Limited Run Games (producing physical copies of digital games)

[Aussie2B]

Nothing for Vita fans today, but three PS4 games are available: Pang Adventures, Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae, and Astebreed. Looks like Astebreed is the most popular, as the first batch of that is already sold out, while there's still a little left of the other two. It's great to finally be getting some more Japanese games through LRG.

[megasdkirby]

Ray Gigant and Flinthook are up for sale. Ray is $40 (expensive) while Flint is $25.

[Aussie2B]

Ray Gigant and Flinthook just went up for sale. The first batch is very nearly gone already, even with Ray Gigant being a standard price game. Take note that manufacturing of Flinthook has been delayed, so if you order it by itself or with Ray Gigant, you're gonna have to wait a few weeks to receive your package.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I'm very happy to see Ray Gigant. That's not an indie, that's a full blown retail-worthy game. I guess that's why it's more.

I'm looking forward to my order.

[megasdkirby]

Anyone here able to get "Maldita Castilla" for PS4 via Play Asia? I just managed, by pure luck.

[kupomogli]

I got a copy last night at 10PM CST when it came available. I had an email that stated there were 1000 left as of 2AM so I checked to see if they were still available as of 8AM and they were still able to get a copy. Probably sold out by now.

[Aussie2B]

This is the first I'm hearing about it (the game and Play-Asia's physical print run). Kinda weird that Eastasiasoft is basically doing the LRG thing (even announcing the size of the print run) but through Play-Asia, even though they have already released a few games through LRG. I guess when they went to do another physical print run of Soldner-X 2 through Play-Asia, they must've preferred that experience to working with LRG. Or maybe Play-Asia just asks for an even smaller cut of the profits.

[kupomogli]

LRG is releasing Night Trap on the PS4. When I made the joke about shovelware coming from LRG, and saying that their releases are all over the place, this is what I'm talking about. LRG pretty much releases anything they can get their hands on, regardless of quality. It was pretty ingenious starting up LRG and announcing games with a predetermined number of units to the public with a number to each and every LRG title, and using your own games to start and get more money is a smart choice, so I can understand the games being poor then. But when there's over 50 LRG releases in less than two years and over half of them aren't good? It's clear as day they're grabbing whatever they can get as anyone with half a brain would know they're making some damn good profit each release. Would be nice if they went for less releases and released better games. I think they'd actually look like a solid publisher to the public honestly and get more of a following by releasing quality titles. Most people seem to have forgot about them or ignore their releases now because how often the releases are low quality.

Night Trap was unique for its time, and when it comes to Sega CD FMV crap, it was one of the better games, but it's more of a piece of history than a good game.

[Aussie2B]

Why shouldn't they release whatever they can? Nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head, forcing them to buy every single LRG release. Let the consumers decide what they want and what they don't. Who's to say what's a quality game or not? No two people are going to have the exact same opinions on every game, let alone all gamers sharing the exact same opinions. Last thing I want is to be denied the opportunity to buy a physical version of a game I'd like to own just because one random individual decided it's not a good enough game. Anybody who knows anything at all about LRG realizes they're not a developer, and you shouldn't expect anything in common from one release to the next. You have to put in the research to know what you're getting and if it sounds appealing to you or not.

Good game or not, there are a lot of people nostalgic about Night Trap and a lot of people who are excited to buy a physical copy for PS4. Myself, I'm not particularly interested in it, and I'm thinking about bowing out of buying LRG's PS4 releases in general after DariusBurst, unless there's something that comes along that I'm just dying to own. That's not because the quality or lack thereof of their PS4 releases; I just don't care much about collecting for PS4, and I already have more than I have time to play.

Also, I recently played through both Octodad and Thomas Was Alone, two LRG releases that have reputations of being among the "worst" LRG releases, and I had fun with both. I don't think they have released very many stinkers. If you give a damn about pro scores, Metacritic backs that up. Most of LRG's releases have scored pretty decent, even better on average than the physical Vita releases coming out from other publishers, like NISA, IFI, Aksys, etc. Like I've always said, just about every LRG release has its fanbase. It's just that their releases are also very diverse, so unless someone has equally diverse tastes, most gamers are not going to be into some of the genres or types of games they've released (especially some of the more "controversial" genres, like visual novels and the games that people label as "walking simulators" and now we can add FMV games to that list). But that doesn't make them bad, and that doesn't mean LRG should narrow what they release to appeal to only one type of gamer while giving a big "fuck you" to everybody else.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Anyone here able to get "Maldita Castilla" for PS4 via Play Asia? I just managed, by pure luck.

Yeah, I snagged a copy. That's one of my favortie Ouya games, so to get it physically was too tempting to ignore, even though I hate play-asia as their shipping rates to Canada are atrocious.


LRG is releasing Night Trap on the PS4. When I made the joke about shovelware coming from LRG, and saying that their releases are all over the place, this is what I'm talking about. LRG pretty much releases anything they can get their hands on, regardless of quality. It was pretty ingenious starting up LRG and announcing games with a predetermined number of units to the public with a number to each and every LRG title, and using your own games to start and get more money is a smart choice, so I can understand the games being poor then. But when there's over 50 LRG releases in less than two years and over half of them aren't good? It's clear as day they're grabbing whatever they can get as anyone with half a brain would know they're making some damn good profit each release. Would be nice if they went for less releases and released better games. I think they'd actually look like a solid publisher to the public honestly and get more of a following by releasing quality titles. Most people seem to have forgot about them or ignore their releases now because how often the releases are low quality.

Night Trap was unique for its time, and when it comes to Sega CD FMV crap, it was one of the better games, but it's more of a piece of history than a good game.

The NightTrap HD remaster isn't shovelware. That was a high budget production for it's time and the crowdfunded remaster isn't being skimped over either. Also, people have a kitchy nostalgia for NightTrap - myself included. I'm looking forward to it and will buy a coph as long as it's not like $50 USD. Make it $24.99 like the others and I'll buy.

As far as LRG releasing pretty much anything they can get their hands on, I don't see that as a problem. What's "good" is highly subjective, especially regarding niche genres like visual novels, otome games, sports simulators, and other non-mainstream genres that indie games tend to get into.

The way I see it, if you aren't interested in what LRG is putting out in their next batch, then simply don't buy it. Nova 111 and Darius Burst will be out soon, and I'm not all that interested in either so I'm sitting this one out. Maybe next time will have games for me. If not, no big deal, I'll just wait until there's something I am interested in. I suggest you do that as well.

[mailman187666]

I just tried to purchase the Dariusburst lmited edition. That thing sold out in less than 1 minute. Oh well, I guess I saved myself $100.

[Aussie2B]

On that note, man, would it be a dream come true if LRG could somehow do a physical run of Amnesia: Memories, considering IFI didn't see fit to do so.

As for today's batch, I just grabbed a DariusBurst LE and a Vita copy of Nova-111. Darius is sold out until the 6pm ET batch goes up, but there's still some Nova-111 left.

And with that, I may be done with LRG's PS4 releases. I wanna cut back on my spending a little, and the high price tag on the Darius LE is enough for me to be like "Okay, one last splurge and that's it". I honestly don't think the LE is a very good value. A whopping 40 extra bucks for just a box, a soundtrack, and a couple tiny plastic ships. But I adore Darius music and Zuntata as a whole, so if I loved hearing the music in-game, I could easily picture myself dropping $30 to import a retail OST. So that's how I justify it to myself, despite that soundtracks from LRG are usually only $15. Looking towards the future, Drive! Drive! Drive! is likely the next game LRG will release solely on PS4, and that seems like a decent point to break my LRG PS4 collection, as my interest in that is minimal. Likewise, I don't have any problem with the idea of passing on Tharsis and Night Trap. I still plan to get everything on Vita, though, as I love collecting for that system.

[SparTonberry]

Darius out?
*sigh* That's not an indie game, though I guess the owners of that franchise have OTHER games they're worried about. :P

[Aussie2B]

More copies of both the LE and the standard release will be up at 6pm ET, so there's still another shot for those who weren't able to land a copy from the morning batch.

[megasdkirby]

Holy shit i was lucky!

I worked today so I told my brother to pick it up for me. Sent him the funds. He told me that immediately when it appeared, he managed to get the LE version and the two versions of Nova 111. Checkout went through and he messaged me at work telling me that the games were gotten and paid for. He then refreshed the Darius LE page and was immediately sold out. That shit went faster than any of the previous releases! :o

I knew this was going to happen. For some reason, people love Darius. Now if I can finally get a copy of their first release, Breach and Clear Vita...

[celerystalker]

Don't know why the Night Trap release would be upsetting. I paid for the Mad Dog McCree Wii release happily. Clean videoversions of American Laser Games stuff sounds great to me. Not trying to say it's a great game, but I'm sure I'm not the only idiot who likes that stuff.

[Aussie2B]

The funny thing is that LRG said they got more tweets directed at them expressing excitement over the announcement of a physical PS4 print run of Night Trap than they got for almost every other release they've done. Clearly there are A LOT of people who don't see Night Trap as shovelware.

