothing to loose and everything to gain. And if he say no, so what? You move on and rest upon how good Aquaria is. 

2

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 19, 2008, 03:59:07 pm »

You know, I actually am trying. But you know what? I shouldn't have to. And with this defeatest attitude to actually marketing the game, why should I bother? 

Good luck to just waiting around, but I can promise you nothing is actually going to happen unless you make a move.  Its a shame too with the talent you guys displayed. 

3

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 18, 2008, 04:35:14 pm »

Listen, every one hates assholes. But you know what? They get stuff done.

You guys pretty much have three options:

1.   Hire a PR, marketing and managing guy to your team. You’re already admitted to not know what to do next to promote the game, so farm it off on some one else who does.
2.   Appeal to the Gamer/Steam Community and go beyond just the single contact person.
3.   Keep floundering around and wait for a response.

I’m going to be brutal honest: You’re coming off really whinny here. It’s like you have no drive to actually make money off your product. It took time and effort to code/design the game, why should PR/Sales be any different?

4

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 18, 2008, 02:55:56 pm »

Or make some noise in the Steam/Game community. Like Glamador said, go beyond that Steam person directly to the community.  Do something! Don't just sit there, nothing will happen if you don't make a effort.

Come on, e-mail  Reverend Anthony from Destructiod.com. His whole series of articles, Indie Nation, started with your game.

http://www.destructoid.com/indie-nation-1-aquaria-64079.phtml

I'm sure he would love to hear from you, even more so ifyou are having problems getting on Steam. A quick up date on a site like Destrudtiod would go a long way.

5

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 17, 2008, 08:54:26 pm »

I can only give you my personal opinion, but it looks like you are dealing with a failure of communication on Valve’s part. This is a shame because Steam seems the perfect vehicle for Aquaria and has worked wonders for other indie games.  The situation really only gives the both of you two options: move on or make some noise to get some sort of response out of Valve.

It can easily just be a post on the General Topic or Suggestion forum in the following format:

Title: Aquaria on Steam
Body:

Hi, I Alex on and released the game Aquaria (some background information),  we won the following awards <list awards>, where featured in <stuff like Destroid’s Indie nation articles> and entered in the following indie competitions <Stuff like that PAX thing>.

We have talked to <list the two Valve people> but have not heard back in multiple mounts. This is a shame because Aquaria is a excellent game that features <list features, ie being a metroidvanina, 2d artwork, etc>

If any one else is interested in please visit our website and try the demo <link>

The thing is you’re already NOT on Steam, so what do you have to loose?  Maybe a few of the million of people on Steam will give it a shot, maybe even more will start posting in the thread, or (best hope) the admin pass it up the chain in Valve.  The sad part is no matter how good your game is if you'r not pro-active nothing will happen.

6

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 17, 2008, 02:46:51 pm »

I'm sure you guys are busy and I can't know all that you are  doing to promote Aquaria but I figure the two of you would be calling/e-mailing/posting on the steam forums to get a response from Vavle.

Hell, even creating a thread on the Steam Support Forums on the lack of response might be enough. The whole Steam system was setup to support a game like yours.

7

General / Re: WiiWare?

« on: June 16, 2008, 10:14:31 pm »

It has been over 6 months since the game has come out.  Has there been any other word about trying to re-launch on Steam, or even lower the price?

8

General / Re: I wish I was going to GDC :(

« on: February 19, 2008, 04:00:01 pm »

Also, we're a kotaku exclusive!

Has there been any more word on getting a contact at Valve to get on Steam?

9

General / Re: Disc version/Future Retail plans

« on: January 30, 2008, 09:02:52 pm »

Yeah, I think it would do well. It might be that our contact at Valve is no longer there or something. I'm not really sure how to find out what happened.

Maybe because Valve is  moving to having developers release everything themselves with SteamWorks your contacts position is no longer there.

http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php?area=news&id=1423&cc=US


Steamworks, the same suite of tools used in best-selling PC titles Half-Life 2 and The Orange Box, is available for all PC games distributed via retail and leading online platforms such as Steam. The services included in Steamworks may be used a la carte or in any combination.

Specifically, Steamworks offers:

• Real-time stats on sales, gameplay, and product activation: Know exactly how well your title is selling before the charts are released. Find out how much of your game is being played. Login into your Steamworks account pages and view up to the hour information regarding worldwide product activations and player data.
• State of the art encryption system: Stop paying to have your game pirated before it’s released. Steamworks takes anti-piracy to a new level with strong encryption that keeps your game locked until the moment it is released.
• Territory/version control: The key-based authentication provided in Steamworks also provides territory/version controls to help curb gray market importing and deliver territory-specific content to any given country or region.
• Auto updating: Ensures all customers are playing the latest and greatest version of your games.
• Voice chat: Available for use both in and out of game.
• Multiplayer matchmaking: Steamworks offers you all the multiplayer backend and matchmaking services that have been created to support Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2, the most played action games in the world.
• Social networking services: With support for achievements, leaderboards, and avatars, Steamworks allows you to give your gamers as many rewards as you would like, plus support for tracking the world’s best professional and amateur players of your game.
• Development tools: Steamworks allows you to administer private betas which can be updated multiple times each day. Also includes data collection tools for QA, play testing, and usability studies.