Ultimate Kickstarter Video Games Thread

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

It appears to be the iOS/Android game Star Command. Here's an article about this controversy:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/0...-and-politely/

Here's their Kickstarter page, where they're offering DLC as a reward, but not the actual game, their reasoning being that they need the game sales to get onto the sales charts in Apple and Android App stores:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ory-for-ios-an

Doesn't appear too many people are upset, they have more than met their KS funding

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Kedrix

LSL did it, and Shadowrun passed 1.5. LSL now looks to try its hand at $750k (which might be too adventurous) and Shadowrun wants a go at 1.75 million. I think Shadowrun has more of a chance to get to 1.75 million than LSL has to get to 750k but I could be wrong. But then again, there is always that push at the end, so we'll see.

I think SR is going to make it, they have started to ramp up the rewards tier of late..but I think they might need something explosive or awesome happen during the last stages to get there..

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

Doesn't appear too many people are upset, they have more than met their KS funding

Their kickstarter drive ended on October 6, 2011, and has been fully funded. Their update about buying the iPads (along with other expenses they've incurred) was posted on April 15, 2012. Even if people wanted to pull their money from the project, it's about 6 months too late.

Ironically, the controversy came about because the developers were trying to be open about how they were spending the Kickstarter money. Considering they're making an iOS game, and their funding came through in October, it makes sense that they'd buy several of the "New iPad" aka iPad 3 to test their game on.

Edit: The story could be a lesson in backer expectations though. Ultimately, once the kickstarter has ended, the developer has your money and the control of the project is out of your hands. They can opt to still listen to the community, but if you really want to make sure your money isn't used in a manner you don't agree with, your only option really is to not donate in the first place.

[Jay G.]

Tycho at Penny Arcade has a newspost about Kickstarter, apparently in response to many people asking him to promote their project:
http://penny-arcade.com/2012/04/25

I don’t want to become the Kickfather people come to in order to make their nut; requests to do so have grown to the point that some sites have had to create specific policies related to their promotion. There’s Wisdom in that, and maybe I’ll need something like that at some point. Some of these Kicks have bigger problems, too. I’ve already had to talk one potential group down already, just last night. I don’t want to be in the dream crushing business either, but some dreams are self-crushing, and it’s not always easy to see that from inside.

What is consistently startling to me is the breadth of uses people put the service to. Sometimes the service acts as a microinvestment platform, and sometimes it’s a fairly traditional preorder system. It’s bizarre. You are aware that I’m obsessed with David Sirlin, and the Kickstarter he put up a few days ago is already funded at two-hundred percent. The pledge per user, an interesting statistic I like to track for some reason, is very high. What’s different about his pitch is that unlike many speculative projects, the game he’s offering is already complete and rigorously tested: he’s essentially holding the game hostage. Here, Kickstarter is being leveraged to ablate production risk.

Then you have projects like Republique, which are simply too beautiful to live; I mean, that’s not getting kicked, right? Unbelievably professional pitch, strong concept, but this is the opposite of a Kickstarter, and might actually be a Kickstopper. I saw people playing a card game called Legend of the Cipher in the Tabletop room at PAX. There’s an alternate system for resolution as well, but in the base game people literally freestyle battle raps to determine success. That was put up two weeks ago, but it hasn’t seen much movement.

Kickstarter is cool, I’m “down,” but people somehow managed to create things before Kickstarter. I can’t stress that enough. Especially in light of some of these improbable victories and the Overthrow of the Industry Hierarchs, the possibility of disillusionment for creators is at an all time high. Sometimes you have to throw your life away, and pay in blood. I recommend that you do this while you’re young, and can still subsist on a slurry of Ramen packets and urine.

Interestingly, this is the second Kickstarter attempt for Legend of the Cipher; their first attempt last fall failed:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...per?ref=search

[RichC2]

Wow, Tycho's post was really obnoxious.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by RichC2

Wow, Tycho's post was really obnoxious.

What was obnoxious about it?

[superdeluxe]

ShadowRun is in its final hours, Its made its final 'stretch' goal of 1.75. (with paypal it is over 1.8)

I think it gets close to 2 million, maybe like 1.90 (including paypal). I think they could hit 2 million if there was additional details about the game/new rewards..looks like they are good of just riding this to the end, the last few updates they haven't offered any new game ideas or rewards.

