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Postmortem: The Binding of Isaac

edg3edg3
edited in General
http://gamasutra.com/view/feature/182380/postmortem_mcmillen_and_himsls_.php
How did a game destined for failure become a cult smash? In an article originally written for Game Developer magazine, Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy) discusses how he added religion to The Legend of Zelda, mixed it with a roguelike, and came out with a surprise hit.

Thoughts?

My thoughts:
Steam is amazing, and with the Isaac release experience I've found another crucial reason: You can use it to sell uncensored and unrated games. This was vital with Isaac, because I wasn't going to bother with getting an ESRB rating for a game I wasn't sure was going to sell more than 100 copies. Valve knew the game was weird and could possibly get some backlash, but they allowed it on Steam because they felt it had potential, and I love them for that.
This single best reason why Steam Greenlight (for your games) is a good idea.

However, the best news for me about this is that I should hopefully be able to get this on my Xbox soon(-ish)! I am excite!

Comments

  • TheFuntasticTheFuntastic
    Interestingly the first time I played binding of isaac demo I didn't know it was an edward mcmillen game. Didn't like it at all. Since then I've fallen in love with super meat boy, and now I want to give it a second go, because well, I feel I may have missed the point.

    So I think much like angry birds, he's reached that upper echelon (within indie circles anyway) where no matter what, people are going to give his games a chance and put in the time and effort into understanding more challenging concepts. Don't think the game would have stood a single chance if he wasn't the person behind it, or even if he released the game before super meat boy became a runaway success. My two cents at least...
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