[mailman187666]

I still like Night Trap to this day, and I think I will purchase a copy of it when it gets released. Maybe it isn't a great game, but I have a great amount of nostalgia when it comes to those old CD games. Even if it sits on my shelf unopened, I won't regret buying it.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I just tried to purchase the Dariusburst lmited edition. That thing sold out in less than 1 minute. Oh well, I guess I saved myself $100.

That's how I see it. I'm not a big Darius fan. I mean, they're okay. but I tend to like Konami or Irem shooters to the Taito ones.

[Tron 2.0]

I just tried to purchase the Dariusburst lmited edition. That thing sold out in less than 1 minute. Oh well, I guess I saved myself $100.
I just didn't even bother i imported dariusburst instead for the PS4,now i'm set.

[Spartacus]

Anyone here able to get "Maldita Castilla" for PS4 via Play Asia? I just managed, by pure luck.

For anyone who missed registering for a "limited" PS4 Maldita Castilla, it's available now for pre-order at Play Asia. They did the same thing with the Blue Rider game they published. Had people sign up for the game like it's a limited edition to generate buzz and then a few weeks later it's up for sale on their website.
Castilla is supposed to be an homage to Ghouls 'n Ghosts, as is the Battle Princess Madelyn game LRG is promising to have soon. I hope both are easier to play than Ghouls 'n Ghosts. :)

[kupomogli]

NightTrap HD remaster isn't shovelware. That was a high budget production for it's time and the crowdfunded remaster isn't being skimped over either. Also, people have a kitchy nostalgia for NightTrap - myself included. I'm looking forward to it and will buy a coph as long as it's not like $50 USD. Make it $24.99 like the others and I'll buy.

Like I said at the end of what you quoted, it was one of the better FMV games, but everyone knew it wasn't really a good game. There are hundreds of better games more deserving of a remaster or remake, but a game like Night Trap is where the money is at. Everyone who's ever played or even heard of Night Trap knows it's one of those so bad it's good type of games(atleast some people seem to think so.) I've never been able to understand why, but people love to suffer through the shittiest movies of all time to get cool points, shit like Sharknado. The release of Night Trap HD is pretty much that. People are going to buy into it because making someone else rich off of a shitty movie that was recorded with a cell phone and then edited with special effects, or in this case an FMV game, is the cool thing to do.

But let me just point out the trash that LRG has been releasing.

Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae. Regardless how apologetic and how much you want to stand up for LRG releases and that if you don't like it just don't buy it, this game is clear of LRG willingness to just pick up anything they can get their hands on just to make a buck and you can be sure they're making a few grand profit if not more with this shitty release. Because of many people being caught up in owning every LRG release, many people were probably forced to buy this. I didn't, I've only bought 10 or less of their releases with a PS4 and Vita versions where applicable. But release a game clearly as bad as this one just because you can, just to put some extra money in your pocket. If you're unaware of this garbage game, take the brain dead Musou AI and add some broken DMC gameplay(broken as in able to take advantage of game mechanics and just overpower the already stupidly idiotic enemy more than you do from the start.) So LRG sings about how they're bringing physical games we want, and even if you ignore specific genres that you just might not like, even in genres you do enjoy, the majority of their crap is just plain average(or below average honestly.)

And before Aussie jumps to their defense stating not everyone is going to like every single genre, etc, etc, etc. I like the genre enough to appear this high on leader boards for the same genre(pictured below.) It's just a shit game.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsSyMaLVYAAq3M2.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsSzS8xVUAAAJuy.jpg

Now some metacritic scores If your game scores lower than a 6/10 on metacritic, then you know it's bad(the above game scored 58.) However, journalists like to give indie devs hand jobs for being indie devs, scores are greatly exaggerated due to the indie revolution and many games that aren't even deserving of half their score many times get twice that. We'll take Rez Infinite for example, a game that scored an 78 back when it released on the PS2, but now that the dev is known as an indie dev and indie, indie, indie, the game has increated to 89. For comparison sake though, let's take a look at a few AAA games. The Last of Us scores the same despite having additional content, running 60fps rather than sub 30fps, native 1080p, and higher resolution textures. Uncharted The Nathan Drake Collection doesn't even score as much as the original Uncharted did. Now it's not that the original Uncharted didn't age well, it didn't deserve it's score to begin with and hell if I know how it became a series in the first place, probably because everyone had a hard on over those graphics. Uncharted 2 and 3 are as still the same great games they were on the PS3 with higher framerate and running in 1080p, you'd think those games would increase the score. God of War 3 scored a 92 on the PS3 and the remaster an 81. I'm sure you get the idea by now. Indie games get their scores inflated all to hell for the simple fact that they're indie games. Rez isn't even a cheap indie game, but for most games, you pay $10 and you get a game that's eh, but you only spent $10 so here's an 8.5/10. I mean the bullshit concept of a game scoring higher because it's $1, $10, or $60? A game should be scored by the experience it provides, and if the so called shitty journalists want to make some statement to push a sale in the review, go ahead, but don't bloat the fucking score.. New word. Indieflation.

You've got the Shantae games which I was interested in because I've heard these were amazing games or something similar to that. Both were below average if you ask me, both honestly bordering on whether I should even keep them in my collectiion. There are things I like about the games, but they're just not very good, a far cry from the amounts of praise you hear about them from the fans of the series. Mutant Mudds scored an 85 on metacritic. Yeah, and Super Princess Peach deserves a 75.... wait what the literal fuck? Super Princess Peach got a 75? Make a game that an infant can progress through no problem whatsoever game gets rated highly, pose any sort of challenge without a loud public fanbase, your game will get shit all over. Maybe in some alternate universe where literally every single journalist didn't suck balls at gaming.... scratch that.... maybe in some alternate universe where literally 99.9% of all gamers didn't suck balls at gaming, people would see some games like Prinny as classics eventually, but sadly we'll be seeing games like Mutant Mudds one day be looked on as a classic in gaming and gamers then will become shittier than they are now. Final Fantasy will have you doing nothing but hitting x(oh wait, it already does that. The future is now!!.) "I'm sorry to say that the world has become a pussy-whipped, Brady Bunch version of itself" When talking about gaming skill, this quote is 100% fact, especially when a "gaming journalist" is involved. You play games for a damn living, you should be much better than people who barely have any time to play anymore.

*edit*

Either I'm naturally good at literally every single genre, or these people just don't try. I platinumed Slain Back From Hell, one of the trophies is finishing the game in a single life. I finished Hyper Light Drifter in a single life, all three boss rush difficulties, and new game plus. I finished five difficulties on Has-Been Heroes when most journalist reviews show gameplay from the very first difficulty. A lot of complaints going around about Stardew Valley's time mechanics. Within the first month I have level eight fishing and level six farming, three or four in the others. For a game that goes three years and I'm almost maxed within a month, are people not trying or are they just stupid? Not like I don't look like an ass already so I may as well come out with it, they're probably stupid.

[Koa Zo]

Why do you even care? Jealous, or just obsessive?

[Aussie2B]

Because of many people being caught up in owning every LRG release, many people were probably forced to buy this.

That's their problem if they feel that way. No one is forced to buy anything. What about people who collect full system libraries? Is Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc. to blame if there's a single crappy game in the libraries of their systems? Should some random person working for those companies decide what's good and not and refuse to license any game they think sucks? Because apparently we're all too stupid to think for ourselves and make our own purchasing decisions?

Just because somebody likes a genre, it doesn't mean they're going to like every game in that genre. It also doesn't mean that another person who likes that genre is going to like all the same games as the previous person and dislike all the same games as the previous person. There are plenty of people who like Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae and were happy to see it get a physical release. It also wasn't released solely to make more money. It was a critical step to getting the rights to do more Japanese games. LRG fans have been clamoring for more Japanese titles, so LRG gave them what they wanted and are trying to snowball things to getting bigger and bigger titles, such that we're now able to buy the likes of Ray Gigant and Ys Origin. Mitsurugi was also released simultaneously with Astebreed, which are both from Playism. While Mitsurugi has a so-so reception, Astebreed is quite highly regarded. For all we know, Playism may have refused to let LRG do Astebreed if they wouldn't also do Mitsurugi.

A game doesn't have to be challenging to be good. Nor does a gamer have to be skilled to be allowed to play and enjoy games. Fuck that elitist nonsense.

It's not about jumping to LRG's defense. I regularly criticize them myself. For example, I don't really like anything about this Special Reserve Games partnership, since it's just a way to squeeze more money out of variant collectors, rather than getting more games released physically. This is about your insane, meandering ranting that's nothing but elitism, of you thinking you can decide what LRG should and shouldn't release.

