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Insert Coin: 2012's top 10 crowd-funded projects
This trip around the sun has been a monumental one for crowdfunding, marked by big projects and astronomical numbers. Take Kickstarter wunderkind OUYA, for example, which raised more than $8.5 million in funding from 63,416 backers. Kickstarter itself has even grown and matured, expanding to the UK and putting its foot down when it comes to pitching hardware by requiring working prototypes and assessments of risks and challenges. Out of the 60 crowdfunding efforts that crossed our desks as Insert Coins in 2012, 47 were successfully funded, four still have time to rake in funds and nine fell short of their goals or were otherwise stymied. We've handpicked and placed the top 10 projects that won our hearts and, on occasion, our hard-earned scratch after the break.
Insert Coin: Emukey EK1 runs mouse, keyboard macros purely from hardware (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Software testers don't have it easy these days. While it's been possible for ages to record keyboard and mouse commands as macros, quality assurance teams sometimes can't have any tracking software running -- a real pain when trying to recreate a bug in an online RPG or other input-heavy apps. Emukey's proposed EK1 box could save testers from manual troubleshooting by running those macros from hardware. By taking scripts pushed out from a host Windows PC, the EK1 can run pre-recorded keyboard and mouse instructions on a slave PC without any software interference. The script-based approach makes it easy to reproduce a glitch on other machines by sharing files, and the use of PS/2 peripherals (with USB adapters if needed) prevents lag from skewing the results.
FlipSide case for iPhone packs stealthy game controls, plays on solar power (video)
The perpetual challenge of developing an iPhone-friendly gamepad (or any phone-oriented gamepad) is the bulk, either for a gargantuan case or else a separate controller. If Justice Frangipane's team and iDevices have their way, that clunkiness will be a distant memory. Their proposed FlipSide case for iPhones (we see a prototype here) centers on Bluetooth 4.0 gamepad controls that stay clipped to the back when just checking email, but attach to the front for playtime. They'll save us from hunting down a wall outlet, too; the combination of a sensitive solar cell and a thin film battery from Infinite Power Solutions should keep the case powered up through even indoor lighting. The only real challenge is getting the case produced, as Frangipane is looking for crowdfunding to make the FlipSide a reality. Provided his group makes its donation target, though, there's the prospect of an Android version -- so those who don't play the iOS way could still reap the rewards if they chip in at the source link.
Frontier teases Elite: Dangerous scavenger hunt video
Another day, another Elite: Dangerous teaser video. But hey, this is a good thing, right? Yes, yes it is, especially because every little reveal helps build a bit of momentum for Frontier's crowdfunding project that's closing in on crunch time. Today's clip is called Scavenger Hunt, and it's exactly what it sounds like, albeit with a satisfying explosion at the end. Elite has exactly 14 days remaining on its Kickstarter drive and it's coming up on £900,000 (the goal is £1.25 million). Check out the vid after the break and then head to the fundraising site to learn more about the project.
MMO Blender: Mike's spaceflight of fancy
You know what I love? Space. Not real space, so much; real space is a vast expanse of horrors that generally confound and cripple the mind if considered too seriously. I'm talking about "space," as in the setting of some of our favorite movies, games, and cancelled television properties. The problem with space, of course, is that it is a setting and not a story. You can't prime an audience by simply shouting, "Space!" The space needs context. Is it "final frontier" space? Is it the space in which your screams go unheard? The greatest space tales have always used the deep black as a backdrop, not a subject. My perfect MMO would almost certainly take place in space, but the way in which the space is used is what makes it worth playing.
