[HN Gopher] World of Goo Remastered ___________________________________________________________________ World of Goo Remastered Author : shrikant Score : 75 points Date : 2023-05-24 19:19 UTC (3 hours ago) (HTM) web link (play.google.com) (TXT) w3m dump (play.google.com) | slily wrote: | I wonder how many video game developers come out ahead with those | exclusivity deals. Every story I've heard points to even limited | exclusivity crippling lifetime sales. | Gigachad wrote: | The Jelly Car dev just released a new version on Apple Arcade | and had commented that the deal was very favorable. | jdlshore wrote: | World of Goo is a very old game. At this point, extra revenue | from it is pure gravy. | pimlottc wrote: | I imagine that most games have a very limited lifetime to begin | with. Only a very free become "classics" that continue to sell | well for years. | MatthiasPortzel wrote: | I didn't realize Netflix was now competing as a mobile game | publisher. | CharlesW wrote: | Netflix stock price is half of what it was in 2021, and as a | subscriber via T-Mobile I can confirm that their content | situation is dire. This is a company throwing whatever they can | find at the wall to see what sticks. | ghaff wrote: | The latest tempest over password sharing doesn't affect me | but it did give me the motivation to look at their catalog | last night. There are a few things I've been meaning to watch | but I think I'll those and drop Netflix for the time being. | Funnily enough, I might have given DVDs another shot but of | course that's going away. | binkHN wrote: | It appears this Remastered version has "hi-res" graphics--though | I'm not certain how valuable it is on a tiny phone screen. | eole666 wrote: | Well, it seems they just removed the old world of goo version | from the playstore and published a "remastered" version | exclusively for Netflix users that looks exactly the same (not | even bothering to mention what the remastered game actually | change ). At least the game is still great! | mvdtnz wrote: | > We're sorry, the requested URL was not found on this server. | satvikpendem wrote: | I remember playing World of Goo back when it first launched on | the Wii, it was a great game. I believe it was one of the first | games I downloaded from the Wii Store as opposed to buying on | disk. I'm ready to play it again via the Android version. | Waterluvian wrote: | I enjoyed this game a ton. The ambience is great. But when I went | to play it again I found that my fingers obfuscating the play | area was far more annoying than I remembered. Dragging things | around the edge also sucked. I'd "let go" of goo balls all the | time when I didn't mean to. | skybrian wrote: | Looks like the original version was taken down in the Android | store, but is still available for $5 on Amazon [1]. The desktop | version is $20 direct or $15 on Steam. | | [1] https://www.amazon.com/2D-BOY-LLC-World-Goo/dp/B009MCRHH6 | donatj wrote: | > Available exclusively for Netflix members. | | Wat, why? | | I have a Netflix subscription, and I find this infuriating. Just | let me pay for the damned game and keep it. | Gigachad wrote: | Probably the Android equivalent to Apple Arcade. I know one dev | who released their game on Apple Arcade and had said that the | exclusivity deal is too good to reject. It isn't viable to sell | the app stand alone because people just don't buy apps anymore. | But bundling it in to an existing subscription works because | you get paid regularly and don't have to convince users to buy | anything which is a hard task. | tiedieconderoga wrote: | The funny thing is, World of Goo was already released this way | on Android, and the old version still works fine offline. | | Too bad it's no longer available on the Google Play store. | tantalor wrote: | Netflix has a ton of games, if you've never noticed. | | https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 | | It's a membership perk. | yamtaddle wrote: | ... I had _no idea_ this existed. I 've been a member since | the DVD days (with a couple brief interruptions--and I'll | probably re-cancel again pretty soon, until something gets me | back in for a while) | clnq wrote: | So how does Netflix exclusivity work for apps freely distributed | on the Play Store? Do you need to log in with a Netflix account | and does it need to be always online to check that the account | has not expired? | | Also, has anyone from Netflix shared why they wanted to make | their own game subscription as opposed to the normal premium | monetization (pay upfront) or other monetization models? I know | Netflix already has a media business built around subscriptions, | obviously, but did they say anything about why they chose this | for games? | | I don't think games-as-a-subscription is a very easy monetization | model. Even large game development companies struggle with