Jul 11, 2017
De Mambo coming soon to Nintendo Switch
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De Mambo coming soon to Nintendo Switch
What we’ve learnt one year after releasing our first game on Nintendo Switch.
July 13th 2017. That was the day. De Mambo launched on Nintendo Switch in the west—well, June 29th in Japan but for the sake of being topical, lets just disregard that little fact and swiftly move on!
De Mambo was made by The Dangerous Kitchen, (myself and two others originally, but now with two extra humans) and was our first game. We were (are) very inexperienced and had to learn how to do everything ourselves; from learning Unity, to making sprites and even learning how to write a press release! It was incredibly tough, but also really, really fun.
The fact that we somehow managed to release De Mambo in the launch period of a new Nintendo console and considering that we were one of, if not the least experienced indie team that had launched at the time, was a ridiculous feat for us and worthy of going on our epitaphs, but I digress.
We must thank all of you people who’ve helped us reach this point. Whether you be Kickstarter backers, business partners, people who’ve helped us at events etc, or simply those of you who purchased De Mambo. We’re eternally grateful.
So, what have we learnt from releasing De Mambo on Nintendo Switch one year later? That’s simple…
Timing. Timing is everything.
(The following thoughts are probably the most useful for very small teams like us, starting out in the industry with little to no previous industry experience and are aiming for release on Nintendo Switch).
We were incredibly lucky to launch when we did, which was just about the time the ‘indie gold rush’ revved its relentless engine. From anecdotal evidence of speaking to other developers and such, it seems as though we would not have sold as much as we did if we had launched later on—that’s not to say we sold millions of copies (our desolate bank account is testament to that), but we’ve sold well enough to keep us going.
The timing of your launch is important, but to land at this point with the least amount of bruises, you’ll need a lot of laser-focused planning. We here at The Dangerous Kitchen are a bit… well, let’s just say the eleventh hour is when we usually think about beginning a task, so our tardiness has limited us a few times in the past, (not aided by our lack of wo/man-power). You should plan everything as much as possible in advance, like a Mayan Priest tending to their precious calendars, to ensure you don’t miss out on anything that will help your game.
If you have limited funds, you can bypass marketing/PR agencies if you can plan and time everything yourself! It is possible!
Some of the things we advise planning and beginning to execute well before the release of your game, even if you’re a one-human developer team are:
Look for reasons for people to be interested in your game’s content and find ways to show those things off as best you can.
Write press release copy as early as possible! Your press releases need some time to be approved by Nintendo, so definitely get these sorted and submitted as soon as you can!
Prepare images, gifs and videos of the game and gameplay for the Nintendo Switch News Channel and social media. Begin posting these before launch to generate hype, and definitely make use of scheduling your posts to save you time when it really matters.
Reach out to youtubers, twitchers, the games press and your mother’s aunt’s best friend’s cat with promotional game codes and/or the optional bribe.
Go to events, but crucially, don’t go to too many events as this will eat from your development time and your limited funds! We would recommend looking for events with audiences that would benefit your game the most and balance these with cost.
Leave time for multiple resubmissions of your game! It’s super common and normal to not pass submission first time round, (or so we’ve been led to believe by well-wishers) so definitely give yourself and/or your team some breathing space where that mythical creature known as sleep may be possible.
Plan some buffer time for the petulant panic that ensues due to major bug discovery after launch.
After you launch the game, don’t naively think it’s all over and now the sleep of a thousand sleeps may begin, like a certain naive little games company who shall not be named. This is where the promotion really kicks in, as your game is available on the eShop and good timekeeping is 100% needed.
Doing sales is paramount to you making money after the initial hype is dead.
Look at the barebones Nintendo Switch eShop. You need your game to keep selling, so being swamped by 20-30 new games every week is like having shovels of earth being constantly thrown over your still-alive corpse. Doing a sale equates to temporary-zombie-reanimation that will grant you exposure, so working out when the best time to do so is again, all down to timing. You don’t want to miss doing that sale that could be very successful for you, so again, plan in advance.
You might be dealing with Japan, the US and Europe simultaneously, which those of you with acute understanding of measuring ordered existence will know, are all in different time zones. The amount of stress will pile up, like an overflowing toilet of despair. You’ll have so much to do around the launch of your game, that any future-help you give your present-self will be mouth-wateringly good.
