In case anyone’s interested, here are some sales statistics for our games.

For XBLIG figures, the format is Sales/Trial (Trial to Sales Conversion Percentage).

XBLIG - Breath of Death VII (April 22nd, 2010 release, $1 price tag)

Here a Steam code for AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome, courtesy of Dejobaan for whoever manages to enter it in first:
Y8LXY-AHR6Y-A0YRW

And here are a few Steam codes for our games. Again, these are 1-time use codes so whoever gets to them first, gets them.

Cthulhu Saves the World:

Breath of Death VII:
J2F7R-9DNCL-DLLE9
NHZBC-AWE84-C2EG6
RGJKF-7ZKCW-CX9H3

Merry Christmas!

Since everyone’s doing it, here are my top lists for 2011 (conveniently released before 2011 is over – take that people who release their games on December 30th like we did last year!)

Top 10 Favorite Games of 2011

10. Sanctum (PC) – Fun mix between FPS and Tower Defense that I found more fun than other Action/FPS like Dungeon Defenders and Trenched. The devs have been doing a great job of supporting the game since release, both with major free and paid DLC.

9. Bastion (PC/XBLA) – Fun action/adventure game with some wonderfully melodramatic voice acting. Not much to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere.

8. Dungeons of Dredmor (PC) – Probably the most fun roguelike I’ve ever played. Nice mix between hardcore and accessibility. Good dev support as well. Oh and they helped me with the tech aspect of getting our games working on Steam so I owe them for that.

7. Anomaly: Warzone Earth (PC) – Wonderful reverse tower defense game where you’re the invader. Fantastic production values for an indie game.

6. Tactics Ogre (PSP remake) – Take a great game, remove some of the annoyances, add a fantastic new translation and other features – what’s not to love?

5. Sonic Generations (PC, X360, PS3) – Never been a huge fan of Sonic games, but this one’s a blast. The 2D levels are only decent but the game shines with the 3D levels – a perfect mix of racing, roller coaster, and platforming.

4. Corpse Party (PSP) – Can be frustrating at times, but the expertly crafted interconnecting horror story kept me glued to my PSP. Best audio of the year.

3. Trails in the Sky (PSP) – Feels like a novel in JRPG form. Best cast of characters in a game this year. Great cliffhanger ending. Hope the sequels come out.

2. Portal 2 (PC) – Dragged in a few parts but still an amazing game. Extremely funny & many good puzzles (though not as many as the first game).

1. Dark Souls (PS3, X360) – Someone called Dark Souls the 3D spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. That’s accurate. If that definition doesn’t make you want to rush out and buy it, I don’t know what will.

-Best games from past years that I didn’t play until this year-

4. Metro 2033 (PC) – I thought this was a straightforward FPS. If I had realized that it was an expertly crafted horror game, I would have jumped on it so much sooner. So good.

3. Demon’s Souls (PS3) – Would have been higher but then Dark Souls came out.

2. Siren: Blood Curse (PS3) – The most accessible Siren game but also probably the weakest (#2 is my favorite). However, weakest Siren game still makes for an awesome game.

1. Dragon Age: Origins (PC, X360, PS3) – I had avoided this game because I hated Baldur’s Gate, but I gave it a try when the ultimate collection was on sale for $15. So glad I did. Fixes all the problems I had with BG and is one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. Great combat & leveling systems. Shame to hear that the sequel is basically a completely different and inferior game.

-Games I own in my backlog that I’m looking forward to playing the most-

5. Blackwell trilogy (PC) – Picked this up in an Indie Royale. Looks like a really interesting old school adventure game. Haven’t played one of those for forever – should be fun.

4. Gemini Rue (PC) – See Blackwell trilogy.

3. Fallout: New Vegas (PC)  - Thought Fallout 3 was decent. I’ve heard New Vegas is noticeably better so I’m excited to try it out.

2. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) – Old school Zelda with silly modern effects? Sounds right up my alley.

1. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) – I’ve heard nothing but good things about this one. The demo for the sequel kind of threw me off but I hear the original is much better.

