When I originally started this thread I wanted to point out Kickstarter projects for a variety of reasons. I wanted to show off notable IP's or developers that had gone toward the crowd sourcing direction. I wanted to show off games that seemed like amazing ideas that were just too risky for traditional publishers to back. Or I just wanted to show off games that I thought looked really cool and deserved a special mention. And now I want to show off a game that only comes to fruition when a bunch of people with no common sense come up with a horrible idea and are left with no option but crowd sourcing. I present to you. . . Air Dash Online.
Air Dash Online
Developer: JV5 Games
Goal: $355,555
Platform(s): PC, Mac, and Linux
Pledge amount to receive the game: $25
Campaign End Date: November 10
Link: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1289882404/air-dash-online-the-competitive-platform-fighter
Air Dash Online is without question the worst idea for a game I've seen on Kickstarter or any other crowd-source website. Here's the pitch and if it sounds like a good idea to you let me know. The game is a Super Smash Bros. inspired platform fighter for the PC only. The characters are completely original with a Steampunk aesthetic. So basically they're asking for $355K for a platform fighter without the benefit of any familiarity that most platform fighters lean on to make them more appealing. It doesn't even have an interesting name. "Air Online Dash?" Who names their game after a feature in this day and age? So far it's earned $5K, and I can only assume that from friends and family (the typical early contributers). But if they're looking for $355K I think they're better off not holding their breath.
I want it.
You do not.
gamingeek said:I want it.
You want sonic.
Everyone wants Sonic.
Hmm, I want Sonic's Strawberry limeade. Maybe a burger too. 
You need to try Sonic's new bacon cheese hotdog. The whole thing is served on a pretzel bun, and is just awesome.
Figured since I have people in this thread...
Knite and the Ghost Lights
Developer: Mobot Studios
Goal: $35,000
Platform(s): PC, Mac, Linux, and Wii U
Pledge amount to receive the game: $10 for PC, Mac and Linux - $35 for Wii U
Campaign End Date: October 26
Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2011341880/knite-and-the-ghost-lights
Knite and the Ghost Lights is really going for that indie/spirit of Kickstarter vibe. The game is meant to look like a stop motion animation, something like Nightmare Before Christmas. Looks like it's succeeding in that too. It definitely looks good, but the real issue I've seen is that there is precious little gameplay being shown in their video, and they do an extremely poor job of trying to explain what the game actually is. They're just pushing the art style over and over. It's like their target audience is goth kids with money. Fortunately they're not asking for a lot - only $35K, but with only 10 days left and $10K earned, and not much hype for this game they may not make it.
Dvader said:gamingeek said:I want it.
You want sonic.
I ended up putting my money where my mouth is and decided to fund Knite and the Ghost Lights. I'm a sucker for this kind of art style, so even at the high price tag I figured it would be worth investing in it. Besides, I'm still kicking myself for not supporting Taxi Journey. I have a feeling this might end up being a similar puzzle game.
Boogerman 20th Anniversary: The Video Game
Developer: Toy Ghost LLC
Goal: $375,000
Platform(s): PC, Mac, and Linux, Wii U, Xbox One, Vita, and PS4
Pledge amount to receive the game: $15
Campaign End Date: November 20
Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/boogerman20th/boogerman-20th-anniversary-the-video-game
Were you a huge fan of Boogerman back on the Genesis? Sure you were! Why you spent countless hours pla.... wait you weren't? Hmmmmmm well neither was I. That's all neither here nor there because apparently a Boogerman 20th anniversary has shown up on Kickstarter, by the original creators of the game. Now whether you're a fan or not, it's tough to read that their proposal and not see the passion they have for this project. They're asking for $375K and that's no small sum for a Kickstarter game, but after just 3 days they already have over $20K raised, so they're going to do just fine I think. If by some fluke they fail it won't be for lack of trying. They have a wealth of stretch goals and incentives already. Plus Earthworth Jim will be available in co-op mode. Tough to not at least raise an eyebrow at that.
I wanted to make one final update on this thread. A few more kickstarters have come to an end and some reached their goals, and others did not.
- Cosmic Star Heroine has reached its goal, and did rather quickly. However after reaching it, the money almost stopped coming in. With 5 days to go they reached their $100K goal and even earned an extra $18K. However with no stretch goals it's unlikely for them to earn too much more. Still they hit the goal. Good for them.
- Mutant League Football earned $144K, and fell far short of its $750K goal. That's just way too high for anything that isn't a Mega Man rip-off.
- Citizens of Earth also missed out on its goal of $100K and only earned $37K. Very surprised it failed given it's look and all the media attention it attracted. I feel like we may have missed out on a good game here. The developers seem to be committed on making this happen so we'll see if they can't still come up with a game.
- Edge of Eternity, the Final Fantasyesque RPG cancelled it's Kickstarted with 3 days to go. Likely because they had only earned $33K of a $200K project.
- Legend of the Lancer has also been cancelled. This one was cancelled with over half of its time to go, but it has only earned $4K of its $35K project. Didn't look very good in the first place, so who knows what their future plan will be.
- Knite and the Ghost Lights has also hit its goal (I donated! I'm part of a winning team!). So it looks like the Wii U has at least one more game for 2014.
Why final?
gamingeek said:Why final?
1. I don't think anyone else is overly interested in the topic, and that's fine.
2. It was really mainly for me to just keep track of what I thought was interesting and what was succeeding and failing, and maybe try to understand why some games were succcessful and others were not. And after watching a dozen or so campaigns.... I really have no clear idea of why anything succeeds or fails. Name recognition on behalf of the title or developer seems to be the only real currency here, and even then it's not a guarantee.
Legend of the Lancer
Developer: Gorilla Press Games
Goal: $35,000
Platform(s): PC, Mac, and Linux (stretch goals for 3DS, Wii U, PS3, Vita, and PS4
Pledge amount to receive the game: $10
Campaign End Date: November 8
Link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2083751858/legend-of-the-lancer
Legend of the Lancer isn't the most visually impressive game I've seen looking for funding, but it does appear that it'll be a solid Metroidvania title. Non-linear gameplay, multiple storylines, and jousting system are the game features that the developers are promising. They're not mentioning much about the development team's background, so that suggests that this may be a fairly young team without a lot of big name titles under their belt. Still that doesn't seem like a huge deal as this game doesn't appear to be overly ambitious. The best thing it has going for it, is that their goal is low. $35K for the PC version, $68K for the 3DS version and $75K for the Vita, Wii U and PS3 versions. Only the PS4 stretch goal at $215K seems unreasonable.