Vblank's Brian Provinciano has been speaking about the development of Retro City Rampage, and has revealed that getting the game finished came with a terrible price for him personally — it impacted his health.
Talking to Wii's World, Provinciano explained the events surrounding the completion of the game:
There were many finish lines, but it was very anti-climactic upon launch. I'd worked so many years and expected to have a big party when it was done. However, I'd pushed myself so hard and was running on such little sleep that I was a zombie and physically ill when that day came. On top of that, once your game ships you're in another massive crunch, working around the clock to get through emails (I had over a thousand in the initial launch week), doing interviews, sending out review copies, handling any support requests, and unsatisfied, I continued to polish the game further even post launch, then had to get the remaining SKUs out the door. I didn't get a chance for a vacation until two months after launch, and still it was just a short one. I have yet to take a full proper vacation five months out, but I will be doing that shortly. Well, I have no choice because I really physically damaged by body from all of the long hours at the computer and need to recover. All just the result of being one man and doing the work of a small company. It's not healthy.
However, Provinciano did say that the experience of working with Nintendo was a positive one, and that he would be continuing to support the company's systems in the future:
Nintendo's been great to work with, everyone there. Dan Adelman's a champ and works incredibly hard to help Indies and deserves a lot of recognition, and on the European side, Christian, Oliver and Pepe were just as supportive, to name a few. The pleasant experience working with them on a personal level is the primary reason why I'll continue to make games for Nintendo platforms.
[source wiisworld.com, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 18
Perhaps Brian should hire a staff. Will nobody work with him?
@bezerker99 I doubt he can afford it.
Hey, I know exactly how he feels.
At least in his case I assume he made a lot of money and his game has been seen, played and appreciated by a lot of people.
In my case I've suffered all the same hardships but very few people have seen, played or appreciated my games.
Sad but true.
Congrats to Brian though.
I hope he gets his health back long before even thinking about his next game. I also hope he expands Vblank with a few more developers so its less taxing on him & cuts down on development time. I'm very glad I bought Retro City Rampage on WiiWare, it was only $10. I hope others buy it on WiiWare too & by some miracle he makes a profit from it. Get well soon Brian
@WiiLovePeace
Eh, I'm pretty sure the guy has made a lot of money from this game. Surely. It's been released on multiple consoles/services (PSN, Vita, XBLA, WiiWare, Steam), has been covered extensively in the media press and has had a lot of gamers interest since it was first shown.
There's no reason to think this game wouldn't have made a profit and indeed a good deal of money for Brian.
I thank him for all his efforts, because he made one hell of a game. I only bought it after reading the Nintendolife interview with him from last week. I had no idea RCR was going to be this fun!
I'm looking forward to his next project . . . after a much deserved rest.
I hope this guy actually makes a profit from the WiiWare version, I don't want this to be his last title on a Nintendo console!
In a press release three days ago, Brian said RCR had only made it to 20% of the WiiWare threshold where the developer gets paid. Fingers crossed though.
^ Yeah, I'll be picking it up too. It looks like fun and it will good to help this starting developer. Everyone should pick it up so more indie developers look to the Wii U as a platform to distribute their games.
Wow. I do appreciate it. I'm getting this game as soon as I get paid!
@WiisWorld Only 20%?!It's probably unlikely he ever will then as the majority who have been waiting for this will likely have bought it already.With Nintendo apparently opening up to devs and making it much easier for them to get noticed and make a profit,why can't they just apply the same rules to Wiiware now,even if it's just for this guy for his commitment alone?Or even better,advertise it in the Wii U shop without having to go into Wii Mode to purchase or play it.
Aww... The poor guy. He needs a hug.
@Kirk I meant I hope he makes a profit from RCR sales on the WiiWare service. I know he's made a profit from the game as a whole, else he couldn't have released RCR on WiiWare at all. In case you missed it: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/03/vblank_entertainment_retro_city_rampage_on_wiiware_is_a_usd20000_gift_to_the_fans
@WiisWorld only 20% of the threshold 3 days ago? Damn! I hope sales of it increases though it seems unlikely at this point
@WiiLovePeace
Now I get you.
Well, the fact he even has the option/cash to basically give it as a "$20,000 gift" to the Wii owners shows how much spare money he must have and how much money he must have made from the other versions.
So, I'm not really gonna feel too sorry for the guy.
He made a cool game and he's obviously made a lot of money from it as well as had a lot of people enjoy his game.
I only wish my games could make anywhere near that amount of money...rather than the £200 TOTAL I've made across 3 different games over the course of about a year.
Now, my games may not be massive indie projects that take many years to make like this game but I think all things being fair I should have made just a little bit more.
This guy is doing just fine and dandy.
Are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy? The game was announced as a wiiware title about 5 years ago. By the way, it sucks. Don't blindly support someone, especially after they release a game many years after they were supposed to and then they tell you how much it cost them etc. That's reprehensible behavior.
I love this guy, I'll be supporting him by purchasing all his titles. Love indie game devs.
That's a shame that it's only at 20% after all of the press. So far, it's been some of the most fun I've had on my Wii. As far as I'm aware, the game had been been done for at least a year and a half, it just was going through approval hell with all three of the console manufacturers. Both this and La Mulana have turned out to have really, really been worth the wait for me. Shame that the WiiWare versions of Super Meat Boy and Machinarium got canceled though.
Got it on launch day. I'm honestly thinking about buying some of the merch just out of my love for the game (the shirts and posters on the official site namely) but I'm skeptical about buying online.
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