So to reiterate, you’re going to have to manage going to events, making promotional materials, posting on social media and the News Channel, replying to email enquiries for review, dealing with any emergency bug fixes and planning for sale opportunities while trying to keep yourself moderately healthy. Plan. In. Advance.
It may sound boring, but having some semblance of sanity is pretty good in the grand scheme of things. A clear mind is great for managing the fifty-one things you need to sort out, plus any random things that pop up, like that dreaded slice of burnt toast you fear your toaster might hiss out at you.
We’d like to leave you with one last thought, which is that you should try and celebrate your launch, thoroughly and whole-heartedly, to alleviate post-natal depression! You did it! Even if your bones are forever dust, in a way that perfectly mirrors your bank account, you made it. And someone, somewhere is grateful your game exists.
What we’ve learnt one year after releasing our first game on Nintendo Switch. was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck.
Welcome to the next edition of Newsletter De Mambo, the best way to waste a few minutes of a meaningless existence, to drop off into the abyss of despair and wallow in the darkness of a thousand—oh sorry, I forgot to mention that National Pizza Day was this week, so I hope you treated yourself on this holiest of days. What do we have in store for you this time?
Well, that ol’ quack professor Delta is back again…
De Mambo Colour Psychology With Professor Delta or, ‘How I Learnt to Win in De Mambo’
A long time ago, possibly in 2015, when exhibiting De Mambo, dazed by the tiring drudgery of exerting much energy, I noticed something interesting. It seemed like some players who chose yellow were playing in a certain way. I then noticed that some people who chose red also had their own playstyle, which was fascinating. After discussing my findings with the others, we wondered if every colour has its own playstyle… which led to the creation of this video! De Mambo Colour Psychology With Professor Delta or, ‘How I Leant to Win in De Mambo’! Please enjoy the video and share it around if you can!
Share the Bundle of Joy that is De Mambo
Finally our first sale that isn’t in Japan or North America, but the rest of the world! Enjoy your time to shine, rest of the world as De Mambo is now half price in the Share the Joy Sale on the Nintendo eShop until February 15th.
Now Loading… Bar
We just wanted to give a big thanks to the Nintendo Social Group for hosting us and the great aPriori Digital at the Loading Bar last weekend. We had a great time hanging out, kicking butt in De Mambo and devouring a 26 inch pizza.
Blind Update
So… here is an unspecified image to keep you busy whilst we continue the gruelling process of birthing more content we wish to graft onto De Mambo’s supple body.
P.s. The word of the day is liquor for some unknown reason.
Things we love this month…
Nathan For You Monster Hunter World Bojack Horseman Season 3 Coloriages Avec Moebius Book Animal by Sara Pascoe Happy! by Naoki Urasawa Aperion Cyberstorm
If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck. was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
Set sale for De Mambo!
Hello there oh mythical readers of the poor excuse of a blog post you’re currently reading. We just wanted to let you know that we come in peace, or pieces depending on how you like us.
De Mambo 50% North American Sale!
After years of misuse, De Mambo has finally been reduced to the lowest possible point of its career… $6.49 in the 50% off North American Sale! Tell all your American, Canadian and Mexican friends and if you’re wondering about the rest of the world, stay tuned for more info…
Mystery Machines…
Have a look at these somewhat tasty morsels of the new content update heading your way sometime soon. What are they? One looks like some sort of machine and the other has some dodgy lighting if I do say so myself.
Until next time, smell you later!
Things we love this month…
Bojack Horseman Season 1 and 2 Oxenfree North Star by Philip Glass Infinite Monkey Cage BBC4 Radio Show Splatoon 2 Alan Moore’s Jerulsalem Book 2 Devilman Crybaby
Set sale for De Mambo! was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
On the Warpath!
Hello! It’s your favourite time of the whenever-the-heck-we-can-be-bothered-to-update you guys again! Our gift to you this month is this great article we were asked to participate in for Red Bull Gaming, which you can read here!
We also wanted to thank all those who played De Mambo at Hyper Japan with us last month and also to our buddies aPriori Digital for joining us in Pizza Voyage!
