Link: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbla-a-slaughterhouse-for-small-devs 
 

Murray's figures showed that 47 per cent of XBLA games sold less than 25,000 copies, 23 per cent sold around 100,000 copies, 13 per cent 200,000 copies and 17 per cent over 200,000 copies.

Murray said Joe Danger broke-even on day one and shifted 50,000 copies on PSN during its first week.

 

I think it very much depends on the game.  Joe Danger was hyped quite a bit, I'm fairly sure it would have sold just as well, if not better on XBLA.
Lesser known titles, particularly bad ones are obviously not going to sell as well, but the same is true of anything in general.

This isn't a very big surprise considering how much crap there is on XBLA. For every Geometry Wars there's a dozen or so craptastic titles.

" I think it very much depends on the game.  Joe Danger was hyped quite a bit, I'm fairly sure it would have sold just as well, if not better on XBLA. Lesser known titles, particularly bad ones are obviously not going to sell as well, but the same is true of anything in general. "

It's true. XBLA is a lot more of a competitive marketplace than PSN. Personally, I think more success stories like these need to be publicized; the PSN library could stand to be beefed up dramatically.  It also doesn't help that PSN exclusives usually receive little to no advertising. What was the last major exclusive PSN release? Shatter?
 
The Summer of arcade deal is a good example of what Sony needs to start doing for their online marketplace to be taken a lot more seriously.

I don't really get what he's driving at - do you need a publisher to put a game on the LIVE Marketplace? Seems to me they could have gotten away with it under the indies section. Mostly he's just talking sales numbers - and I don't see the relationship between PSN and XBLA in terms of these numbers, unless he's getting at the fact that PSN has less games online? (and I wouldn't know, not trying to flame). It seems to me that while yes, the XBLA is flooed w/ crap, the stand outs still do quite well (although Danger Joe looked a LOT like Trial HD again I wouldn't know).

I do wish he gave a PSN breakdown like he did for XBLA.  And Joe Danger was developed by 4 people, wow. "

" @WinterSnowblind said:

" I think it very much depends on the game.  Joe Danger was hyped quite a bit, I'm fairly sure it would have sold just as well, if not better on XBLA. Lesser known titles, particularly bad ones are obviously not going to sell as well, but the same is true of anything in general. "

I hadn't heard much about it until the quick look. "

" I don't really get what he's driving at - do you need a publisher to put a game on the LIVE Marketplace? Seems to me they could have gotten away with it under the indies section. Mostly he's just talking sales numbers - and I don't see the relationship between PSN and XBLA in terms of these numbers, unless he's getting at the fact that PSN has less games online? (and I wouldn't know, not trying to flame). It seems to me that while yes, the XBLA is flooed w/ crap, the stand outs still do quite well (although Danger Joe looked a LOT like Trial HD again I wouldn't know). "

Before XBLA and PSN, this sort of exposure for indie developers was just impossible - these marketplaces have done so much to bring new game developers and their games to the industry, to write either off because one is more competitive than the other seems particularly odd to me. Exposure is exposure isn't it?

" @mosdl said:

" @WinterSnowblind said:

" I think it very much depends on the game.  Joe Danger was hyped quite a bit, I'm fairly sure it would have sold just as well, if not better on XBLA. Lesser known titles, particularly bad ones are obviously not going to sell as well, but the same is true of anything in general. "

I hadn't heard much about it until the quick look. "

Which again, gave it a fair amount of praise. I'd pin it in the same category as 'Splosion Man, or Castle Crashers.  Not the same kind of hype as something like Halo gets, but word of mouth among gamers spreads, and the games end of doing very well. Both of these titles on XBLA sold well over 50,000 copies, and I think it would be very interesting to see what this guys list of "most games that sell under 25,000" are.   Because I'd be willing to be the majority of them are the shovelware that's thrown out every week. "

There are a lot more games on the 360 marketplace, and thus, more shitty games. The reason there are more "better" games on the PS3 is because of the higher development cost. Sony can then select more quality games to put on their system.