[SparTonberry]

I wouldn't say there's not some crappiness among professional reviewers, but could it be right to assume they have a large volume of games they have to play and don't have time to play them enough to get good at them?
(that was what I thought after Hot Coffee and Hilary Clinton slamming ESRB for not finding it. A bit clueless since she doesn't know what a GameShark or AR or whatever name it goes by DOES, and true that ESRB only rates according to videos submitted by companies but I assume they wouldn't have time to play EVERY 100+ hour game that comes out even if they did regularly play the games themselves)

[Koa Zo]

For anyone who missed registering for a "limited" PS4 Maldita Castilla, it's available now for pre-order at Play Asia. They did the same thing with the Blue Rider game they published. Had people sign up for the game like it's a limited edition to generate buzz and then a few weeks later it's up for sale on their website.

Do you have a link? I'm not seeing it available. Maybe there were a few slots unpaid for which went up for sale?
The game looks aright, I'm more interested because of it's supposed following of Spanish lore.
In the case of Blue Rider, I think it just didn't sell.

[Spartacus]

Do you have a link? I'm not seeing it available. Maybe there were a few slots unpaid for which went up for sale?
The game looks aright, I'm more interested because of it's supposed following of Spanish lore.
In the case of Blue Rider, I think it just didn't sell.

http://www.play-asia.com/cursed-castilla-ex-maldita-castilla-ex-play-asiacom-exclusive/13/70b3h7

That's what I used this morning before posting. I see it says sold out now but I would just keep checking back. That's I did for both games, neither of which I was able to sign up for in advance.

[kupomogli]

Another "high quality" game LRG is interested in publishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_bXuX4ita4

[kupomogli]

Why do you even care? Jealous, or just obsessive?

If it was jealousy then it wouldn't matter what they released. But when they try going for such a cheap pos game just because the profit margin is higher with each sale, yeah I'm going to bitch about them. It's the same thing with people bitching about popular Youtubers. When a popular Youtuber makes tens of thousands of dollars monthly, people don't really care much until that specific Youtuber starts making clear money grab videos, then you'll see people shit all over them.

Some of you might not care how often LRG does a clear money grab release, but I do, and maybe if enough people complain, LRG might start reacting to the complaints and put forth the extra effort for some more quality releases. The reason why LRG lost a few releases in the first place is from, only guessing, that they're not being competitive with other publishers, maybe other publishers are offering better terms and maybe this is why they've not been able to release a lot of bigger titles they've stated they've attempted to pick up. If companies like BadLand Games are picking up multiple releases that you attempt to get, maybe you need to put forth the extra effort and offer better terms on your releases.

[Spartacus]

Another "high quality" game LRG is interested in publishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_bXuX4ita4

LRG publishing Ninja Senki kinda makes sense because they have already published two other Tribute Games IE: Curses 'N Chaos and Flinthook. But I do hope they include Mercenary Kings with it because both games are small and because I would actually prefer playing the later.

[Koa Zo]

Some of you might not care how often LRG does a clear money grab release
Why would I? If there is a game I'm not interested then I don't pay it any attention.
Likewise to your youtuber analogy.
Start your own publishing company or youtube channel if you're so sure of how it should be done.

I appreciate someone pointing out or discussing reasons they don't like a game or something, but this gamer penchant for critiquing and/or attacking business decisions is really weird.

[megasdkirby]

Ugh Ninja Senki DX. Not a bad game, but definitely one I wish not to play again. I managed to beat it and get the 2nd ending, but the last boss was just too hard.

I understand LRG is trying to release basically anything they can get their hands on for a quick buck. Sadly, they know all copies will be sold, even if the game is mediocre or just plain bad. This is because of collectors that just need to have every single release. Sadly, I'm included in that list. Though I do want to stop.

The only way they will notice is if they start loosing sales or, at the very least, the games take longer to sell than they realize. Maybe then their focus will change to license better quality titles.

[megasdkirby]

Not Limited Run Games, but I thought some might be interested.

http://www.play-asia.com/blue-rider-collectors-edition-play-asiacom-exclusive/13/70axkb

[Aussie2B]

Another "high quality" game LRG is interested in publishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_bXuX4ita4

I've actually been interested in Ninja Senki DX for a while and have been hoping that LRG will do a print run, so meh at your scare quotes. It reminds me of Game Boy Color games and looks decent. From my experience with their work, Tribute Games is a pretty good developer, a step above most other indies doing 2D retro-style games. And if the main complaint people have with it is that it's too challenging, then you should be all over it then, considering your diatribes against easy games.

I repeat, *you* do not get to decide for everybody else what's good and bad and what deserves a physical print run or not.

As for LRG's terms, they claim 30% of the profits, while the developer gets 70%. Any business similar to LRG that claims an even smaller cut is probably not going to be around for long. Or they're a huge business like Play-Asia that makes most of their money through other means. With BadLand Games, they're doing regular retail releases, with ESRB/PEGI ratings on the box. If somebody has an indie game popular enough for a regular retail release, then they should definitely skip LRG and go with a different publisher. LRG doesn't have the ability to release games like that, or at least, that's not what their business is for. Most indies aren't popular enough for a regular retail release, so the only way they can come out physically is to minimize costs, by not spending the money to have the physical release rated, by not dealing with Amazon and GameStop and such. If you only want to buy the most popular, highest rated games, you shouldn't be wasting any time on LRG. LRG is for niche games, ones that don't have mainstream appeal or maybe have mixed reviews, the kind of stuff that would remain digital-only if LRG didn't exist.

[kupomogli]

Another crappy LRG release. I'm j/k :P

After Ys Origins was listed on Play-Asia and then later LRG annonced it, I knew this game was coming from LRG as well. Pang's Adventure, Ys Origins, and WonderBoy The Dragon's Trap are all from the same publisher.

http://i.imgur.com/M6lb7wh.jpg

[Tron 2.0]

Another crappy LRG release. I'm j/k :P

After Ys Origins was listed on Play-Asia and then later LRG annonced it, I knew this game was coming from LRG as well. Pang's Adventure, Ys Origins, and WonderBoy The Dragon's Trap are all from the same publisher.

http://i.imgur.com/M6lb7wh.jpg
This may get a purchase from me then.

[Aussie2B]

Even though I'm planning to skip LRG's PS4 releases in the future, I'll probably make an exception for Wonder Boy (despite that I'm still not crazy about the very Western look of this remake). Depending on what's in it, I may even spring for the collector's edition. I just hope they don't make it totally Master System-themed. I'll never understand why people still associate Wonder Boy with the Master System. It's like, yeah, let's obsess over the crappiest versions of these games. Everybody obsesses over Dragon's Trap too, but personally, I like Monster World III and IV better.

Anyway, some random whining on my part aside, I love the Wonder Boy series, and I'm glad this is getting a physical release. Wish it was on Vita too. And with all these DotEmu releases, I hope we can someday get a Windjammers print run too.

[megasdkirby]

This pisses me off so much. I should have waited...

[kupomogli]

This pisses me off so much. I should have waited...

I'm assuming you ordered it from Play-Asia? Why not just cancel your order, it hasn't released yet.

[megasdkirby]

I'm assuming you ordered it from Play-Asia? Why not just cancel your order, it hasn't released yet.

Digital download. :(

[PreZZ]

I want salt n sanctuary, dragons trap and merceary kings physical release for vita

[Aussie2B]

Both Mutant Mudds games are up for sale today. Should be much easier to grab them than the madness with the last releases.

[kupomogli]

Shadow Warrior 2 from Special Reserve Games if anyone is interested. It's for both PC and PS4. PS4 has only 2500 copies available and includes discs for both Shadow Warrior and Shadow Warrior 2 plus Steam keys for both games. It doesn't say how many copies are available for PC version, but PC version also comes with a soundtrack and artbook. There's a PS4 and PC version which is limited to an additional 500 copies(so there's that if you missed the PS4 version alone,) has all the content the PC version has and then some. PS4 version is $40 plus $5 shipping in the US.

https://www.specialreservegames.com/reserves/shadow-warrior-2

[megasdkirby]

Did they ever release "Strafe"?

I remember ordering it and haven't heard anything from them.

[Spartacus]

Did they ever release "Strafe"?

I remember ordering it and haven't heard anything from them.

It was supposed to start shipping May 22nd.

I was really suprised to see Play Asia pre-selling a disc version of Alchemic Jousts for the PS4. It was a Playstation Talents game previously sold on disc only in Spain I believe, though it was playable in English.
"1,888 copies exclusively to Play-asia.com at a special price at US$19.99 with Original soundtrack"
https://www.play-asia.com/info/alchemicjousts?ref=aj_news_2017

[mailman187666]

Did they ever release "Strafe"?

I remember ordering it and haven't heard anything from them.

I ordered this as well. I contacted them on their facebook (as well as other worrying customers) and they said they had an issue with their system sending out tracking numbers. They said while some people may not have gotten their tracking numbers, all of the packages have been shipped. Hopefully they work these kinds of bugs out soon.

[Aussie2B]

Risk of Rain is on sale now. The first batch of the vinyl OST ran out immediately, but there's still plenty of the game itself left.

LRG's variant of Strafe was originally planned to go on sale today, but they decided to put it off. It'll probably be next Friday, but they're not saying anything concrete just yet.

