The kid succeeds: Bastion sales exceed 500K [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/08/bastionpc0013_530x298.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/30/the-kid-succeeds-bastion-sales-exceed-500-000/)
It's been a critical success (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/07/19/bastion-review/) and now developer Supergiant Games has revealed Bastion (http://www.joystiq.com/game/bastion) is also a commercial success. The recent Steam and Xbox Live Arcade sales (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/20/12-days-of-xbox-deals-promo-opens-with-50-off-bastion/) helped to push Bastion over that 500,000 mark, the developer's blog states.

"When we set out to make Bastion, a sales number like that seemed astronomical to us, so it feels great to have hit that mark," creative director (and Bastion writer) Greg Kasavin said. "It goes to show that a lot of folks out there like what we're doing and want us to keep going, which is great, because we intend to stick together as a team and do just that." Considering the universal praise for the studio's first game, we can all agree that's a very good thing.http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)The kid succeeds: Bastion sales exceed 500K (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/31/the-kid-succeeds-bastion-sales-exceed-500/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).




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[chilimac]

Americans love mediocrity.

[Nz17]

Americans love mediocrity.

*cue the voice of Bastion's "The Stranger"*

The Poster seems real cynical. Can't believe others like a game more than him. Takes a cheap jab at Americans. Can't say an American would do any different. Still, makes a man wonder what the world is turning into. Well, the world before The Calamity anyway.

[Griking]

Americans love mediocrity.

How so?

[calthaer]

Americans love mediocrity.

You are clearly a quality poster and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[kupomogli]

Americans love mediocrity.

You're wrong. I don't like anything.

[chilimac]

How so?

The graphics and gameplay look and feel cheap. The narrator doesn't go well with the graphical styling. The combat is dull and monotonous, and your attacks don't feel like they're connecting; you don't feel the impact. I knew immediately upon playing the demo that it was a crap game. But I also knew that it would be very successful one, because it was part of the Summer of Arcade, and therefore it would be receiving a great deal of attention from the gaming press, which would result in thousands of clueless morons buying it.

A typical American is a weak-minded person with no taste who can't think for themselves and needs to be told what to think and what to buy. If a thousand people tell them that turds taste like chocolate, then they will think the same. Just look at the movies and music that is popular with Americans these days. Complete garbage! What is successful is what is popular. And what is popular is whatever gets the most attention from the media. And what gets the most attention from the media is whatever the publishers decide to throw the most money at for "marketing". It's brainwashing. And it works well on stupid people.

Look at the popular games... most of them barely have any gameplay, they play more like movies, and they have no replay value. They're not challenging, and they do not require any skill or intelligence to complete. And there's a reason for that, because the people that these games are designed for are imbeciles.

[Griking]

Gee, why don't you tell us how you really feel...

[Sunnyvale]

A typical American is a weak-minded person with no taste who can't think for themselves and needs to be told what to think and what to buy. If a thousand people tell them that turds taste like chocolate, then they will think the same. Just look at the movies and music that is popular with Americans these days. Complete garbage! What is successful is what is popular. And what is popular is whatever gets the most attention from the media. And what gets the most attention from the media is whatever the publishers decide to throw the most money at for "marketing". It's brainwashing. And it works well on stupid people.

What's that smell? Could it be...

Missile envy?

[hezeuschrist]

The graphics and gameplay look and feel cheap. The narrator doesn't go well with the graphical styling. The combat is dull and monotonous, and your attacks don't feel like they're connecting; you don't feel the impact. I knew immediately upon playing the demo that it was a crap game. But I also knew that it would be very successful one, because it was part of the Summer of Arcade, and therefore it would be receiving a great deal of attention from the gaming press, which would result in thousands of clueless morons buying it.

A typical American is a weak-minded person with no taste who can't think for themselves and needs to be told what to think and what to buy. If a thousand people tell them that turds taste like chocolate, then they will think the same. Just look at the movies and music that is popular with Americans these days. Complete garbage! What is successful is what is popular. And what is popular is whatever gets the most attention from the media. And what gets the most attention from the media is whatever the publishers decide to throw the most money at for "marketing". It's brainwashing. And it works well on stupid people.

Look at the popular games... most of them barely have any gameplay, they play more like movies, and they have no replay value. They're not challenging, and they do not require any skill or intelligence to complete. And there's a reason for that, because the people that these games are designed for are imbeciles.

