Blaster Master Zero Has Been Downloaded 80,000 Times On Switch

Not yet

Doing some quick math, that means that the game has just about made itself back. Depending on office rent and certain other things.

From Switch sales alone! That's pretty good for a digital launch on a new platform.

Haven't got it myself yet, and I'm not exactly a series fan, but I might need a decent challenge at some point!

Yep I got it and its ok. NL review is true, the game is a little on the easy side. But maybe the updated hard mode will be worth it.

I did

No Switch yet, but I picked up 3DS version.

I did yeah, I'd say its well worth its cheap price.

Great game, great price. I've yet to try out the new (free) DLC though.

@Fuz Ha! I didn't go online but yeah, it took me half the game to find it!

Downloaded it on Day 0.
great game.
Now I am enjoying the free DLCs.

i have it on switch & its good little game. 80k isnt to bad for a start the free DLC is appreciated as well

@Fuz Nope, it was kind intuitive TBH. I finished the game with the true ending without looking for any hint actually. It IS on the easy side, specially after you max out the gun level and get the gun level shield.

That's great news! I really enjoyed this game being an oldschool blaster master fan.

Definitely enjoying it! I do hope that they're getting the sales they'd like for the system, and it continues to sell over time. I bet a $5 sale price eventually will get a ton of people to check this one out.

I am one of the 80,000! It is a fantastic game. I love it.

Well worth the ten bucks. It's a bit on the easy side, but still very enjoyable. Makes decent use of HD Rumble too.

Yes i was and i had fun.

I wonder how many copies it would have sold with a robust eshop? Seems like for many people it was a title they bought to take a break from BoTW.

I will join the chorus and say that it is very easy. Some of that might be due to my perception that I assumed it would be bone crushing hard like a lot of the old 8-bit titles. It is a quick fun ride and I do recommend it.

Does that number include the demo version?

I played the demo this past weekend and had a ton of fun! Will definitely look into it, even tho I suck at these kinds of games, haha.

@crackafreeze I recommend you give it a try. It pretty much fixes the problems of the original.

Blaster Master Zero IS SO MUCH FUN!!!! Wow! I got this game ONLY because these guys made the Rock Man Zero series and Gunvolt which were awesome games! Playing through Blaster Master Zero was a little confusing at first but as you play it it gets better and better. The upgrades you get remind me so much of the Mega Man X series!

Side Note: The reason that fully pushed me to get Blaster Master Zero was actually the Gunvolt DLC where you get to play as Gunvolt! hahaha. I love Gunvolt! Dont judge me! XD XD

I read into that tweet as they're pleased thus far.

I downloaded the demo to try and see if I enjoy it. However, I haven't tried it yet, but my son has played it a TON. So there's a good chance I'll end up buying it

Picked it up on release, definitely a fun throw-back game. Fits perfectly alongside WonderBoy.

@joey302 I agree, like saying they got good returns for a 3rd party release on one Nintendo console.

I got it on switch and it was pretty fun I still have to play through the DLC again but we will see.

I bought it when it first went up on the eshop. Fun little game. Fully worth the paltry asking price.

Getting it tonight when I get home so I can snag that DLC for free.

80,000 sales sounds really bad to me. At $10 a copy that is $800,000 (different regions have different pricing, but let's keep the math simple). Let's say that the average salary for the 35 workers is $40,000 a year. With six months work that means that $700,000 went to salaries alone. Then factor in expenses like rent, taxes, marketing, Nintendo's eShop fee, etc.

There is no way the game has made any money yet. It is still in the red.

Or we can look at attach rate. There are probably around 3 million Switches in the wild now. So 80,000 sales gives it less then 3% attach rate. Also not good.

@Musashiden and I haven't bought it myself yet and I will at some point. I'm sure there are others in my camp. It's on my wish list as well. Was just toooo distracted by Zelda and constant new releases of other games! 😃

I've played it a bit but haven't really gotten into it due to Zelda and now Mario Kart taking up my time. I'll probably end up just starting over completely so I can have one uninterrupted playthrough and really dig into it.

Bought this last week, but not gone beyond the brilliantly bizarre intro sequence yet - I just wanted to make sure I got the Gunvolt DLC while it was free. I agree with others that BMZ definitely got a sales bump for being a launch title on a rather thin eshop, but I hope Inti make a ton of cash simply for being brave enough to set a price below a tenner (without being a Neo Geo port).

Come on, if you're gonna talk abou Inti's pedigree as far as reviving Mega Man is concerned, talk about the excellent Mega Man 9 & 10 instead of the trainwreck that is Mighty No. 9. 😉

Blaster Master wasn't a mainstay in my NES experience back in the day, so I didn't get this one. Might do so in the future, especially if there's a sale.

