Lighting up the adventure game news today, Double Fine Adventures--meaning, Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion fame, and Tim Schafer, of Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango fame--launched a Kickstarter to fund a new adventure game and film the process of making it! And hot damn, their numbers are rocketing!
Check it out and donate here (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure)!
This is pretty freaking exciting news for the genre! Not to mention what their project's target of $400K would mean--take that anyone who said adventure games can't bring in the profits! Their target amount blows way past the currently most funded video games on KS, so this will be really interesting to watch develop!
Isn't Notch (see: Minecraft) working with them on something as well?
And yeah that goal is just insane.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!!!
Here! TAKE MY MONEY!! TAKE ALL OF IT!!!! :o :o :o
Quote from: Lambonius on February 08, 2012, 08:30:59 PM
Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!!!!
Here! TAKE MY MONEY!! TAKE ALL OF IT!!!! :o :o :o
Judging by them raising almost 150K
already, a sentiment shared by many!
They're up over $220,000 already. This could easily become one of the highest grossing Kickstarter projects EVER.
And there goes a quarter mil. Holy **** **** ********. That's all I have to say about it.
My god!!! That is just amazingly crazy!!!
OH MY GOD. They are funded in less than 24 hours since the kickstarter thing started. That is just ABSURD.
A great day for adventure games indeed!!!!
Holy hell. They're at 500K in less than 24 hours. :shock:
That doesn't accurately portray my shock. I need a new smiley for this. Here we go.
(http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss94/jaybo2099/th_468_jaw_dropping.gif)
Hahaha....well, thanks to my contribution, they are up to $526,675. I'm sure it'll go much higher, too, since there are 33 DAYS LEFT.
I have to admit, I almost feel silly about our raising $34k in the time we did at the moment--but, I AM still proud of that. And my envy of their completely well-earned and righteous success aside, this is a HUGE victory for adventure games everywhere! Dead genre, huh? Not financially feasible, huh? Take that!
Quote from: KatieHal on February 09, 2012, 07:38:30 AM
I have to admit, I almost feel silly about our raising $34k in the time we did at the moment--but, I AM still proud of that. And my envy of their completely well-earned and righteous success aside, this is a HUGE victory for adventure games everywhere! Dead genre, huh? Not financially feasible, huh? Take that!
They are way over $600,000 now. The last $100,000 basically happened over the course of about an hour and a half!!! Holy s***.
I figure they'll break the million mark sometime today, which makes it totally feasible for them to hit 2 or even 3 million in the next month. I am just beyond fascinated to see how this goes.
That's just insane. XD
They've already broken most $ raised in 24 hours, and most backers.
The MOST Funded project ever, so far, is this iTouch watch (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1104350651/tiktok-lunatik-multi-touch-watch-kits) that earned $942,578. If Double Fine breaks that--which I cannot imagine them NOT doing at this point!--they will be the most funded project ever on Kickstarter.
As I write this, they are at $702,935.
Yep, there it goes. 700 THOUSAND DOLLARS. They're going to have to hire a team of people just to keep all the backers organized. Not that they'll be complaining.
They'll break that watch thing's record by the end of today.
They're less than 90k shy of double what they were asking. (that's double fine! I know bad pun)
And you know what really blows my mind??? THEIR VIDEO DOESN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAME ITSELF. This is beyond stunning.
Just goes to show, there's an audience for this. Wish publishers (and Telltale) would realize this.
660,000 in a day and a half.
If I donate as well do I get a balloon Robert Frost?
Quote from: wilco64256 on February 09, 2012, 10:39:43 AM
And you know what really blows my mind??? THEIR VIDEO DOESN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAME ITSELF. This is beyond stunning.
It doesn't have to. The developers are so well-known that people will have faith in whatever they might produce.
Aaaaand now they are well over $800,000. That's 200% funding in what--less than a day? Amazing.
This is crazypants!!
(http://c0036113.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/webfinalcppants2.jpg)
They have over 21,000 backers already. They're going to have to hire an entire team of people just to manage the backers groups. They're going to break the million today, I have no doubt about that.
Hmm, it looks some OTHER project was the first to break 1 mil: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hop/elevation-dock-the-best-dock-for-iphone
Of course, Double Fine is obviously doing it in record time!
Annnnnnd 900K reached.
OVER 1 MILLION RAISED.
Quote from: KatieHal on February 09, 2012, 05:04:14 PM
OVER 1 MILLION RAISED.
Actually, it's now getting closer to $1,100,000--so get ready to add a couple more hundred thousand to that! :)
Quote from: Deloria on February 09, 2012, 12:01:18 PM
Quote from: wilco64256 on February 09, 2012, 10:39:43 AM
And you know what really blows my mind??? THEIR VIDEO DOESN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAME ITSELF. This is beyond stunning.
