That sucks. I have not played either game but a free game is sure to get good attention simply because it is free.

I can imagine it to be hard with these sort of retro games though. I would think the mobile space plays a huge role in this. It's hard to sell a retro game at $12 when the same-ish thing or even more known franchises have game titles for $2-6 on the play store for android and I'm guessing the same is true for iOS.

It is cool he has worked out most of the cross platform stuff in his engine so at least future games will be much simpler to bring to multiple platforms. I understand he spent more time creating the port than copies he sold, but if you go with the "glass half full" train of thought he possibly has 50 more fans to help spread the word on his next game than he would have had otherwise.

I'm also curious to know why he chose to make his own engine for what is arguably a "simple" games when there are already fairly cheap, cross platform engines available. I'm assuming Unity would have worked well for this.

There is just no way he can sell such a game (which judging from the video really isn't all that great) for $12.99. The games he mentions as similarly priced are all over-priced ones due to hype since they come from "star" indie developers (and are honestly also a bit better from the looks).

It's a though market for indie games, and this one simply couldn't compete at this price-point. But even at a much lower one, I doubt it would have done very well, as it simply doesn't look like a very fun game. Pricing it this high, probably made people think it's a bad joke.

I think "bad joke" is a bit harsh. There is a market for these types of games, though they are not really for everyone (myself included). When I want to get my retro on there are emulators for that. I think one of his biggest issues was trying to release a game in the fall season.. the fall season is a HUGE time of year for gaming in general. AAA devs/publishers love this time of year. It's cold or at least getting cold and people are more interested in things they can do at home rather than being outside. It's hard to compete with Borderlands, COD, Battlefield, FarCry and the many other big titles being released this time of year.

Quoting: EKRboiIt's cold or at least getting cold and people are more interested in things they can do at home rather than being outside.

Not entirely true - there is of course the entire Southern Hemisphere.

I think the interesting part is, similar to the recent news from the Frozen Synapse guys, that this developer doesn't see a Linux port to pay off.
Although, in the case of SWtG the fraction of Linux sales is significantly higher than the fraction of Linux users we know from the Steam survey, the low amount of total sales doesn't make the Linux effort to pay off (apparently).
I do think this is a serious issue and not just an anecdotal "bad luck" one as it may seem in the first place. There are many developers out there which are not long-term Linux users or love the platform. Quite the contrary is encountered often (from my experience). And that's fine. You don't have to be a Linux-guy. Most of them are doing Linux ports because Valve encouraged them to do so (Ref. Steam Dev Days, etc.). It's a business decision for most of them (I remember Kyle Pittman saying that at release time). Interpreting it as passion for the platform is not just wrong, it would be stupid. But again, that's fine. However, the consequence is, since many developers are small indies (think of Greenlight) and not AAA developers (that can safely expect to sell many copies and reach ROI for a Linux port) they are easily disappointed and probably scared away for good.

As for "Super Win the Game": I love it. It's great. *I* had more fun with it than with several other AAA games.

Thanks for reminding me, been meaning to cover this.

I played "You got to win this game" only once or twice. I think I haven't looked back since. It's interesting concept but it gets a bit hard after some time. And I suck in those "hard" platfomers. Altough I would be likely to get a "Super" edition in a bundle if offered, I think I most likely wouldn't buy it on its own. It's just not my type of game.

I guess "Super" might work better as a mobile game (as someone already said before).

Super Win the Game definitely wouldn't work as a mobile game unless you can hook it up with a controller. Touch screens simply don't work for tight precision platformers. That said, Super Win the Game has significantly less of the hard platforming segments than You Have to Win the Game, and most (or all?) of them are optional. Sure, it's not for everyone but the game is probably one of the all time best at what it is.