it. | The games need to retain players for a long time for | subscriptions to surpass upfront sales in revenue per player. It | is very challenging. The whole games industry is tilted the other | way around - sometimes building up too much hype to get pre- | orders and initial sales (which in itself is a large topic that | I'd rather not open up right now). But the decision Netflix made | seems to go against a lot of my professional experience in indie | and AAA games. So it's very interesting. | donatj wrote: | I'm playing it right now. You have to sign in to Netflix to use | it. | zem wrote: | whoa. well, that's certainly a choice they can make, but it's | an extremely cheap and seedy look. | crazygringo wrote: | It's the same reason Spotify moved into podcasts and | audiobooks, why Amazon moved into Prime Video, and so forth. | | Basically every major subscription service is trying to expand | its offerings to make its subscriptions stickier. In this case, | you might want to cancel one of Netflix or Disney or HBO for | the next couple months, and you were going to cancel Netflix | except your kid is _loving_ World of Goo, so you 'll cancel HBO | instead. | | Sure, Netflix could license World of Goo and charge $5 for it | directly. But not that many people are going to buy it. But | literally 100x more people might download it and play it when | it's free with their existing subscription, and then if just 1% | of them extend their Netflix account for a couple months | because of it, it's much more profitable for Netflix. | | (Edit: I don't work for Netflix, this is just general industry | strategy right now that I'm describing.) | ghaff wrote: | I'm a bit surprised you haven't seen more of a move towards | annual plans. HBO already offers a 20% discount. At some | price delta you start to make switching in and out | unattractive for all but the hardest core binge watcher and | optimizer. | imiric wrote: | It's also a sure way to boost piracy. | | Service providers don't seem to learn that by restricting | access to content they only incentivize people to pirate it | instead. The more accessible content is, the less likely it | is to be pirated. | | The music and gaming industries have mostly caught on, but | for some reason TV and film are still clinging to their old | ways. | hadlock wrote: | The guys running netflix now (35-45) were the kids and | college students (14-25) running limewire and gnutella and | later bittorrent and/or DC++. They might have even chanted | "Dee Cee Plus Plus!" over and over at QuakeCon. They were | the OG movie and TV pirating generation. They absolutely | learned what was up and how cause and effect work in this | industry. | imiric wrote: | And yet they're still ruled by the industry they have | license agreements with. Which is partly why they started | their own production studio. | | All streaming services are not much more than a coat of | paint over the same old industry practices. Why do you | think every media conglomerate has their own streaming | service? | vanderZwan wrote: | Not that I'm agreeing or disagreeing, but it's kind of | funny you mention that in the context of World of Goo, a | game that famously was a gigantic hit, extremely | affordable, made with love by two indy devs... and had a | 90% piracy rate | | https://www.destructoid.com/wankers-world-of-goo- | has-a-90-pi... | diggernet wrote: | Nice theory, but how is your kid going to love World of Goo | when: | | > Note: Netflix games aren't available for Kids profiles. | | https://help.netflix.com/en/node/121442 | stavros wrote: | Is there a name for this missing of the forest for the | trees? | Rebelgecko wrote: | On the Netflix app it takes maybe 3 seconds to change | profiles. Does it work differently with their games? | diggernet wrote: | No idea. But if you let your kid use your profile to | play, how are YOU going to enjoy World of Goo? | personjerry wrote: | You're allowed up to 5 profiles. Why does this line of | technicality even matter? | dunham wrote: | Yeah, the kid thing especially. (Mine likes Octonauts and Ada | Twist.) | boplicity wrote: | My analysis: They already have subscribers. They're looking for | ways to maximize retention of existing subscribers, as opposed | to creating a new source for subscribers. Get someone hooked on | a game, and they have another reason to stay on Netflix. | | The cost of acquisition for most of their gamers is likely | close to zero -- depending on how you think about it. They can | use their existing platform to direct people to play games. | | I also suspect they're licensing the games, which could | theoretically be relatively low cost, especially compared to | the cost of some of their video productions. | clnq wrote: | Hmm, yes, it's possible they want to diversify like many | other tech companies recently. Add a music service and bundle | everything