[Aussie2B]

Today LRG is selling Deemo for Vita and Broken Age for both PS4 and Vita. I just grabbed the Vita versions. Still a decent amount of everything left.

[Aussie2B]

And now LRG is offering their variant of Strafe for PS4. I think they may be selling it in a single batch, so my apologies if this isn't enough notice to grab a copy. (As always, it's best to keep tabs on the opening post for release dates, as I regularly update it.)

For me, this is the perfect time to stop picking up every LRG PS4 release that they aren't offering on Vita, with it not being a part of the numbered set and me not being a fan of first-person shooters. And then it'll be that much easier to pass on Drive Drive Drive and Furi and so on. I'm just gonna focus on Vita, with maybe the occasional PS4 game if it's something I really want to play.

Edit: Oh, and as a heads up, if you bought anything on Friday and Strafe, you can contact LRG to combine the orders and save on shipping. I think you have to do it by the end of the day, though.

[kupomogli]

You should atleast pick up Furi because it's an amazing game, despite being an indie title, one of the best on the PS4 when it comes to action games.

So LRG apparently just stated a few days ago they're going to do less releases and focus on more quality releases. Yet at E3 they announced 17 new games, and most of it sure wasn't quality. Regardless of genre, I'd say easily 3/4 of those games aren't worth playing, much less buying at a premium price. I said it before and I'll say it again. LRG really has no standards, they don't care about what people think of the games they publish, they'll publish whatever they can get regardless of quality because it'll sell to people who have already bought into the LRG brand. When they can't sell them, they'll sell them at 30 pieces each to scalpers and mom and pop stores that will guarantee the sales. While certain publishers like BadLands are recognized for putting out good games, LRG is pretty much known as the shovelware publisher of indies with a few good games here and there.

[megasdkirby]

LRG is pretty much known as the shovelware publisher of indies with a few good games here and there.

I'm noticing that. I admit, I'm trying to get EVERY single one of their releases, but I've reached a point in which I simply can't anymore, mostly due to $$$ reasons. And since they were pushing out so many in such a short amount of time, it was getting REALLY annoying...and a huge financial burden.

[Aussie2B]

You should atleast pick up Furi because it's an amazing game, despite being an indie title, one of the best on the PS4 when it comes to action games.

So LRG apparently just stated a few days ago they're going to do less releases and focus on more quality releases. Yet at E3 they announced 17 new games, and most of it sure wasn't quality. Regardless of genre, I'd say easily 3/4 of those games aren't worth playing, much less buying at a premium price. I said it before and I'll say it again. LRG really has no standards, they don't care about what people think of the games they publish, they'll publish whatever they can get regardless of quality because it'll sell to people who have already bought into the LRG brand. When they can't sell them, they'll sell them at 30 pieces each to scalpers and mom and pop stores that will guarantee the sales. While certain publishers like BadLands are recognized for putting out good games, LRG is pretty much known as the shovelware publisher of indies with a few good games here and there.

Furi doesn't look like my cup of tea. I'm also not a fan of what I've heard of the music, and having good or at least tolerable music in games is pretty important to me. Right now, Wonder Boy is probably the only announced upcoming PS4-only LRG release I'll buy.

Yes, LRG has talked about signing less, going after bigger and better titles, but they've also stated that it'll take some time to see the effect of that, as they're still working their way through games they signed in 2016, when they were signing practically anything they could get in order to build and establish their business. What do you expect, that they back out of all the contracts they've already signed and get sued? Do you honestly believe they announce a game the second they sign the contract? You think those 17 announcements were all signed within the last week, after they started saying they were going to cut back? Now you're just intentionally acting dense for the sake of bashing LRG and still totally failing to understand and respect that different people have different tastes. You do realize there's probably somebody out there just like you who thinks Furi looks bad, while one of the games you call shovelware is good to them, right? So who's right here? Protip: neither of you are right, and neither of you are wrong. LRG is trying to sell to both of you. You buy Furi and pass on the games that don't interest you, while somebody else should pass on Furi and buy, say, Night Trap. Or do you want someone else to decide for you that Furi doesn't deserve a physical print run?

Personally, I think there's some pretty good stuff among the announcements. Seeing all the PS4-only games, I'm glad I'm sparing my wallet by passing on them, though I wish some of them were available for Vita as well like Momodora.

[Bojay1997]

You should atleast pick up Furi because it's an amazing game, despite being an indie title, one of the best on the PS4 when it comes to action games.

So LRG apparently just stated a few days ago they're going to do less releases and focus on more quality releases. Yet at E3 they announced 17 new games, and most of it sure wasn't quality. Regardless of genre, I'd say easily 3/4 of those games aren't worth playing, much less buying at a premium price. I said it before and I'll say it again. LRG really has no standards, they don't care about what people think of the games they publish, they'll publish whatever they can get regardless of quality because it'll sell to people who have already bought into the LRG brand. When they can't sell them, they'll sell them at 30 pieces each to scalpers and mom and pop stores that will guarantee the sales. While certain publishers like BadLands are recognized for putting out good games, LRG is pretty much known as the shovelware publisher of indies with a few good games here and there.

Not sure what list you were looking at, but there were some incredible games on the E3 list. LRG is not known as a shovelware publisher. In fact, the vast majority of their games have high review scores digitally before being released by LRG. I get that it's probably frustrating not being able to afford the volume of releases they are putting out currently, but your comments are becoming increasingly irrational and simply not supported by the realities. I mean Deemo and Broken Age this past week were well regarded games from major developers. Furi and Darius Burst (Vita) are two more games that were frankly worthy of a retail release and thanks to LRG will at least be released physically in the US. Badlands is a laughable comparison as they have released a ton of poorly rated physical games in their home market of Europe which never even made it for physical release over here. They also seem to have distribution or development issues as it takes them forever to release games like Axiom Verge or Velocity over here when they were announced long ago.

[Aussie2B]

Has Badland Games released anything in the US physically so far besides OlliOlli on PS4? I know they're the publisher behind Anima too, but NISA is handling the physical run of that. I can't even speak for the quality of Badland Games's physical catalog when they barely have anything to show for themselves in the US so far. I'm still waiting all eternity to buy Axiom Verge.

[lendelin]

I find Limited Run Games more than questionable. The business model of this publisher revolves around the hype about rarity and thus is a disservice to gamers and collectors alike in the clothing of being a gamers' and collectors' company. It is not. If the production numbers aren't limited due to the usual cost and profit calculations but due to a guarantee to sell the entire production of a game based on the speculation about future rarity and huge profit margins on ebay, this business model appeals more to ebay scalpers than to gamers or collectors.

Limited Run feeds on the anticipated hype about rarity and profit margins. I got this email yesterday about the Limited Run variant of 'Strave' in which the limited production numbers were stressed (like always): "Only 1000 copies of the game exist with the Limited Run exclusive cover variant. If you want to secure one - head over to our site now and grab one." I certainly didn't athough I was tempted to drop the cat food immediately and let my cats starve to death because I might miss out on this incredible opportunity.

But here it comes and this shows the business model clearly: "Special Reserve Games' standard version sold out several weeks ago and is already fetching several times the original retail price on secondary markets."

The success of Limited Run Games is based on the fear of collectors to come to late, the hope of collectors to sell it later and foremost the speculation of ebay scalpers. We live in a time in which the hype about the future Stadium Events exists already and in which ebay scalping became a job for the lazy and unqualified. In these times we certainly do not need a publishing company which limits the production number usually to around 4000 and sells the games usually within ten minutes online. (Broken Age and others are an exception)

I'm heavily opposed to LRG because it sets a bad precedent. Play Asia limited the run of the exclusive Blue Rider and Cursed Castilla EX already. What is next for Limited Run if the sales decrease and people get bored of LRG? I suggest a production run of 500 per game and a price of $150 in order to appeal to the hardcore gamer and hardcore collector in all of us. I'm convinced that the games would be gone within 5 minutes. Why? Because greed and dumbness are constants of human nature.

I like publishers like SOEDESCO, THQ Nordic, Rising Star and so many others which prove that smaller publishers can survive and make profit by giving us great games of smaller developers on physical discs which otherwise wouldn't have gotten a physical release; and this without the Limited Run-nonsense. THEY are doing a great service to gamers and collectors alike, Limited Run does not.

[MASTERWEEDO]

I find Limited Run Games more than questionable. The business model of this publisher revolves around the hype about rarity and thus is a disservice to gamers and collectors alike in the clothing of being a gamers' and collectors' company. It is not. If the production numbers aren't limited due to the usual cost and profit calculations but due to a guarantee to sell the entire production of a game based on the speculation about future rarity and huge profit margins on ebay, this business model appeals more to ebay scalpers than to gamers or collectors.

Limited Run feeds on the anticipated hype about rarity and profit margins. I got this email yesterday about the Limited Run variant of 'Strave' in which the limited production numbers were stressed (like always): "Only 1000 copies of the game exist with the Limited Run exclusive cover variant. If you want to secure one - head over to our site now and grab one." I certainly didn't athough I was tempted to drop the cat food immediately and let my cats starve to death because I might miss out on this incredible opportunity.