You're fun. I like the part where you're not only a bad troll but not entirely in command of the English language either.

I'm an American and I do not suffer mediocre trolls. Try harder.

[chilimac]

So no one here agrees with me that today's movies, music and video games are crap? I hope you can at least agree that today's video games are crap, because if even classic video game fans aren't smart enough to recognize how far the quality of games has declined in recent years, then there's no hope whatsoever for the industry of ever returning to a time when gameplay was more important than graphics, replay value was more important than length, challenge was more important than story-telling, and video games were made for people who were smart enough to discern the difference between a good game and a bad one.

[Sunnyvale]

Hey, I like the old stuff more than the new. But, you didn't say 'modern stuff sucks'. You said 'Americans suck'. So piss off.

[kupomogli]

So no one here agrees with me that today's movies, music and video games are crap?

I agree with this, but it's not just Americans that buy into the media and all the hype and then continue to sing praises on games and movies that clearly suck.

People have to know what's out there to be interested in it regardless. So if there's no media then more than likely no word on anything will spread unless they happen to stumble across it. It's that most people watch these high profile movies or play these high profile games, and despite how unenjoyable they are they try and find some sort of redeeming quality, because not only did they probably pay $10 for a movie or $60 for a game, these same items are being overrated everywhere else so they don't want to feel different.

Or it could just be that everything has continued to get worse and worse, so now that it's the norm. When the 360, PS3, and Wii were released, places like IGN Gamespot, etc, etc, instead of comparing games to the prior generation were comparing the games to other launch titles and giving them ratings based on that. In my opinion they're doing the same thing as saying "Dragon Warrior is the first console RPG so we're going to have to go easy on rating it." In comparison to this gen, they're pretty much saying. "This PS3 game is a piece of shit, but it's the best piece of shit on the system, so, 8/10." They still compare games that are based on that specific console, but now you'll see an 8/10 game released now, and while it may not deserve the 8/10, it's far better than the garbage they rated at launch.

That being said, there are still good games on the systems released this gen, and there still are good movies now and then. But yeah. Most of it sucks. I do actually like a lot of the music released now days though. Can't really say that music sucks.

[hezeuschrist]

So no one here agrees with me that today's movies, music and video games are crap? I hope you can at least agree that today's video games are crap, because if even classic video game fans aren't smart enough to recognize how far the quality of games has declined in recent years, then there's no hope whatsoever for the industry of ever returning to a time when gameplay was more important than graphics, replay value was more important than length, challenge was more important than story-telling, and video games were made for people who were smart enough to discern the difference between a good game and a bad one.

I disagree with every point you just made. Not because of a differing of opinion, but because you're flat out wrong, know you are, and continue to troll. Poorly.

Step up your game, son.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Americans love mediocrity.Who the hell do you think you are, calling me American? :P

Excuse us if we liked a game that didn't involve shooting people during cutscenes, and that has a good narrative.

[chilimac]

I agree with this, but it's not just Americans that buy into the media and all the hype.

True, but I believe Americans to be more easily manipulated into buying crappy things than other people from other parts of the world. And I believe it is because they are less intelligent. I have no proof, other I know Americans because I live among them, so I know very well how dumb they can be. Some of these people... I swear they're so stupid, I'm surprised they figured out how to inhale oxygen when the were born. So for now, I'll give people from outside the US the benefit of the doubt and assume they aren't as simple. They just can't be.

[Sunnyvale]

Change the word 'Americans' to 'Jews', and I bet you'd get banned.

[Colorado Rockies]

True, but I believe Americans to be more easily manipulated into buying crappy things than other people from other parts of the world. And I believe it is because they are less intelligent. I have no proof, other I know Americans because I live among them, so I know very well how dumb they can be. Some of these people... I swear they're so stupid, I'm surprised they figured out how to inhale oxygen when the were born. So for now, I'll give people from outside the US the benefit of the doubt and assume they aren't as simple. They just can't be.

If you don't like America you can GIT OUT

[chilimac]

People have to know what's out there to be interested in it regardless. So if there's no media then more than likely no word on anything will spread unless they happen to stumble across it. It's that most people watch these high profile movies or play these high profile games, and despite how unenjoyable they are they try and find some sort of redeeming quality, because not only did they probably pay $10 for a movie or $60 for a game, these same items are being overrated everywhere else so they don't want to feel different.

