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Retro City Rampage Developer Expects No Profits From WiiWare Release
Brian Provinciano recently said that after the many costs associated with bringing Retro City Rampage to the WiiWare service, he does not expect to recoup his investment, and he's okay with that.
There are a few things that need to be done in order for Nintendo to send you a development kit to create WiiWare titles. One of those things is a legitimate office space, which is something Provinciano, as the lone developer, didn't actually need, but acquired in order to develop for WiiWare. Another issue is that you have to sell a certain amount of units in order for Nintendo to start paying you your share, and with the Wii U kicking the Wii out the door, and the low sales of WiiWare games in general, Provinciano doesn't think his game will cross that line.
Provinciano told NintendoLife.com, "Between the office rent, hardware, insurance, game ratings and other costs, had I not done the WiiWare version, I could’ve saved around $20,000 – not even including my salary in porting it. And as it stands, virtually no games hit the threshold these days, so it’s only being released as fan service. A $20,000 gift to the fans."
Provinciano went on to say that bringing the game to the Wii was more a matter of keeping a promise he had made to fans, and that even though it was a bit of an expensive headache to get his game on the Wii, Nintendo has since changed many of its policies for Wii U titles, and was quick to applaud it for its willingness to rethink its approval process.
Provinciano recently stated that the Vita version of his game has been the most successful. You can check out our review of the game here.
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