enthusi Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Dear all fellow Atarians almost a year ago, our game Assembloids2600 saw the light.http://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/assembloids-2600It's been in the AtariAge store summer last year and while it sells every now and then a single unit,I was hoping for it to me more successfull.Not for the money - I have not yet received a single penny, which is totally fine with me.Albert has sent out numerous free copies to me, the box artist, helpers and friends. One of them is in the Berlin museum of computer games even When guests see it on my shelve at home, they sometimes even ask what I had to pay to get it released like that (top notch quality).I am more than happy dealing with a guy like Albert here So thank you Al!Sales for Assembloids2600 recently topped 50 sales (not counting the free units mentioned) which is quite cool already, considering the date!I would love to recapture the past (year) and end with some open questions I have.I hope you do not mind the long text...An early version of the game was presented by a friend at Sillyventure.Some gameplay footage even made it into polish TV back then. But I feel like this is a game that you have toactually play for yourself to get an idea of what it is like. Yeah, cheap selling argument It's simply not like Tetris where watching can be just as mesmerizing as playing it.Before we finished it, we put it on display during the german Gamescom in 2016. It was played by literally hundretsof people and remained busy for 10 hours a day during the exhibition.That helped alot giving it the final subtle tuning. You can follow the thread about it here, even though I started it rather late in the process:http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216403-new-game-assembloids-2600/Since it hit the AA storehttps://atariage.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1094It got 7 quite positive reviews (thank you .Some rather short, others more elaborated. All of them are highlty appreciated!8 Bit guy featured Assembloids in one of his videos:"Modern games for Vintage systems: Assembloids, Bear Essentials, and Bittboy!" I was quite amazed by it (Just as side note, this generated not a single sale)[no, I did not use a teleprompter there, we just had one shot in a hotel room during vacation which is probably why I look so serious]Since I designed the game to work with Supercharger and actually used it for testing, I made a small videoof a rather unique crossdevelopment setup - though most of the game was written on a PC I was very happy personally when Metal Jesus reviewed our game in his youtube channel!http://atariage.com/forums/topic/277618-new-games-for-old-consoles-6-games-for-nes-snes-atari-2600/?do=findComment&comment=4004927Or a direct youtube link is here: That you enjoy this game means alot to me!In fact, I spent alot of time polishing and tuning the game mechanics to make it 'more addictive'.Some seem to hesitate when they see 'yet another puzzler', but still they enjoy it.I love the style of the 'ZeroPage HomeBrew Video Gaming' channel.They play games the way they should be played Well, reading the manual would be helpful but then again: who did that? Maybe their review is a bit symptomatic? Obviously they enjoyed playing it, yet I hear 'for kids' somewhere inbetween.Are these kind of fun quick games really mostly for kids these days? I had hoped not.(This just made me thinking, no criticism here. I really enjoyed your video alot!).In the end those that played seem to value it for exactly that: quick fun with some addictive component It was mentioned in the Atariage "Party Game ;-)" thread to my delight http://atariage.com/forums/topic/277699-best-party-games/?do=findComment&comment=4007153Even though some people actually advised against it, as he is known for his harsh reviews, I asked theVideoGame Critic to give it a try. I consider his opinon on games subjective but honest and consistent.It got an A- which I find great! Visitors voted it 'A' even.http://videogamecritic.com/2600aa.htmIt also got tagged as 'hidden gem' and 'chicks dig this' (something I can confirm after the huge Exposition here and from my wife+daughter Please read his short review - he summarizes all about the game I hoped people would feel/see.Or on his forum here:http://videogamecritic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39461&t=16471&p=156097&hilit=assembloids#p156097So everyone who played it, seems to really enjoy it.Friends, family, gamers and even professional gamers I got very nice feedback from people here, as well.Thank you guys.I am open for feedback of any kind here So feel free to comment if you bought it and liked it, or didnt like it or decided not to buy it.In case you consider the pricing too high, Albert just told me that a cheaper cart+manual version will be available soon, though.Is the distribution of physical boxes with the sheer amount of releases along with more convenient SD card solutions obsolete nowadays?What do you guys think?Thanks for reading, playing and being part of this community Cheers,Martin, enthusi / PriorArt 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Is the distribution of physical boxes with the sheer amount of releases along with more convenient SD card solutions obsolete nowadays? What do you guys think? Thanks for reading, playing and being part of this community Cheers, Martin, enthusi / PriorArt I believe they are. And I prefer downloads as long as I can make local backups. The space savings is enormous! The die-hard collector would disagree, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Once the cart+manual option is available, Assembloids will jump to the top of my "to buy" list. There are too many collectors out there who want them for boxes to go away completely, and that's fine. If they want them, they can have them. But I think there need to be other options for those