By Alec Meer on November 20th, 2012 at 4:00 pm.
The entire gaming world and its robo-dog is currently going from door-to-door and begging for cash, so a shaft of philanthrophic light amidst the Kickstarted darkness is a welcome one. We posted about Mario/McMillen & Refenes mash-up Super Meat Boy Galaxy last week, but it was unclear whether Aubrey Hesselgren would ever share more of his half-gag, half-tribute project with the world. Turns out, he will. BUT ON ONE CONDITION. That condition is cash. Of course it’s cash! This cash will not, however, go to the developer – it will go to The Samaritans. If SMBG is successfully ‘ransomed’ for £10,000, its prototype will be freed and released to the public.
Blood money, I call it! Blood money! And also a very smart idea.
As a reminder, here’s the video of that prototype:
You don’t want to play that? Seriously? What are you, a monster? Or worse: a boring person?
By his own admission, Hesselgren is unlikely to have the time/opportunity to turn this into a fully-fledged game sold for real Earth monies, and on top of that there are the ethical issues of borrowing/profiting from other folks’ games. So, he’s come up with an ingenious and cheerful solution – raise money for charity, give the prototype to those goodly folk who donate. In the event it doesn’t make the £10k ransom, he’ll find a way to secretly share the build with those who did donate.
Donations go to The Samaritans via JustGiving, and you can and should throw some money into the charity hat here. NOW.
20/11/2012 at 16:10 klingon13524 says:
That’s… Rather genius on his part.
20/11/2012 at 16:16 Spoon Of Doom says:
I never got into Super Meat Boy. I like the style and everything, but I could never bring myself to play it more than a couple of minutes.
I think I’m getting old. I can’t really get much enjoyment out of 2D platformers anymore, much less put up with the frustration of the Nintendo Hard™ variety.
20/11/2012 at 16:18 Nathan_G says:
This is such a swell idea, and Aubrey is a lovely man, so I hope people dig deep!!
Heartwarming stuff!
20/11/2012 at 17:23 Bhazor says:
Definitely restored some of my faith in the scene.
20/11/2012 at 16:38 Deadly Habit says:
Awesome idea!
20/11/2012 at 16:44 tobecooper says:
Do your worst, Hesselgren! I ain’t payin’ for that boy!
20/11/2012 at 17:04 tobecooper says:
But you ain’t even takin’. Damn it!
20/11/2012 at 17:11 HilariousCow says:
/me cuts off own toe. Puts it in an envelope with a note reading “DON’T FUCK WITH ME.”
20/11/2012 at 17:21 Bhazor says:
This is your ransom. Ten thousand in unmarked bills, just like you wanted. But this is as close as you’ll ever get to it. You’ll never see one dollar of this money, because no ransom will ever be paid for Meatboy Galaxy. Not one dime, not one penny. Instead, I’m offering this money as a reward on your head. Dead or alive, it doesn’t matter. So congratulations, you’ve just become a ten thousand dollar lottery ticket… except the odds are much, much better. Do you know anyone that wouldn’t turn you in for ten thousand dollars? I don’t think you do. I doubt it. So wherever you go and whatever you do, this money will be tracking you down for all time. And to ensure that it does, to keep interest alive, I’m running a full-page ad in every major newspaper every Sunday… for as long as it takes. But… and this is your last chance… you return my meaty, alive, uninjured, I’ll withdraw the bounty. With any luck you can simply disappear. Understand… you will never see this money. Not one dollar. So you still have a chance to do the right thing. If you don’t, well, then, God be with you, because nobody else on this Earth will be.
20/11/2012 at 17:40 HilariousCow says:
After conversion to pounds sterling, you are woefully short.
20/11/2012 at 17:13 dommafia says:
A ransom with a Brit accent??? I CANT SAY NOOOOOOO
20/11/2012 at 17:17 Bhazor says:
Aubrey’s a guys name? Hmm… well some guys getting let down on saturday then.
21/11/2012 at 08:12 Haplo says:
I’ve never heard Aubrey used as a girl’s name.
Are you sure you don’t mean Audrey?
20/11/2012 at 17:33 Vandelay says:
That is rather excellent and I really enjoyed Meat Boy the first (and Mario Galaxy.) Will definitely be pledging and I haven’t even watched the video yet.
20/11/2012 at 18:22 Citrus says:
Like everyone else here, I won’t donate anything. But I am pretending to support this noble cause and definitely donate a thousand doobers by writing this comment talking about its glorious creator. I feel so in-touch with the hip and happening crowd already.
20/11/2012 at 19:36 HilariousCow says:
Hee! I’m not contributing either. I’m just adding to the mass of noise circulating as opinion on this matter!
20/11/2012 at 18:39 kalirion says:
Does this guy have Team Meat’s permission to make money off their IP?
Edit: Or to make money for charities off their IP as the case might be.
20/11/2012 at 18:45 Citrus says:
I don’t know. But I am going to say yes, he does. Unless he doesn’t, in that case, he doesn’t.
Thank you for your concern, average citizen.
20/11/2012 at 19:00 Tei says:
He is not a citizen, he is a dog. And you are a penguin. You are not tricking anyone.
20/11/2012 at 19:40 HilariousCow says:
From Tommy? Yeah, come to think of it, not from anyone else.
Oh crap oh crap oh crap.
EVERYONE: PLEASE ASK THE CHARITY TO GIVE THEIR MONEY BACK NOW!! I’VE MADE A HUGE MISTAKE!
21/11/2012 at 03:04 Yglorba says:
Generally, people who make letters using taped-together bits of newspapers demanding money in exchange for releasing someone alive don’t care about “permission.”
20/11/2012 at 21:22 Xzi says:
The fact that this is not being made into a full game just proves that there truly is no god. That looks infinitely more fun than Mario Galaxy could have ever hoped to be. Especially if you imagine those 3D levels designed with spinning sawblades and fans and everything else that made SMB so challenging and fun.
3D wallhopping = awesome.