That's why I say, the further we get from the arcade era, the worse the games have gotten. Back then you depended on word-of-mouth, which trickled down from the knowledgeable hardcore gamer, instead of some corrupt media corp. And because many console games were arcade ports, if you wanted to test out a game before buying, all you had to do was pop in a quarter at the arcade. And because the arcade game business was so competitive and because anyone could test the games out so easily, if your game wasn't of high quality, everyone would soon know it, and it would die fast. This system insured that only the best games would find success.

But nowadays, video games are purposely being created to take advantage of ignorant people. They slap some crap game together, max out the graphics, place some pretty pictures on the back of the case, pay the professional reviewers to hype it up, and it sells millions.

But at some point you'd think people would catch on to this little trick. But so far, they haven't. And the only reason I can think of for them not figuring it out is... stupidity.


I do actually like a lot of the music released now days though. Can't really say that music sucks.

Oh dear god, what are you listening to? Today's music is the worst of the three. It's embarrassingly bad. I wouldn't be caught dead listening to it. Every time I hear new music on the radio I can't help but laugh at how bad it is. I'm laughing at you right now. :ass:

[Sunnyvale]

What I said before...

Nevermind. Your opinion is backed by strong evidence, solid logic, and you present it tactfully and intelligently. Thanks for coming to America. People like you are a great asset to the nation. Have you applied for any teaching jobs? If not, please do so. Because I would love to see my whole country thinking like you.

[Carey85]

Looks like we're working on an instance of trolls trolling trolls.

[Queen Of The Felines]

He hates us for our freedoms.

[NE146]

I'd like to buy Bastion but I'm a little annoyed I missed the sale of it on the 12 days of christmas.

By the way.. didn't the rest of the sales pretty much suck or is it me? :p

[ProgrammingAce]

Looks like we're working on an instance of trolls trolling trolls.

Trollception.

http://ragecomics.com/-img/4ec1e0e81861333126000432.png

[Nz17]

I have a feeling that at least a locked thread is going to result from all of this back-and-forth we've seen thus far. But before it (likely) happens, I'd like to just make a few statements.

Bastion's stated "total copies sold" are not just numbers from the U.S.A., but worldwide numbers including all three versions of the game. Thus Bastion's massive success cannot be attributed to only Americans buying the game.
The three versions of Bastion (Xbox LIVE Arcade; Windows including Steam, GamersGate, Origin, Green Man Gaming, Direct2Drive, Impulse, and OnLive; and the Chrome Browser's Chrome Web Store) ensure that a wide variety of people have purchased the game from a plethora of backgrounds and financial abilities, not only the wealthy prodigals.
Bastion is an independently developed and published game. Its achievements are all the more impressive due to its small-time developer not having the financial fortitude of giants like EA, Ubisoft, or Square Enix.
Bastion has won over sixty video game industry awards (http://supergiantgames.com/?p=1286) including numerous "Game of the Year" titles. That's an awful lot of publications to bribe.
People's opinions are just personal preferences and not fact. Thus what some people like others will not. Thus all media, video games included, cannot be called good nor bad as fact; the closest we can get is general consensus, and the general consensus of players and the media is that Bastion is a good game.
I personally don't like Bastion's gameplay, but I appreciate the other aspects of the game.
Those who are proud of their nationality or ethnicity should list it in their forum profiles.
People should be worldly before considering laying blanket statements as rule-of-thumb guidelines whether about people, places, or things.
"Americans" consist of a wide variety of people of all ethnicities from around the world with different distributions and concentrations dependent upon the differing regions of the nation - it is not a homogenous people nor country.
Digital Press's readership includes many Americans, but according to our statistics, Canada, the UK, Germany, Russia, Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico, and China make up over a quarter of our viewership, with most of that concentrated in the first four countries listed.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Bastion is an independently developed and published game.Sorry to correct you, but it was published by Warner Bros. Interactive. Their catalog includes Batman: Arkham City. While it was independently developed, the publisher isn't nearly as indie as you'd think.

[portnoyd]

Hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster hipster

Your smugness betrays you.

Folks, behold: we have discovered the Aswald of videogames.

As much as you tout how smart you are (both indirectly here and in your prior posts on these forums), you are stupid too.