Man I am trying so hard to fight off the hype. I love the game and Inti-Creates too much. Everyday I power up my Switch, BM0 demo is right in my face. I can't escape my fate it seems (UGH)...

@Nertak I work in software development (internal stuff for corporates) and I have never understood how game companies make money (and that includes with Nintendo's first party efforts). The amouny of man hours going into even a "simple" game is huge and even a most wage would dwarf most income being produced by sales. I can only assume these guys don't get paid.

Downloaded the demo. It's an okay game, but sadly not my cup of tea. Have fun all you metroidvania gamers!

I've got the demo and I like it (even though the story makes little sense) and I may consider getting the full version. I have a few other games in front of it on my list however.

I downloaded it and am enjoying it a fair amount.

I bought it on day one. Its one of my favorite little time wasters.

I got, glad I did. Keep in mind it's the first month and still selling.

I love this game, it's my favourite game on the Switch. The new DLC is great too as it really changes the gameplay dynamic. I really hope it sells well as it really deserves to and I want a sequel! 😉

I've been planning to get BlasterMaster. I played the Demo all the way through and couldn't put it down. It's an absolutely unique game which you won't experience anywhere else. I might wait till after E3 though. E3 hinges on whether or not I keep my Switch. I have been a bit Disgruntled as of late with the Switch. I'm not very interested the Future games line up. The holidays look ok. So I'm waiting through E3 to see what Nintendo has in Store for the system. For me they might need too announce 1 or 2 new RPG's or an online RPG. I've also been waiting for a proper racing game and Hockey game

Great throwback and came in at the right price. I hope we see more indies at the $9.99 price point.

I really want to get this game to play as Gunvolt.

I didn't know it was that cheap. I thought it was 20 bucks or something. I def need to get it on 3DS.

I double dipped on 3ds and switch, support the good guys who make the good games

@Nertak And many people's salaries are going to average pretty far north of 40k I would assume. This game has a long way to go to make money.

@Ryu_Niiyama The story is so bad it's good. Guy in a post-apocalyptic world befriends a frog. Frog escapes to an alternate dimension through some sort of wormhole. Guy follows it, and proceeds to tear through the alternate dimension in some sort of hyper-advanced tank in order to find his frog friend again. It's mind-numbingly stupid, but so earnest in its delivery that I can't help but enjoy it.

@Ralizah I spent the entire opening of the demo going: "Seriously?? Wait...SERIOUSLY...um ok then...."

Moral of story: Never come between a guy and his frog I guess?

@Ryu_Niiyama It gets dumber as it goes on, too. Also, the script is filled with weird, probably unintentional innuendos. I have no idea if it's a poor localization or if the original just has writing this weird.

I got it and beat it after zelda, well worth the price

@Nertak
But, they didn't just make the Switch version in that 6 months, they also made 3DS version.

So they made $800k minus fees to Nintendo, let's say $600k (just a guess). That means they've almost coveted the entire cost of development for both versions, from Switch sales alone and in just 1 month. One year from now, as install base grows, they'll surely have reached the $700k for assumed salaries.

Then 3DS version is all profit on top of that, and if they sell at least 100k on 3DS (far larger install base) that's a cool million free and clear (minus fees) for the company, and it's a smaller company.

I have it on the Switch cuz I loved the original. It's pretty cool so far.

@Nertak said "35 workers is $40,000 a year. With six months work that means that $700,000 went to salaries alone." In what country? That seems 3,5 times more than I would calculate or 2 times more than the average. Can you hire me at your company?

@StarmanSSP what he said

Hopefully this will have a "long tail" meaning consistent modest sales for many years.

I like it but can't get past the first boss! Easy? My foot

I effing love this game. Have beaten the original cover to cover about 100 times since it came out, and this is a magical gift to us old school fans. They did such an impressive job of recreating the fun from the original and tossing in a lot of new fun innovations. Hoping for another!!!

@Nertak

3% is a phenomenal attach rate. Of the hundreds of third party games released on the Wii, only Just Dance dance series managed to top 3% attach rate. Comparing this to the top Nintendo franchise's isn't a good comparison. The 80,000 in sales for the first two months is pretty good. Certainly this will break 200,000 over it's life just on the Switch before it's likely cheap porting over to additional systems.

I'm sure that 35 people didn't spend a year on this. The whole company has 80 people and they just finished Shantae (and are working on a Switch version), as well as working on the 3DS version and Bloodstained is supposed to come out for a number of consoles soon. A lot of time these small indie companies use contract labor too. Just pay for what they do on the game versus 80 full time employees.

