A Quick Jetpack Survey
April 5th, 2010 - filed under Input RequestedI invite everyone to take part in this quick informal survey of Jetpack fans. Make your voice heard now, and feel free to add comments if you wish. If you would prefer your answers be private, please use the contact page.
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam
B2) An independent developer site
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games)
B4) AmazonC) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online
C2) In a retail store
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshotsD) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack)
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
Say you create a level pack in the game, you set a price for it (ie 100 credits), and when users buy it you get a percentage. Your income would be (rough guess) from $10 – $30 per 100 copies sold. Buying level packs would not require owning Jetpack – so if the free version becomes popular on Facebook for example, popular level packs might sell 1,000+ copies.
Possible side effects: better quality addon levels, but fewer free levels available.F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games?
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April 5th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
The C section a little confusing for me, is it PC only question? is C1 and C2 after trying out Demo’s?
April 5th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Good question, I’ll reword it to be computer games. C1 & C2 are about overall purchases, whether you played a demo or not.
April 5th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
A) 7.
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services?
B1) 10.
B2) 9.
B3) 2.
B4) 5.
C) How many games have you bought:
C1) Countless…
C2) A good majority.
C3) Only a couple.
D) Yes. I also have before.
E) 5, and here’s why: While it’s nice to be able to make money off your levels, it does have an air of “elitism” to it…
F) 10.
G) 9. If it isn’t finished by the time the game ships, it’s okay, but I’d love to play through the original levels with the new physics, or alternately, play through the game using the old graphics.
H) Steam (not a site, but a service), Pogo, GSN, and Yahoo!.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
5 – not really care but feels like it’s a feature that should be there
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam – 10
B2) An independent developer site – 10
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games) – ??? Don’t know because I have never bought a game from there before. Would prefer the other options.
B4) Amazon – 10
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online – 10+
C2) In a retail store – 30+
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots; probably 80% of my games
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? No, never
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good] I don’t like this at all.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very] 10, this was the #1 reason why Jetpack was one of my favorite games of all times back then. The game is only slightly above average without it. I wouldn’t even bother playing/buying this without a level editor.
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? 10, very. I’m strongly for a Jetpack Retro and a Jetpack 2.
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games? Steam and Amazon
April 5th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
8, I’m pretty much interested – it should increase fan-base. I think this area is limited tho (like rank 1 being 10000, rank 2 again 10000, rank 3 again 10000, etc..) I think you should somehow combine time and gathered score to increase even more score.
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam 10
B2) An independent developer site 9
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games) 5
B4) Amazon 5
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online
Umm I’ll have to guess about 5. I usually prefer retail store, but if it’s only avail online then I’ll go ahead with online order
C2) In a retail store
Several, if I need to include old old games like DOS, I’ll guess about 50
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots
In old days I bought many without trying first, I’m now trying make sure I try them first thru demo’s, I’ll have to guess about 40 without trying first, then 10 or more after trying them out.
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack)
YES, I think you should go with free demo release (first 10~20 levels) then the rest of levels comes with buy.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
Say you create a level pack in the game, you set a price for it (ie 100 credits), and when users buy it you get a percentage. Your income would be (rough guess) from $10 – $30 per 100 copies sold. Buying level packs would not require owning Jetpack – so if the free version becomes popular on Facebook for example, popular level packs might sell 1,000+ copies.
Possible side effects: better quality addon levels, but fewer free levels available.
4, I’m interested, it’s different, but I think it might cause problem? Like maybe people copying off level design, or you’ll make sure you approve before making them available or I’m missing something?
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
9, it fun to create and challenge myself what I created, or share them.
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
5, it would be interesting to play without relying on dosbox
H) What are your favorite sites to download / play games?
kongregate.com (flash browser site, achievement, several API’s for dev)
gog.com (site for old pc games, only bought once, I don’t mind buying from there again if I’m interested in any more old games)
Steam
April 5th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? 10
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam: 8
B2) An independent developer site: 4 (some are shady)
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games): 1 (buying flash games makes me angry)
B4) Amazon: 10
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online: 0
C2) In a retail store: 0
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots: 0
(any games that I want to play are usually for the XBOX. I don’t buy computer games cuz in order to get a computer as powerful as my xbox would cost like $1500. NOT worth it. I play plenty of flash games. But why pay a grand and a half to have a computer that plays Call of Duty as well as my $200 Xbox?)
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack).