-Biggest disappointments of 2011-

(Note, disappointing does not necessarily mean bad.)

4. Arkham City (PC, X360, PS3) – I really liked Arkham Asylum but when I finished it, I felt like I was done with its style of simple but fun brawler mixed with stealth and detective work. I was hoping Arkham City would be noticeably different but it’s not. It’s just the same thing but bigger, with a few new gadgets, and slightly less tight design. I understand how that could be really attractive to people who couldn’t get enough of Asylum, but it’s not for me.

3. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PC, X360, PS3) – This is a problem of misguided expectations. I was expecting an RPG and instead got a FPS/Stealth game. High quality game but again, not what I really wanted so when it started getting repetitive, I quit. Oh and I didn’t care about the characters or story at all – talk about an unlikely group (though I guess that’s not unusual for cyberpunk). Hacking minigame was awesome though.

2. Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) – Gorgeous graphics and music, some clever puzzles, but I’m just not having much fun with it. I think the biggest problem I have is with the pacing – compared to the 2D Zeldas or even the Souls games, everything just feels like it takes forever. Not sure if I’ll bother to finish it or if I’ll just go and trade it in before then.

1. The Third Birthday (PSP) – Seriously, Square-Enix?

-Games I’m looking forward to the most in 2012-

7. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club (PC) – The US has a distinct lack of anime-style life sims where your goal is to create a high school comedy club. This should fix that gaping hole.

6. Pretty much everything that Carpe Fulgur is going to localize.

5. Sound Shapes (Vita) – Everyday Shooter was a great game so I’m looking forward to seeing their next effort.

4. Bioshock Infinite (PC, PS3, X360) – Loved Bioshock 1 & 2 and I hear they’re trying to change up the formula with the new one. I expect great things.

3. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) – A friend of mine at Nintendo showed the game off to me and I gotta say I was impressed, especially by the massive world. Not the JRPG I would make (I prefer my games turn-based and mostly linear) but high quality JRPGs that aren’t on a portable system are a rare commodity.

2. Diablo 3 (PC) – Not much I like more than a good hack & slash RPG. Got in the beta and really enjoyed what little there was to play. Can’t wait for the full version. Definite Game of the Year contendor for 2012.

1. Gravity Daze (Vita) – Unique art style, amazing gameplay concept (gravity manipulation in a 3D Action/Adventure game) on a brand new system developed by one of my favorite developers (Siren team)? Sold!

0. Rainslick Precipice of Darkness episode 3 – Because I like to eat. Oh and it’ll be awesome too.

-Games I’m looking forward to the most that might not come out in 2012-

4. New Tomb Raider (PC, X360, PS3) – The mix of classic Tomb Raider, a Metroidvania, and horror sounds great but it’s so far off that I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets pushed into 2013.

3. The Last Guardian (PS3) – Starting to wonder if it’s vaporware at this point; it’s been in development for so long.

2. Grim Dawn (PC) – Loved Titan Quest and though Diablo 3 looks to be a lot of fun, I want my Titan Quest spiritual successor as well.

1. Desktop Dungeons (PC) – Hoping they have an official release soon and it doesn’t just stay in Minecraft-style beta for forever.

Here you go! The 17 Best RPG Opening Songs of all time (in my opinion, of course). These are those songs that are so good that you might feel like starting a new game just to hear them. Why 17? Because I started with 10 and just kept adding songs.

I’ve probably accidentally overlooked your favorite song, so please forgive me for that.

In no particular order…

-Dragon Quarter-

-SMT: Nocturne -

-Persona 3-

-Persona 4-

-FFT-

-FF8-

-FF10-

-Chrono Trigger-

-Final Fantasy VI-

-Tales of Vesperia-

-Secret of Mana-

-Wild Arms-

-Half-Minute Hero-

-DDS 1-

-DDS 2-

-Lunar: EB-

-Grandia-

I know I said that I was going to try to write a review daily this week, but I got distracted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun advertising that they’re looking for a new writer. I’m a big fan of the site and I do a lot of game-related writing already anyway, so I went ahead and applied. Wrote an article that I thought was rather amusing for the application – I’ll be sure to post it in a few weeks if they don’t want it.

