Super Meat Boy Goes On Sale From Day One

[Tom Goldman]

Super Meat Boy Goes On Sale From Day One

Super Meat Boy was planned to cost a certain amount when it came out, but now it'll cost less.

In a move that may unfortunately confuse people, Super Meat Boy developer Team Meat has announced that it's holding a sale for the platformer from the moment it's released on Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow, October 20. While it was originally going to be priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), it'll now cost just 800 ($10).

However, this sale won't last forever. Super Meat Boy's price is expected to rise "back" to $15 once the sale expires. With the holiday season so close, Team Meat wanted to do something special, but didn't want to screw over anyone that had supported the game just a month or two earlier at release.

The idea here was to give a holiday present to Super Meat Boy's earliest supporters. Team Meat says the discount will end "in November," but didn't give an exact date. This may be one of the first times a game has ever gone on sale at release, aside from pre-order discounts on Steam and whatnot. Team Meat confirmed the sale with Microsoft on friday and it apparently loved the idea.

Super Meat Boy's free DLC [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104339-Super-Meat-Boy-Commercial-is-Extreme-to-the-Max] in its XBLA release but is also coming to the Wii and PC at a later date.

I can see at least a few people becoming confused, or possibly upset over this sale, even though it is a really nice gesture. For those that don't understand why the game spikes up 50% in price in a couple of weeks, it might be a detriment to buy the game later. On the other hand, it's just one more reason to read The Escapist every day, where we regularly inform you of these things.

Source: Team Meat [http://supermeatboy.com/]

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[Kapol]

Wow, that's nice of them. I was hoping to buy it and the Lair of the shadow Broker DLC to get that last part of the 2400 points spent, and now I'll get exactly that. Works out good for me. That's nice of them to do, and somewhat surprising of Microsoft to allow.

 

[The Random One]

This, this is a massive marketing blunder. Fortunately the main market for SMB is a small niche market that knows well about what it's buying and will probably know this ahead of time, but damn. This isn't even Marketing 101, this is Homer Simpson looking up 'marketing' on a dictionary.

 

[ENKC]

I loved the flash game, so I'll buy this on Steam as a matter of principle.

...you guys DO know the game has been out for ages as a flash version, right?

 

[etherealwalnut]

I loved the flash game, so I'll buy this on Steam as a matter of principle.

...you guys DO know the game has been out for ages as a flash version, right?

The flash game is NOT the same as this game. That fact is even right on the Newgrounds page:

"This is NOT Super Meat Boy!

Its simply the flash prototype that Super Meat Boy was based off of.
SMB, will play very differently and is 100% new.. what im saying is if you even slightly enjoy the prototype, you will LOVE SMB!

for more info on Super Meat Boy check out supermeatboy.com

-Team Meat"

 

[Mausenheimmer]

This just makes terrible business sense. I'll spare everyone the economics of it, but basically the ideal pricing plan is where you charge everyone exactly what they're willing to pay for a product. By putting it on sale from the get go, they're missing out on all of the revenue that people who were willing to pay full price would've given them. And all they're gaining is the people who would be willing to pay $10-$14 for SMB rather than $15. So how are they going to make more money that way?

Actually that's a great economics question. I've worked it out and they'd see an increase in revenue if the number of people willing to pay between 10 and 15 dollars is at least half the size of the people who are willing to pay at least 15 dollars for it.

But even if that is the case, why make the game cost 15 dollars in the first place if so many people would rather pay 10? And now you certainly can't reach out to consumers who are willing to pay less than 10 dollars since you can't discount it further.

The only idea that makes even a little bit of sense is that they want to ensure that SMB is a top 5 bestselling arcade game. Then, word of mouth, as well as increased exposure from being on the top selling list, could help fuel sales.

 

[Brotherofwill]

Hahah that's such a 90's commercial. Product from the USA. The 90's fucking sucked .

Anyway, I like this sale. I know a lot of consumers will feel ripped off in a few weeks time and the company might lose money but it's these type of sales that would get me to buy it, if I had a 360.

On the other hand, it's just one more reason to read The Escapist every day, where we regularly inform you of these things.

High Five!

 

[ENKC]

I loved the flash game, so I'll buy this on Steam as a matter of principle.

...you guys DO know the game has been out for ages as a flash version, right?

The flash game is NOT the same as this game. That fact is even right on the Newgrounds page:

"This is NOT Super Meat Boy!

Its simply the flash prototype that Super Meat Boy was based off of.
SMB, will play very differently and is 100% new.. what im saying is if you even slightly enjoy the prototype, you will LOVE SMB!

for more info on Super Meat Boy check out supermeatboy.com

-Team Meat"

I possibly should have spelled out that it was a prototype version. But it's essentially the same gameplay experience.

 

[GiantRedButton]

This may be one of the first times a game has ever gone on sale at release, aside from pre-order discounts on Steam and whatnot.

Most steam indie games are 10% discounted on release but yeah thats hardly a sale especially for steam standarts. An example is doc clock....no idea what type of game that is.
But yeah seeing new vegas 5 bucks cheaper then at another store hardly makes it a sale the discount on super meatboy on the other hand is.

 

[ZodiacBraves]

It will spike up 33% percent, not 50%. It would be 20 dollars if it did...

Incorrect, you are getting the 33% from the original 15 dollars standpoint, but an addition of 5 dollars to a 10 dollar price tag is a 50% increase. 20 dollars would be a 100% increase from the base price.

 

[duchaked]

lol good news, but I already bought it

hmmm anyone know if they fixed/patched that one save glitch with the game?
at least I heard there was one?