Official Flowerworks (WiiWare) thread, plus more...

[shams]

09tarheel said:

I just started playing the game again, and remembered how enjoyable it was, so I thought I would bump this thread. It's unfortunate that the game did not get more attention in America, hopefully its European release will be more successful.

Shams, what do you think Nintendo could/should do to help these kind of games succeed on WiiWare? I think obviously allowing demos for games would be helpful. But I had also been thinking that it could be a big help and easier if they would allow people to rank games and then be able to search for games based on ratings. Really all they would need to do is be able to search by the game's ratings on Nintendo channel, that way people would be able to see what other people liked. Do you think that could help?

Heading into the European release has the NA release taught or convinced you of a new or different way to market the game? For a game like yours that has the potential to be a series, what do you think about releasing a smaller game for a cheap price like 500 points (almost like a sample or prologue) so people would be more likely to try it, then later after hopefully building a fanbase expanding on the game then releasing it at the 1000 point price? I feel like that could be effective and am surprised that no developer has tried it so far.

Hey - I don't visit VG much any more, so it may take a while for responses.

Just about every idea anyone has had for WiiWare, developers have also had - and its just Nintendo stopping any of them from happening. For instance, we are not allowed to change the price of the game once released - or even release any updates to the software (including obvious things like support for new languages).

Our marketing is irrelevant IMO - its been shown to be almost completely useless in boosting sales or spreading awareness. People tend to buy just off the WiiShop information alone.

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I actually believe that WiiWare is very close to being dead, unless Nintendo changes some significant things on the service - it needs better integration, more flexibility for developers, demos - a full reboot really. Otherwise you'll see more and more releases just coming from Nintendo & partners (i.e. Hudson), and a few other mid/large-sized developers. Looking at releases over the last 2-3 months, its already happening.

At this stage, I think its unlikely we'll carry out our follow-up project, which is a pity - WiiWare just isn't commercially viable for us (starting to look into Android, as well as other things).

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Euro release is coming along, but a lot slower than I had hoped. Still waiting on translation, as well as rating certificate for Australia. Most of the actual development is done, but its still going to be 2-3 months *min* before its available for purchase.

Two-player co-op is running nicely, and seems to be fun to play. Its just a real pity we can't give the same update to those in the US who have already bought the game.