Progress on the job & battle system for the new game is coming along. Should have a battle prototype soon.

Oh and I’ll be wandering around Anime Expo this Friday & Saturday with my wife & daughter. I’ll probably be wearing my Cthulhu Saves the World shirt so if you see me, feel free to say hi.

As I was playing two very different indie games over the course of this week, I was reminded of just how important expectations are in determining whether or not people enjoy a particular game.

Exhibit One, the PC indie title, Capsized. Gorgeous graphics, but I didn’t particularly care for the gameplay. However, I have to wonder how much of my dislike for the game from the game itself and how much of it came from me expecting to get a Metroid style action/exploration game and instead getting a run & gun shooter with a complex control scheme.

Exhibit Two, the PC indie title, Dwarfs!? I’ve put in a couple hours into this game and so far, I’m really enjoying it. However, going online, I discovered that many people hated it because it’s not a complex simulation like Dwarf Fortress. Instead, it’s a fast-paced, score-focused arcade game that’s kind of like an out of control top-down Lemmings. Oh and it’s got a well done tower defense game as one of its bonus modes.

When people’s expectations don’t match the reality of a product, disappointment almost inevitably sets in regardless of the quality therein. You could have the best orange in the world – it still makes for a crummy apple.

With both Capsized and Dwarfs!?, much of the confusion came because of the setting. Capsized is a 2D platformer with a setting similar to Metroid so I expected similar gameplay as well. Dwarfs!? and Dwarf Fortress both feature dwarf colonies digging out tunnels as their basic premise so some players expected they would play similarly as well.

However, there are other ways that player expectations can become misguided. Consider Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter. Dragon Quarter is one of the most brilliant RPGs of all time, a true piece of gaming art. However, it did horribly at retail. Why? Because the fans were expecting another Breath of Fire III, a fun, colorful, and fairly stereotypical fantasy RPG, and instead got a very dark sci-fi/fantasy blend with several experimental gameplay systems.

Shadow of the Colossus is considered one of the finest games ever created. And yet, I bet you if you had taken the exact same game and all you did was change the name to The Legend of Zelda: Shadow of the Colossus and replaced the two leads with Link and Zelda that the game’s reception would have been drastically worse due to failed expectations.

Or take pricing. Players have different expectations for $60 games than they do for $15 games than they do for $1 games. This can be either advantageous (great value!) or disadvantageous (overpriced!) to the developer. To use a personal example, I purchased Bioshock 2 for $5 in a recent Steam sale and so far, I’ve been loving it. Would I have had the same reaction if I had paid $60 for it? Maybe not.

Or consider Mirror’s Edge. It’s a great and unique game, but had underwhelming sales. Had the game been designed & marketed first and foremost as a unique take on the racing genre, I daresay it would have sold drastically better than it did. As it is, people played it expecting a FPS/platformer, finished the short story mode, were unimpressed and set the game aside, not realizing that the story mode was basically just an extended tutorial for the really fun stuff – becoming totally awesome while doing time trials & speed runs.

With expectations being so critical to a game’s success, both critically and commercially, what are some things that can be done to help gamers to have the proper expectations for our games?

1. Price your game appropriately. My simple rule for game pricing is “What is the highest price we can charge for this game while still making the game an incredible deal?”

2. If your game has superficial similarities to a popular game but the gameplay is very different, you need to make these differences very obvious in any and all marketing you do for the game.

3. If your game is a sequel to a highly respected franchise but features major differences from previous titles, consider releasing it as a spin-off instead of a main game entry. This advice is less applicable if the series is widely considered past its prime and in need of a reboot.

4. Long held expectations can take time to change so start your marketing early. If I’ve been hearing details about your game for months, then I’m probably going to have a good idea of what to expect when I finally get to play it. If the first I hear of it is when it shows up on Steam’s New Arrival list, I have much less to base my expectations on and so there’s a much higher chance of inaccurate expectations forming.

