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I think Mighty No. 9 is potentially a big landmark for the Japanese gaming business. Not that Keiji Inafune isn't a big deal (he is) or a that an independent Mega Man game by the original developers isn't a big deal (it is), but I think that might actually be a bit beside the point. We've gotten pretty used to developers baring their souls, either through kickstarter, postmortem reports, public feuds between publishers and developers, developer commentary and "behind the scenes" material... but that hasn't happened so much for Japanese developers that I'm aware of. At least here in the states, it's a relatively closed industry, and we haven't gotten to see that development process outside of occasional developer comments in fan material like artbooks. This is a chance to see that for those of us who never have. Cross-culturally, it feels a lot more significant to see a Japanese developer turn his back on a company he worked at for over two decades and turn to foreign audiences for support. In addition, though we'll probably never get to see what Famicom-era Japanese design was like, this is like getting a look back in time to that sort of design philosophy. Of course, Mega Man is different in that it always had a fan participation angle (through the robot master contests), so maybe that's what got it to this point. It's also to note Keiji Inafune's dissatisfaction with Capcom's decisions that goes as far back as the rushed development of Mega Man 3 or Capcom's heavy hand in later titles. With all that in consideration, it all fits together better, but culturally and for the future of Japanese development, it feels like it could be a much bigger deal going forward. Comcept's certainly not the only Asian developer to be taking this route, but right now they're probably the most significant.
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Sep 12, 2013 04:51
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A Fancy 400 lbs posted:Ugh, $1 million for a PC version? I might pledge if it gets close to that, but no way I'm pledging for just a lovely mobile version. Some kickstarter projects need to learn the hard way that they are marketing to people that have a PC, since otherwise they probably would not be reading about the kickstarter. I suppose you could be working with the iOS app, so I'm willing to give the iOS version some slack, but making people pay $30 for an XBLA game is hilarious. Can a kickstarter for Pigskin: 621 AD be far behind? Arch Rivals? 
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Sep 16, 2013 14:37
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Utritum posted:Conatus Creative has gotten the original creator of Kunio-kun and Double Dragon, Yoshihisa Kishimoto, involved in River City Ransom: Underground as a creative consultant. This is shaping up to be quite interesting. I have just changed this from a "Don't you dare pledge!" to a "Reminder on". 
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Sep 16, 2013 20:57
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Yeah, for multiplayer-only, having a tier to give away copies cheap is wise. Keeping servers filled when you aren't AAA or don't catch lightning in a bottle is always going to be a struggle and you need to be community-building in any way you can. The last thing you want is a bunch of players with little or no impetus to drag a friend into it.
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Sep 16, 2013 23:48
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It's climbing swiftly now; between when I looked at the update and the main page, I saw a $2000 bump. I already figured they were going to make it, I think it's really just a question as to how many of the stretch goals they'll get.
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Sep 17, 2013 21:45
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It's true, the N-Rays that radiate from things you don't like turn other people into unwashed, subhuman mutants. Science has proven this.
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Sep 18, 2013 19:15
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Some mysteries are better off remaining mysteries, I guess. 
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Sep 19, 2013 16:32
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Yeah, CLANG always struck me as a noble idea... but supporting it when they didn't even have proof of concept wasn't something I could do. Way too pie in the sky. CCG games like Alteil Horizons I just find intimidating. How much will I need to play? Will I be eternally boned if I don't pledge at a certain level? Will there be an add-on where I can pay extra to have none of my money go to Buckley? It all feels so high-pressure and the money amounts get so big so fast that the whole thing actually makes me slightly nauseous to look at.
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Sep 20, 2013 01:55
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Migishu posted:Dear lord why? $160,000 for James Pond, huh? That's a stretch, even for him.
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Sep 20, 2013 13:19
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CommissarMega posted:Well, as long as Star Control doesn't get there first. Well, it's a bit of a mess. Toys for Bob (who owns the rights to the games) has stated they have no interest in doing a Star Control kickstarter; presumably they're busy doing backstrokes through their Skylander money. Stardock now owns the rights to the name (and presumably the ideas within?), but would they be interested in that sort of thing? Who can say? (Well, Stardock could.)
