Publishing a game is expensive, even if it’s an indie game. Retro City Rampage developer Brian Provinciano knows this quite well. His recently released WiiWare version of Retro City Rampage cost him nearly an arm and a leg. Not only that, but it’s likely that he won’t even make money back on the deal.
“Many developers became unable to sell enough units, and this became a reason for so many cancellations of announced WiiWare titles. The publishers knew they wouldn’t make a cent and needed to cut their losses,” stated Provinciano in an interview with Nintendolife . “Between the office rent, hardware, insurance, game ratings, and other costs, had I not done the WiiWare version, I could’ve saved around $20,000 — not even including my salary in porting it. And as it stands, virtually no games hit the threshold these days, so it’s only being released as fan service. A $20,000 gift to the fans. However, I wanted to keep my word and didn’t want to see it go to waste. I’m happy to see it finally out, and the many happy players. That said, I encourage everyone to buy it! I’m crossing my fingers that it will hit the threshold at least in one region.”
WiiWare was one of the most popular digital download services in the early days of the last console generation. Nintendo released several new takes on old franchise that were a treat to gamers everywhere. Unfortunately, the Wii’s limited technical capabilities and lack of developer support has made the service falter in recent years. On the upside, gamers that only own a Wii will finally be able to play this masterpiece of a game.
Source: Nintendolife