Turrican Soundtrack Anthology Kickstarter Makes Me Want A New Game To Go With It, Grrrrr…

Posted on April 19, 2012 by geelw

Nice. OK, go toss some money at this great Kickstarter project, especially if you remember jumping up and down on your controllers as a kid while trying to master the fine art of jumping and shooting alien scum. That said, As much as I love Chris Huelsbeck’s amazing music from the classic (and supremely difficult) Turrican games and hell, we can always uses some more great game music collected together, I now want some developer to go make a NEW Turrican. Especially with Factor 5 dead and gone. My choice would be Wayforward Technologies, as they do make some mighty spectacular 2D games for current-gen tech. Soooo, I say someone (as in a REALLY smart publisher) put in a ringy-ding-ding to these giys and get those wheels rolling. Get a new Huelsbeck soundtrack in there somewhere and there you g – a new game I can jump up and down on a more expensive controller while I’m trying to master the fine art of jumping and shooting alien scum…

Will Someone Do An Anvil of Dawn Kickstarter Project Already? Seriously.

Posted on April 17, 2012 by geelw

The late, lamented New World Computing developed and/or published a number of great PC games back in the day including the classic Might & Magic series, but for me, DreamForge Intertainment’s 1995 MS-DOS first-person RPG was one of the most memorable titles the company was involved with (outside of the franchise they’re more well known for). The game was a single-player real time action game that allowed you to choose one of five characters and play him or her as they set out into the rather deadly dungeons in and around the land of Tempest seeking out the titular Anvil.

I loved how the character you chose ended up meeting up with the others you didn’t as the game progressed, the traps and puzzles mixed in with the combat and the multiple endings based on who you chose to play as. I’ve always wanted to see this one remade at some point (even though I still own the original game) and now with all this Kickstarter fury going strong, I’d say it’s time some dev team with members who remember this classic set out to reboot it for PC and perhaps consoles and other devices. Hell, I’m even willing to do some character or environment art if needed. In case you didn’t know, I can draw a little and I do like my RPGs old school. Anyway, someone out there, get on this and get back to me. I’d actually love to be playing this before I get TOO old and grey…

Enter, The Dragon (Again): Shadowrun Is Coming Back!

Posted on April 5, 2012 by geelw

Yikes. Just when I get to griping about underfunded indie games that NEED more notice, along comes this news, which I gather will make people forget all about that last post. I guess I need to pay more attention to Kickstarter, huh? Anyway, a bunch of ancient mariners behind the original game (you HAVE to love the name they chose for their studio: Harebrained Schemes, LLC) are getting together and bringing the FASA classic Shadowrun back with an all-new title called Shadowrun Returns.

Of course, the project is already doing SUPER well as it zooms toward its funding goal of $400,000. Amusingly enough, I kind of wish they were doing an English translation of the Japanese Sega Mega-CD version, as that’s one of those completely unique versions of the game that was only released on one platform and a pretty hard game to track down even if you happen to own the proper equipment to run it on.

Oh, don’t worry, I’m not complaining at all or anything. Er… other than wishing the economy was a hell of a lot BETTER for the games industry so that all of these projects could appear as physical product at a fair price point so MORE people would be able to buy and play them…

Class of Heroes 2 Deluxe Goes The Kickstarter Route – It’s Put Up Or Shut Up Time For JRPG Fans…

Posted on March 29, 2012 by geelw

As a longtime JRPG fan, I can safely say that this crowdfunding thing IS getting a whole LOT more interesting. A few weeks and months back some writers and game folks online made note that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to fund a console or portable game project, citing all sorts of reasons. Well, thanks to Victor Ireland (formerly of Working Designs infamy), Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw Games – Class Heroes 2 Deluxe is not only a reality, it’s coming to the PSP as a digital release. Even better, gamers can expect a physical UMD as well… provided the project goal of $500,000 is met by April 27, 2012. Now, half a million may SEEM like a lot of loot, but hell, getting a physical copy of any game out these days does cost a chunk of change. Getting a DELUXE version of the game out with all the swag listed in the Kickstarter page will make that total seem small when you consider that the game will be a truly LIMITED release with the high probability of completely selling out as a physical game (and being worth a mint shortly thereafter).

The original Class of Heroes was an interesting Wizardry clone developed for the PSP by Zerodiv and initially published by Acquire in Japan in 2008, then Atlus in North America in 2009. While not quite a “classic”, the game’s old-school charm and lengthy quest made up for a few flaws here and there. From reading the funding page, it looks as if COH 2 Deluxe will fix a few things and add others the original developer left out of the first game. So far, the project has raised around $27,000, but still has a long way to go. Can the team get the overly skeptical crowd that SUPPOSEDLY loved JRPGs yet somehow doesn’t understand what a truly limited edition means to clam up and shell out a few bucks so they can get this out AND tackle future projects? Or will the game be doomed to a digital-only release that gets swallowed up in the PSN vaults? We shall see, I suppose. OK, back to bed for me – my back is still out of whack, but I saw this news and had to get my two cents in…

Crowdfunding Goes Classic (Again!): Wasteland 2 Gets The Kickstarter Treatment

Posted on March 13, 2012 by geelw

Wasteland 2 Kickstarter

“I have waited a long time to make this game, and I now have my dream team put together to help make it a reality,” said Brian Fargo of inXile Entertainment. “I had the main storyline created by Jason Anderson, the co-creator of Fallout™. We have Mike Stackpole and Alan Pavlish aboard who were the main designers of the original Wasteland™. Mark Morgan is doing the music and he composed the score for Fallout™1 and 2. And we have the fantastic talent of Andree Wallin helping with the concept art.”

