Affordable Space Adventures dev KnapNok Games now called NapNok Games
Posted on 7 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 2 Comments
KnapNok Games has a new game. After merging with Hexblade and Lateral Labs, the company will now be known as Lateral Labs.
When the team was known as KnapNok Games, they brought out the Wii U exclusive Affordable Space Adventures. The company has been growing since then, and now sits at over 60 employees.
Here’s the full announcement:
More: KnapNok Games, NapNok Games
KnapNok on Affordable Space Adventures’ reception and sales, more DLC possible, could hit 3DS
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in 3DS eShop, News, Wii U eShop | 1 Comment
KnapNok’s Anchel Labena has commented on a number of topics pertaining to Affordable Space Adventures as part of an interview with Nintendo Life.
Regarding the game’s reception, Labena said that the game has received “some pretty amazing reviews”, which came as a bit of a surprise given its “quirky nature”. Sales were strong out of the gate, though “things slowed down a bit during the months after.”
Labena’s comments in full:
“We’ve been getting some pretty amazing reviews, which we are obviously really happy about. It really caught us by surprise, since Affordable Space Adventures is such a quirky title that we didn’t know what the press would think about it. I guess that all the positive press really affected sales at launch, because we saw a sudden surge of interest from players, YouTube streamers and other media outlets who hadn’t heard about the game before its launch.
While sales kicked off to a great start, things slowed down a bit during the months after launch. We still keep selling units on a daily basis though. It doesn’t come as a surprise either. We are, after all, a digital-only release, and presence in the Wii U eShop is crucial for us. Every time our game shows up in the eShop front page (like a banner, a Nintendo Highlights video or being included in a list of indie games for example), we have a considerable spike in sales. The new update is surely going to get a new surge of interest in the title, so we hope to keep the momentum going with that. We also just launched in Japan, and that’s definitely a super interesting market to get into. You have to think different in how you approach the audience there. Luckily, there are also fans there. One of them posted a drawing on Miiverse and it took as a while to understand that her handwriting said “I’ve been waiting for a year for this game since Knytt Underground” (Knytt Underground being the previous game of Affordable Space Adventure’s Game Director, Nicklas Nygren). What I can tell you, however, is that the game has definitely been a success for us and we are quite happy about how it is performing.”
More: Anchel Labena, indie, interview, KnapNok Games, Nifflas, top
Affordable Space Adventures’ free update also out in North America on Thursday
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
Yesterday, KnapNok Games announced that a free update will be coming to Affordable Space Adventures on Thursday. This introduces five new levels in Origin Story while also implementing fixes and improvements.
The Affordable Space Adventures update was initially announced for Europe and Australia. A few hours ago, KnapNok also confirmed that the patch will be going live in North America on the same day.
Here’s the relevant tweet:
We can confirm that Affordable Space Adventures' free update will be arriving in America at the same time as Europe & Australia, Nov. 12th!
— KnapNok Games (@KnapNokGames) November 10, 2015
Affordable Space Adventures will be reduced by 20 percent starting on Thursday in Europe. We’ll let you know if the discount is made available in North America as well.
Affordable Space Adventures “Origin Story” update details + screenshots
Posted on 9 years ago by Matt(@OnePunchMaz) in News, Wii U | 1 Comment
KnapNok Games’ acclaimed Wii U exclusive Affordable Space Adventures is getting a free update with some new content this week. Below you’ll find KnapNok Games’ press release for the update and some screenshots.
Copenhagen, Denmark – June 10th 2015
KnapNok Games and Nifflas’ Games, the developers of the critically acclaimed Affordable Space Adventures for Wii U, are announcing the release of the free Origin Story content update and a temporary discount to celebrate the launch on November 12th 2015.
Origin Story is a set of 5 brand-new levels of Affordable Space Adventures that take players through the hardest areas of the game so far. These unique stages have been designed not only to put players’ skills to the test, but also to get them to think outside the box and make use of all the Small Craft systems in new ways.
This new chapter, available at any moment from the difficulty select screen, is recommended only for those that have already completed the main story and are looking for a new series of puzzling challenges. “We had lots of level ideas that were too difficult to implement as part of the main story”, explains Affordable Space Adventures’ game director Nicklas Nygren. “Origin Story is our way of introducing some of these concepts to those who have already finished the game.”
To celebrate the release of the new update, the developers will be launching a special sale of Affordable Space Adventures on the Nintendo eShop. The sale will drop the price of the game by 20% for 2 weeks starting November 12th 2015 in Europe and Australia, the same day the Origin Story update launches for Wii U™ consoles. America will get both the update and the sale soon after.
The update, which is a remaster of the game rather than a patch, also brings with it several fixes and improvements based upon players’ feedback via social media and the Affordable Space Adventures Miiverse™ community.
“We’d like to reward fans of Affordable Space Adventures with additional content for free”, states KnapNok Games’ CEO Dajana Dimovska. “We heard a lot of people asking for more levels, so our hope is that this update will keep the game alive for them. Likewise, we expect new players to pick up the game after this update and enjoy taking it for a spin.”
