Hardware Predicted & Actual Sales Article: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/nintendo-slashes-wii-u-sales-forecast-from-9m-to-2-8m/0126872
The Wii Us expected sales went from 9 million to just 2.8 million which is less than a 3rd of what they expected initially. This would have put Nintendo in a really bad position to the public and in a business point of view. This is still just there expected sales and if they don’t reach this target Nintendo will have even more problems. How ever the Wii U isn’t the only thing that has had its expected sales cut as the 3DS has also gone down from 18 million to 13.5 million in hardware. The software estimates have gone down from 80 million to just 66 million. As said earlier, these are all predictions, they may not even reach these.
I think that this can show just how badly you can mess up with predictions, if you have them to high than you will have warehouses full of useless products and if its too low then theirs not going to be enough for everyone. I believe that the Wii U will still not reach it’s estimate, but 3DS has a chance to reach their targets.
Online Stores and Sales Article: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/dev-warns-that-steam-sales-screw-your-fans/0126803
The article is talking about how sales, particularly Steam can screw their fans; it speaks about how if someone had paid full price on the game then a week or two later see it on a sale for 50% off can be an irritant for the fans who purchased the game on release. This happens especially in the fall of the year, where more games are released but you also have Steams Autumn sales and Steams Christmas Sales and chances are a lot of games that just came out will end up on there. The article shows how much of a trend Sales are, they’re becoming extremely common and most developers submit to them.
I believe Sales are a good thing, being a game lover I prefer not to spend a lot on the games I play. I can see that it could be seen as problematic for some people but it’s entirely their choice so it’s not like they’re being scammed or ripped off. I think Sales will continue to go on, and it might even get to the point that a game goes on sale a day or two after release.
Season Pass & Episodic Article: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/double-fine-repackages-broken-age-as-season-pass-offering/0126733
Double Fines “Broken Age,” was originally planned to be included as an early access title, this is where they release the game stating that it is an unfinished product and still needs development. But they decided to go with an episodic release, this makes more sense since the game is not exactly in Beta or Alpha but only has half the game so releasing the over half as another episode seems a bit more logical. They will be releasing 2 Acts, Act 1 which will be released to the public on the 28th of January 2013, and Act 2 with no confirmed release date. When you purchase the game you will get the Season Pass with it, which gives you access to the second Act for free when it is released. The Article also mentions how they will be bringing the game to iOS, Android, and Ouya at some point. This also shows that developers want to get into the Mobile market as it is a very large and popular market.
I believe that the Episodic release of this game is the better choice as the game is not broken or full of bugs, it is well polished and plays well, where as most other games that are early access are buggy or broken. Early Access games although popular are always given negative connotations such as game breaking bugs, but Episodic games are just seen as normal games that are released over time.
A Trailer for “Broken Age,”
The Amazing Blog of Amazingness 