But here it comes and this shows the business model clearly: "Special Reserve Games' standard version sold out several weeks ago and is already fetching several times the original retail price on secondary markets."

The success of Limited Run Games is based on the fear of collectors to come to late, the hope of collectors to sell it later and foremost the speculation of ebay scalpers. We live in a time in which the hype about the future Stadium Events exists already and in which ebay scalping became a job for the lazy and unqualified. In these times we certainly do not need a publishing company which limits the production number usually to around 4000 and sells the games usually within ten minutes online. (Broken Age and others are an exception)

I'm heavily opposed to LRG because it sets a bad precedent. Play Asia limited the run of the exclusive Blue Rider and Cursed Castilla EX already. What is next for Limited Run if the sales decrease and people get bored of LRG? I suggest a production run of 500 per game and a price of $150 in order to appeal to the hardcore gamer and hardcore collector in all of us. I'm convinced that the games would be gone within 5 minutes. Why? Because greed and dumbness are constants of human nature.

I like publishers like SOEDESCO, THQ Nordic, Rising Star and so many others which prove that smaller publishers can survive and make profit by giving us great games of smaller developers on physical discs which otherwise wouldn't have gotten a physical release; and this without the Limited Run-nonsense. THEY are doing a great service to gamers and collectors alike, Limited Run does not.

Cant say I disagree, but they are following the trend. Wu Tang and several others have auctioned off "One of a Kind" albums for outrageous sums.

[Aussie2B]

Not counting the two unnumbered releases, I've bought every LRG release so far (though usually on just one platform with the multiplatform games), and I have never once had a problem getting my order in. The scalpers and rarity and what have you don't matter if you just show up at 10am EST sharp (or 6pm EST sharp) and place your order. Gamers who just want a physical copy to play and don't give a hoot about rarity, resale value, collectibility, etc. can order just the same as anybody else. Regular retail releases produced in large quantities are certainly preferable, but the whole point of LRG and its copycats is to produce physical copies of games that aren't viable for a regular retail release. I guarantee that the likes of SOEDESCO, THQ Nordic, and Rising Star would not be able to turn a profit on some of the games LRG has released if they released them as standard retail releases.

The print run sizes are set by the developer/publisher, not LRG, so they make it however large they see fit. Minus Strafe, which is an exception to the norm as LRG was simply distributing a cover variant of another company's game, which was open for preorder for something like two weeks, LRG's recent releases have lasted for about a weekend (this holds true for many older releases as well), which may not be a ton of time in the grand scheme of things, but it totally eliminates the worry and need to drop what you're doing. On top of that, most LRG releases at this point aren't even worth much on the secondhand market. Sure, the first few releases are, but most can be bought still sealed on eBay for no more than about 10 bucks above LRG's price. Some can even been had for the same or less even. I mean One Way Heroics goes as far back as their 13th unique release (20th if you wanna count platform variants), and that can be had for less than LRG sold it for, AND it's a good game to boot. This is quite far from a scalper's paradise, and most flippers have probably long moved on from LRG, as the profit just isn't there.

[kupomogli]

they announced 17 new games, and most of it sure wasn't quality. Regardless of genre, I'd say easily 3/4 of those games aren't worth playing, much less buying at a premium price


Not sure what list you were looking at, but there were some incredible games on the E3 list. LRG is not known as a shovelware publisher. In fact, the vast majority of their games have high review scores digitally before being released by LRG. I get that it's probably frustrating not being able to afford the volume of releases they are putting out currently, but your comments are becoming increasingly irrational and simply not supported by the realities. I mean Deemo and Broken Age this past week were well regarded games from major developers. Furi and Darius Burst (Vita) are two more games that were frankly worthy of a retail release and thanks to LRG will at least be released physically in the US. Badlands is a laughable comparison as they have released a ton of poorly rated physical games in their home market of Europe which never even made it for physical release over here. They also seem to have distribution or development issues as it takes them forever to release games like Axiom Verge or Velocity over here when they were announced long ago.

My notations clearly depict I wasn't speaking about all 17 games. Three fourths is 4-5, and even though I'm not going to pick up that many it doesn't mean I can't recognize a release people who are fans of the genre would appreciate. It's not being able to afford the releases, because I could afford every PS4 and Vita LRG and if every one of them happened to appeal to me I'd purchase every one of them, it's quality.

Maybe BadLands releases aren't about distribution issues and are because they just prefer quality above quantity? Yes, Axiom Verge Multiverse edition has been announced a long time ago, but it's also been announced that they are going to hopefully release it on the Switch as well, and a couple months ago the developers were still attempting to get the Nintendo to approve the release of the game. If not for that, I'm pretty sure we would have already seen a release or atleast a release date.

As for reviews, the vast majority of journalists circle jerk around certain overhyped indie games. Shantae is one of the most expensive GBC games and playing both PS4 releases to completion shows that these games are okay, but the praise surrounding the series is due to the knowledge of the overpriced GBC release more than the actual quality of games. Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP has a lower score than the Shantae games, and if you were to read some of the more bullshit reviews, like Eurogamer for example, the score is as high as it is because SotN is included along with the release. Lords of Shadow 2 and Mirror of Fate got shit all over because some things people didn't like being in the game, or in Mirror of Fate's case it was an exploration game that didn't play identical to the IGA style of games. Rez on the PS2 scored a 78, but because the whole boom in indie indie indie and the cult following Rez has acquired from the original release to its recent releases, being known as an indie game, it has scored 89 with Rez HD and Rez Infinite.

There are many factors that come into play where indie games score better. The fact that they're indie games already give them a bump in score. The price that they launch at shouldn't even be factored into the score, but apparently if the game is sold for $10, it can be below average and it'll score a minimum of 7/10, maybe even score 8/10. The hype behind the indie title certainly helps, but that can also backfire(see Mighty No 9.) It's very rare that you see anything playable score below a 60 unless it's got a lot of bad hype surrounding. Additionally, most journalists are absolute shit at games, so throw any difficulty at them and it's automatically one of the worst games they've played. There's a reason all this walking simulator bullshit gets high reviews, because there's literally no skill involved and no longer does the game need to worry about being penalized for it. So games get penalized because the journalists have no skill, but of course, potential replay value doesn't mean shit in this day and age. The point is, the 8/10 an indie game gets isn't the same as an 8/10 a non indie game gets(atleast for the most part, as long as it hits all those posivites it's almost guaranteed close to an 8/10.)

[Aussie2B]

Anybody who thinks Shantae and Rez are indies is a moron. Yeah, nothing says "indie" like being published by Capcom and Sega.


it doesn't mean I can't recognize a release people who are fans of the genre would appreciate.

Apparently you can't, because literally every single LRG release has its fans.

Also, if I went by popular opinions of fans, I would be totally lead astray. Of the LRG releases I've played to completion, Lone Survivor is probably the most highly regarded, yet it's the one I liked the least. Meanwhile, games like Octodad and Thomas Was Alone, which are treated like redheaded stepchildren by many, I enjoyed more than Lone Survivor.


The price that they launch at shouldn't even be factored into the score

Gimme a break. The price point of a game often correlates directly with the budget of the game, and it is entirely unfair and illogical to hold a game made on a tiny budget to the same standards as a AAA game. If you want AAA quality, you have to pay the AAA price.


Additionally, most journalists are absolute shit at games, so throw any difficulty at them and it's automatically one of the worst games they've played.

Gimme a break #2. There are tons of indies out there that are hard just for the sake of being hard, because the developer wanted to make the next Asshole Mario, and those indies get high scores and praise too, even though they're less fun than games that don't play as if they were quartermunchers.

[Bojay1997]

I find Limited Run Games more than questionable. The business model of this publisher revolves around the hype about rarity and thus is a disservice to gamers and collectors alike in the clothing of being a gamers' and collectors' company. It is not. If the production numbers aren't limited due to the usual cost and profit calculations but due to a guarantee to sell the entire production of a game based on the speculation about future rarity and huge profit margins on ebay, this business model appeals more to ebay scalpers than to gamers or collectors.

Limited Run feeds on the anticipated hype about rarity and profit margins. I got this email yesterday about the Limited Run variant of 'Strave' in which the limited production numbers were stressed (like always): "Only 1000 copies of the game exist with the Limited Run exclusive cover variant. If you want to secure one - head over to our site now and grab one." I certainly didn't athough I was tempted to drop the cat food immediately and let my cats starve to death because I might miss out on this incredible opportunity.

But here it comes and this shows the business model clearly: "Special Reserve Games' standard version sold out several weeks ago and is already fetching several times the original retail price on secondary markets."