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Sep 20, 2013 19:58
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Tarquinn posted:Why isn't Toys for Bob using just one of their money bins to make Star Control 4? And why didn't they get the rights for the name back? As far as I know, they haven't said anything on it. Way, way back before Skylanders, Accolade was asking some ridiculous price they couldn't meet financially, and who knows if they ever looked at purchasing it again. Bieeardo posted:Stardock only owns the name. Toys for Bob owns all of the lore, aliens, assorted materials, etc. Unless Stardock licenses those, we're looking at another hilarious Brad Wardell lawsuit, or another generically soulless modern reboot of a classic. The supposed state of affairs is that that Stardock owns the rights to the Star Control name and the IP from Star Control 3 (hahahaha I know). Paul Reiche and Fred Ford own the rights to the games and IP material from Star Control 1 and Star Control 2, seemingly. Toys for Bob doesn't own anything from Star Control, this is of note because Paul and Fred sold Toys for Bob to Activision, who bought it presumably for that gooey, creamy center that is the Skylanders IP. Stardock has been reaching out to Paul and Fred and says they have no interest in making a game without their blessing, but no word of them to coming to an agreement yet.
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Sep 20, 2013 20:46
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:I think the bigger issue is that nobody gives a poo poo about James Pond. I'd rather see a new Bubsy game, myself. It's not a strong preference. It's just something that comes to mind when I think of things I don't care about. 
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Sep 20, 2013 22:11
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I'm just amused by complaints about how there was too much story in Ducktales. 
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Sep 21, 2013 00:33
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Yeah, Backerkit is legit, it just offers a lot of fulfillment tools, and with reward structures for Kickstarters getting so complex, having some service like that is essential. Unless Kickstarter actually provides the tools needed to manage things properly, services like Backerkit will be fairly standard, and Backerkit is at least well-known and established in that regard.
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Sep 23, 2013 15:14
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cisneros posted:They hate that guy to the point of making up things about him and literally going to his house to take pictures, yeah, it's best to let go. I'd be glad to keep hearing more about the project. I think Buckley's involvement is unfortunate but that it's probably been blown way out of proportion to its actual fault (its one card out of what, one thousand?), even if hyping it so hard was a pretty severe faux pas here on SA. Just pick yourself up and move on. 
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Sep 23, 2013 18:14
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The Shantae stretch goals being revealed feels like so much teasing. I think we'll actually get some of the previously revealed ones, but one million dollars? 
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Sep 24, 2013 11:54
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evilmiera posted:Backed it the moment I saw the first real proper video. Octopus City Blues looks gorgeous and at its worst we'll have a really interesting city to explore. I admit some disappointment when I found out it was not, in fact, populated by octopi.
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Sep 25, 2013 19:52
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Death Road to Canada made it to the finish line with $42K of the $25K they asked for. Mighty No. 9 is holding their vote for Beck's female counterpart, Call, so make sure to take a look at the designs if you're backing. Shantae is into their final week but is still struggling to get Risky Mode. Personally, I find the jump in tiers to the extra content I'd like to be too sharp, but they'll probably at least crack that first stretch goal.
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Sep 28, 2013 16:11
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I went with E, but I admit the expressions totally swayed me on that one; it made the design almost feel almost Ace Attorney-esque. F is really strong but felt a little too "safe" to me, since it's mainly just a modernization of Roll. Glad we've made the Call stretch goal, though, so her appearance will be of more consequence.
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Sep 28, 2013 17:19
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The Moon Monster posted:Looks cool, but I have a feeling people might be starting to get TCG fatigue. At least it looks like it doesn't have a pack-buying scheme, which puts it one over a lot of TCG games I see out there. Sadly, it's not going to be making the same kind of money, I'm guessing cynically, but I appreciate it as a CCG addict (not that I collect these days, but it's like how you never stop being an alcoholic...) 