Excellent. Now, inXile is in on the Kickstarter funding bandwagon and this time, it’s the official sequel to one of the greatest RPGs ever created, so you know it’s going to get funded pretty quickly. With a million dollar budget (Brian Fargo says he’ll chip in that final100K if at least 900K gets pledged), the chance to score a big box copy of the game for a $50 and even get in the game (as anything from a NPC, Weapon, location or commemorative statue), this one’s as exciting as the Double Fine Adventure project that generated a record-shattering amount of pledges in a single day. Given the original Wasteland’s influence on the RPG genre (it inspired the Fallout series and many other post-apocalyptic games since) and the fine folks behind it, this one’s a clear winner in my book.

OK, you know what to do, folks.Give ’til it hurts (or just get someone else to if you’re broke from giving Double Fine all your money earlier). As for me, I need to have a Kickstarter project going just to help me pay for these games, grrrrr. Hmmm… it might be time to eBay a few old games again. Now, all someone needs to do is get an Anvil of Dawn PC reboot/remake going. I’d be all over that in a heartbeat, whether it was to create character or environment art or help plan out the storyline.

Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter Update: More, More, More (How Do You Like It, How Do You Like It?)

Posted on March 9, 2012 by geelw

Like the Energizer Bunny, the DFA project is still going strong at over 2.5 million dollars raised so far. But, there are only THREE days left to donate to the cause of great games (or at least great games from Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert and company). Check out the new-ish video above and click on over to the official Kickstarter page to send some cents (well, a few hundred cents or more) to the team so that can make this the best Double Fine Adventure ever! NEW rewards have been added since I last posted such as a $100 pledge getting you a BOXED copy of the game (oooooh!), a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary and a super cool T-shirt. That all makes me say hey, I want to see Psychonauts get a sequel at some point and not just as a download-only title!

Oh yeah, +10 if you got the Andrea True Connection reference…

Double Fine Adventure Update: Fun WIth Ron & Tim

Posted on February 25, 2012 by geelw

Hmmm. It’s way too early in the morning, but I’m up, so here’s a post to read and a long as heck video to watch that’s pretty funny. I made the mistake of watching Mars Needs Moms last night, so this 35-plus minutes actually negated a chunk of that awful film from my memory. Man, was it lousy (it did have some nice animation work, though). Anyway, next time I can’t sleep, I’ll go play a game instead (like Double Fine Adventure, perhaps?)

Double Fine Adventure Update #1: Tim Goes Platforming, Money Still Rolling In…

Posted on February 17, 2012 by geelw

Well, the game is hugely popular, big name publishers are kicking themselves in the face and butt simultaneously and all sorts of game projects are looking to Kickstarter or other crowd funding sources as all of a sudden people realize that SAYING a genre is dead because you’re too damn lazy to make games and drum up interest for them is a LOT different than allowing developers who KNOW what they’re doing to make the games they want to make in the first place…

Remember kids, just because something is popular (i.e., makes a ton of money automatically year by year), doesn’t mean it’s actually GOOD. Class dis-missed!

Toy Fair 2012: Loog – Because Everyone Needs A DIY Guitar…

Posted on February 14, 2012 by geelw

There were a lot of musical instruments at Toy Fair geared to kids, but, NYC-based Loog Guitars was probably my favorite booth to drop by. Loog creator, founder and CEO Rafael Atijas was there (dressed more like an average guy and not like a stuffy CEO, by the way) with his Kickstarter-funded creation drawing much interest at the show. From the quality (and simply finished) wood in three body styles to the plain yet distinctive packaging and adult-sized neck option,this is something that’s a great DIY gift for anyone wanting to get into the instrument. While there have been kid-sized guitars made for ages, the three-string Loog is wonderfully cool because you assemble it yourself. And that assembly is amazingly simple, as you can see in the above video.

If what you see gets you thinking your kid (or perhaps even you) might want one of these nifty kits, well… you know what to do (click on that link above, of course). Currently, only an acoustic model is available, but I know there’s some creative hacker out there that’s going to electrify his or her Loog and show it off soon enough…

Double Fine Breaks Kickstarter Record, Gamers Get Even More Wild Ideas…

Posted on February 10, 2012 by geelw

Wow. I figured Tim Schafer and the team at Double Fine Studios would come out ahead in the end with their awesome Kickstarter project, but this is ridiculous (in the best possible way). With 32 still days left toward what was initially a $400,000 goal, they’ve broken $1 MILLION DOLLARS (actually, they’re getting close to 1.2 million as I write this) with no end in sight to the love (and money) being offered up by the gamers out there. Of course, this wild success has led to a ton of message board activity about getting game publishers large and small such as Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Capcom, Xseed, Akysys and many (many) others to start using Kickstarter to fund all sorts of canceled projects from Shenmue 3 to Starcraft: Ghost to collections of out of production RPGs to new IP that was never released anywhere but Japan.

Unfortunately, for those folks rubbing their hands together over the thought of playing that unreleased game of their dreams, all that wishful thinking isn’t going to do much good. The process of getting a game made, particularly something out of production or a new IP that involves a lot more than a small to medium-sized dev team isn’t exactly as simple matter of setting up a Kickstarter page, getting the word out and raking in the cash. Check out this really interesting post on Wired that goes into some nice detail on just what things need to be aligned in order for the process to happen. Hey, even I thought it would be a simple thing too, but a nice reality check helps in slapping the delusions away…