The success of Limited Run Games is based on the fear of collectors to come to late, the hope of collectors to sell it later and foremost the speculation of ebay scalpers. We live in a time in which the hype about the future Stadium Events exists already and in which ebay scalping became a job for the lazy and unqualified. In these times we certainly do not need a publishing company which limits the production number usually to around 4000 and sells the games usually within ten minutes online. (Broken Age and others are an exception)

I'm heavily opposed to LRG because it sets a bad precedent. Play Asia limited the run of the exclusive Blue Rider and Cursed Castilla EX already. What is next for Limited Run if the sales decrease and people get bored of LRG? I suggest a production run of 500 per game and a price of $150 in order to appeal to the hardcore gamer and hardcore collector in all of us. I'm convinced that the games would be gone within 5 minutes. Why? Because greed and dumbness are constants of human nature.

I like publishers like SOEDESCO, THQ Nordic, Rising Star and so many others which prove that smaller publishers can survive and make profit by giving us great games of smaller developers on physical discs which otherwise wouldn't have gotten a physical release; and this without the Limited Run-nonsense. THEY are doing a great service to gamers and collectors alike, Limited Run does not.

You find it questionable that they have found a way to release between 4 and 8 games physically per month that would have no chance of getting a retail release let alone a physical release but for their publishing model? Should every company in this space be forced to take unlimited preorders or order quantities of products far in excess of possible demand in order to be considered valid and good in your estimation? What about the fact that any developer partnering with LRG on a release receives full rights to do a second release of the same game and yet only one has to date? Isn't that really an indication that LRG understands supply and demand and is pretty much where they need to be with balancing it properly?

I mean it's all fine and good to praise companies doing retail releases, but you literally have no idea what their financials look like and two of the three you have mentioned don't exactly eagerly pick up "indie" titles for release. I mean if it was so lucrative to release large numbers of physical low cost games at retail on the PS4 and Vita, wouldn't Soedesco, THQ Nordic and Rising Star be doing exactly that? Instead they each put out a game or two every few months at best and in the case of Rising Star, it has been awhile since their last US release.

It's funny you should talk about human nature because in my experience it's always the people who have never run a successful business or even tried anything entrepreneurial in their entire lives that seem the quickest to want to play armchair CEO. LRG is a business that happens to be run by gamers, developers and collectors. You can opine all you want about their relative merit in your personal world view, but the rest of us don't share your narrow mindedness and are just happy to be getting games in physical format that would have no such chance otherwise.

[Aussie2B]

Even as small as LRG's print runs are, I would argue that they're bigger under their business model than they would be otherwise, and long term, that's better for gamers and collectors. Unlimited open preorders for a certain span of time or small print runs where the total is hidden sell much slower and result in even smaller print runs than what LRG is putting out. Shovel Knight is one of the most popular indies out there, and it sold a mere 3000-some copies on Vita in the months that it was open for preorder. Luckily, they manufactured 5000 and continued to sell them until that stock ran out, but LRG would've been able to move 5000 easily and then some. More copies in existence should equal lower prices long term. You want to see ridiculous prices on the secondhand market? Forget LRG, look at games published by NISA where the only way to get a physical copy was through their own web store. Nobody knows how many copies were made of any of those, but they do generally take months to sell out, and looking at the quantities on eBay and what they sell for, they gotta be small runs, very possibly smaller than some of LRG's. A Rose in the Twilight didn't even have an ESRB rating anywhere on it, just like with LRG's releases, so you know they had to been cutting costs to a minimum and producing a very small quantity. Meanwhile, LRG easily moved 5000 copies of Ray Gigant, made by the same developer behind many of NISA's releases.

[kupomogli]

Meanwhile, LRG easily moved 5000 copies of Ray Gigant, made by the same developer behind many of NISA's releases.

Because LRG released their business model as super rare games only such and such amount printed, hurry and get yours now before they sell out. At first the print runs were pathetic, and by numbering the games, people with OCD are now trying to collect them all. You for example are trying to collect all the Vita games, others might be trying to collect all PS4 games, and there are many people who purchase every copy of both just so they have all the LRG releases.

Many of these companies may not a much larger print than LRG, but their business model has never been about that. After seeing how profitable the LRG way of releasing games have been, Play Asia and Devolver Digital have jumped in on it as well, and regardless whether Bojay wants to call someone out for not being in the position that LRG are in but making a statement based on some pretty common knowledge, he's wrong. This is a pretty lucrative operation LRG is running and they're releasing as many games as possible because they know that they're manipulating collector's OCD tendencies. They know that if collector's don't purchase the games, then they'll still be able to sell them regardless to scalpers.

As someone on the LRG forum pointed out, here's a post from Josh or Doug from somewhere. "Orders of 30 copies of either game will ship sealed in the original carton from Sony for uncirculated VGA grading (cartons are 30pcs)." LRG is all for the money and it's always been about the money, not the quality of their releases. On their very own forum they have people making posts about how the majority of the content they've released being shovelware garbage, even many of the loyalists over there have dropped off and are tired of spending as much money as they have for games that just aren't very good.


I'm not sure we watched the same video, they didn't seem to be fans. They also left a comment saying we release shit-tier games.

Aside from the rare anomaly, I completely agree.

[Bojay1997]

Because LRG released their business model as super rare games only such and such amount printed, hurry and get yours now before they sell out. At first the print runs were pathetic, and by numbering the games, people with OCD are now trying to collect them all. You for example are trying to collect all the Vita games, others might be trying to collect all PS4 games, and there are many people who purchase every copy of both just so they have all the LRG releases.

Many of these companies may not a much larger print than LRG, but their business model has never been about that. After seeing how profitable the LRG way of releasing games have been, Play Asia and Devolver Digital have jumped in on it as well, and regardless whether Bojay wants to call someone out for not being in the position that LRG are in but making a statement based on some pretty common knowledge, he's wrong. This is a pretty lucrative operation LRG is running and they're releasing as many games as possible because they know that they're manipulating collector's OCD tendencies. They know that if collector's don't purchase the games, then they'll still be able to sell them regardless to scalpers.

As someone on the LRG forum pointed out, here's a post from Josh or Doug from somewhere. "Orders of 30 copies of either game will ship sealed in the original carton from Sony for uncirculated VGA grading (cartons are 30pcs)." LRG is all for the money and it's always been about the money, not the quality of their releases. On their very own forum they have people making posts about how the majority of the content they've released being shovelware garbage, even many of the loyalists over there have dropped off and are tired of spending as much money as they have for games that just aren't very good.



Aside from the rare anomaly, I completely agree.

It must be really sad to live with a worldview that only allows for the possibility that a company or a person can only be capable of being one specific thing at a time. LRG is a business. There is no doubt about that. They are also collectors and gamers and developers. As such, they balance a lot of competing interests to make their business model work. Just because a handful of anonymous people post something on a forum doesn't make it true. To LRG's credit, they don't censor their own forums or block people from Facebook or Twitter like a lot of companies. I notice you have posted on LRGs forums lately and you sure haven't taken the same obnoxious tone there that you are taking here.

As for your other points, you keep claiming that people are dropping off and yet games keep selling out and the supply on Ebay remains about the same as it has always been, not more. In other words, LRG isn't drawing more scalpers and speculators and frankly, prices have stabilized to the point where if you actually miss a release, you can usually pick it up on the secondary market for not much more than MSRP. I'm pretty sure there is something going on with you personally as you are very adamant in your criticism and yet you seem ready to pick up some of their releases. It must be some type of self hate or loathing. Maybe it's time for you to take a break from the forums and get some therapy. It's not a sign of weakness to ask for help.

[Aussie2B]

Of course it's about money. They're a business, not a charity. I really don't care how they market their company and releases. If you think a company is blowing steam up your ass, you don't have to believe it. All you have to do is decide if you want the product or not, regardless of how it's been hyped up. All I personally care about here is games coming out physically that would otherwise remain digital-only, and I'd like them to get as many copies produced as financially viable. If hyping them up as "OMG RARE!!1!" means that an extra 1000 or even more can be produced compared to if they were sold via unlimited preorders within a time frame, then I'm all for it. The more copies made, the more likely a game is to remain somewhat reasonably priced on the used market in the years and decades to come.


Because LRG released their business model as super rare games only such and such amount printed, hurry and get yours now before they sell out. At first the print runs were pathetic, and by numbering the games, people with OCD are now trying to collect them all. You for example are trying to collect all the Vita games, others might be trying to collect all PS4 games, and there are many people who purchase every copy of both just so they have all the LRG releases.

For the record, I'm not OCD about it, and I do not remotely give a shit about having a "full LRG set". If I did, I wouldn't have stopped getting both PS4 and Vita copies of the multiplatform releases (stopped starting with Skullgirls), and I wouldn't have stopped getting their PS4-only releases (starting with Strafe). I also would've picked up The Silver Case if I cared about having every last LRG release. The only reason I'm getting all the Vita releases is because I collect for Vita in general. It's my favorite system this gen, and it doesn't have a huge library of physical releases in general (there're probably roughly around 200 now). I pick up every US Vita game or LE that's only available for a limited time, whether they're coming from LRG, NISA, IFI, Fangamer, Gaijinworks, etc. On that note, I could rant all day about how scummy Rice Digital is and how I hate dealing with them to get PQube's overpriced US Vita LEs that have to be imported to acquire. No company is perfect, including LRG, and I do have some issues with LRG (like the double standard with the DariusBurst pricing), but overall, I don't have many complaints. The games are cheap, easy to buy, and most on Vita have been decent, in my opinion. I've opened and played a least a little of every LRG Vita release (minus Volume, as my copy is still in limbo with Skullgirls), and very few have struck me as being flat out bad.