I bough too the game right away. For both consoles.

@Pocky - Agreement.

It's weird how the map made the game feel tedious. I mean, the original was impossible without hand drawing a map as you went along, but seeing where everything was made it less of "I'm totally immersed in this impossible world" and made it sort of boring. Music was stellllllllar though.

Have not bought this yet. Been burned too many times recently with digital games getting physical releases. Gonna hold out for longer.

I'm actually surprised it's that low, I figured the downloads would be about twice that.

@Cosats I live in the USA. In the USA the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, or like $15,000 a year. I don't know where you live or how you are calculating things, but if my numbers were even 3x too high then the employee wouldn't even be making minimum wage let alone if they are 5x too high. I don't know anything about Japanese salary amounts, (I assume it was made in Japan) but as it's a wealthy Nation I assume the programmers are paid reasonable amounts.

@cleveland124 Wii is a really bad example. It has terrible attach rates because tons of casual people bought the system, 2 games and then nothing ever again. The average Wii owner had less games then the PS3, 360, or like any other modern system that wasn't a complete flop.

@nertak This game wasn't being made to "keep the lights on" though, so it isn't like it's the only form of income Inti Creates has.

What this hammers home is that a group of 35 were able to make a decent 3DS game and port it to the NS in half a year, where they were able to sell 80,000 downloads in 1-2 months.

@Fuz I didn't even realized how to change weapons at first, however, I was listening to Retronauts review of the game, and it made it easier to understand. Overall I thing the game is fantastic, and the HD rumble, while subtle, its effective. Its like feeling the sound on your hands.

Best bang for your buck on the eShop. Game has massive replayability especially with the free DLC I absolutely love it and recommend this game to every switch owner. If you thought it was too easy give it a run in destroyer mode and prepare yourself you'll love it it's the way the game is meant to be played

Tried the demo, didn't like it.

Good! Blaster Master is a fantastic series! I would love to see more of them honestly. Blaster Master is one of my favorite NES games. I downloaded BMZ a few weeks ago and I haven't finished it but I've loved everything I've played so far.

The people here are misjudging these numbers; they are not bad at all, principally when compared to the sales of the other Inti Creates' games. It was also shared today that Azure Striker Gunvolt, which was released in August 2014 on the 3DS, sold 180,000 copies, whereas Azure Striker Gunvolt, which was realeased in August 2016, sold only 38,000 copies. Based on these data, I think I can say with almost certainty that Inti Creates must be really happy that they managed to sell 80,000 copies on the Switch version alone in mere 2 months.

Edit: I forgot to include the source, so here it is: http://nintendoeverything.com/azure-striker-gunvolt-has-sold-180000-copies-sequel-at-38000-units/

@Nertak

That's not true at all. http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/01/29/these-are-nintendos-lifetime-hardware-and-software-numbers

Wii was Nintendo's 2nd bast attach rate to the Gamecube at 8.84. Which is really impressive due to the Wii outselling the Gamecube by 5x. I had a hard time finding lifetime attach rates for the Xbox 360 and PS3, but the following article from 2011 (5 years into gen) puts Wii attach rate better than PS3 and worse than Xbox 360. http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/11/21/opinion-why-xbox-360-still-leads-the-market

But let's assume you are right. PS3 at 3% attach rate means a game would have to sell 2.5 million units. According to the following article, there were only 19 games on the PS3 to reach that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_PlayStation_3_video_games

Good for Inti. I bought it day one on Switch but also bought it again on 3DS. Definitely worth the double dip just to scratch my Blaster Master sweet spot no matter which device I chose to take out with me

@cleveland124 You have Inti Creates confused with WayForward. Inti Creates has no hand in the current Shantae game.

@MegaVel91

https://www.destructoid.com/inti-creates-contributing-art-to-both-new-shantae-games-262006.phtml

Sorry, I mentioned those games because they had a hand in them. Not because they did the development.

@crackafreeze lol everyone is happy with sales.lol so your post was pointless and meaningless.