Yes, but not in the case of Jetpack. The reason being that it includes an editor. Why play “paid” missions when you can make your own? Usually, though, add-ons like that make me angry and turn me away from said developer.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
Say you create a level pack in the game, you set a price for it (ie 100 credits), and when users buy it you get a percentage. Your income would be (rough guess) from $10 – $30 per 100 copies sold. Buying level packs would not require owning Jetpack – so if the free version becomes popular on Facebook for example, popular level packs might sell 1,000+ copies.
Possible side effects: better quality addon levels, but fewer free levels available.
As a developer, yes, but as a customer, no, I would not like to pay for levels. But in my opinion I can make some bomb levels, so as a professional 10+ years experience in level editing for various 2D and 3D games, I think it would be cool to make some cash that way.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
500!!!!!!!! If there was no editor, I would have dropped Jetpack a LONG time ago!
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
500!!!!!!! WE NEED ONLY THE ORIGINAL!!! WITH LEVEL SHARING!! THAT’s IT!!!!!
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games?
I personally play games on onemorelevel.com, because they have a new flash game every day! Other than that, I don’t buy computer games, and I would NEVER buy a flash game’s “deluxe version”. Personally, for smaller, arcade-style games, I usually stick to the XBOX Live Arcade Marketplace. They have a bunch of cool games for like $15.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
Well, this is a tough one. I prefer purchasing games on physical media (CD) or at least a downloadable form that can be played offline. This means I am a little biased against Steam and paying for things through Game Portals. Would love to see a CD with both the new and old versions of Jetpack though! That would rock!
A) 8
B) I strongly prefer having a physical copy of my games, and therefore do not use Steam. Also not a fan of joining game portals because I do not spend that much time playing various games.
B1) 1 – Steam
B2) 10 – An independent developer site
B3) 1 – A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games)
B4) 10 – Amazon
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online: This is how I buy most of my games! (purchase physical product and have shipped to my house)
C2) In a retail store: Rare
C3) Without playing first: About 30%
D) Possibly, but more likely to pay a higher initial price for all the levels.
E) 2 – While it sounds like an inscentive for people to build levels for the game, I think it would be better to have an open/free level system. Maybe have free and pay levels available.
F) 10
G) 10
H) I buy most games from Amazon.com and prefer to have physical media sent (buy the game on a CD)
I am a little old school with the physical media, but I think it would be awesome to be able to purchase a full collection of the game and levels with editors and the like on a CD, even if it cost a bit more than purchasing online.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:45 pm
A) 5
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) 10
B2) 6
B3) 3
B4) 10
C) How should I know? I’ve been playing games for years and years, and data older than Steam really isn’t relevant at all. Guess:
C1) 50%
C2) 50%
C3) 0%
D) Maybe? Probably not.
E) 10
It’d try it, at least.
F) 7
G) 1
H) Steam, Kongregate, Amazon.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
A) 3
B1)1
B2)-8
B3)-10
B4)-9
C1)-less than 5
C2)-10-20
C3)-less than 5
D) NEVER
E) 3 – It would take up more of your time deciding who’s levels should be picked to be a paid level
F)10!!
G) 6
H) Facebook, WildTangent, PopCap, BigFish
April 5th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
A) If it is only times and scores: 4, if I can also the actual replay video: 9
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) 8
B2) 10
B3) 0
B4) 8
C1) I think the only one ever was world of goo
C2) 3-8
C3) 1
D) Yes, but only if add ons clearly were substantial work for the developer
E) Sounds like too much effort to handle tiny payments (international fees will eat all the profits at such low costs).
F) 10, it’s what made it a great game for so many years
G) 7, jetpack 2 is what I’m really looking forward to though
H) I prefer anything but facebook, especially if content I create (eg. levels) are easily shareable via a url to anybody (without having to be a user of the site).
April 5th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
A) 3
B1) 9
B2) 8
B3) 5
B4) 9
C1) 0
C2) 5
C3) 1
D) If they were small payments like 2 dollars, yes.
E) 7
F) 10
G) 10
H) Not sure
April 6th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Wow, really interesting variety of responses.
Most surprising to me so far:
B3) How many people are against game portals
F) The editor is more popular than the game?? Will mouse-based editing be less fun?
Notes on (E): The authors would choose whether to make levels paid or free. A rating/popularity system would keep down the clutter.