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Sep 29, 2013 17:56
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Spectacle Rock posted:Capcom is smart enough to NOT unleash the massive wave of hate that would rise if they stopped Inafune from making this. Besides, it isn't technically Mega Man, Capcom doesn't own the rights to all robot sidescrolling games. What's more, Capcom has never really made a habit of suing copycats. Games like Whomp 'Em, Krion Conquest, and Rosenkreuzstilette copied the Mega Man formula pretty closely. Hell, Megaman Unlimited is still up for download. And of all the Street Fighter II clones - and there were many - they only sued Fighter's History, even with blatant copycats like World Heroes out there. It doesn't seem likely that they'll sue, and they have a tremendous shitstorm of bad press waiting if they even threaten it.
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Sep 30, 2013 00:49
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Great Rumbler posted:Inafune doesn't seem like the type who'd roll over just because Capcom tried to put some pressure on him, and he's likely still got enough connections in the industry and the gaming media to make the blowback on something like that bad for Capcom. The blowback will be even potentially much, much worse if they do something once the kickstarter ends, since Capcom would basically be going after money fans invested.
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Sep 30, 2013 11:38
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CapnAndy posted:I'm sort of in awe of all the OH GOD THIS IS SO BAD IT'S ONLY AN ENGINE TEST DON'T JUDGE US disclaimers. I would seriously have accepted that as a final product, guys! It's a solid proof of concept but it's still clearly rough with the effects, I think they can do better! For me it always amazes me with the concept sketches where I'm like "That looks fantastic, done in one!" and Inafune is like "Now this obviously wasn't working out yet-" and I'm all 
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Oct 1, 2013 03:54
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... the grand majority of which is two $10,000 sockpuppets.
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Oct 2, 2013 20:05
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Even if they could get it off the ground in some miracle straight out of Field of Dreams, the idea of trying to replace a high-budget, F2P game by a known developer with a low-budget game by nobodies that requires a $50 buy-in is hilarious. And sadly, magical ghost programmers that walk in out of nowhere are in rather short supply.
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Oct 2, 2013 22:02
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A Fancy 400 lbs posted:Hahaha, that thread's hilarious. He's worked on MUSHs and MUDs, take that naysayers! Text and 3D collision detection are pretty much the same, right? Having had worked on a number of MUSHes, I can say it might teach you how to do some small-scale community management. More likely, it'll just stoke the raging egotism that got you there in the first place. But as far as actual game design? 
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Oct 2, 2013 22:29
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Ugh, River City Ransom: Underground's reward tiers are frustrating. There doesn't seem to be much reason to back it at the lower tiers, and the only extra reward I do want (the Kunio & Riki skins) is $60 on top of the basic game. A golden garbage can? That feels almost like a parody of the sort of extra skins offered by these Kickstarters. It's looking way more promising than it did initially but I feel like I'm having a hard time justifying it at this late date.
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Oct 7, 2013 14:44
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Here's the list of firm statements I could see City of Titans make about their game. A lot of their claims are "fluffy" and fairly meaningless, mind, and most of their kickstarter is termed in vagaries. This isn't a complete list by any means, but here's what I could find on a skim:
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Oct 7, 2013 20:35
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:Read it more closely, only a select few no longer in use Eidos properties are going to be available. It seems to be a side point to the endeavor, they expect most pitches to be original. Finally, everybody will get Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 8, 2013 20:57
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Dr. Video Games 0031 posted:Two of those three things are SE properties that will definitely not be a part of this because the Japan half of the company seemingly doesn't want anything to do with this. Again, only older Eidos properties. So maybe we'll see some hot Project IGI and Daikatana sequels, at long last. Well, I corrected my post under a waterfall of tears, I hope you're satisfied.
Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Oct 8, 2013 |
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Oct 8, 2013 21:43
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Illessa posted:I don't know, these "We have the ear of people with real money, but put money towards this uncreated thing anyway to prove you want it!" Crowd-funding uses always rub me up the wrong way. It's one thing if it's the difference between some little indie getting their game made or not, but when there are people involved who are perfectly capable of funding it themselves... I don't know. I should probably list out exactly where my crowd-funding boundaries lie at some point. I'm sure some of my friends must think I'm weird having a Kickstarter addiction but refusing to pre-order or buy season passes for games with a publisher on principle. Yeah, it feels crass. And to think I picked on The Onyx Path formerly known as White Wolf for doing Kickstarters despite not really needing to, and they're basically a grain of sand compared to the mountain that comprises Eidos / Square / Enix / Taito / whatever the gently caress other brands the beast has consumed... Co.