Since its release in April 9th, Affordable Space Adventures has been receiving great reviews and recommendations from both the media and customers alike. The highest praised feature is the game’s use of the Wii U GamePad, transforming it into the cockpit of a spaceship and giving players absolute control over the ship’s systems. This allows for the game to be played not only in single player mode, but also as a co-op experience, with players taking over different roles as Pilot, Engineer and Science Officer of the spaceship and requiring good communication between them.
The game has players taking control over the Small Craft, a cheap but functional spaceship provided by the Uexplore corporation, as they crash-land on an alien planet. As the game progresses, the spaceship gains new functions, progressively introducing players to new ways of solving the puzzles they encounter as they find their way out of the planet.
The game currently holds a score of 81 in Metacritic.
Affordable Space Adventures getting 5 new levels this summer, DLC planned
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
KnapNok Games and Nifflas Games have announced the development of a new patch slated for summer. It will introduce five “extremely difficult levels” that “have been designed to take advantage of every single feature of the Small Craft, including some that players might not even be aware existed.”
Along with new levels, the upcoming update will also address a number of issues reported by players, including bug fixes.
Discussing today’s news KnapNok Games’ Lau Korsgaard also revealed plans for paid DLC. He said:
We had lots of ideas for very tricky puzzles that we couldn’t find room for in the final release of the game. We hope the community will take on the challenge of these new levels. Besides this free update, we still have lots of other plans for Affordable Space Adventures. In the future, we want to release a more substantial update as paid DLC that will expand the universe of Affordable Space Adventures and tell another chapter of the Uexplore story”.
Source: KnapNok Games PR
Update: Winners – [Giveaway] Affordable Space Adventures
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Giveaway, Wii U eShop | 217 Comments
Our winners are in!
North America: James Parry, Figureguy, Kevin Malone
Europe: Ramsés Cabello, daydream, Leon Fletcher
Congratulations to them! Codes should be sent out tomorrow, so keep an eye on your inbox. More giveaways to come!
We’re kicking off a new giveaway today for Affordable Space Adventures. Wii U owners in both North America and Europe are eligible to participate!
Simply leave a comment below and tell us about the following: if you could only bring one item with you on your Small Craft to Spectaculon, what would it be and why? Six codes are up for grabs (thanks Max Criden!) – three for North America, and three for Europe. We’ll choose a winner next weekend.
In your comment, please be sure to let us know which region you’re entering for. We may not be able to count your submission without this information.
Good luck, everyone!
Renegade Kid, KnapNok, Yacht Club, and 13AM talk about the lack of innovative GamePad usage
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii U | 3 Comments
The Wii U GamePad is a perfectly fine controller, but it’d be tough to argue that developers have tapped into its potential. Even Nintendo has not yet produced a string of titles that truly show what it’s capable of. For the most part, titles we’ve seen thus far use the GamePad for off-TV play or as a map.
NintendoWorldReport reached out to four indie developers as part of a new article that touches on the lack of proper GamePad usage. You can find a collection of their comments below.
Renegade Kid’s Jools Watsham
“Nintendo helps promote…as much as the game helps to promote the innovative qualities of the Wii U.”
“If you’re going to dedicate your time and effort to taking advantage of the unique features of the Wii U, you need for it to pay off in sales if you’re going to be able to continue making games for a living.”
“The GamePad is clearly not the revolution that the Wii Remote was. There, I said it.”
“The Wii U never lived up to its own potential, even from its creators. You have to lead [by] example, and Nintendo are the kings of doing this, but they failed to deliver with the Wii U in terms of utilizing their own platform, which has resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
“It’s not like the Wii U has failed gamers in a general sense, but in regards to how well the GamePad has been utilized, overall [it] has unfortunately been somewhat of a failure. And that is Nintendo’s burden to bear.”
Even more Affordable Space Adventures footage
Posted on 9 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in Videos, Wii U eShop | 0 comments
[Review] Affordable Space Adventures
Posted on 9 years ago by Patrick(@Patricklous) in Features, Reviews, Wii U, Wii U eShop | 7 Comments
System: Wii U (eShop)
Release: April 9, 2015
Developer: KnapNok Games & Nifflas Games
Publisher: KnapNok Games
Author: Patrick
I have to confess, I’m not a fan of the Wii U’s GamePad. For a peripheral that comes with every console, very few games have justified using this massive tablet over a more conventional controller. Sure, off-TV play is great and some of the early releases like ZombiU and Game & Wario provided a nice taste of what the controller was capable of, but the GamePad as a whole smacks of wasted potential. Thankfully, next week sees the eShop release of Affordable Space Adventures, a planet-exploring puzzle game that promises to put the GamePad to good use. If any studio can use this pricey controller effectively it’s developer KnapNok Games, who previously published Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party, one of the few titles that did use the GamePad in interesting ways to create an quirky co-operative experience. Joining them in this collaboration is game designer Nicklas “Nifflas” Nygren, who has produced several moody games based around exploration including Knytt Underground. These two European studios both have very different styles, so how well do they mesh and deliver on their promise that the game “truly utilizes the potential of the Wii U”?
