Penny Arcade Episode One third best XBLA launch to date

by Xav de Matos { May 27th 2008 at 3:15PM }

It looks like Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode One has broken through the controversy and landed as the third most successful XBLA games during its launch period.

According to a post from Penny Arcade's illustrator Mike Krahulik (aka Gabe), Episode One sold 16.5K units in the first three days of release. While it's already impressive for a new game wedged between known quantities like RezHD, Ikaruga and N+ to sell well, it's even more impressive considering Penny Arcade was priced twice as high as the rest in the top four.

According to Mike Krahulik, the top four three-day launch titles on XBLA are:

RezHD -- 25k units
Ikaruga -- 22.5k units
Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One -- 16.5k units
N+ -- 13k units

Also, according to a report by VGChartz, Penny Arcade's debut title has landed the top spot as the highest grossing XBLA title to date; at $330,000 in its first three days, Episode One beat out the record debut titleholder WormsHD.

Congrats to Hothead Games for rolling twenties.

Tags: hothead-games, on-the-rain-slick-precipice-of-darkness, penny-arcade, penny-arcade-adventures, xbla, xbox-live-arcade

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gemini Ace @ May 27th 2008 3:24PM

Great. Now they'll think it's ok to charge $20 for an arcade title.

Neuromancer @ May 27th 2008 3:34PM

My thoughts exactly. We are fucked.

DjDATZ @ May 27th 2008 3:40PM

Exactly what I thought too.

Oh and no wonder it's the highest grossing arcade title. It also happens to be the most expensive, by an extra 100% over the standard price of arcade titles.

Grimm @ May 27th 2008 3:49PM

Amen man...no fucking shit it's the highest grossing. It costs 200% the cost of a normal arcade title. I've played it and other then dialog it really isn't that fun. Color me disappointed on this one.

Etchasketchist @ May 27th 2008 3:50PM

No shit. Since when have corporations ever lowered prices because poor people complained? Welcome to capitalism.

RotNRollHunter @ May 27th 2008 3:57PM

this game was well worth the $20 and besides Ikaruga the only game worth buying on the arcade in a while. It sold more units btw, the price played no factor in it moving up the list, if anything the price should have deterred people from buying it. it's nice to see a game like this on my xbox. my list consists of too many fps' and choosing "do I wan't to waste my time playing gh3 or rock band?" I think I'm gonna go outside thanks

ZEBRA NINER @ May 27th 2008 4:36PM

Agreed! Not saying the game isn't good, because the demo looked good. This can be called a "Trendsetter", the trend of $20 games is on the way.

Treima @ May 27th 2008 4:43PM

And they'll find out REAL fast that $20 is absurd when sales dry up because of it, assuming that ever happens. Penny Arcade can get away with it thanks to the brand, I don't think anyone else really could.

Mark @ May 27th 2008 5:48PM

Penny Arcade is the Oprah of video games. They have mindless followers that will go buy any game they say.

Mr. Balance @ May 27th 2008 3:27PM

yawn

xenocidic @ May 27th 2008 3:34PM

impressive

i haven't picked it up yet, still poking my way thru Liberty City. haven't played any other game since 4/28

leo2178 @ May 27th 2008 3:36PM

great....
coming soon to an XBLA near you....
more overpriced crap!

B Tizo @ May 27th 2008 3:43PM

You guys are ridiculous. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One is a fantastic game. It is easily worth the $20 for any Penny Arcade fan. Not to mention that it's the first episode in a series of 4. Now that the engine and the framework is out, the following episodes will most likely cost less than the initial installment.

$20 (Ep. 1) + $10 (Ep. 2) + $10 (Ep. 3) + $10 (Ep. 4) = $50.

If each episode offers the 6-8 hours of game play that Episode 1 offered, that would be 24-32 hours of game play for $50. That's a damn good deal considering most retail games are $60 and offer considerably less.

marauder800 @ May 27th 2008 3:46PM

"the following episodes will most likely cost less than the initial installment."

Keep dreaming.

Gemini Ace @ May 27th 2008 3:47PM

Yea, but most games for that price have multiplayer. You also have the option to trade them into your local game store for credit or another game. I think that's a fail all the way around.

Etchasketchist @ May 27th 2008 3:51PM

I will bet you 1600 MS points that episodes 2-4 will cost exactly the same as the first one.

Andrew @ May 27th 2008 3:58PM

Maybe there was a chance that the next episodes would be 800 points if the sales bombed, but now there's not way they're going to lower the price.

They've got you PA fans by the balls and it's sad.

RIP 800 and 400 point games.

Neuromancer @ May 27th 2008 4:06PM

Yeah or each episode could be $20 with the whole Penny Arcade Experience costing a total of $80. Either way thanks but no thanks, this is a bad precedent.

GoBob @ May 27th 2008 3:59PM

An independent game costs more to produce than a port, thus having a higher purchase price? Shocking!

HazyCloud @ May 27th 2008 4:05PM

I figured it was 20 well spent. I logged about 24 hours playing it. Far from the 5-10 hours originally stated.

I've paid more for pizza delivery. Everyone that thinks that 20 bucks it too much, you need a different hobby.

I welcome better/more expensive titles to the XBLA.

Gemini Ace @ May 27th 2008 4:05PM

The fact that they're delisting the titles that don't perform coupled with this new development just goes to show that we're headed towards higher prices. It's not that those of us complaining are poor. We just don't want to pay higher prices simply because M$ wants us to.