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Oct 9, 2013 01:50
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Worlds of Magic is a Kickstarter rerun, and as such, is kind of weird. It really feels more like a preorder scheme being marketed as a Kickstarter, and just makes me feel wary about the whole thing.
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Oct 10, 2013 04:07
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Yeah. The only issue I can see with 4e is that it might be a lot for options / roles for players to absorb at once if you're controlling a whole party instead of a single PC, particularly beyond the lower levels.
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Oct 10, 2013 19:56
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A Fancy 400 lbs posted:Holy poo poo, that falcon laser is so loving terrible. Falcon? Hahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha- That's a seagull, son. But who we to make fun of The Guano and Gull? Are we really so different from them, in the end?
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Oct 12, 2013 05:33
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City of Titans gets to ride their self-made story of being a City of Heroes successor, really. Mind, they don't have any actual claim to that, but they've been working on that mythology well in advance of the kickstarter. They came up with a narrative, nabbed a brand, and have come up with a lot of impressive claims people want to believe. What's more, their invented association with City of Heroes gets them a lot of coverage from, frankly, lazy bloggers and journalists who take them at face value. All Project Awakened had to show in comparison is actual design experience and an actual proof of concept. And though that's fine for people who actually pay attention, what you really need for a Kickstarter is a magic hook to lure reblogs and breathless gawker.com stories to spread the word. Mind, Project Awakened didn't really appeal to me (it sounded too much like "modders, make our game for us!"), it's the height of professionalism compared to City of Titans so far.
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Oct 12, 2013 06:21
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Here's the top effects I'm looking forward to see from the City of Titans Socket System:
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Oct 12, 2013 06:58
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TychoCelchuuu posted:Raindrop is sort of like STALKER except it's exploration and puzzle solving instead of shooting although it looks like it has shooting too. It's very pretty. Yeah, I saw the previews they had before the kickstarter, and it looks mighty fine, but the problem with this sort of game is that the devil's in the details. It's hard to judge this sort of game on screenshots, and the creators are relative unknowns. It's a really tough call right now.
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Oct 13, 2013 06:24
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I think art is just art, and pixel art can be great or underwhelming just like any other. It was abandoned once 3D started being more practical for developers than trying to push pixels further. Something like Street Fighter III demonstrated both the apex and downfall of pixel art at the time, where it became too expensive to take that kind of risk. And now that 3D development has gotten more and more expensive, it's been revived partially as a means for indie developers to provide appealing graphics on the relative cheap. But I think calling it a nostalgia pull is a bit unfair, since that trend is indeed starting to wear thin. I think it's gotten to point where most games with pixel graphics have to sink or swim on their own merits, and that's as it should be. What I'd love it is to see people push pixel animation further, but that multiplies the amount of work involved in a game, so I don't expect to see it. That's where I think work could really be done to push that art form, rather than worrying about colors or resolution.
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Oct 14, 2013 01:15
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Cicero posted:Characters look like they're from a generic Korean F2P MMO. Like, not technically bad, just intensely boring. If they'd gone with stylized pixel art ala Hyper Light Drifter they'd probably be printing money. It's that odd melange of steampunk and Asian fantasy, but where you can't really identify what most of the characters are just by looking at them. And with fighting games, you kind of need to look at a character and get some idea of what their gimmick is, I think, to latch onto. Not... "It's a anthropomorphic bunny... kung-fu... wheat farmer?"
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Oct 14, 2013 05:22
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ookiimarukochan posted:It's not a "game" per se, but I don't think that this project, to put together a book featuring cabinet art from classic arcade machines has been linked here yet. Wow, that looks really tempting. I don't know if I can budget it, but it's an impressive selection of classic vidgame arts.
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Oct 14, 2013 13:47
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