Down Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 A few days ago @renpytom on twitter made this graph: Commenting: "I plotted the time between Sakura _ games vs. time, and in a few weeks there will be a new Sakura game every second." Little did he know that right after, the trend would confirm itself with the announcement of the greenlight for Sakura Beach 2 by Winged Cloud and Sekai Project! (not even gonna bother putting the source) Since it seems like Winged Cloud and SP finally realized they didn't even need to bother to make new shit and the scenario is probably randomly generated by a monkey simulator software, we can probably expect the trend to keep going, so I thought we'd make only one thread for the future Sakura Series announcements and all the wailing about how it's all shit and SP is hitler etc etc. nohman, Narcosis, Loco15 and 2 others 5 Quote
Nosebleed Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I just finished playing Sakura Swim Club the other day, ffs Winged Cloud. LinovaA 1 Quote
Zodai Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Wait, is this for real? Another one already!? Quote
Deep Blue Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 If people buy those shitty novels then why not keep making them? it would be illogical and really stupid decision. Why everyone keeps blaming or hating winged cloud for it? They are not forcing anyone to buy their product either... Quote
Crayten Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Well its not like that it takes much effort to produce these shity games. The "plot" is probably written in 30 minutes, mix in some pictures/background and et voilà new sakura game released~ Quote
Flutterz Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 They should just make a "Sakura Simulator" which gives you random sprites, lines, and routes each time you play it. Quote
Suzu Fanatic Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I honestly don't even care anymore, lol... It's just so excessive I can't help but laugh at it all. It's going to hurt them in the long run though, that I am certain of. Quote
ittaku Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 It's going to hurt them in the long run though, that I am certain of.I doubt it... it's more like they've found their business model now. The eroge market in Japan confirms enough sex and you can sell an infinite number of titles no matter how meh they are. Quote
Nosebleed Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Coincidentally, the graph comparing the time and the amount of Sakura games coming out is similar to the amount of sales the Sakura titles have veen making. Sakura Spirit: 200,000 owners Sakura Angels: 55,000 owners Sakura Fantasy: 17,009 owners Sakura Swim Club: 15,000 owners Sakura Beach: 6,000 owners There is some hope. Suzu Fanatic and Silvz 2 Quote
Crayten Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Coincidentally, the graph comparing the time and the amount of Sakura games coming out is similar to the amount of sales the Sakura titles have veen making. Sakura Spirit: 200,000 ownersSakura Angels: 55,000 ownersSakura Fantasy: 17,009 ownersSakura Swim Club: 15,000 ownersSakura Beach: 6,000 owners There is some hope.The problem is its probably even highly profitable with 1000 sales unit Quote
firecat Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 there could be reused stuff like music, BG (the BG will definitely be overused) and sprites. if i were to guess the future i would say that everyone will like it but soon get tire of it like FNAF. Quote
Eclipsed Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 They should just make a "Sakura Simulator" which gives you random sprites, lines, and routes each time you play it.I'd pay for this Quote
TexasDice Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 They should just make a "Sakura Simulator" which gives you random sprites, lines, and routes each time you play it.That's what they use to make these games. Suzu Fanatic and Silvz 2 Quote
Suzu Fanatic Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 That's what they use to make these games.If Sakura Clicker assets are any example, it pretty much confirms that, tbh. (they're designed like those dress-up flash games the float around the net, where you can swap in clothes/parts/hair etc.)It's pretty much a recipe for a endless source of short vns. The only expense that they might have to pay for in future creations are the unique CGs. Quote
mjriedstra Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Commenting: "I plotted the time between Sakura _ games vs. time, and in a few weeks there will be a new Sakura game every second."Sakura Infinity. It's finally here. Quote
InvictusCobra Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I just finished playing Sakura Swim Club the other day, ffs Winged Cloud.I just finished it an hour ago and it took like 2 hours. Gotta give dem weabs their quick fix lol. Seriously, this was like "Baby's first Visual Novel" on the developer's part. Art's not half bad, but I honestly read it after Ren and you chopped it to bits just to see if it was that much of a steaming pile of poo poo. I was not surprised. It's nice if you want a short fix, but Katawa Shoujo routes take about as much as this game and offer a lot more catharsis lol. Quote
senhua1980 Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Coincidentally, the graph comparing the time and the amount of Sakura games coming out is similar to the amount of sales the Sakura titles have veen making. Sakura Spirit: 200,000 ownersSakura Angels: 55,000 ownersSakura Fantasy: 17,009 ownersSakura Swim Club: 15,000 ownersSakura Beach: 6,000 owners There is some hope.Nope. No hope left, as long as their patreon still active https://www.patreon....ingedcloud?ty=h Quote
Funyarinpa Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Coincidentally, the graph comparing the time and the amount of Sakura games coming out is similar to the amount of sales the Sakura titles have veen making. Sakura Spirit: 200,000 ownersSakura Angels: 55,000 ownersSakura Fantasy: 17,009 ownersSakura Swim Club: 15,000 ownersSakura Beach: 6,000 owners There is some hope.Sakura Beach 2 was greenlit, right?You're telling me that what was by FAR the worst selling game is the one getting a sequel?Isn't that resoundingly idiotic from a purely logical perspective?Though I guess they'll probably have the half decent artist on the job for this one. sanahtlig 1 Quote