Notes on (D) and (E): These wouldn’t be a charge for every transaction, but more like XBox Live where you buy $10-$20 of credits up front. Either Jetpack-specific credits, or something like GamerGold/HeyZap/Kreds – one of the systems that lets you use credits with several other games. You could also earn credits, by inviting friends or creating popular levels, etc.
April 6th, 2010 at 12:45 am
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very] – 7
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam – 10
B2) An independent developer site – 7
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games) – 2
B4) Amazon – 1
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online – lots
C2) In a retail store – rarely
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots – many times
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack) – Never.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good] – No.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very] – 10
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very] – 6
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games? – Steam; GOG.com.
April 6th, 2010 at 1:30 am
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very] 8
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam 9
B2) An independent developer site 10
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games) -1
B4) Amazon 8
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online: 2 (Defcon and Trackmania Sunrise)
C2) In a retail store: In my lifetime about 50. In the last 7 years: 5 (C&C Generals, Warcraft 3, C&C 3, + 2 online
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots: About 45
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack): If it was really cheap and added lots to the game. But, I rarely ever buy add-ons.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]: 10 Great but I would probably never spend money to buy other people’s levels. Especially wouldn’t pay money if it were a game with an easy to use level editor.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very] 10 I buy games just for the level editor. I spend a thousand more hours with the level editor than the main game.
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very] 4
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games? Amazon to buy console games. Facebook for Bejewled and Farmville but lost interest in both games.
Recently I lost interest in computer gaming. I prefer playing games on a console. I would buy jetpack for the Wii on Wiiware. The pointing function of the Wii would work great for the level editor. The flash game Super Meat Boy is coming to the Wii. World of Goo and Cave Story are two great computer games also on the Wii.
April 6th, 2010 at 3:13 am
A) 1
B)
B1) 10
B2) 9
B3) 1
B4) 2
C)
C1) 50+
C2) ~5
C3) 30+
D) no
E) 1
F) 8
G) 2
H) Steam
April 6th, 2010 at 4:39 am
A) 8
B)
B1) 10
B2) 7
B3) 2 ( I noticed most people don’t trust sites like these)
B4) 5
C)
C1) 2
C2) 8-10
C3) 2 (Friends showed me how to play them, etc)
D) A definite no. I hate the hassle.
E) 2-5 Depends. If this happens though, I like the following: “Buying level packs would not require owning Jetpack – so if the free version becomes popular on Facebook for example, popular level packs might sell 1,000+ copies.”
F) A definite 10+!!!
G) Not sure
H) Umm, Probably steam
I think that’s covered it!!
April 6th, 2010 at 4:57 am
A) 7. (Plus ghost data would be nice.)
B1) 6 (Never bought from them, but heard they’re good.)
B2) 10 (If paid through Paypal or other trustable service)
B3) 9 (Same as above)
B4) 1 (Don’t they put big profit margins on stuff? I never buy from them because of their shipping costs, though that wouldn’t be applicable here.)
C1) None, but I would have if I had the money.
C2) 2-3.
C3) 2-3.
(Come to think of it, I own a very small number of PC games.)
D) Yes, if the content was worthwhile.
E) 10. Oh yes please, my childhood dream, getting money for creating levels.
F) 10. Yes, Adam, after the game engine itself the level editor was hands down the best thing in Jetpack.
G) 6. Really depends on the changes made in the new version’s engine. If a lot of changes are made to the way Jetpack works, I might prefer the retro mode.
H) I have very little time to play these days, but I use Facebook for social networking so I most often play games there. Sometimes Kongregate.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:03 am
A) negative a hundred. except for “local” hiscores (family on same computer for example) [1=not, 10=very]
B) Steam – Frightening | An independent developer site – reluctant but happy | A game portal – afraid of getting a shite product | Amazon – very reluctant
C) Online – a handful | In a retail store – virtually none | Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots – very few
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? – no.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? 5 – tempting, but daunting. i would fear the market would get saturated quick and my attempts at levels would fly under the radar in favor of popular, trusted levels which launched early in the ‘buy levels’ scheme.
F) How important is the level editor to you? 5 – an interesting distraction and kinda fun
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? 7. that would be the primary reason I would play, I would imagine. Although the original being so readily available (thankyou mr pedersen) I would probably play that solely if I desired. Though if the new version contained it, I would be MUCH more inclined (as if I’m not eagerly anticipating it anyway) to play it.
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games? – I used to like Acid-Play, but indiegames and jayisgames are my primary haunts nowdays.