into Netflix One? | ghaff wrote: | The existing services are pretty much interchangeable, | especially from a content perspective, and there are | already at least three of them--one of which probably has | the strongest brand and the other two are already | integrated with a bunch of other services. | persedes wrote: | my son is still playing the same version I bought on android | years ago. Might give this one a spin. The changes seem to be | improved graphics and more platform independent [0] | | [0] - https://www.androidpolice.com/world-of-goo-relaunches- | androi... | oh_sigh wrote: | Well, now I feel old. World of Goo is older today than snood was | when World of Goo came out. | mattbee wrote: | Ahhh I loved this game so much. There's such a lovely human touch | to it. I tend to hate puzzle games but this makes you feel like | you just found a good fudge each time you succeed. | troupo wrote: | I think I completed it five times :) I do wish there was a | continuation (kinda hinted at by the ending) | rxyz wrote: | I remember this game fondly, though I don't really feel like | playing it again. Sucks that it's a Netflix exclusive | c7DJTLrn wrote: | I used to waste hours in World of Goo and Little Inferno. Fun | games. | rzzzt wrote: | Was Tower of Goo an early version of this game? You had to build | a tower out of a finite number of blobs (duh) without them | collapsing, the higher the better. Libertango was playing as the | background music. | treve wrote: | I know this as a mini-game that's part of world of goo. | marcellus23 wrote: | available on iOS as well: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/world-of- | goo-remastered/id6443... | ed25519FUUU wrote: | "No in app purchases" | | I absolutely love this! The App Store has become a wasteland of | subscriptions and in-app purchases. | | I just tried to use a tape measure app. They wanted me to sign up | for a $14.99 a week subscription! How did it get this bad?! | frizlab wrote: | I use Apple Arcade and have no in-apps for games (on arcade of | course). I guess this is the netflix equivalent of Arcade. | littlecranky67 wrote: | It always was this bad. Google has no interest in a 'Show only | apps without Ads and IAP' filterbutton on the Appstore. It | would be implemented in a heartbeat and greatly improve the UX, | but hurt sales. But hey, on Android you should know that you | are the product (grass in iOS Land is not much greener though) | skeaker wrote: | On Android you can side load whatever you want at any time | including exclusively FOSS if you want, so no, you're not | necessarily the product there. On Google's store | specifically, sure | yrnameer wrote: | You have to load a custom ROM if you don't want to be | tracked without your consent. You have a crumb more freedom | on Android, that's all. | takeda wrote: | They do, but it is well hidden. | | You need to have Play Games installed. On the home page, | scroll all the way down until "Dive deeper" section (or do a | search), then you have choice between: | | - Trending/New | | - Premium/Free install | | - Ads/No ads | | - In-app purchases/No in-app purchases | | and other categories | nomemory wrote: | This is why I've subscribed to Pay Pass. The games available | don't have microtransactions and are usually more than plain | android cash makers. | falcor84 wrote: | "Pay Pass" is actually a great descriptive name, but I assume | you're talking about "Play Pass"[0]. | | [0] https://play.google.com/about/play-pass/ | 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: | > Available exclusively for Netflix members. | dgrin91 wrote: | $14.99 a week? I can't tell if you are serious or joking. If | you are serious can you send which app that is? I'd love a good | laugh. | MarcoZavala wrote: | [dead] | nomemory wrote: | That's a game that kept me hooked more than a game should keep a | human captive. I have it on Steam, I don't see any reason to burn | some hours on it on the phone. | rob74 wrote: | I played World of Goo on a PC and on a tablet back in the day, | and I felt it's easier to control with a mouse, because you | can't see the gooballs (which have to be placed pretty | precisely) if your finger is over them. So, if you want to play | it without a Netflix subscription, it's 12,49EUR on Steam. Or | 60EUR for the Tomorrow Corporation Bundle, including WoG, | Little Inferno, Human Resource Machine, 7 Billion Humans and | The Captain. | ghaff wrote: | I played World of Goo on Wii and while it was sort of a nice | game to play sitting back, I'm not sure the Wii controller | was the most natural thing to use. | [deleted] | jamesu wrote: | I played through this game the other month and was amazed at how | well it still holds up. Also a good example of a game with a very | complimentary sound track. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-05-24 23:00 UTC)