Artificial Unintelligence
It’s not often we post about actual game development stuff, mainly because we have no clue what we’re doing, but today that changes. I’ve been asked to talk about some of the development stuff we’ve been up to by the head office… aka someone who think’s they are in charge of me and will feel my wrath soon enough—but enough about that!
Let’s get straight to business.
The team is hard at work on developing new, tantalisingly tasty stuff, including the sought after feature to battle Mambo AI!
What you’re seeing above is called ‘pathfinding’ which is the AI trying to find a character and scanning the maze-y level. This all happens super quick and the red line is the AI’s mind scanning the area, like a hefty fellow sifting through a healthy person’s fridge for some full-fat goodness. Once the AI has located the character, it will then move to where the character is and well, you can guess the rest.
Well, that’s it for today. We’ll have more snippets of polished emptiness for you soon!
P.s. Lucy Love will never be forgotten…
Things we love this month…
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler The Greasy Strangler Django by Chip Tanaka Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Rocket League Switch The Marvellous Mrs Maisiel
On the Warpath! was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
Early Access De Mambo!
When the stars align,
De Mambo will be out on
Steam Early Access
So… as written in the above prophecy, the time is now. De Mambo is out today on Steam Early Access with a spectacularly petty 15% launch discount! Click here to go to check out the page!
RTX London
Just wanted to say thanks to all those who came over to play De Mambo with us at RTX London last weekend! It was a tiring event, but on the last day we spotted a certain someone… It was the creator of Blaz Blue, Toshimichi Mori! We had a few matches of De Mambo with him and he seemed to like it!
Things we love this month…
Danganronpa 3 Masafumi Takada (Eternally) La Nueva Dimensión del Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán Playing Earthbound and Super Metroid again aka SNES Mini Black Mirror Tekken 7
Early Access De Mambo! was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
Post Release Blues
It took a while, but De Mambo finally flew the coop and left its parents very proud. It didn’t light up the world with its blazing glory, but for a game with no marketing budget it did great.
This past month we took a break to catch up on some serious Zelda playing and then went straight back to work, planning the necessary steps for the update. Our plan is to do two updates for De Mambo with more multiplayer stages and more singleplayer content that includes new modes to play and other things we’ve received as feedback. We’ll have more solid info on this at a later date as we’re still finalising what can be done etc.
Our old friend, Insomnia…
Unlike The Dangerous Kitchen, De Mambo will have its run in with insomnia as it is involuntarily forced into exhibiting at Insomnia 61!
We’ll be there for all four days so if you’re going, why not come on over and say hello and if your brave enough, challenge us to a duel… oh and maybe a match of De Mambo!
De Mambo will be a part of Payload Studio’s Tentacle Collective (so look for the giant inflatable tentacles!) which will take place at the NEC in Birmingham on August 25-28th.
De Mambo Reviews
Here’s a selection of our favourite reviews for De Mambo! Thank you everyone!
Eurogamer – The Switch just got a game that channels the spirit of Smash Bros and WarioWare
The Metro – De Mambo review – Super Smash Balls
Comicbook.com – De Mambo Nintendo Switch Review: Fight and Flight
Keen Gamer – De Mambo Review (Switch)
Cubed 3 – De Mambo (Nintendo Switch) Review
The Games Shed – De Mambo – Nintendo Switch Review
Pause Resume – De Mambo Review
Vooks – DE MAMBO (SWITCH) REVIEW
Reddit AMA – De Mambo with the Dangerous Kitchen
Honest Gaming Reviews – DE MAMBO – REVIEW
De Mambo Review for Nintendo Switch│NomComms
De Mambo (Nintendo Switch) Review | 8-Bit Eric
Smell ya later…
Things we love this month…
The Secret History of Twin Peaks Metal Slug 3 Curb Your Enthusiam Merzbeat Raphael Ashmolean Exhibition Hot Ones
Post Release Blues was originally published on The Dangerous Kitchen
Review: De Mambo is a Solid Multiplayer Game with a Solid Core
Review: De Mambo is a Solid Multiplayer Game with a Solid Core
I remember when I first saw De Mambox a few months ago. I was honestly really confused and wasn’t quite sure what I was watching. It reminded me of a few smaller games that I’ve seen before with that sleek visual style, and I was intrigued. I got my hands on the game, so now I present my De Mambo review. In the press kit that I got from The Dangerous Kitchen, they gave a brief overview of how the…
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