5. Take care when describing your game that you don’t inadvertently overemphasize less important aspects. For example, with Capsized, one of the features listed in their Steam description was “massive non-linear environments” which combined with the sci-fi setting, naturally made me think of Metroid.

6. Name your games with care. I feel this is something we did successfully with our first RPG, Breath of Death VII: The Beginning. Just from reading the title, the average fan of RPGs should be able to correctly guess that our game is 1) an RPG. 2) a parody, and 3) undead-themed.

7. Make sure that the player knows how hard your game is. Some people love hard games and others prefer easy games so you want to make sure your game gets matched up with its correct audience. Super Meat Boy did a great job of this. Its Steam description contains phrases like “tough as nails”, “old school difficulty of classic NES titles,” and “difficulty from hard to soul crushing.” Its difficulty is a selling point, not a surprise. Conversely, the excellent PS2 horror game, Siren, failed to emphasize its extremely high level of difficulty (seriously, it’s one of the hardest story-based games of all time) in its marketing and so much of the backlash towards game was a result of people finding it frustrating.

Too many great games have underperformed because of misguided expectations. By keeping gamer expectations in mind when we design and market our games, we can help our games to be appreciated for what they actually are and avoid being disliked for what they are not.

Ever since the first time I played the original Legend of Zelda on the 8-bit NES, I had wanted to make video games. However, my life ended up taking a different turn and I found myself winding up in the education field. Still, at the back of my mind, there was that nagging doubt that I had made a wrong choice and that I should really be making games as a profession and not just as an occasional hobby.

Then one day while I was searching for a job, I discovered that NIS America was looking for a new script editor. Fantastic! This was just the chance I needed to break into the gaming industry! Sure, I had no formal education in a field relevant to game design, my programming skills were limited and self-taught, and my art skills were even worse, but I fancied myself a decent writer and an expert at RPGs and what more do you need for a script editing position at an RPG company?

I applied for the position and they must have liked my application because they invited me in for an interview. That interview must have been a success, because they invited me in for a second interview, this time with the boss. I met with the boss, did my best to be personable, and left.

I was filled with elation at how well everything was going – surely, it was only a matter of time before I had a position at an honest-to-goodness video game company! I could see myself rising through the ranks – first, as an editor, then as a game designer, and finally as the person in charge. Everything was going according to plan! Mwahahahaha! Ahem.

It was around this time that I received an email from them. They had decided to go with somebody else.

I was devastated. My plans were ruined! Then I pulled myself together and decided that I wasn’t going to let this deter me. If I couldn’t get myself hired by an established game company with my current skill set and experience, then I’d just have to make games without an established game company. Thus, Zeboyd Games began.

Though the details may vary, I imagine similar stories can be found behind the creation of many indie game studios. Failing a job hunt, having your creativity suppressed at a huge company, working on one too many sequels and then bam! The individual screams, “Forget this!” and sets out on their own to make their own games their way. A true lone wolf developer is born, their teeth bared against the world.

Given that many of us indie developers became indie developers because we wanted, well, independence, it is worth pointing out a simple truth that we may have forgotten or chosen to ignore.

You can be far more effective as a developer with help from others.

Sure, you occasionally hear wild success stories of the rare individual who creates a highly popular game all by themselves, but these are the exceptions not the rule. How many people can code well, draw great art and animation, compose wonderful soundtracks, write fantastic dialogue, turn new ideas into unique designs, and run a business? Answer – not many. And of those rare individuals who are supremely talented in a wide variety of disciplines that are necessary to create a video game, even those individuals could perform better and more quickly with some quality help.

After doing an assessment of my skills, I came to the conclusion that I could improve my design, writing, and programming skills through experience, but that short of several years of study and practice, I just wasn’t going to become a decent artist or composer. So what did I do? I found an artist who wanted to make games (Bill Stiernberg) and teamed up with him and talked some composers into providing some music for us. Not only did this allow me to focus on the aspect that I could reasonably do well and not have to worry about those that were beyond my skill level, but having a partner also proved invaluable for motivation and for bouncing off ideas.