@Nertak lol Wii out sold PS3 and 360 lol every gamer knows that,so to say Wii flopped your so wrong lol why are you on a Nintendo site and know nothing lol

@cleveland124 here Wii outsold PS3 and 360...Million-selling game consoles
Platform Firm Released[2] Units sold Ref.
PlayStation 2 Sony 2000 >155 million [note 1]
Nintendo DS Nintendo 2004 154.02 million [16]
Game Boy/Game Boy Color Nintendo 1989/1998 118.69 million [note 2]
PlayStation Sony 1994 102.49 million [30]
Wii Nintendo 2006 101.63 million [16]
Xbox 360 Microsoft 2005 84 million [note 3]
PlayStation 3 Sony 2006 >83.8 million [note 1]
PlayStation Portable Sony 2004 82 million [note 1]
Game Boy Advance Nintendo 2001 81.51 million [16]
Nintendo 3DS current generation consoles Nintendo 2011 66.12 million [16]
Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo 1983 61.91 million [16]
PlayStation 4 current generation consoles Sony 2013 60 million [37]
Super Nintendo Entertainment System Nintendo 1990 49.10 million [16]
Nintendo 64 Nintendo 1996 32.93 million [16]
Sega Genesis Sega 1988 30.75 million [note 4]
Atari 2600 Atari 1977 30 million [38]
Xbox Microsoft 2001 24 million [39]
GameCube Nintendo 2001 21.74 million [16]
Wii U Nintendo 2012 13.56 million [16]
Master System Sega 1986 10–13 million [note 5]
Sega Game Gear Sega 1990 10.62 million [46]
Xbox One current generation consoles Microsoft 2013 >10 million
(as of 2014) [note 3]
TurboGrafx-16 NEC/Hudson Soft
[note 6] 1987 10 million [48]
Sega Saturn Sega 1994 9.26 million [49]
Dreamcast Sega 1998 9.13 million [49][50][51][52]
PlayStation Vita current generation consoles Sony 2011 >4 million
(as of 2013) [note 1]
Sega Pico Sega 1993 >3.4 million [note 7]
WonderSwan Bandai 1999 3.5 million [note 8]
Color TV Game dedicated consoles Nintendo 1977 3 million [61][62]
Intellivision Mattel 1980 3 million [63]
N-Gage Nokia 2003 3 million [64]
Nintendo Switch current generation consoleshybrid video game console Nintendo 2017 2.74 million [16]
ColecoVision Coleco 1982 >2 million [note 9]
Magnavox Odyssey² Magnavox/Philips 1978 2 million [68]
Atari Lynx Atari 1989 >1 million [note 10]
Philips CD-i Philips 1991 >1 million [note 11]
Telstar dedicated consoles Coleco 1976 >1 million [73][note 12]
Atari 5200 Atari

@Slim1999

And how does that relate to tie ratio?

I bought it, 80K for a digital release isn't really bad at all especially a semi-niche one based on a throwback of a long dead series last seen on GBC around 2000. Factor in they co-developed a 3DS version and no numbers stated I can't see how this isn't profitable so far. With history, product growth, random 20-30% off sales Nintendo does so it returns into media presence, and then finally making a well setup eShop so people are aware of it — it can just go up.

People should give this game a go. Really good!

@Slim1999 I did not say it flopped. Reread what I wrote.

80k sold on a platform starting with an install base of 0.....up to maybe 3-3.5m by now.....not bad at all.

I did, day one btw. Is a really great game.

I've got it, and have been thrilled with it!

3ds version most likely doesn't even have half of that. The main reason for high sales is lack of Switch games.

@electrolite77 I'm having difficulty finding clear info on software tie rates for each system. I'm seeing a lot of say Wii in one year and then PS3 in a different year making the numbers useless for comparison. Fine though, I retract the claim that Wii had a low attach rate. It was a side comment I made, and not the core point of my post.

I maintain that selling 80,000 copies generating around $800,000 is not good news when the company had 35 employees spend 6 months on it. The 3ds sales will hopefully make up for it, but sales on the Switch so far are poor. As I said estimating an average salary of $40,000 a year salaries for the 6 months would be $700,000 then throw in all the other expenses. BTW if you Google it the average salary is higher then 40k a year. I'm being conservative.

@Fuz no

Hell yeah! I got it the other day! It's great!

I got it day 1 and love it. But I have not completed it yet. I have been tied up with Kamiko and wonder boy dragon's trap on switch and with FFVI on my Game Boy Advance given I just got a micro Tag teaming with my sp when the batteries need to recharge lol.

I cannot wait for Fire emblem Echoes (Fire Emblem Gaiden remake) next week and Disgaea 5 though. My back log is alrady building and the switch hasn't even been out for 3 months yet!!!!!

Final fantasy complete collection on Switch Nintendo... just make it happen, make square enix do it and help them and rekindle the love affair of nintendo & expertly crafted RPG's of yesteryear. Come on Nintendo you know you want to do it...

I chose to get Shovel Knight first but do plan on eventually downloading Blaster Master.