'Project V-13' kind of returning through Black Isle fund drive
"Project V-13" has returned from obscurity, tied to another name returning under mysterious circumstances: Black Isle Studios. Interplay's mystery studio, which former Black Isle founders are not involved with and don't really know about, has started a funding drive for a game called "Project V13," a "post-apocalyptic strategy RPG," introducing the longtime Interplay staff working on the game.The original plan for Project V-13 was to make an MMO in the Fallout universe, a plan that is no longer possible, because Interplay no longer owns the rights to make a Fallout MMO, following a protracted legal battle with Bethesda.There's no evidence that this new version is massively multiplayer. Its strategy RPG gameplay involves character creation, and rebuilding and management of facilities within an abandoned "colony." There are references to "meeting friends" and "fighting neighbors," suggesting some kind of multiplayer, but this game is very likely neither Fallout nor MMO. "PV13 has been in development for years," the funding site notes, "but we've had to make some major changes recently. We believe the changes are for the better and we're excited about working on this new iteration of PV13."The fund drive is Mayan Apocalypse-themed, of course. By paying into the fund drive, you move a countdown clock forward, postponing the apocalypse, as it were. You also get access to a backer-only forum.What you don't get is the game. The funds raised will go toward a "prototype," which will then be shopped around to raise additional development budget. There's no indication on the website that backers will get access to this prototype, either. So, while you may think of Kickstarters as extended pre-orders, this non-Kickstarter drive should be seen as more of a "donation."
The Daily Grind: Do you support Kickstarter projects you don't plan to play?
Yesterday's news of Chris Roberts stumping for rival Kickstarter projects was interesting both for its subject matter and for some of the responses it provoked. It also got me to thinking about crowdfunding in general and its long-term future from a gamer's perspective. For every runaway success like Star Citizen, it seems there are a dozen projects that fail to meet their fundraising goals (and even more that offer up half-baked ideas, poorly communicated). The service does give passionate gamers a way to speak directly with their wallets, and it can neatly bypass the red tape inherent in game publishing as Roberts explained. It can also be a money pit, though, and I suspect that folks like Roberts who support multiple projects for the good of the industry are a rarity. What do you think, Massively readers? Assuming you pledge to Kickstarter projects, do you support only those you plan to play or are you backing multiple games in order to change the way games are made? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Star Citizen's Roberts supports Elite, Project GODUS, says you should too
Star Citizen head honcho Chris Roberts may be busy heading up the revival of the space sim genre, but he's not too busy to make a case for a couple of high profile Kickstarter projects. In a lengthy post on SC's official site, Roberts shows his support for Elite: Dangerous and Peter Molyneux's Project GODUS and urges backers of Star Citizen to do the same. Roberts outlines a number of reasons why SC's overwhelming Kickstarter success has invigorated the dev team, chief among them the sense of satisfaction stemming from the ability to send a message "to the business and marketing machines that normally decide which games are made. You said they are not the taste makers for you, that you want your voice heard on what kind of game you play and you want to have a greater involvement and connection to the development of that game." Both Elite and GODUS are well short of their Kickstarter goals and nearing the end of their fundraising window. Roberts outlines what each game brings to the table and even touches on Molyneux's tendency to over-promise and under-deliver before ultimately concluding that Elite and GODUS are worthy of support for both gameplay reasons and the opportunity they're affording gamers to continue changing the industry. With crowdfunding you cut the middle man out. No retailer. No publisher driven by the demands of its shareholders for quarterly profits. Instead you build the game directly for the audience that wants the game for the right reasons -- because they want to play it. This is an exciting shift in the dynamic and something gaming needs unless everyone wants no other choice other than to buy yearly sequels to one of a limited number of gaming brands that the big publishers focus on. [Thanks to Ken for the tip!]
Elite: Dangerous developer lays off 14 staffers
Elite: Dangerous developer Frontier handed out lumps of Christmas coal to several staffers last week according to a report at Eurogamer. "Frontier regretfully has given a total of 14 people (from a staff of 233) notice that their roles are redundant, across art (nine), animation (three), and audio (two) disciplines. This is due to the changing mix of skills requirements for our current and future projects -- it is not a reflection on the company's prospects, which remain healthy," said company managing director David Walsh. Frontier was founded by Elite co-creator David Braben in 1994. The company's Kickstarter project has raised nearly £800,000 against its £1,250,000 goal with 18 days left to go.