The importance and value of forming connections with other individuals goes far beyond just finding people to work at your company. The gaming media, other indie developers, employees at big gaming companies, your fans, literally anyone and everyone is a potential ally. You never know when a specific individual could prove to be a huge benefit to your game development or business…

Thanks to the help of others, I have…

…been on a number of gaming podcasts (and discovered that they’re actually kind of fun to do).

…learned the solutions to various programming problems that I was clueless about.

…had the opportunity to speak at GDC.

…written a post-mortem for Game Developer Magazine.

…started work on an awesome secret project.

…gained ideas on how to make better games.

…received free review codes to many fantastic games.

…participated in cross-game promotions.

…sold far more games than I ever could have done by myself.

…learned a lot about the video game publishing process.

…had a successful Kickstarter fundraiser.

…and more.

Am I saying that you need to befriend everyone? No, that would be stressful, hypocritical, and probably counterproductive as well. Rather, I’m saying that you should be friendly to everyone and try to gain all the contacts you can. Some of these contacts will naturally turn into friends outside of business and others will not, but all of them have the potential to help you become a better and more successful developer.

So how do you gain connections with others?

First, create. If you want to be taken seriously as a game developer, what better way than to actually develop games?

Second, speak your mind. Every developer should have a development blog, a twitter account, a Facebook page, and accounts on various gaming sites. Talk about how your development is going. Share your thoughts about various aspects of the gaming industry. Write about that game that you just played that you loved or hated. Talk about the great Chinese food that you had last night. Write, write, write.

Third, send out emails. Want a game site to review your game? Email them. Want a game company to send you a game code so that you can review their game and further study the art of game design? Email them.  Want a publisher to tell you how the publisher/developer relationship works at their company? Email them. Want a developer to offer some advice on a specific aspect of game creation? Email them. Want someone to work together with you on a project? Email them. Sure, there’s a good chance that many of your unsolicited emails will fall directly into the spam folder, but you’re still bound to see more success than if you hadn’t sent out any emails at all.

Fourth, help others.

The vast majority of people working in the game industry are kind, friendly people. If they knew you, they’d want you to succeed. Become known. If you’re shy, now is the time to transcend that. Get yourself out there and success will come to you.

This article is also up on my Gamasutra blog here.

Free to play games have made a fortune by selling features and advantages to their player base. Where can they go from here? Selling features to people who are not in their player base.

Let’s say you’re annoyed at one of your friends because they won’t shut up about Farmville. What can you do? Nothing except blocking their messages and maybe kicking their dog a few times.

Now picture a world where Zynga sells digital toxic goo! You log onto Zynga’s digital store, purchase a couple barrels of the stuff for a few bucks and pour it on your annoying friend’s farm. Satisfaction gained and Zynga has made money off of someone who doesn’t even play their games.

But the chain of monetization doesn’t end there! For a few more dollars than the cost of the toxic goo, your friend can rent a cleanup crew to fix up the mess you’ve created. Of course, after this is done, you get a message informing you and a link to purchase even more toxic goo for retaliation.

And let’s not stop there! After this cycle has occurred a few times, we’ll send you a message about our new game, FactoryVille! By managing your factory wisely, you can create a neverending stream of toxic goo to pour on the farms of friends and foes alike! Of course, to have the best factory, you’ll want to purchase a few of our virtual goods…

Although we’ve only mentioned toxic goo, this method could be expanded to cover all sorts of griefing. Plant snatchers to steal crops and add them to your own farm. Salt to taint the ground. Dangerous pesticides. Mutant hordes of locusts.

And of course, the mother of all griefing, the tactical nuclear strike which wipes someone’s farm and account clean off the map. Of course, to go along with this, players will be able to purchase SDI systems to protect themselves as a preemptive measure.

It’s time to take the next step. It’s time to monetize everyone. The future awaits.