" There are a lot more games on the 360 marketplace, and thus, more shitty games. The reason there are more "better" games on the PS3 is because of the higher development cost. Sony can then select more quality games to put on their system. "

Braid was developed by one guy, and sold shit loads on XBLA.

" Before XBLA and PSN, this sort of exposure for indie developers was just impossible - these marketplaces have done so much to bring new game developers and their games to the industry, to write either off because one is more competitive than the other seems particularly odd to me. Exposure is exposure isn't it? "

More people should be keying into XBLA. For whatever reason, specific genres have been completely ignored there as if people are only willing to buy "snack" games on XBLA.

Apparently Joe Danger - awarded 8/10 on Eurogamer - was dismissed routinely by publishers, with Hello Games receiving put-downs such as, "Name me one popular game with motorbikes," and, "Can Joe be a monkey? We like monkeys." 

So after posting, and doing some work (as I'm supposed to be doing) I went and read the article to clarify the use of "slaughterhouse" but I don't quite get what he's saying?
 
He says himself that (approx.) 50% sell less than 25,000 and 50% sell over 100,000. By these numbers it seems he didn't consider Joe Danger to have the potential to be within the top 50%? I would've thought that game would easily fall into the top 25%.
 
Am I the only one confused by the article?
Am I the only one who feels his numbers, combined with the quality of Joe Danger don't add up to his reasoning for passing on XBLA? 
Lack of confidence? Something I'm missing? Or a poorly made decision?

 
(edit: His numbers also don't account for any games selling between 25,000 and 100,000? So now I'm even more confused)

"

Apparently Joe Danger - awarded 8/10 on Eurogamer - was dismissed routinely by publishers, with Hello Games receiving put-downs such as, "Name me one popular game with motorbikes," and, "Can Joe be a monkey? We like monkeys." 

    

  Ah Don't you love focus groups and marketing, how would a monkey Increase sales? "

I'm a bit surprised that a game that sells 50k "copies" for $15 only breaks even when it was developed by only 4 dudes.
 
EDITl: Stupid me.  Broke even on day one, 50k in first week.  Nevermind.

" I'm a bit surprised that a game that sells 50k "copies" for $15 only breaks even when it was developed by only 4 dudes. "

XBLA is just a more competitive marketplace, as someone has already pointed out. Competition is good. 
 
Either way, the game would have sold the same amount if it was released on the 360 (which there may even be a possiblity)

Sadly, there seems to be a lot of exclusive crap on XBLA. The only exclusive games there that interest me at this time are 'Splosion Man, Shadow Complex, Outrun Online Arcade and P.B. Winterbottom. There seems to be an endless number of  shmups, RTS, puzzle games of many colors and re-heated games, stuff I don't want or care for. Shadow Complex was the only game that wowed me in the same way Flower did. 
 
PSN has the stronger exclusive line-up to me, even if it might be smaller. Joe Danger, echochrome, Flower, Shatter, Pixel Junk Shooter, Critter Crunch, Wipeout HD and Super Stardust HD are among the best. There's also a lot of other stuff I'd like to try like Magic Orbz, Family Feud, Cuboid and that racing game with the Mini Coopers. 
 
The big problem with PSN: very few games have demos. Well, better than the Wii and their no demos. There should be demos for every PSN game so we can try before we buy. That's what I love about XBLA. You can try them all before you buy. They need to change that policy and issue demos for all PSN games. It can help immensely.

Original article with comments from publishers who didn't want to publish the game: link
 
"We want games that are less about fun right now"
 
wtf?

" I think it very much depends on the game.  Joe Danger was hyped quite a bit, I'm fairly sure it would have sold just as well, if not better on XBLA. Lesser known titles, particularly bad ones are obviously not going to sell as well, but the same is true of anything in general. "