Star Citizen's Roberts: 'We'll compete with any AAA game out there'
Star Citizen wasn't always first on Chris Roberts' to-do list as he pondered his eventual return to the video game industry. The Wing Commander guru originally thought he'd need to make some sort of console game to reestablish himself while developing Star Citizen's technology concurrently. In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Roberts explains how and why he skipped the appetizer and went right to the main course. "I was thinking, 'Do I really want to spend three years working on a next-gen console game that would ship just after the new consoles are out to a very small customer base?' It would get a month's worth of play and they'd be on to the next thing. So I cut out the first step," Roberts explains. The emergence of crowd-funding enabled the rapid realization of Star Citizen's development team, and the project's success has also given rise to new notions of community involvement with gamemakers. "We're going to treat our backers essentially as we would a publisher, where you work towards milestones and then have a show-and-tell on the new features and the latest build," Roberts says. "The community has financed the game, so it should get that level of respect." Going it alone, or at least without a publisher, will also allow Cloud Imperium Games to eliminate slow decision-making and get more value out of SC's $7 million in pledges. "I'm confident now that we'll be able to compete with any AAA game out there," Roberts says.
Insert Coin: Transporter, the collaborative, internet connected, peer-to-peer storage hub (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. Although cloud storage is a mainstay of modern teamwork, there's any number of problems that come along with trusting it explicitly: the limited space for the money, the heavy dependence on a constant connection and the risk that a hack could expose sensitive projects. Veterans from Drobo, Sling Media and TiVo (among others) think they've got a much safer solution in the Transporter, a dedicated internet connected storage hub. Once online, the funnel-shaped device stores and automatically syncs files with the Transporters of invited friends and groups -- and only their Transporters. The focused sharing space keeps data both private and accessible offline, while free accounts limit the costs to the hub and a 2.5-inch hard drive, if it isn't already in the box.
GravityLight uses weight to illuminate without batteries or fuel (video)
The lack of reliable electricity in developing countries puts a damper on more than just technology use -- having to run kerosene lamps, or even those based on solar power, often involves recurring costs that whittle away at very modest incomes. GravityLight has built an LED lamp that just might lift the burden. As the name implies, a weight (usually the very bag that the lamp ships in) generates electricity through natural force: the few seconds it takes to lift the weight can generate 30 minutes of light without ever replacing a battery or fuel supply. The simple construction also has helpful side benefits, such as powering up other devices and a clip that can replace the bag with most anything that weighs around 20 pounds. The crowdfunded project's donation tiers ask $25 to donate a light to the developing world or $50 to also get one for yourself, but it's a small price to pay in the long run -- and when mass production should see prices fall below $5, the GravityLight might just change the lighting landscape for those who need it most.
The Think Tank: Is Kickstarter a fad or the new standard?
The funny thing about opinions is that everyone has one. While we celebrate that fact on an individual basis with our wildly popular column The Soapbox, often times the rest of the Massively team wants to weigh in on a particularly hot topic as well. Think Tank is a new column that will act as a roundtable of opinions from the Massively staff on today's hottest MMO topics. We're all MMO gamers, and we all love to talk about the genre, so this is our place to do it. And as always, you're welcome to share your own opinion and let us know what you think about the topic each week in the comments. For this inaugural installment, we're going to tackle the question of crowdfunding. Is Kickstarter just a fad, or will it redefine game publishing as we've known it?
Pathfinder Online begins second Kickstarter project
Earlier this year, the folks at Goblinworks created a Kickstarter project for the tech demo version of their fantasy sandbox MMO Pathfinder Online. Not only did the team crush their initial goal of $50,000, but they went on to raise over $300,000 to create the demo. The Kickstarter bug seems to still be biting because the studio has announced another Kickstarter project for the completion of the game. With a new goal of one meeeellion dollars, Goblinworks hopes to expand from their tech demo and utilize the new team to make the very best Pathfinder Online possible. The new design crew consists of former developers from CCP, Cryptic, Zenimax, Turbine, and more, so you can see why this is an exciting project for MMO fans. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter page updates with early procedural footage
Elite: Dangerous has updated its Kickstarter page with another video featuring creator David Braben. Normally this would be exciting news, but since the game is little more than theory at this point, the video is little more than seven minutes of Braben talking about how awesome it's going to be. There is a wee bit of footage featuring procedurally generated rocks, stars, and clouds (all of which look, well, early), but it seems as if we're a long ways from proper gameplay footage and feature sets. The good news is that Braben is quite enthusiastic and that the project is about halfway to its fund-raising goal with 49 days to go. You can view the video in its entirety after the break.