of us who want to play the games and support the developers without paying 20 dollars for some cardboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Once the cart+manual option is available, Assembloids will jump to the top of my "to buy" list. There are too many collectors out there who want them for boxes to go away completely, and that's fine. If they want them, they can have them. But I think there need to be other options for those of us who want to play the games and support the developers without paying 20 dollars for some cardboard. I have to take some new photos of all the games that are currently available just with boxes. Once I've done so, I'll change them to cart+manual with an optional box, including Assembloids. ..Al 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Given a choice between buying three games without boxes or two games with boxes, I opt for more games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 (edited) [clip] ... I was very happy personally when Metal Jesus reviewed our game in his youtube channel! ... I love the style of the 'ZeroPage HomeBrew Video Gaming' channel. They play games the way they should be played Well, reading the manual would be helpful but then again: who did that? ... I am open for feedback of any kind here So feel free to comment if you bought it and liked it, or didnt like it or decided not to buy it. In case you consider the pricing too high, Albert just told me that a cheaper cart+manual version will be available soon, though. Is the distribution of physical boxes with the sheer amount of releases along with more convenient SD card solutions obsolete nowadays? What do you guys think? Thanks for reading, playing and being part of this community Cheers, Martin, enthusi / PriorArt My hope/opinion is that being featured on Metal Jesus WILL generates cart/manual sales. Metal Jesus had Super Cobra Arcade also, which I helped with sound effects and TIA music. My comment to Champ Games was not to answer (I have no right asking) that I'd like to know if featured on a YouTube channel with 1/2 million followers, how many games sales does that generate? And joking that now I wish I got royalties. My work was donated freely as a product of my Retrogaming hobby. (I usually do get a free copy, but it would be okay if I didn't. I would still buy it if I helped or a suggestion of mine got included). It is quite an honor to have a game talked about by Metal Jesus. And that someday I hope I create something he talks about! I also like the style of ZeroPageHomebrew! I wish they had a computer or TV box set up offscreen to interact more with the chat (or read the manual) because they played Star Castle Arcade for quite a long time until my repeated messages were seen: "You're on Advanced Difficulty!! It's not that hard at the beginning!" I did want Assembloids boxed, but as you said the sheer number left me waiting for cart/manual sales for titles I didn't want a box. That cost of $20 per box actually is a bargain when you consider time and money of offset printing quality stock, the huge increase in shipping: 10 times what it used to be, (Atari's red/maroon boxes of the late 80's are fragile and nearly garbage), artwork, box assembly and packing in the manual insert cart poster etc. It is also a bit of the need to re-live opening the box and getting to the contents. A nice idea that saved work was Skelly's Vextrex boxed multi-cart shipping as a flat but glued box and the things you needed to stuff into the box and bend the tabs and close the top and bottom yourself. P.S. unrelated but tangent to streams / ZeroPageHomebrew: Both my homebrew (which was featured 2nd) and Star Castle Arcade (featured 3rd) by sheer coincidence have 270 scanlines & 58fps (In my case the need to add visible scan lines & overscan for more CPU time). Do to the tech of streaming, the YouTube looks perfectly like my LCD displays, but the stream flicker was odd and extreme due to the 58fps of both games (but importantly they do not drop flickered objects like some streams, video recording and screenshots). Even though captured and broadcast at 60fps, our games that output 58fps really confused the live stream. My guess being it is fine with fractions of 60, like 30 & 15, but fractions of 58: 29 & 14.5 cause frame drops in live stream. Edited May 16, 2018 by iesposta 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Since I want my games to be played, I would be in favor of parallel non-boxed releases. But my understanding is, that boxes have to be produced in a certain quantity and with some investment. So releasing only boxed version first makes sense. BTW: Yes, Star Castle flickers horrible in the stream. I am not sure if this can be fixed by their hardware. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality Studio Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Funny timing for this thread because I literally just bought Assembloids a few hours ago Personally I love the boxes because it's a nostalgia thing, just like opening up the boxes back in the day when you'd get a new game. I hope that trend continues as I'll always buy boxed over non boxed, but if boxes went away I would still buy homebrew games. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FroggoGamer Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 I still plan on buying a copy, and I buy the boxes when I can. I do like having the boxes on my shelf. It is simply the fact that I don't make much money so I have to buy my games one or two at a time every couple of months, and I have been more focused on the 7800. I finally bought every 7800 AA offering. There should be some kind of special achievement for that. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 (edited) Thanks so much, I'm glad you enjoyed our Let's Play of your awesome game! We do eventually read the manual after a round or two, hahah, I just like to re-live the days for a tiny bit back when we had no access to manuals like we got games second hand (having no internet in the 80's!!). It also gives an idea of how intuitive the game is! Personally I love the gorgeous art are work that goes into a boxed copy of a game and how they sit beside each other on the shelf. I don't buy games that don't have a physical release of some sort and as a consequence I fear my days of gaming on modern consoles will soon come to an end. Thank goodness for places such as Limited Run Games and of course all the Homebrew websites! BUT, saying all that I know a lot of people don't share my point of view and would rather get the game more inexpensively on cart or rom only as to avoid the massive amount of clutter that can arise from having hundreds of boxes around the house. I can only hope that the people like me continue to buy enough boxed games to keep the incentive going for the people like you who want to see their games put out in full regalia!! Keep on doing what you're doing, the homebrew community is richer for it! I love the style of the 'ZeroPage HomeBrew Video Gaming' channel.They play games the way they should be played Well, reading the manual would be helpful but then again: who did that? Maybe their review is a bit symptomatic? Obviously they enjoyed playing it, yet I hear 'for kids' somewhere inbetween.Are these kind of fun quick games really mostly for kids these days? I had hoped not.(This just made me thinking, no criticism here. I really enjoyed your video alot!). Edited June 12, 2018 by cimmerian 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 the "must purchase box" is what keeps me from buying most of the new homebrew releases. While the boxes are very cool, I have no space to store them and I don't want to pay a lot of extra money for something I'm going to have to either throw away, which seems disrespectful to the work that went into it, or put in a box in storage and never see again. boxeless versions would see many more purchases from me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 As Albert mentioned, it will be sold optionally without box rather soon, I guess Meanwhile there is another playing experience on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGI5wQEsqZk?t=8490 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 As Albert mentioned, it will be sold optionally without box rather soon, I guess Meanwhile there is another playing experience on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGI5wQEsqZk?t=8490 Soon, I have taken all the photos I need to do this, just need to spend the time updating a bunch of entries in the store. ..Al 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Assembloids is available at the AA store without box for 25 USD now. Thanks Al! http://priorartgames.eu/2018/07/05/assembloids-2600/#more-242 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolcrab Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 the "must purchase box" is what keeps me from buying most of the new homebrew releases. While the boxes are very cool, I have no space to store them and I don't want to pay a lot of extra money for something I'm going to have to either throw away, which seems disrespectful to the work that went into it, or put in a box in storage and never see again. boxeless versions would see many more purchases from me I agree. My collection is all cart only and I don't really need boxes. (The box of Astronomer is the exception, because I made the game) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Several other homebrews are now available without a box too. So please check the ones you are looking for. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Yes, Albert relaunched a large number of games this way - good news for the gamers out there. Winter may come 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
high voltage Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 (edited) Whenever possible, I prefer cib. I'll buy Assembloids after I've purchased Pleiades Edited August 27, 2018 by high voltage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Whenever possible, I prefer cib. I'll buy Assembloids after I've purchased Pleiades Fortunately you now have the choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug0909 Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I think it's great to have all options from box to downloads. I only collect homebrews for one system (Odyssey 2) so I'd like everything boxed for that. On the other hand, I have multicarts and emulators for the other systems, so it'd be great to be able to download more homebrews and get to play more games without more clutter. And occasionally if there's a really great game for another system like Assembloids I might just want it boxed... That said when are you coming out with Assembloids for the Odyssey 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I look forward to buying MANY of the newer homebrews for winter consumption! Thanks, Al! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Video Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I like boxes, I just have an issue called money LOL. I wasn't aware so many modern homebrews had boxes. It's been years since I got anything, I should pick some up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 It will be available at PRGE this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+davidcalgary29 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Boxes and manuals are a ton of effort and really add little value to a project aside from beauty and whimsy. This is the reason that I always buy them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 20, 2018 Author Share Posted October 20, 2018 For all those that either want to test first or simply enjoy playing: http://priorartgames.eu/2018/10/20/assembloids2600-binaries-for-free/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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