http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/17/xbla-darling-braid-lands-on-pc-march-31st-for-5-more/

Earlier this afternoon, PC game publisher Stardock revealed plans for the March 31st release of the acclaimed puzzle-platformer, Braid, on its Impulse digital distribution platform. Pre-orders start today and come with a 33% price increase, bringing the game to a (not so) nice and round $20. Last summer, the 1200 XBLA release of Braid drew criticism from thrifty gamers the world over for its notably high price point at the time (how far we've come!).

At the height of the criticism, developer Jonathan Blow explained the reasoning behind the controversial price as a means to assure that he broke even, writing on his blog, "I had to guard against the Space Giraffe problem," referring to Jeff Minter's critically acclaimed XBLA title that released for 400 and sold "only 19k copies." He further expounded on his point to 1UP last year, stating, "If those are the only people who like the game [a niche group], then I'd basically be bankrupt."

However, considering the enormous success of Braid (both critically and commercially) on XBLA over the last eight months, we're left wondering why the price tag has been upped and if the game's outspoken creator has something to say about it. We've asked Mr. Blow for comment.

Updated:

http://kotaku.com/5156047/jonathan-blow-lowers-price-on-pc-braid

A day after Stardock started accepting preorders for Jonathan Blow's Braid for the PC at $19.95, the independent developer has announced a five dollar price drop in the interest of reaching a wider audience.

Worried that the $19.95 price point for the PC version of the popular and innovative Xbox Live Arcade title Braid would keep PC gamers from purchasing the title upon it's release next month, Blow quickly leapt into action, explaining that attracting new players was more important than money at this point.

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.

While I believe Braid is worth every penny of the original price, I suppose it's nice of Blow to give PC gamers a little break. Perhaps they'll pay him back in kind by buying the game in enormous quantities.

Meanwhile, Stardock has announced that they will be honoring the lowered price point, with anyone who preordered the game at $19.95 only being charged the reduced $14.95 price. Good for them!

------------------------------

Nice, I've been wanting to play this game for a long time, will definitely give it a shot

It is an AAA title, right?

Yes, the XBL version has 93 in metacritic

Braid isn't the only one.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3169274

Some may be up in arms about Braid's $15 dollar price on Xbox Live Arcade, but that's not the only downloadable game at that price point irking consumers. Capcom's Bionic Commando: Rearmed hits the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this week, and many want to know: Why does it cost $9.99 on the 360 and PS3, but $14.99 on the PC?

According to Capcom business development and strategic planning VP Christian Svensson, it's not because of piracy fears. "It has nothing to do with piracy concerns," Svensson writes in a statement to Shacknews. "It has to do with different business terms/expectations in that sector and more importantly, generally prevailing pricing of PC digital games versus their console counterparts."

Svensson notes that the typical price for downloadable PC games is $19.99, which actually makes Rearmed five bucks "cheaper," in a certain warped sense. "With rare exceptions, titles available on Live Arcade that are also available on PC and Live Arcade are more expensive on PC (or at least were when they launched). Check all of the PopCap, Mumbo Jumbo, Oberon titles for comparison," Svensson writes.

Another noted reason is that distribution costs for PC are slightly higher, on average, than for consoles. "In several cases we have another party (beyond just the distribution portals) taking an extra bite, driving down our share of the revenue," writes Svensson. "For example, affiliate sites of our portal partners take a well earned slice of revenue for every sale, then the portal gets its cut, then we get ours. Three mouths to feed.""

In the end, Svensson says $14.99 "represents an appropriate price" for the PC, and that gamers should expect all of Capcom's downloadable games to cost slightly higher on the platform. So if you want Bionic Commando on your PC, look's like you're just going to have to suck it up and take it.

So Zexy are you gonna pirate it?

Kirby ate it.

According to Kotaku, they decided to change it to 14.95 for PC after people complained.

Do you really have to ask that? Man, you barely know me if you do

I just wanted some more confirmation altough your first post made it pretty obvious

Sweet.

*unnecessary snarky comment omitted*

Looking forward to owning it, even if I've already played it.