Avenger Advantage launches lever-laden Def-Con 4 controller on Kickstarter (video)
Avenger Advantage has been bringing tricked out game controllers to Xbox and PS3 for a while now, and it's just upped the hardcore quotient with a new Kickstarter model: the Def-Con 4. On top of the array of levers from the last Avenger that keep hand movement to a minimum, the new model will bring an extra palm lever, chrome-plated aesthetics and increased ruggedness, according to its creator. The company also promised extra goodies to early adopters like triggers and gel caps, though it should be noted that its last funding project, the Delta Six gun, was cancelled. If you're still willing to pony up for what looks like the T-800's personal controller, a $50 minimum chip-in will get you one -- hit the source or PR after the break to see how.
Star Citizen makes final crowd-funding push, dogfight video released
There's less than a week to go in Star Citizen's crowd-funding push, and Chris Roberts has produced a new video short in which he challenges space sim fans to help his company over the $4 million hump. If the new stretch goal is met, it will allow for more mod tools, an expanded version of the Squadron 42 single-player component, and a larger free-roam universe for the multiplayer game, which is apparently still two years away. Roberts has also released an early gameplay video showing off a cockpit view, wingman AI, and a brief dogfight. He says the video is far from representative of the final product but useful for gauging the progress of Star Citizen's advanced AI system. "The Squadron 42/Star Citizen pilot AI will be the most sophisticated AI that I've attempted on any of my games. My goal is to take the ideas that I pioneered with Wing Commander and later games -- distinct personalities, dynamic learning, signature moves -- to the next level with the power of modern CPUs," Roberts explains. See both videos in their entirety after the cut.
Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter page updated with video, concept art
What is it with super-cool space sim reboots and their gooftastic titles? First it was Star Citizen, and now there's Elite: Dangerous, which, with a name like that, should probably feature a soundtrack by Kenny Loggins. In any event, Frontier's Kickstarter page has updated with some concept images and a new video. This is quite a step up from last Tuesday's announcement that was heavy on nostalgia and light on everything else. The video is mostly David Braben talking, though to be fair, he does chat up some cool stuff including procedural generation and adding do-anything-you-can-imagine multiplayer to Elite's vast universe. Head to the official Elite Kickstarter page for further info, and have a look at Braben's video after the break.
Massively Exclusive: Hailan Rising's devs on PvP, death, and player loot tables
Hailan Rising is more than halfway through its Kickstarter campaign with quite a long trek still to go for funding, but we took a good look at the game's description and really liked what we saw. It's a game that is labeling itself as "DAoC meets CoD" and being developed by some important industry vets. But as with any Kickstarter project, there are always questions. We see what's being promised with the game, but we want to know more. So we gathered together a few of our biggest concerns for the Reloaded Productions team to see what this thing is all about. As Kickstarter projects are still a dime a dozen these days, we want to know what sets the team's game apart from the rest. Follow along after the cut for our interview with Adam Smith and Jess Mulligan from Reloaded Productions.
Star Citizen well ahead of crowd-funding schedule, stretch goals added
Chris Roberts' Star Citizen is one of the more successful gaming-related crowd-funding projects to date, and even though there's still two weeks left until the Kickstarter drive closes, the title has already exceeded its $2 million goal by almost $800,000. What's going to happen to that extra money, then? It's partly up to the game's community. The Star Citizen site boasts a new poll with additional stretch goals. Choices include more ships, star systems, NPCs, an enhanced FPS mode, Linux and Mac clients, and some sort of tactical command mode for capital ships. As of press time, new flyable ships and additional star systems were leading the vote.