For one, while having what you believe to be an astute, ahead of the curve point of view, you make these posts not as one trying to reason and discuss, but as one trying to prove superiority and coming off, as JesusHC said, as a monstrous troll. If you were truly not stupid, you would have never began your discussion as such. As it is, you are already several steps behind attempting to make an acceptable argument for your point.

While you operate on a level that you see as smart, those around you - especially here in this thread - are quite convinced you are a moron. And they would be right solely based off your own logic, that being "I have no proof, other I know Americans because I live among them, so I know very well how dumb they can be.". Well, we can see you posting and you sound pretty foolish. Show me objective stupidity and maybe you'd have a case why you're smart.

So in closing on that point: lol yur dum

To your actual argument, you are, in a sense, pulling a Roger Ebert. Instead of games not being art, you are saying classic games are essentially art and modern games are not. The problem is the core of the discussion: these are games. They are entertainment. "What is successful is what is popular." There's a reason for that. People have fun playing them; just because you don't doesn't make them 'crap'. Again, subjective. You are not smart and you are not the Roger Ebert of games.

You wear rose colored glasses to classic games, almost a complete antithesis to the notion among "modern" gamers that older games are bad because they have poor graphics and are old. Your motivation for having such a hipster/arrogant asshole/snooty/elitist attitude is unbeknownst to us, as details left from your own background would probably paint a picture of bitterness for whatever reason. Let it go. Whatever you want to have fun with, do. You have your entertainment; everyone else has theirs.

So in closing on that point: lol u mad bro?

Look, I get it. Society seems dumber. It's hard to refute that we're working our way to Idiocracy. Certain posters on this board (... in this very thread) have really done nothing but bolster your argument by leaps and bounds. But just because we're having a good time, from your perspective "stupidly", don't shit in everyone else's cornflakes. It's almost like your bitterness about modern gaming can't be turned off and you can't enjoy what we do. Whether or not that's by smug choice or not, who knows.

And finally, in closing: lol u jelly?

[PapaStu]

And finally, in closing: lol u jelly?

No but i'm gellin' like a felon. That help?

[misfits859]

Americans love mediocrity.

Fuck you. Haha.

[jonebone]

What a waste of a thread. This was the perhaps my favorite Arcade game of the year and this thread is nothing but trolling. Should have known better.

Anyways, awesome to see it break the 500k mark with the recent sale. I bought it on release day and eventually got the 200/200. Wasn't too hard, but it was actually FUN and you wanted to go through and beat the game again (had to beat it twice for all achievements).

Combat was good, enemies were diverse and the narrator was a touch of ingenuity. I disliked it as first, but it grew on you as you continued to play. A neat concept indeed.

[Skullkid]

Would like to see this released on a compilation disc. Like they did with Limbo last year.

[Ludwig]

I don't get this game. It's pretty and generally a good idea BUT: The Kid looks like a Monkey-Boy with those huge hands, why didn't they go with something a bit close to the art? I have to admit it got it's own charm, but the narration is annoying the hell out of me and actually ruining the experience, i see the idea and why they did it, but how they done it is just horrible. "The kid took a huge dump - he forgot his hemorrhoid cream but he decided to go for it anyways".

[XYXZYZ]

lol yur dum

u spell'd "ur" wrong lol

[LaughingMAN.S9]

So no one here agrees with me that today's movies, music and video games are crap? I hope you can at least agree that today's video games are crap, because if even classic video game fans aren't smart enough to recognize how far the quality of games has declined in recent years, then there's no hope whatsoever for the industry of ever returning to a time when gameplay was more important than graphics, replay value was more important than length, challenge was more important than story-telling, and video games were made for people who were smart enough to discern the difference between a good game and a bad one.


what are some examples of great games in your opinion then? and which of these in your opinion are overrated pieces of garbage?


lol im seriously not being a dick here, im genuienely curious

[LaughingMAN.S9]

Oh dear god, what are you listening to? Today's music is the worst of the three. It's embarrassingly bad. I wouldn't be caught dead listening to it. Every time I hear new music on the radio I can't help but laugh at how bad it is. I'm laughing at you right now. :ass:


i agree with this statement provided you rely mostly on mtv/bet/vh1 radio and 98 percent of bloggers to tell you wtf is good