A standard has been set. 400 points for retro titles, 800 for brand new stuff. Pretty soon it will be 800 for retro and 1600 for new. I think you can all see where it goes from there.

Jcarpio @ May 27th 2008 4:12PM

What a bunch of losers. making money on a game to make more games. they should be shot.

We'll see if bigger non ports follow this pricing model. I know Capcom wasn't happy to sell Bionic Commando at 10 but the people have spoken on that one.

UNSCleric @ May 27th 2008 4:14PM

I can't believe this...what a shame. XBLA is pretty much dead to me these days anyway, I barely play it at all anymore, maybe once every couple months for the last year.

joey @ May 27th 2008 4:19PM

I accidentally bought Backgammon this weekend. But, it was only 400 points.

CosmicNeurotica @ May 27th 2008 4:31PM

I'm sorry, but this is still an ARCADE game and plays like an arcade game and should not cost me $80 for 4 episodes of ONE ARCADE GAME! That is beyond insanity! I can go out and buy 6 or 7 GOOD RETAIL games for that price! And the game looks fun and worthy to be called a good game, but that price is absolutely ridiculous.

Rab39 @ May 27th 2008 5:09PM

http://www.vgchartz.com/news/news.php?id=1209

Just an FYI for Gabe, and all those reading (just to clarify from a post I made in the comments section): Penny Arcade is not the 3rd highest debut in XBLA history in terms of units pushed. It's 3rd highest in 2008 only. I'll try to publish a list of "top 10" in terms of Gross Revenue and Units Sold. But sufficive to say, PAA is in the top-10 in Units Sold, but not quite #3 in "all time"

mike @ May 27th 2008 4:49PM

This game was just overpriced. by the time episode 4 comes out, episode 1 will be a year old, and 1 year old games, which contain 30+ hours of gameplay, can be found for $10. The price for these just is not worth it. Now future games may charge tons of money as well.

Its not about us being poor. Its about value in the product your purchasing. Can you all afford $10? Im sure you can, but would you pay $10 for a can of coke? I dont think so.

MrMuggs @ May 27th 2008 5:50PM

I'd love to know what the Penny Arcade guys make after paying Microsoft their cut and development costs. Out of $330k what are they getting back? Anyone know what percentage MS takes out of XBLA games?

Benjamin09 @ May 27th 2008 6:07PM

I've thrown money down the drain before....but this wasn't one of them. Even though I'm not a huge fan of their stuff, I figured this would be worth it since they are gamers themselves. Hopefully they would have a watchful eye over their own product. It was a great game! The story, the characters, the art was all great along with the humorous jokes which cracked me up numerous times. I cant wait for the rest of the episodes.

Hate all you want on $20 and yell that this is the wave of the future. I doubt all games will go to $20. Penny Arcade has the name and following to ask for a higher price per unit. They should be proud of this game and how well it turned out. Sure more games will show up at this price but I'll bet its just one in twenty that cost that much.

I'm glad I didn't miss out on this great game!

salty @ May 28th 2008 1:31AM

Seems odd that the only source is someone with Penny Arcade. Journalism, anyone?

Xav de Matos @ May 28th 2008 2:01AM

You see this paragraph at the bottom:

"Also, according to a report by VGChartz, Penny Arcade's debut title has landed the top spot as the highest grossing XBLA title to date; at $330,000 in its first three days, Episode One beat out the record debut titleholder WormsHD."

There's a link in there to the second source.

Reading, anyone?

Andrew @ May 28th 2008 2:19PM

I love how Xav is so defensive of anything he posts.

Xav de Matos @ May 28th 2008 2:24PM

@Andrew: I can't defend a position when someone calls me out?

Andrew @ May 28th 2008 7:31PM

Hehe no I didn't mean it that way. It came off more negative than I meant it.

I just see you comment on your stories more than the other bloggers around here which is a good thing.

ccc @ May 28th 2008 2:08AM

Well, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone that bought this game intentually or unintentually helping to drive up the price the avid Xbox Live Arcade purcheser will be expected to pay for a game that is not retro and considered decent.

I'll be thinking of you all when I have to buy 1942, SSF2THDR, Soul Caliber and Quake 3 Arena for the loving price of 1600 ms points.

Xav de Matos @ May 28th 2008 2:24AM

I think the fear that this situation will raise the price of all games is a little paranoid.

You'll still see 400/800 MS Point games but you'll also see 1600 MS Point titles. Much like you would see $20 on Steam and the PSN.

ccc @ May 28th 2008 7:58PM

@XAV

Yes there is such a thing as a 20 dollar game on psn, like Tekken Dark Ressurection. Which is a stellar title and ultimatley bad ass to have as an arcade digital downloaded game.

My fears will leave me or remain once I see how much the arcade games, that I know of to be releasing prices are revealed.

Thats all.

TheTurnipKIng @ Jun 4th 2008 8:16AM

> Penny Arcade is the Oprah of video games.
> They have mindless followers that will go buy any
> game they say.

I certainly don't think that's fair. Penny Arcade is an
interesting experience as a video game. It's got a
very interesting visual style, it's well written, the story
is entertaining nonsense, and Ron Gilbert, creator of
Monkey Island, was involved.

_That_ is a solid package. You don't have to be mindless to want a piece of that action.