[superdeluxe]

Also Leisure Suit Larry has reached its funding goal (Last I looked it was at 104%)

[Duran]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

Some general Kickstarter news:

A new, game-specific alternative to Kickstarter is due to launch at this year's E3, called Gambitious:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...o-launch-at-e3

It's launching in Europe first, and the major difference is that it allows profit sharing, making the funders actual investors.

Doesn't the SEC require filings when a company has over a certain number of investors? Who is going to audit the books of these companies? Just plain silly, and won't go anywhere in the USA.

[Kedrix]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

ShadowRun is in its final hours, Its made its final 'stretch' goal of 1.75. (with paypal it is over 1.8)

I think it gets close to 2 million, maybe like 1.90 (including paypal). I think they could hit 2 million if there was additional details about the game/new rewards..looks like they are good of just riding this to the end, the last few updates they haven't offered any new game ideas or rewards.

Yeah, Shadowrun really did great. They almost 5 times their desired funding. That's pretty crazy, and I hope the game that comes out in 8 months is representative of that.

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

Also Leisure Suit Larry has reached its funding goal (Last I looked it was at 104%)

And if it hits 650k (it already hits stretch of 550k), they are putting in an a new girl storyline..so there is that. I dunno, I still haven't made a pledge on this one. But if I'm going to get the game when they are done, I might as well throw in my $15 now. I got three days LOL.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Duran

Doesn't the SEC require filings when a company has over a certain number of investors? Who is going to audit the books of these companies? Just plain silly, and won't go anywhere in the USA.

The SEC is an issue in the US. However, there has been some relaxing of the rules recently with the passing of the CROWDFUND act, which is an amendment in the larger JOBS Act:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/us-c...epreneurs/4707
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/us...-ups.html?_r=2

[Duran]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

The SEC is an issue in the US. However, there has been some relaxing of the rules recently with the passing of the CROWDFUND act, which is an amendment in the larger JOBS Act:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/feeds/us-c...epreneurs/4707
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/us...-ups.html?_r=2

It hasn't passed yet, and it it still limited to 2,000, which is far less than most successful game kickstarters.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by Duran

It hasn't passed yet, and it it still limited to 2,000, which is far less than most successful game kickstarters.

It passed, that's what the second link was for: Obama signed it into law. However, you're correct about the limit on investors, and there's also the limit of $1,000,000 raised, which is below that of larger kickstarters.

[Kedrix]

Welp, figured I would bump the thread for Leisure Suit Larry one last time. $36k to go for the last stretch goal and 15 hours. It should just make it (especially with paypal), but I figured it would not hurt.

[fumanstan]

Happy to see LSL make it to $650k.

[superdeluxe]

Looks like the really big time ks games are slowing Down...Only a couple of projects left out there, I don't think that republiq ks is going to get funded. Grim dawn and Jane Jensen ks are at 90% and 88% respectively. I guess the tex winter project is the next 'big'one

[Jay G.]

Battle Chess!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...2/battle-chess
http://www.subduedsoftware.com/games/battle-chess

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Jay G.

Battle Chess!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...2/battle-chess
http://www.subduedsoftware.com/games/battle-chess

Because it doesn't have the original creators attached to the project, it might be a hard time to get this going.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

On current kickstarter projects, I am this close to backing banner saga, not sold just based on who is doing it, but the cel animation style reminds me of dragon lair and it's a rpg

A couple of others that look interesting:

Dead linger

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...r?ref=category

Looks interesting a fps zombie apocalypse sandbox game


Ravaged

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...d?ref=category

Madmax vehicle warfare, also looks interesting gameplay looks great

I ended up not backing Dead Linger, since to back it to get a Digital copy of the game would have been 25$, and honestly it did not look that appealing, I would be more likely to back something at the 10-15$ price point for a digital copy, especially if it is from someone that I admire/done well in the past.

The Grim Dawn thing digital copy is at 18.00$ I'll be hopping on that eventually.

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

So what projects have everyone backed?

I looked at a couple of board games/comics/film kickstarters..close to backing those as well.