[lendelin]

It's funny you should talk about human nature because in my experience it's always the people who have never run a successful business or even tried anything entrepreneurial in their entire lives that seem the quickest to want to play armchair CEO. LRG is a business that happens to be run by gamers, developers and collectors. You can opine all you want about their relative merit in your personal world view, but the rest of us don't share your narrow mindedness and are just happy to be getting games in physical format that would have no such chance otherwise.


Your identification level with LRGames seems a bit too high. :) Worse is the fact, however, that you engage in completely unreasonable and nonsensical personal attacks. If a guy reacts to very normal posts by accusing others as narrow-minded, obnoxious and claims to speak for everyone and even suggests therapy and a break from forums, isn't that...lemme think...narrow-minded, obnoxious, overly engaged in forums and in need of therapy? :)

[lendelin]

Even as small as LRG's print runs are, I would argue that they're bigger under their business model than they would be otherwise, and long term, that's better for gamers and collectors. Unlimited open preorders for a certain span of time or small print runs where the total is hidden sell much slower and result in even smaller print runs than what LRG is putting out. Shovel Knight is one of the most popular indies out there, and it sold a mere 3000-some copies on Vita in the months that it was open for preorder. Luckily, they manufactured 5000 and continued to sell them until that stock ran out, but LRG would've been able to move 5000 easily and then some. More copies in existence should equal lower prices long term. You want to see ridiculous prices on the secondhand market? Forget LRG, look at games published by NISA where the only way to get a physical copy was through their own web store. Nobody knows how many copies were made of any of those, but they do generally take months to sell out, and looking at the quantities on eBay and what they sell for, they gotta be small runs, very possibly smaller than some of LRG's. A Rose in the Twilight didn't even have an ESRB rating anywhere on it, just like with LRG's releases, so you know they had to been cutting costs to a minimum and producing a very small quantity. Meanwhile, LRG easily moved 5000 copies of Ray Gigant, made by the same developer behind many of NISA's releases.


Your question about the production numbers of smaller publishers is very important and very interesting. I'd be very interested in the production numbers of Lumo and Teslagrad and other games by small publishers. If (!) your assumption of even fewer numbers for these games than Limited Run markets and makes public is correct, your reasoning has some merit. However, we know that rarity hype doesn't bring very often the prices down overtime, but at least the increased distribution for these games would be positive. Unfortunately we don't know the production numbers. What if the games by SOEDESCO have larger production numbers? And wouldn't it be incredibly deceiving and ironic that the marketing with limited production numbers by Limited Run diverts from the low production numbers of potentially future rare games?


I say it anyway for some time now that in all likelihood the pricey and potentially rare games will not be among the LRG set of games but among the games which fly under the radar.


I still stand by my opinion about the publishing model of LRG. It is actually very easy. On the one hand you have a marketing- and sales-model which is based on the hype about potential rarity which allowed LR (Mighty Rabbits) to survive facing bankruptcy. On the other hand you have smaller publishers which pick up digital games on physical releases and/or give smaller developers a chance to go physical in a very straightforward honest way: They produce games and try to sell it without the Limited Run nonsense. I ALWAYS will prefer the latter model.


The reasoning that the Limited Run-way is the only way to survive or that we should accept the obvious disadvantage of their outrageous model because this way they make profits and can produce more games is just not true. Additionally, the publishing model of Limited Run puts them in a very comfortable situation of comparative and competitive advantage over their competitors, also smaller developers, which struggle for survival as well.


SOEDESCO and others prove otherwise. This is a small publisher in Rotterdam, founded by two guys with a gaming background (very similar to Limited Run) which are publishing great games of smaller developers who wouldn't have had an opportunity to go physical otherwise. They don't benefit from marketing hype of the worst kind exploiting the unfortunate situation for gamers today facing ebay scalpers (which Limited Run does, see their last email); instead, they just produce and sell their games BECAUSE they have a very good grip on supply and demand which obviously Limited Run hasn't since they have to rely on rarity-hype. I can still get their games for $20 and don't have to go on ebay to buy them overpriced for $30 to $200.


As a gamer and collector, I can't see even ONE advantage for us in the Limited Run-model. The accessibility to their games is there, granted, but only for ten minutes (!!) to 36 hours after release for a retail price and afterwards from slightly to outrageously overpriced on ebay. Seriously, which model do you prefer?


For the argument that smaller publishers cannot produce a lot of games without the Limited Run-way , here is an excerpt of the most recent update of my personal list of games by smaller publishers (just for SOEDESCO!):


World to the West (July 14, Soedesco, adventure-puzzle in the tradition of Zelda)
Aerea (June 30, Soedesco, CollEd $40, action RPG)
8-BitArmies (July 18, Soedesco, CollEd $40, RTS)
Rogue Stormers (June 9, Soedesco, Run 'n gun, 2D sidescroller)

Four games in two months, that's certainly not bad.

Maybe SOEDESCO and other small publishers would do better in this limited niche market if not for the outrageous marketing of Limited Run?

I respect SOEDESCO and so many other smaller publishers who take risks and go physical with games from smaller developers. I dislike Limited Run because I dislike their risk-minimizing publishing model at the cost of gamers and collectors. SOEDESCO does a service to gamers and collectors and I hope they will do even better than they do so far.

[Aussie2B]

What I say is not assumption, and we do know production numbers. Perhaps not with SOEDESCO and NISA, but with others. We know the print run size of every LRG release, and we know they all sold out with ease (one can even look up specifically how quick each sold out). Other companies using other models, like unlimited preorders open for a span of weeks/months, have reported exactly the numbers preordered and manufactured. Heck, we even know that under LRG as well, as anybody can look at the preorder figures for The Silver Case and Skullgirls. The former resulting in LRG's second smallest print run ever, and the latter failing to sell as many Vita copies as the usual LRG business model easily moves in a single day. Shovel Knight was another telling example I gave. Then there are also Gaijinworks's releases. In the case of Class of Heroes 2, Class of Heroes 2G, and Summon Night 5, physical versions of all three hinged on people pledging their intent to buy (and it was reported that the actual sales figures were always lower than the pledges). I believe the highest goal they ever set was with Class of Heroes 2G, for which they wanted a mere 7000 pledges, and they failed to even get that, resulting in a higher price point to allow for a physical print run to happen. Class of Heroes 2 and Summon Night 5 succeeded in hitting their goals, but after a laborious struggle, just to hit print run sizes that LRG can sell in a single day without an issue, with games that aren't indies, aren't import-friendly, and offer a lot more content and polish than the average LRG release. It illustrates just how poorly unlimited preorders work for niche games like these and that publishers have to figure out some way to light a fire under people's butts to buy.

A lot of your comments are completely contradictory. The pricey and potentially rare games will not be among the LRG set, yet rarity hype doesn't bring down prices over time and LRG's releases are already overpriced on eBay? So which is it? I really think you should actually spend some time looking up prices of LRG releases on eBay, and not just the first few. Like I said before, most of their releases range $10 plus or minus LRG's price. But, no, apparently getting them for the same or even less than the LRG price is still overpriced, whereas $20 is a great price for similar games from other developers. Really? As for rarity hype, collectors are going to barely remember and not even care 10+ years from now. All that's going to matter in terms of value on the secondhand market is demand, based on how favorably the games are regarded, and cold, hard print run numbers. More copies to go around is ALWAYS better, even if a game with fewer numbers wasn't hyped up as a rarity at release while the game with more was. Collectors are smarter than to be deceived like that, and the game with fewer copies will be more costly, if the two games had otherwise identical levels of demand.

If you're talking preferences and what's ideal, you're preaching to the choir. I don't think anybody here would claim they prefer LRG's business model over games getting widely available regular retail releases that we can still pick up years later, perhaps even on markdown for <$20. But what's ideal isn't necessarily what's reality. Huge amounts of games are digital-only these days, and they'll remain that way because they're not financially viable under the standard methods of releasing physical games. Some aren't even financially viable under the methods of the likes of SOEDESCO. If you believe that, if LRG and its copycats went *poof* right now, or if they had never existed in the first place, that the likes of SOEDESCO would be happy and willing to release every game LRG has released and would be able to turn a profit on all of them, you're living in a dream world. There's also the little fact ignored here that none of the companies you listed off are producing physical Vita games for the US. Clearly their business model doesn't work for the more costly to produce Vita games. So should we dream of a gaming world in which LRG and similar companies don't exist and just give a big F-U to Vita fans? What you have to understand here is that LRG didn't come into existence to steal a piece of the pie away from SOEDESCO and others like them, but to serve an untapped market. The fact that Vita versions of their releases usually sell out faster than PS4 versions, despite the much smaller user base, is evident of that.

