And after a long hiatus to finish up our new game, the Video Game Kickstarter is back. There’s been a lot of news recently so let’s get started.

The biggest news is that some people are trying to launch a new console called the Ouya and they’ve already raised about $4.5 million. The premise is a cheap console that’s open for anyone to develop it. I think this has the potential to be the biggest disappointment that kickstarter has seen yet so I’ll point you to this article that includes quotes from myself and others on why you should be skeptical over the Ouya’s ability to deliver. To sum it up, my biggest cause for skepticism is that I’ve been down this road before with XBLIG and the reality was much less impressive than the promises. And that was with Microsoft, a huge company with a reputation and resources. I think Ouya will be drastically less successful than XBLIG…and most people consider XBLIG to have been a failure. Oh and if you want a great laugh, take a look at the top 20 most requested games for the Ouya – customer expectations of what this thing will be able to do are WAY out of whack.

The other big video game related kickstarter that was started recently is the Penny Arcade kickstarter. As someone who does business with Penny Arcade, my opinion is obviously biased with this one. This is quite the odd kickstarter – they’re asking for money to reduce or outright eliminate the popular website’s reliance on advertising which will also free them up to do some additional projects. There’s been a lot of complaints that this kickstarter is not appropriate for the site since it’s not really starting up anything, but on the other hand, they ask Kickstarter for permission to run it and they got permission so there you have it. Oh and some of the rewards relate to the games we’ve done and are doing for Penny Arcade so there’s that too.

Which brings up an interesting question – do you think that Kickstarter should allow a wide variety of crowdfunding projects or do you think it should be exclusively for funding creative projects from new creators?

Another kickstarter that I’m interested in is the Defense Grid kickstarter. This one is a bit misleading – the kickstarter title says that it’s for Defense Grid 2 but to get DG2 out of the kickstarter, they need to reach the huge stretch goal of $1 million (the regular goal is $250k). If the kickstarter doesn’t reach that goal, the results are much less impressive and include things like a mini-expansion for the 1st game and a revamp of the game’s engine. I was a huge fan of the original Defense Grid and would love to see a sequel, but sadly, this doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

Next up on my list is 3D Dictionary – a game that is aimed at teaching foreign languages. No clue if the developer has what it takes to do this concept properly, but I’m glad people are trying. It has already surpassed its modest goal of $12k and it has a couple weeks or so left to go.

That’s it for this week’s report. To close things off, let me point you over to this entertaining article about why developers should be wary of turning to things like kickstarter for funding.

4 Responses

  1. The Phantom didn’t make sense at the time because the cost of decent hardware wasn’t the cheap, and fast broadband wasn’t quite as plentiful either yet. And frankly I’m not sure they even attempted to make the console. By all accounts, they defrauded people and ran off with the money. It isn’t impossible the OUYA folks could do the same, but I don’t know that it is fair to assume they will.

    There are Android phones and tablets today (I own some) with HDMI outs that support USB game controllers. I can literally say that I have a working prototype for this business model in my house.

    Getting into the Android market is easier than getting into the PSN or XBIG. Consumers are buying fewer $60 games. I think the OUYA can succeed in providing a cheap console with access to tons of cheap games.

  2. One of the top 20 requested games is Battletoads? I guess that’ll be good news for Gamestop if they ever sell the OUYA. Perhaps OUYA should team up with Infinium Labs? Those guys also had a “working prototype” console with a soon-to-be-revealed ubercontroller and 100% downloadable library. Phantom is a cooler name than OUYA as well. Since it never came out, the name & tech should still be available.

    Also, I really like your kickstarter updates. They provide a lot more context and insight into what could be a good game than the roundups on RPS & Betabeat.

  3. Nice to hear a dissenting point of view on Ouya.

    The abundance of kickstarters that need stretch goals in order to succeed baffles me. I get that some money is better than no money, but it seems a bit shady.

    Enjoyed the post, thanks.

  4. I’m a bit torn on the Penny Arcade kickstarter – on the one hand, it really seems against both the spirit and the letter of Kickstarter’s guidelines on appropriate projects. On the other hand, KS provides a very good system for fundraising with reward tiers, and I’m not aware of any service that would have quite the polish or the automatic buzz of a Kickstarter project (Indie GoGo projects are always much less compelling for me – mostly because of the lack of a ‘pledge’, instead taking donations immediately and refunding later if the project fails).

    Either way, I do think Kickstarter should keep its policies consistent, and let other projects of this kind exist, rather than making exceptions for already-popular success-guaranteed projects like this. Giving more chances to more established and successful artists or businesses really seems antithetical to Kickstarter’s purpose.

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