April 6th, 2010 at 5:32 am
A) 7. It’d add a whole new competitive component to Jetpack (greatly increasing replayability), but wouldn’t be the main reason I played it.
B1) 6. We all know Steam’s flaws but it’d surely bring more attention for the game. If it’s not the only purchase option, go for it.
B2) 9. It’s relatively convenient, cheap and safe to set one up today. I’d say this should be the primary priority, with a spare option (like Steam) that doesn’t require as much word-of-mouth.
B3) 2. Never used those.
B4) 3. Won’t be my first choice if it can rather be downloaded from Steam or JetpackHQ.
C1) 20+
C2) 10+
C3) Most of them.
D) Nah, I’m against this recent trend of priced DLC. It just makes more sense to have the price contain the whole product.
E) 3. I find this unnecessary (see D). I’d rather see design trends flow freely, people shouldn’t need any incentive to make levels.
F) 10. It’s probably the single greatest reason why I still occasionally fire up Jetpack over 15 years after its release.
G) 5. I’m impartial to this, the original game is already freeware and can easily be tried out by anyone who hasn’t played it yet.
H) TIGSource and Kongregate for indie games, Steam and Good Old Games for commercial ones.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:32 am
A) Able to see level times/high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
1 – For older gamers like me I unfortunately can’t find the time to play a game endless times to get the highest score.
B) Services rating? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam -10
B2) An independent developer site – 10
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games) – 3 these always seem to have a huge list of so-so games so I don’t go there,…takes too much time wandering through the games
B4) Amazon – 8
C) How many computer bought:
C1) Online – hundreds
C2) In a retail store – much much less than previous answer
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots – probably 10-20
D) Buy add-ons via micropayments? – yes
E) Make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
1 – this wouldn’t entice me to create levels
F) How important is level editor? [1=not, 10=very] 10 – one of the fun parts of the game since it is easy to use and you can see your results immediately; also educational for children learning to use the computer
G) How important is “retro mode”? [1=not, 10=very] 7 – makes it easier to play Jetpack at work!
H) Favorite sites to download, play, or buy games? gogamer.com, Steam, amazon.com
April 7th, 2010 at 12:13 am
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
huh? 4 I guess. Depends what you mean exactly…and I mean EXACTLY. i’d rather wait and see what you’re thinking about before I give a real answer but for now it’s a 4. Or do you mean in general?
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam
B2) An independent developer site
B3) A game portal (eg: Arcade Town, Big Fish, GameHouse, Pogo, Yahoo Games)
B4) Amazon
B1 – who?
B2 – i’m usually not very comfortable with this, but it depends: so 5.
B3 – I don’t think yahoo games has viruses, but i don’t really know…and that’s the only one I’ve heard of of the examples, so I can’t be too comfortable with this one: 3.
B4 – Amazon 10 all the way. I buy tons of stuff from them. They’re definitely one of the best places to buy from, especially if it’s buying FROM THEM (as opposed to from someone with an account on amazon)
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online
C2) In a retail store
C3) Without playing first – based only on reviews, word-of-mouth, or screenshots
C1 – 0 I think. I go to the store for my computer games so I can look all over the boxes. I’ll buy video games online, though.
C2 – Do I really have to count them…I’m not near my own computer right now…I’ve bought enough. I’d say 100% of my purchased computer games have come from retail stores
C3 – um….umm….actually…probably 80% or so of my computer games. I’ve looked at the boxes, the reviews, etc., and if they looked great I usually bought them. Demo’s are nice, though, if I don’t have to go out of my way to get one or too far out of my way to play one.
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments? (eg: $2 for a mission pack)
what? Oh, no that would kill the game for me. NO NO NO NO NO.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
Say you create a level pack in the game, you set a price for it (ie 100 credits), and when users buy it you get a percentage. Your income would be (rough guess) from $10 – $30 per 100 copies sold. Buying level packs would not require owning Jetpack – so if the free version becomes popular on Facebook for example, popular level packs might sell 1,000+ copies.
Possible side effects: better quality addon levels, but fewer free levels available.
don’t put me on the spot like this…what are you trying to say? Well…are you saying other people would have to pay for the levels? In that case it’s a 1. I don’t want to have to pay for anything more than a game when I buy it. And I don’t know if the levels would be better as a result…Sticking with a 1.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
10 DEFINITELY. When I couldn’t get anywhere with the game and the levels that were already there, the editor made the game fun again (because games suck when you can’t get anywhere with them).
