By Alec Meer on February 20th, 2012 at 3:46 pm.
For all I know we’ll be running a similar headline with a slightly larger number every week for the rest of the year, but Double Fine’s crowd-funding experiment does appear to be slowing down now. Still: $2 million. $2,004,877 to be precise, from 59,854 nostalgic backers. That’s a big fat budget for a 2D adventure game, and hopefully they’ll spend it on making something stellar. Or at least something tiny and rubbish but that ships in a box made of solid gold.
The original goal for Double Fine’s Kickstarter project, lest you forget, was ‘just’ $400,000. The Big Bastard Question that hatches from all this is whether the same sort of success can be had by other games/studios. We know Brian Fargo is trying it, Obsidian is considering it and, judging by the RPS inbox, a squabillion and twelve indie games are hoping Kickstarter will work for them, but clearly there’s a world of difference between trusted studio and rank outsiders with a nice idea. Not to mention issues of funder fatigue.
We’ll see though. It’s an exciting thing to happen, no matter what comes next. In case you’ve not seen it already, here’s Tim Schafer offering a sleepy woo-hoo and confirmation that the game will appear on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android, plus that there’ll be voice acting and multi-language text:
Schafer might seem a little subdued there, but here’s how he was seconds after filming stopped:
20/02/2012 at 15:52 piphil says:
The Order of the Stick comic re-print KickStarter is currently at over a million dollars, having asked originally for $40,000.
I worry though that the money is only pledges – will people follow through and pay when the time is up?
20/02/2012 at 15:59 Optimaximal says:
If the Kickstarter hits its intended target, the money is extracted via Amazon Payments from a nominated account. You can’t just say ‘take my money’ then run when they invoice you.
Granted, you could have no money in the account, but I think that highlights more pressing problems.
20/02/2012 at 16:01 lordfrikk says:
I thought you actually pay money and they are returned only if the goal isn’t met?
20/02/2012 at 16:10 SurprisedMan says:
Nope, the money isn’t taken until the end of the funding period, if the funding is successful. I wonder what the rate is of funding being withdrawn, or declined, but they have procedures for the latter, at least:
“If your pledge was declined just login to Kickstarter and click the “Action Needed” system message on the top of your screen. It will redirect you to Amazon, where you can change your payment method. Alternately, we’ll send you an email every 48 hours with a direct link to correct the issue. Don’t delay, however: backers have seven days to correct payment issues before they are dropped from the project (and therefore no longer eligible to receive rewards).”
I’m glad about that because my bank seem very keen to decline my card lately when I’m using it legitimately.
20/02/2012 at 18:24 Sparkasaurusmex says:
They should at least use escrow or something. I don’t want to promise to pay later. I’d gladly fund some of these projects, but if I spend or donate money, it needs to be instant.
21/02/2012 at 02:40 cxaopiqw says:
U.S. $ 97.99 so the price is definitely cheaper! Difficult to lower the network!
Ainol of Novo 7, Paladin of First Android 4.0 the Tablet PC 7 Inch, 8GB 1080P Black
http://1ul.com.ar/3154
20/02/2012 at 15:53 brkl says:
You bastard! No Manny without actual GF news! You’re going to kill someone like that.
20/02/2012 at 15:56 Choca says:
Yeah, seriously, I almost had a heart attack.
20/02/2012 at 15:58 maninahat says:
I’m sure I actually did.
20/02/2012 at 16:08 Fierce says:
ARGH!
Why would you play with our emotions like that Alec?!
WHY WOULD YOU PLAY WITH OUR EMOTIONS LIKE THAT?!
….why woul-(holds hand to eyes and sheds a tear for Grim Fandango)
20/02/2012 at 16:11 Gnoupi says:
Same here, huge blood rush, and disappointment. That’s it, I quit.
20/02/2012 at 16:24 CptSqweky says:
What they all said. That was just mean.
20/02/2012 at 16:24 roryok says:
that’s what she said
20/02/2012 at 17:14 seamoss says:
Ditto! “Glad Fandango” my ass…
20/02/2012 at 17:24 frenz0rz says:
Yeah, gotta admit I choked a little upon seeing that image as well.