sanahtlig Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=517179270 Nope, same artist as Sakura Beach 1. Looking at the Greenlight page, I see Steamers swarming it to it like flies to a carcass. Frenetically copulating. Laying their eggs inside. Spawning more maggots to spread the putrescence yet further. ... I wonder if Winged Cloud will notice if I lay a Shiny Days ad inside the comments as bait for the flies. Silvz and Suzu Fanatic 2 Quote
Narcosis Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I simply love how Winged Cloud's business became a simulator of japanese eroge industry. There's a distinct correlation between the time required to create a game, it's quality and profits you make out of it. High quality titles require a lot of work (and often heart) to be put into them; we're talking about months, if not years of hard work. It's not only about length and ammount of content, quality work requires time. When they get released, if advertisted properly beforehand, they quite often reach at least a certain degree of success and make profit; in worst case it's enough to cover production costs and continue making new games. Succesful titles or franchise get sequels or continuations... but it's not always the case, as long-term production can often lead to a lot of issues and easily turn into a nightmare. There's a lot of risk involved; history shows that with high quality titles, that haven't really achieved any sort of success (although they should), or even generated losses, causing their studios to shutdown (Katahane makes a great example). Within a market, that's highly oversaturated and full of tense competition and vividly changing trends, it's often a matter of life and death, where a single failed game can shatter everything you've built so far. This is why studios often tend to drop high quality production in favor of smaller projects, which lead us to budget games. Why did budget games became a leading factor nowadays? Simply because there's little to no risk involved, in case the game flops. Budget games can be made really fast - we're talking about weeks of production at most. They tend to be a lot smaller and high production values are replaced with quicker release dates and a lot cheaper price tag. Depending on certain factors, those games can sometimes become as successful as the AAA titles, or even better. It's no wonder a lot more studios and developers are embracing this kind of business model and churn out a lot of smaller, mediocre games, instead trying to make something big an worthwhile. Unfortunately it has it's downsides. If not handled properly, budget games have a leaning towards constant quality loss and it makes further games look even more bland than the previous releases. As the overall quality drops, so does the number of potential customers. There is a certain threeshold that cannot be crossed though; as long as one can maintain good PR or catter to a certain niche or their fans, they will sell enough copies to make a living. In a nutshell, it's Winged Clouds' destiny, if they won't change anything. Will they? I doubt. As long as their Patreon will keep supporting them, they will be able to churn out more games in a relatively small time frame and their fans and supporters will continue to buy them. As much as "Sakura-whatever" trend is slowly declining at the moment, even a thousand copies sold is more than enough to keep them going on; it doesn't matter they're only deepening their own hole and with every released game it's going to be harder to crawl out of it. I doubt they even really care anymore. It's quite ironic, since I can safely assume the majority of WG's success lies in their artist. I'm really amazed she just keeps on making art for them, as she could as well just start her own business right now and it would propably kill Winged Cloud. knowing modern standards, I doubt she's making that much revenue. I wouldn't be surprised if she's simply tied up and unable to quit at the moment. I'd feel at least deeply ashamed myself being forced to make art for that kind of business. Darklord Rooke and Silvz 2 Quote
Nosebleed Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I actually prefer Beach's art You're not alone. When they first announced the game, I quickly checked the artist's deviantart page and was far more impressed with it than I was with Winged Cloud's original artist.But I guess we have shit taste. Regardless, the different artsyle is the primary reason Beach sold so poorly. Quote
SilverLi Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 Nope. No hope left, as long as their patreon still active https://www.patreon.com/wingedcloud?ty=hYou are kidding me right? 11k dollars each month. Well played Winged Cloud. They are probably floating forever now. Sales are just a bonus. I don't know how many employees Winged Cloud got but I doubt they are that many. Quote
senhua1980 Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 You are kidding me right? 11k dollars each month. Well played Winged Cloud. They are probably floating forever now. Sales are just a bonus. I don't know how many employees Winged Cloud got but I doubt they are that many.That's exactly my point. Based on their patreon page, there is no hope for winged cloud to change their business model. sarayne 1 Quote
Mkilbride Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I have a Korean friend on Steam(Claims to be Korean that is, I have no real idea) He has over 60 hours in the first Sakura game. I never played them, but isn't it like a 7-8 hour VN? Quote
Zodai Posted September 20, 2015 Posted September 20, 2015 I have a Korean friend on Steam(Claims to be Korean that is, I have no real idea) He has over 60 hours in the first Sakura game. I never played them, but isn't it like a 7-8 hour VN?I think that would imply he left it on overnight one time perhaps. Quote
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