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
12. I need that retro mode. Old stuff, no matter how sub-par-by-today’s-standards the graphics are, needs to be preserved in old and great games. If there’s no change to the game besides making the graphics better, then it might be a waste to have retro mode since there’s still the original to play. But don’t let my comments confuse you: retro mode is a must have.
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games?
I don’t really have any favorite sites…I usually stick to the games on my hard drive…i got a couple great ones from adept software, and there are some good games that I play once in a while on popcap games and onemorelevel.com
April 7th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Well these responses have been incredibly useful, thanks everyone! Feel free to add your answers, if you arrived late.
Based on these responses and recent feedback I’m going to shift course in a few areas:
* put a lot more emphasis on the level editor
* make the game more closely follow the original, possibly ditch box2d, and make the industrial theme match the original Jetpack graphics
* probably make the retro mode a post-release feature
* add some social features
* look into Steam, Kongregate, & Facebook, and not worry about selling on portals for the time being
* maybe run a micropayments trial on a big casual site like Facebook. Unlocking or buying level packs will cost, but individual levels will be free.
I could still use more data on H) favorite gaming sites, if you have anything to add. I’d like to pursue the sites that offer the best fit for Jetpack.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:00 am
Here are a few gaming websites I use to find out about new games. Perhaps send a message to these gaming sites to help promote the game on release.
http://www.kotaku.com * My favorite
http://www.joystiq.com * Another Favorite
http://www.destructoid.com
http://www.gamespot.com
http://www.ign.com
http://www.n4g.com
http://www.1up.com
http://www.gametab.com
A great popular site to play games on is http://www.newgrounds.com
April 8th, 2010 at 8:01 am
A)8
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) 6
B2) 4
B3) 3
B4) 8
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online – 90%
C2) In a retail store – 10%
C3) without playing first – 40% – I usually play a demo of said game first.
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments?
Yes, I tend to buy alot of extra content from Xbox live for my xbox games.
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
1 – I really don’t like the idea of the users profitting from the game. It can lead to a problem much like the apple app store spam but many times worse since levels are easier to create than apps. Fans create brilliant quality levels as it is.
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
9 – I think jetpack loses most of what it is if there is no level editor. My fondest memory of the game is going round to a friends house with my brother and taking it in turns to create a level which the others would try and play through.
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
7 – I love the sound of a modern update to the original. It does depend on how much Jetpack 2 will differ from the original. If it becomes a completely different game for example, the retro version would be a must have for me (regardless of how good the sequal will be!)
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games?
amazon, xbox live, PSN, steam, facebook.
If you’re looking to sell, steam must surely be the best way to go for PC. Also, a good example of an internet game ethic is Bejeweled Blitz by Popcap games on facebook. They have a facebook app in which you play a game of Bejeweled in a one minute time trial. Your high score for that week is placed on a leaderboard which sits next to the game, and each week the high scores are reset. Brilliant fun, only managed by the fact that you can see your friend’s high scores. Offline, you can buy the full game which is more level based than high score based.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:54 am
A) 4
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) 8
B2) 6
B3) 1
B4) 4
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) 60% (and rising)
C2) 40%
C3) 35% (Sequals to games I have played)
D) No
E) No
F) 11
G) 7
H) Steam, Kongregate
March 15th, 2011 at 10:55 pm
A) How interested are you in seeing your friends’ level times, & high scores? [1=not, 10=very]
6
B) How would you feel about buying a game from the following services? [1=bad, 10=good]
B1) Steam: 5
B2) Independent: 10
B3) Another game portal: 0 (haven’t looked)
B4) Amazon: 3
C) How many computer games (not console games) have you bought:
C1) Online: 50 or so, all in the past 5 years (Steam, Good Old Games, Telltale)
C2) In a retail store: 100 or so, but almost none in the past 5 years
C3) Without playing first: 90%+ of games
D) Would you ever buy add-ons to a game via micropayments?
No
E) What if you could make money by creating levels? [1=bad, 10=good]
5
F) How important is the level editor to you? [1=not, 10=very]
10
I use Jetpack as my #1 example of how important a good level editor can be. Unlike many games, whose editors are designed for technical people, Jetpack’s was user-friendly and simple, so anybody could create a level. It didn’t require configuring object properties or writing even simple scripts. Everything just worked when you placed it down, as you expected. That is very important.
G) How important is the “retro mode” (web port of the DOS original) to you? [1=not, 10=very]
10
H) What are your favorite sites to download, play, or buy games?
Good Old Games