20/02/2012 at 18:26 The white guar says:
Now they’ll have to change the subheading in: illuding you and suddenly shattering your dreams since 1873
20/02/2012 at 18:41 TsunamiWombat says:
I didn’t even play Grim Fandango and I did a little jump when I saw “double fine kickstarter” and saw that picture, then I went fuuuuuuuu-
20/02/2012 at 15:56 Sarlix says:
Great, that second video has just soiled my childhood memory of DuckTales.
But yay for Double Fine Kickstarter \o/
20/02/2012 at 19:41 Skabooga says:
My childhood was worth it for a sight gag of that caliber.
21/02/2012 at 13:53 Sarlix says:
*sigh*
Well they can’t all be gems.
20/02/2012 at 15:57 Tretiak says:
“funder fatigue”.
20/02/2012 at 16:02 MondSemmel says:
As I understand Kickstarter, it’s a “pledge” only in the sense that if the Kickstarter goal is not reached, nobody pays anything. If the Kickstarter goal has been reached at the end of the funding time, the money is automatically withdrawn from these people’s credit cards and the like.* Until that happens, however, I think you can take back your pledge.
*If I were a native speaker, I could explain this better. It should just be a delayed payment with the condition that pledged money exceeds the project’s goal.
From the Kickstarter website:
“All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk. ”
EDIT: Yeah, that was supposed to be a reply to piphil. Sorry about that.
21/02/2012 at 11:42 slight says:
A native speaker of English? If English isn’t your first language then your command of it is phenomenal, better than many many native speakers. :)
20/02/2012 at 16:18 kert says:
Ok, this kickstarting seems to actually work.
Can we kick
- FreeSpace 3
- System Shock 3
?
20/02/2012 at 16:26 roryok says:
It can’t work for everything though…
20/02/2012 at 16:55 Ironclad says:
okay, but not all at the same time please. I’d like to have food at the end of the month.
20/02/2012 at 17:18 Lord Custard Smingleigh says:
@roryok: You shut your mouth, it can happen if we believe!
20/02/2012 at 18:08 InternetBatman says:
There’s a huge difference between an adventure game and an FPS or space sim. The original price of 300,000 + 100,000 for the adventure game might have been a bit low.
20/02/2012 at 18:42 TsunamiWombat says:
Ironclad you scum, food is for the weak. Hide from the sun and don’t move too much, you’ll burn fewer calories. This is System Shock 3 we’re talking about!
20/02/2012 at 16:38 darmwand says:
Okay okay, you win, I’m officially out of excuses for not donating. Also, this is highly awesome!
20/02/2012 at 16:47 BobsLawnService says:
All I know is that the first industry oldtimer who doesn’t get his target reached is going to feel like a royal tit.
20/02/2012 at 18:39 roryok says:
I bet it’ll be Derek Smart
20/02/2012 at 18:43 kert says:
Derek Smart should try it.
EDIT: lulz .. saw the post above mine just now
20/02/2012 at 18:43 TsunamiWombat says:
I bet it’ll be John Carmack.
21/02/2012 at 14:53 IDtenT says:
Question is, how much can Lord British get? A $5mil objective could be a good start.
20/02/2012 at 16:52 engion3 says:
I haven’t donated yet but I’ll prob put a million in myself no big deal
20/02/2012 at 17:01 Memph says:
no Esperanto? omg no sale.
20/02/2012 at 17:17 Stupoider says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-7v4qnHP8
Celebratory Killing Floor bonanza!
20/02/2012 at 18:10 InternetBatman says:
I hope Obsidian starts one up soon. I think this could really be good for a bunch of the more famous developers. I know the guys who made Star Control 2 would like another shot at it.
21/02/2012 at 05:01 emertonom says:
Yeah, Toys for Bob was my first thought too, but when I looked those guys up–their most recent game is the most shameless DLC promotion ever. It makes me less sanguine about hurling cash at them.
20/02/2012 at 19:35 Rikard Peterson says:
While I have played (and love) all Schafer’s old adventure games, nostalgia was far from the main reason I backed this thing. It’s that Double Fine stands for originality. Great as the classics are, I still don’t want a remake of DOTT or a sequel to Grim. I want something new and wonderful, and that’s what I hope Double Fine can deliver.
21/02/2012 at 00:55 Keith Nemitz says:
Here, here! Something new, please.