[Bojay1997]

Your identification level with LRGames seems a bit too high. :) Worse is the fact, however, that you engage in completely unreasonable and nonsensical personal attacks. If a guy reacts to very normal posts by accusing others as narrow-minded, obnoxious and claims to speak for everyone and even suggests therapy and a break from forums, isn't that...lemme think...narrow-minded, obnoxious, overly engaged in forums and in need of therapy? :)

Not even sure what that is supposed to mean. I buy and collect games from all of the publishers that release them physically. In fact, I collect on all of the current and past console platforms going back to the first Odyssey. LRG is releasing stuff that there is no way publishers pursuing a retail release model would even consider. They also have kept their typical release price reasonable at $25 and they have been great about communicating with their customers about their business and how they operate. I get that you feel like every publisher should just print massive quantities and/or take open preorders for months at a time, but that model hasn't resulted in any of the LRG competitors releasing more titles or even getting close to the volume and general quality of releases LRG has put out month after month.

I mean Soedesco has released fewer games in the US in the past three years than LRG has released in just a few recent months. I own all of the Soedesco games and I generally find them to be of only average quality (i.e. I'm glad to own them physically, but they haven't blown me away gameplay wise). Soedesco also hasn't figured out a viable way to release on Vita in the US, despite doing so with Teslagrad in Europe. By the way Rogue Stormers has been delayed by six weeks and now has a release date of mid-July. Soedesco seems unable to hit their projected dates on a regular basis. Other companies like Gaijinworks have repeatedly missed release dates on one title at a time by months. IAM8Bit and Fangamer have taken months to sell through their quantities of the very few titles they have released and as a result, haven't been very active in securing new releases. I mean it's great that Fangamer is doing Undetale and I will buy it on all the platforms they release it on, but it's just one release of literally thousands that deserve a physical release.

As for my reaction to the repeated rants against LRG, it's just a matter of being tired of the constant and unfounded criticism by people who have no idea let alone ability to run a business. I have personally started several successful businesses over the years and a couple of not so successful ones. As such. I appreciate the discipline and sacrifice it requires to get a new venture off the ground. LRG has made a go of something numerous other companies have tried over the years with varying success, all while being gamers and collectors and developers. People are free to disagree with their approach and not buy their games, but this constant ranting about people having OCD or about how LRG is an evil company destroying everything that's great about gaming is just uncalled for.

[celerystalker]

From a business perspective, I really appreciate what LRG do. They were smart enough to make the connection that the same people who want physical releases are generally of a collector mindset. So, they limit losses and overhead by producing measured, easily salable lots that even a niche market can support. The challenge they now face is simply staying relevant by keeping the quality of releases up while also releasing enough titles to keep profitable.

Is this a conspiracy to make collectors spend money? Of course. That's what all business and marketing is by its very nature. Appeal to an audience to get their money. It's not evil. It's the same thing literally every business on the planet is trying to do: make money by making you feel like you need that good or service. They have a quality business model that's right for the time. If they lose consumer faith by diluting the quality of their releases, that's on them. If they keep going for decades as is, awesome for them. They give an overall small consumer group what they want in a potentially sustainable format where they're experiencing success. It's working, and there's nothing wrong with it.

[Aussie2B]

I really hope we'll get preorder numbers and print run sizes on Undertale too, assuming that'll have unlimited preorders for months like Shovel Knight's physical Vita release. If I remember correctly, it was Yacht Club Games, not Fangamer themselves, who shared the info on Shovel Knight, so maybe we'll have to just hope that Toby Fox is willing to divulge. I'm really wondering if Undertale with be another super popular indie that underperforms compared to the sales LRG can pull. Granted, this will be the first physical release of any kind for Undertale, right? Whereas Shovel Knight already had regular retail physical releases on other platforms before the physical Vita release. So Undertale could have an advantage there.

[lendelin]

@Bojay1997: That sounds much more reasonable with good reasoning! Thanks! I just dislike a poisenous tone and attacks like there is a war going on.

@celerystalker: Not everything successful is also good for gamers and collectors.

@Aussie2B: Well we won't come together on this one! :) In essence, it is very simple. You say, I prefer THIS with all its disadvantages (The LR Model) over fewer games. I say I prefer fewer games over the LR business model because of its disadvantages (in particular the successful precedent). Let's hope I'm wrong although the successful model always gets copied.

Overall, I'm just so glad that we get these kind of games on physical discs. I'm asking for this for a long time now, and back then I was really glad that we finally got Limbo on disc. Although I have the feeling sometimes it is almost too many looking at the long list of games by smaller developers.

[Aussie2B]

So in other words, you would give a big F-U to Vita fans who want physical releases if you could.

As someone who is actually buying these games, I fail to see how LRG is hurting me, as a gamer and collector, or creating any kind of "disadvantageous" situation for me. The price points are usually reasonable, considering a typical Vita release is $40 and a typical PS4 release $60, I haven't had any problems ordering them, I'm getting an opportunity to buy games in a physical format that I otherwise wouldn't have, and I've been enjoying playing through them. But, okay, keep trying to tell me that this is somehow bad for me, as a gamer and collector. Nobody is going to copy this business model for games that can sell as regular retail releases because why would anyone sell fewer copies and make less money when they could sell and make a lot more? The only people copying LRG are companies releasing the same kinds of games as LRG, ones that aren't financially viable for standard physical releases and would stay digital-only without LRG and its copycats. The whole reason LRG is successful, to the point that multiple copycat companies are springing up and developers are flocking to them for help in producing physical versions of their games, is because it's working for both gamers/collectors and developers. You don't think any of these developers tried getting physical print runs done through other companies, only to be turned down?

[kupomogli]

Nobody is going to copy this business model for games that can sell as regular retail releases because why would anyone sell fewer copies and make less money when they could sell and make a lot more?

Because they're not making a lot more, they're not making more at all. Shovel Knight only got 3,642 preorders and this was opened for awhile. If these games were released through Amazon and sold traditionally, these games wouldn't sell nearly as quickly as they have and we'd probably still see many of the games up there to this day. The announcement of how many were printed, that you can't ever get a copy again unless you buy one right now along with the launch of earlier titles which were less than 2000 and sold out within seconds, the idea of "gotta have them all" with them being numbered. They're feeding into a lot of different collector's tendencies. That's why you see LRG selling 4000 copies per game lately while an open preorder that was available for months can't even reach that.

This is the reason that there's so many "copy cats." Because the business model is more profitable than releasing these games at a more traditional release. Why print and leave 10,000 up for sale on Amazon for years, when you can get 4000 sold in a few days and then publish other games in quick succession? You see a very quick return on your investment and immediately invest most of that money on new product. The more traditional way, you have a lot of money sitting as unsold product and can't move forward until you get that money back and while waiting for returns you're losing money every day(you know, due to life.)

[Aussie2B]

Uhhhh...that kinda went over your head there? That was exactly the point I was making. You're telling me things I already know and already said. Go back and reread this discussion. To paraphrase, *if* a game can sell more through a standard retail release, no one would ever use the LRG business model. If a game can't be financially viable as a standard retail release, then LRG's business model is about the only option, short of methods that have proven to be not as successful and result in fewer releases and lower print runs.

[kupomogli]

Uhhhh...that kinda went over your head there? That was exactly the point I was making. You're telling me things I already know and already said. Go back and reread this discussion. To paraphrase, *if* a game can sell more through a standard retail release, no one would ever use the LRG business model. If a game can't be financially viable as a standard retail release, then LRG's business model is about the only option, short of methods that have proven to be not as successful and result in fewer releases and lower print runs.

Then what was your reasoning behind the comment that I quoted?

The business model is nice when more games come out, but it's not good for collectors. What happens when SRG and Play Asia are releasing the amount of games at the speed that LRG is releasing them? Three or four games per month if not more. For those that have the income sure, but how is it good for collectors when the reason it sells out as quick as it does is because you've got people who wouldn't purchase them otherwise and the entire business model is making money because it's sold to scalpers just as much as it's sold to collectors. Five games a week per publisher, each item numbered, etc, for those collector's who don't want to pay Ebay prices in the future. 15 games in one month would be $450 a month and that doesn't even include the time they have to waste by being there at a very specific time.

Regardless if you think the games that LRG is good now, many of them aren't but whatever. There's only a finite amount of games, you can't rerelease a "good(ha") game that's already been released. Soon they'll move onto the truly shit games when the better ones they've been able to publish have already been acquired. There's going to be a time when even the most apologetic LRG fans get burnt out on what LRG is doing and this business model isn't going to be viable for ANY company. It was a great idea at the start and LRG is the one that started it, but they're driving it into the ground. That's my reason for wanting more quality even if they do the same model with less games, because eventually what is actually a good business model is going to get ruined for the sake of greed.