For me I've now backed:

FTL
Shadowrun Returns
Wasteland 2
Banner Saga

Thinking about:

Games:

Dead Linger
Grim Dawn
Ravaged


Video:

Dome
Fallout: Nukka Break Season 2

Ended up not Backing Dead Linger, Did Just now back Grim Dawn, Price point still to high IMHO for Ravaged.

Also have not backed Dome and Fallout: Nukka..but I have backed these other worthwhile projects:

Documentary Expedition to Congo A team of four go into the Congo to try and discover new species - backed at 5$ dollar tier, decent reward, also not enough $$$ to feel like I got screwed if project falls on its face. You get updates from the team and a bracelet made from some of the natives.


Antler Boy and Other Stories 12-13 Short Stories in a graphic novel Book. Went in at 25$ to get a copy of the hardcover book, all the stories looked pretty interesting and the drawings look great. The guy doing it has a good track record (did animation for Rio, Ice Age III, Horton hears a who) as well as his own graphic novel (Missile Mouse). Apparently he will add another short story if they hit 60k. Well look at that..they just hit 60k (60,005), so that is another short story added to the book!


Postcards from Nowhere Interesting project, they will go visit each state, and send out postcards with pictures captured from each state. I went in at 2$ level which grants you a postcard from the state of your choice. I wanted to help out, and get a postcard. Pretty neat idea.


Projects I am really interested in, just debating the reward tiers:

Corter Leather Bottle Hook Looks like a really good bottle opener hook that connects to your belt loop. I actually need a bottle opener, But the 36$ price point is a *little* high.

Pebble E-watch for Iphone This looks really amazing, and can do some many cool things, I guess that is why they have generated more than 8.0 million dollars. It costs 99$ but it actually looks like a great deal. Might jump on this but this might require wife buyoff lol.

Cubby I definitely need something like this, but if I am going to get one, I need to get at least 3 for our house, so this is definitely another wife buy in. Hang your coat, put your keys/workbadge/wallet in the cubby hole.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

Because it doesn't have the original creators attached to the project, it might be a hard time to get this going.

True, I think this is the first franchise revival on Kickstarter that hasn't had at least part of the original development team on board.

GOG has the original Battle Chess Trilogy (Battle Chess, Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess and Battle Chess 4000) available in one "Special Edition" package, although it apparently doesn't work on Windows 7 (yet):
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/battl...pecial_edition

Chessmaster 10 added a chess set with animations, but apparently it's not quite up to the quality of animations in the Battle Chess series:
http://pc.ign.com/articles/542/542613p1.html

There's also "Battle Vs Chess," which Interplay has sued to keep from being sold in the US:
http://www.battlevschess.com/en/

[superdeluxe]

Jay G, you seem pretty connected to the KS stuff..do you have any rumors about future projects besides the Tex Winter one?

I know there was a potential for a Kings Quest/Space Quest one...and rumblings about a Chris Avelleone KS project..but thats it.

[Groucho]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

Pebble E-watch for Iphone This looks really amazing, and can do some many cool things, I guess that is why they have generated more than 8.0 million dollars. It costs 99$ but it actually looks like a great deal. Might jump on this but this might require wife buyoff lol.

The $99 watches are sold out. If you want one, it's $115 ($125 if you want a color other than black).

[superdeluxe]

Originally Posted by Groucho

The $99 watches are sold out. If you want one, it's $115 ($125 if you want a color other than black).

Oh yeah..DAMN, I think remembering I better get in before the 99$ watches sell out.

[Jay G.]

Originally Posted by superdeluxe

Jay G, you seem pretty connected to the KS stuff..do you have any rumors about future projects besides the Tex Winter one?

I know there was a potential for a Kings Quest/Space Quest one...and rumblings about a Chris Avelleone KS project..but thats it.

I'm just mostly happening across the KS info, either on news sites, or checking new KS projects (which is how I found Battle Chess).

Telltale Games is developing a King's Quest game, so it's unlikely a KS for that series will be started soon. Roberta Williams is not involved.

For Space Quest, the Two Guys From Andromeda are close to announcing a Kickstarter, but they don't have a license to use SQ, so they're creating an original space-themed adventure game.


In other news, both Double Fine Adventure and Shadowrun Returns are being developed on the open-source Moai Platform from Zipline Games:
http://www.dmwmedia.com/news/2012/05...moaiwith-video