For some reason I don't understand, since I don't care about the game at all, I've spent way too much time trying to figure out the economics of the Root Double Vita release.
They say that they're only making it available to $225+ backers to ensure the extra funds are received to make it a reality. They don't want to make it a stretch goal in case they don't meet it, and then they can't make the Vita version.
What happens if they only just barely make their original goal of $135k? Now they've made the same amount they originally budgeted for a PC release, plus they have a set of people (currently under 100) who have now pledged for a Vita version of the game.
Is there something I'm not getting here? How does potentially making the same amount of money with an additional platform to convert to ensure that it gets made?
From Audi - I'm not here to convince anyone, but let me clarify something, regardless of what you think of it. We faced an obstacle here where people wanted Vita, and we wanted to do Vita. Our Vita development has gotten solid and progressing nicely with our devkits getting hot lately, so we were always eager. I began working on getting this done before the campaign even.
The issue is development and licensing. The whole dev team in Japan has to come back to refit the engine to work with the increased script size, voices need to be worked out, basically a bit ol licensing hootnanny. They were not easily convinced to go back to working on this engine just cause.
Regardless of what people think of the tiers and that stuff, that's something we have to meet in the middle on with the developers and such, and we try our best and there's tons of great content there. But with Vita, we are left with few options. RD is not some sort of huge anime franchise which soars past stretch goal after stretch goal. So either we have to guarantee the port at a loss to us, or not do it at all and be even more meany heads for not caring about Vita. So the only option is to include it with other rewards (the price of the Vita port is not 225 by itself) and let those rewards directly fund the development, or nothing. So the Vita tiers go straight to funding the development to make this port possible in the first place, not to jack up the price for Vita just cause.
Again, I am not asking people to like me by saying that, but its not just some sort of idiotic move made by me to screw myself over. I got everyone to agree to a term where we could offer Vita for sure without having to climb stretch goals, but rather that those who helps out the campaign and wants Vita gets it no matter what regardless.
