From what I read and saw you guys created a fantastic game. Not that I could find that out by myself, since for "contractual" reasons no demo is released this year.
What kind of publishing deal and contract is that? What kind of publishers has a clause that actively prevents basically free advertisement? If the game is good, a demo will usually have a huge and positive impact on sales. There surprisingly are a lot of people that won't purchase an indie game with unique and never before seen game mechanisms just based on a trailer and a positive review.

That would be less of an issue if the pricing wasn't placed just over the limit for impulse buys for most people. At $15 I would have mostly likely thought about it briefly, shrugged and just bought it. For some reason, while World of Goo might very well be worth $20, it's just the amount that I won't spontaneously spent on a game. I just can't justify it as easily as basically anything $15 and below and this is not a pattern that I exclusively notice in my own behavior ... it actually seems quite common.

That is even more aggravating after I read that the Wii-version will be release for $15 and it has more features in form of a multiplayer co-op mode etc. ... while PC gamers have to pay more and get less.

And then there was the Steam release ... as silent as it could have possibly been with just a small announcement and unlike most other games even without a pre-purchase discount on Steam.


When Audiosurf was released on Steam they had everything: a demo, a very low price-tag, a pre-purchase discount on top of that ... and that little indie-game skyrocketed to the top of the "Top Sellers" charts on Steam within hours. And it stayed on that list for weeks.


I actually believe that World of Goo could be better and more polished than Audiosurf (although I have no legal way to find out at the moment), but it somehow feels like World of Goo is getting every single publishing detail wrong that one of the most successful indie games in recent history got right.


I would love to have "World of Goo" on my Steam account eventually ... but right now I'm not willing to spend $20 + VAT (i.e. $24) on it over there.

Should "World of Goo" actually make and even top the top-ten bestseller-list on Steam for a while, please consider this post null and void, I must have been wrong.

But I actually believe that "World of Goo" will suffer from o.k. but not really great sales, mostly due to the reasons above.

Get over yourself.

The lack of a demo is directly related to the Europe release, i believe. The publishers don't want a demo out before the game is available everywhere in box format. As for bad/nonixistant press, have you seen some of the reviews this game has been getting? Would you prefer it to be like Spore? A small steam release isn't going to be a problem, I'm sure.

I have seen the reviews. They, and my general love for indie games with unique game ideas, are the only reason why I actually bothered posting here. World of Goo seems like a gem.

I don't mean to sound arrogant. I just do feel that World of Goo is somehow sabotaging itself, not on purpose, of course, but still.

I still don't understand why a delayed box release in Europe would hold back a simple demo for several months. It's not like a demo before the official release is unheard of, it's actually rather common. This contract is hurting sales right now. And "right now" is when the good reviews are coming it, which is the best and most likely only broad publicity "World of Goo" will ever get. "In a few month" most people that are interested now will simply have forgotten about it, a demo release won't change that then.


A 10% off pre-purchase deal on Steam, which is very common, wouldn't have hurt 2DBoy in the slightest but helped the sales on Steam tremendously.

And while $20 might be entirely justified for what "World of Goo" has to offer ... if I interpret a lot of posts on the Steam forums correctly, that is "just too much" to buy a game completely unseen. And that happens to be exactly what I'm feeling as well.

I would like World of Goo on my Steam account and I would most likely love it. But at $24 (for me, in Europe) I simply can't justify buying it. That is just $6 less than what I paid for "The Orange Box" and it's simply a little bit too steep for an indie "cat-in-the-bag".

I just wanted to let 2DBoy know what I'm feeling and I hope I said it in an adequate form. (If not, I'm sorry, English is not my first language).


I'll keep an eye on "World of Goo" and if I ever get the chance to get it on my Steam account for $15 or less (either through a price reduction or via a Steam "Weekend Deal") I will most likely buy it in a heartbeat. And in case I simply forget about "World of Goo" in a few weeks, I hope I won't have missed out too much.

Calm down, there's no need to kick up a fuss any more - a demo is coming out very soon.

http://2dboy.com/forum/index.php?topic=340.0

[quote author=Jimlad link=topic=335.msg2669#msg2669 date=1223987921]
Calm down, there's no need to kick up a fuss any more - a demo is coming out very soon.

http://2dboy.com/forum/index.php?topic=340.0


I'm not "kicking up a fuss", I never was. The demo is great news. I still have my doubts that it will convince me, that "World of Goo" is not slightly overpriced, but I'm more than willing to be blown away by it. :)

You can always download Tower of Goo to get an idea of how the game can be.

Btw, I just checked Steam and WoG is de number one seller at the moment. ;)

[quote author=freibooter link=topic=335.msg2677#msg2677 date=1223989148]
I'm not "kicking up a fuss", I never was. The demo is great news. I still have my doubts that it will convince me, that "World of Goo" is not slightly overpriced


I'm struggling to work out why I or any other forum Gooer might be interested in hearing about that. Was your point confiscated by the forum bouncers? (I know what a pain they can be.)

  V

audiosurf requires steam.  I'd rather have no demo & no steam vs steam required for demo.  "Why yes, there's a demo! But you must sign up for an online store first..."

I just jumped on steam, clicked on Top Sellers, and the very first thing at the top of the list. World of Goo.



Low sales indeed ;P

Here's a thought, maybe publishing houses didn't want to commit to a warehouse full of product on a game written by three guys. They might have thought it to be too risky a venture.

The Indie release of WoG is obviously going to do very well and maybe WoG2 will be released differently.

BTW, great game and worth every Wii Point.

KWHCoaster