I have this on the 3ds. I love the game. Yeah the game is fairly easy to beat, but man, the original was really tough. So I'm not complaining that it's easier

I played this game when I was very small and thought I was the only person who even knew what it was before the internet came about. I play this as much as Mario Kart 8 & Zelda, and I usually won't touch anything that feels 8-bit. It seems the rest of the world just found this game if they didn't back in the early 90's.

It was a day one purchase for me since I didn't get the chance to play it back in the 90's when it came out.

@Nertak - You don't know if this game is profitable, and it's pointless to speculate as the game is in its infancy. You've done some Googling and some simple multiplication and used that "knowledge" to spread misinformation. It's off to a great start. Time will tell.

I find this game really hard, is it just me?!

I bought it day 1 and absolutely love it. Im a bit disappointed in the sales figures. I would have expected more. They cant be thrilled. But its only been 60 days. And there have been no sales as if yet. There is time. Would be interested to see the sales distribution over time. There will always be a spike at release. But if sales continue to show some life over those 60 days as more Switches become available at retail they still may be able to realize an acceptable profit. These numbers also didnt include 3DS sales. I'd be really interested to know how 3DS sales fared.

@Nertak
I agree with you on most of your logic. I was thinking the exact same thing actually. Yes, 40K is conservative for a developer. Probably closer to 60 to 70k tops for a small developer. And a good number of those 35 employees are either administrative or working on at least one other project (but likely not much more for their size). So you can't count them against one game. So yeah, even if those 35 emoloyees were only 40 to 50% committed to that project and other projects are bringing in revenue from the other 50 to 60% of their time, that figure is still not incredibly impressive for a brand new system where your product is one of few alternatives with a sell through that the Switch has enjoyed so far.

The thing is, no one looks at an ROI over 2 months. What no one knows here, and what is incredibly important to know, is what the sell through rate is over these past 60 days. If it has trailed off significantly to a trickle, I would be concerned. But if there is still life in the sales volume (I wouldn't expect day one sales volume), I would be encouraged. There are a lot more Switch systems to be made available to the public as demand has not yet been satisfied. So if there are still steady sales at any level (this means the game has "legs") then there is a lot to be optimistic about for them over the next year.

There's a lot of hands winging over attach rate on this game based in it being one of the few available at launch, but it's a super retro VERY 8-bit game based on an ancient, forgotten, pretty scarcely known even in its own time IP. I would hope Inti knew is very niche appeal before they ever started development, and understood their potential market size.

I'm curious to know how many downloads the 3DS version got. I loved the original NES version. Even read the Worlds Of Power book when it came out. Loved this remake so much that I finished it on release day.

@NEStalgia Scarcely known in it's own time? Completely false. It was all over Nintendo Power and it was one of the major 3rd party games of its' year. Sunsoft may not have been quite as much a fixture as Capcom and Konami but it was quite close-- AND Blaster Master was their most famous work on the NES by far.

I've got the 3DS version, bought it to get the Gunvolt DLC before it cost money, but going through BoxBoy 3 and Brave Dungeon first, then will get this out of the way before moving onto the new FE. Lots to do, lots to do.

@Nertak

I think you need to look at the full time period versus a finished product at 2 months. The Switch has been difficult to find. If the Switch does indeed move 10 million units over the next year, it's not hard seeing this game selling more than 250k copies just on the Switch. They didn't announce 3DS sales but it likely will move at least 100k units there. What does projecting at least 3-4 million revenue do for your estimates?

This game isn't the type of game where everyone buys it on release date and then sales tank pretty quickly.

@Firehawke it may have been publicised well to the nintendo faithful, but it just wasn't a common consciousness game outside the inside. It's one of those games a core nintendo nerd will remember mentioned way back in the day but most people that even had Had nes in the house but wasnt sleeping and breathing nintendo hasn't heard of. It wasnt even in the rental stores i frequented back then though i was aware of the name. I guess it's a little underground.

I don't own Switch so I'm gonna buy Blaster Master Zero for 3DS, but I wish there was a PC version so I could use a bigger screen!

Apparently, it's possible to download the DLC even if you haven't purchased the game, as it's free until the 17th. Not sure why you'd want it alone or if it would be playable, but I suppose it could be downloaded for free now and saved for an eventual purchase.

Got the game because was at accessible price and played the original game on NES back in the 90's 😊

Great game.

@Jack_Goetz Downloaded demo last night and had no idea about the map... sheesh. 🤔

@mattmayatt Another Boston Terrier fan, eh? Just had to say it.

@NEStalgia Exactly. I found it when a news item on Switch had a list of available demos. Otherwise it wasn't on my radar. Fun game.