Atooi talks low Chicken Wiggle sales, discount next week, no more 3DS games
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 36 Comments
Mutant Mudds developer Atooi brought Chicken Wiggle to the 3DS eShop last month. Sadly, sales have not been strong thus far.
Atooi founder Jools Watsham discussed Chicken Wiggle’s sales in a new blog post. Below are a couple of excerpts:
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An hour of Chicken Wiggle footage
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Videos | 0 comments
YouTuber AbdallahSmash026 hosted a live stream this week to show some extensive gameplay from Chicken Wiggle, a new 2D platformer on 3DS. Watch the full recording below.
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27 minutes of Chicken Wiggle footage
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS, Videos | 1 Comment
GameXplain posted a video today showing lengthy gameplay from Atooi’s new platformer Chicken Wiggle. Check out the video below.
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Atooi putting Mutant Mudds Deluxe on Switch
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch eShop | 7 Comments
Mutant Mudds Deluxe is coming to Switch, Atooi boss Jools Watsham has confirmed. Watsham tweeted out the image above earlier today, confirming the 2D platformer for Nintendo’s console.
Meanwhile, on the Switch… pic.twitter.com/Zac4Hviv7R
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) August 9, 2017
Technically, we sort of knew this before. Mutant Mudds was one of many games confirmed for Switch as part of an indies infographic Nintendo sent out a few months ago. However, this is the first time we’re hearing about the Switch port officially.
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Chicken Wiggle file size
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 0 comments
Chicken Wiggle is the newest game from Atooi’s Jools Watsham, the creator of Mutant Mudds. The game is rather small, coming in at just 280 blocks. That amounts to just 35MB.
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Chicken Wiggle out on August 17
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 0 comments
Atooi has announcing a release date for its 2D platformer Chicken Wiggle. In both North America and Europe, it’s launching on August 17. Pricing is set at $14.99 / €14.99.
Chicken Wiggle’s hook lies in its level creator. Players can make their own stages with different gameplay rules, art themes, and provide custom hints, tips, and search tags. Levels can be shared, downloaded, and rated online.
View a new trailer for Chicken Wiggle below.
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Off-screen Chicken Wiggle footage, dev interview
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, Videos | 0 comments
At PAX West last week, Atooi was on hand to show off its new 3DS game Chicken Wiggle. Get a look at some off-screen footage from and developer interview below, courtesy of AbdallahSmash026.
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Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham announces Chicken Wiggle for 3DS
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News | 0 comments
It didn’t take long for Jools Watsham to announce a new game following the closure of Renegade Kid. At Atooi, Watsham is currently making Chicken Wiggle for the 3DS eShop and iOS.
Here’s an overview:
“The stars of Chicken Wiggle are an improbable duo: a young chicken and his best buddy – a wiggly worm – nestled in his backpack! Together, they team up for adventure to jump, peck, and worm-grapple across a myriad of perplexing platforming levels – full of fun gadgets, tricky hazards, and sneaky foes – determined to rescue their friends from the wicked witch in her sky towers.”
And a teaser:
A big aspect of Chicken Wiggle is the game’s level creator. Users can choose between various gameplay rules, art themes, and provide custom hints, tips, and search tags. Levels can then be shared with others through a community portal.
Chicken Wiggle will be released “soon.”
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Renegade Kid co-founders on shutting down the studio, updates on future plans
Posted on 8 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 6 Comments
Earlier today, Renegade Kid co-founders Gregg Hargrove and Jools Watsham announced the closer of the studio. The two will now be in charge of their own companies, Infitizmo and Atooi respectively.
Speaking about the decision to close Renegade Kid, Watsham said:
“The video game industry has changed a lot in the past 10 years that we’ve been developing games as Renegade Kid. From the very beginning, it has always been a challenge to secure partnerships with publishers to fund the development of original games, and since the advent of self-publishing – when digital distribution became more mainstream – it has shifted our business model towards becoming more dependent on revenue instead of seeking funding from publishing partners.
As such, it has been a great financial challenge and an extreme workload for the entire team to maintain a balance between cash flow, staying competitive with our games, and spending quality time with our families and friends. Couple these realities with the desire to achieve personal goals, Gregg and I came to the difficult decision to each pursue solo ventures and close Renegade Kid.
Starting fresh with small, lean teams enables us both to focus more on less moving parts and potentially achieve better success. It puts both Atooi and Infitizmo in more advantageous positions.”
Renegade Kid may be gone, but the developer’s franchises are not. Hargrove is holding onto the 3D titles while Watsham will own the 2D franchises. Watsahm says Treasurenauts will launch next year (with news coming “very soon”), and a new game will be announced this week. Meanwhile, Hargrove mentioned that he “would love to explore Cult County.” He also stated that he would like “to expand on both Moon and Dementium in the future and there is a new mystery project in the works for the near future.”
More: Atooi, Gregg Hargrove, indie, Infitizmo, interview, Jools Watsham, Renegade Kid
Xeodrifter developer states unhealthy market as reason for new game not being on Nintendo platforms
Posted on 9 years ago by Dennis Gagliardotto(@LyonHart_) in 3DS, News, Wii U | 25 Comments
Jools Watsham, co-founder of Renegade Kid and new mobile studio Atooi, recently wrote an article on Gamasutra discussing his decision to partake in the mobile gaming space, promoting his new game Totes the Goat, and why that game didn’t make it onto Nintendo platforms like previous titles he’s worked on.
He goes into great detail on what it’s like working in the environment, but the most notable is his description on why Nintendo didn’t make the cut for his new IP this time around:
“For many years I have been 100% dedicated to developing games for Nintendo handhelds. Sure, some of our games have also been ported to other platforms. But, they were all originally made for Nintendo platforms. Part of the reason for this when we started Renegade Kid was that it was a logistically sensible thing to do, considering my experience with the SNES and N64 prior to the release of the Nintendo DS. The other portion of my reasoning was my love for Nintendo, and my love for Nintendo handhelds. I love them, you see!”
“What has changed? Well, my love for Nintendo hasn’t changed. But, the market isn’t quite as healthy as it once was for us. I think it began with the launch of Moon Chronicles for the 3DS in May 2014, and was cemented with the release of Xeodrifter for the 3DS in December 2014. Naturally, everyone has their own opinion regarding creative works, so I accept that not everyone will agree with mine. From my perspective, Moon Chronicles and Xeodrifter are both great quality games that were released into a healthy market – a combination for success, right?”
“Neither game has sold very well, unfortunately. This is not based on my perception of what I think is a good number of units to sell. It is based on the revenue needed to fund a team of four with reasonable salaries and no office space overhead – basic return on investment (ROI). Sure, there are 100 reasons why these games may have not sold more, but the inescapable reality is that the tremendous effort required to create those games versus the reward did not add up in the end. It wasn’t for lack of trying on our part. It wasn’t for lack of support from Nintendo, either. It just didn’t work out.”
There are tons of fans for Xeodrifter, Moon Chronicles, and the newly released remake of Dementium: The Ward on 3DS, so it’s interesting to see that the sales just weren’t up to par to warrant another title coming to 3DS and/or Wii U this time around, given the marketing and word-of-mouth involved within the gaming space regarding Renegade Kid IP.
The installed base is undoubtedly much larger on mobile with virtually everyone having a phone with them, but with its oversaturation of banal titles, games like Totes the Goat and plenty of others that would benefit being on a dedicated gaming system with tangible buttons ultimately get buried until someone stumbles upon it through an ad in yet another unrelated disposable app.