It doesn't have to. The developers are so well-known that people will have faith in whatever they might produce.
Yeah I'd say if anyone was going to get this kind of support, it'd have to be Tim Schafer. I think you can make a strong argument that he has the best reputation out of everyyone in the industry.
Grim Fandango recently came as number 1 in that best 100 games list from Adventure Gamers. Alongside other Lucas Games in the top 10. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the decision of Tim wanting to do this.
Quote from: Cez on February 09, 2012, 08:43:10 PM
Grim Fandango recently came as number 1 in that best 100 games list from Adventure Gamers. Alongside other Lucas Games in the top 10. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the decision of Tim wanting to do this.
Eh...I'm not so sure--I'm not sure how known that site is--is that the kind of thing Tim Schafer would even take notice of? Also, I have to say, I kinda think those guys are total hacks over at Adventure Gamers. That list reeks of someone with no taste in good adventure games. Though I do think many of the games on the list deserved to be there--the ordering was WAY off--and there were many blatant omissions.
But hey--I love the way this thing has been unfolding. It's been amazing to watch! :)
Oh look, they broke 1.2 MILLION dollars. My brain cannot comprehend that kind of money. Or cookies.
Quote from: wilco64256 on February 10, 2012, 01:45:37 AM
Oh look, they broke 1.2 MILLION dollars. My brain cannot comprehend that kind of money. Or cookies.
That's awesome.
Bt
Quote from: Lambonius on February 09, 2012, 10:09:07 PM
Eh...I'm not so sure--I'm not sure how known that site is--is that the kind of thing Tim Schafer would even take notice of? Also, I have to say, I kinda think those guys are total hacks over at Adventure Gamers. That list reeks of someone with no taste in good adventure games. Though I do think many of the games on the list deserved to be there--the ordering was WAY off--and there were many blatant omissions.
But hey--I love the way this thing has been unfolding. It's been amazing to watch! :)
Then it's really more accurate to say that person doesn't have YOUR taste in adventure games.
Myself, I haven't played Grim Fandango yet, but I've been hearing it's great for years now. Between that and having donated to Double Fine here, I really ought to go find that and finally play it! I've tried Maniac Mansion, and naturally been totally baffled by it. I had fun exploring the house, but of course got really stuck when it came to the whole getting your friends out of the dungeon thing.
Also, 1.3 million now.
I tried Grim Fandango. Never cared for it. The music I especially didn't like. I just disliked the vibe of the entire game. Yet it's so praised for its story, gameplay, AND soundtrack. I'll get around to it eventually, but my first experience with it was grim at best (I'm sorry!).
(Posted on: February 10, 2012, 11:21:12 AM)
Also, tweeted by Notch:
(http://i.imgur.com/LFspv.jpg)
Quote from: MusicallyInspired on February 10, 2012, 08:21:12 AM
I tried Grim Fandango. Never cared for it. The music I especially didn't like. I just disliked the vibe of the entire game. Yet it's so praised for its story, gameplay, AND soundtrack. I'll get around to it eventually, but my first experience with it was grim at best (I'm sorry!).
It suffers from a bad case of moon logic. I had a walkthrough on hand the entire time, some solutions are just bizarre.
Otherwise all that other praise you mentioned, spot on from where I'm standing. :P
When this was first announced, I was pleasantly surprised. Now I'm just sh***ing myself by how much money they've managed to earn in such a short time period. I will most definitely be adding some money to their kickstarter. This is amazing. It's a testament to the adventure genre and its fans. If this were truly a dead genre, then how did this project become the most funded (and quickest to achieve funding) project in the history of Kickstarter? Furthermore, why are some of the game developers of yore not only still around, but widely hailed as some of the best in the industry? Why has GOG seen success? We're not a dead genre or a dead fanbase by any means. Yes, we've shrunken, and games like Call of Duty have taken the spotlight over us, but we're still here, and we're a force to be reckoned with. I dare say that the adventure genre has some of the most passionate fans in the entire video game industry; not only do we take it upon ourselves to create (amazing) fan-games, but we also keep buying the old games through completely legal means when available.
The adventure genre is starting its second generation of life, and it will be a prosperous one. Studios need to realize that adventure games *ARE* profitable, but only if they're made with care and dedication. They need to be made for the fans, not for a quick cash fix. Achieving over a million dollars in funding in less than 48 hours is simply an astonishing feat, and every major game studio should take a second look at the genre; we're coming back, and we're not gonna be quiet about it.
Most game production studios are huge enterprises, with game profits reaching astronomical heights (Hundreds of Millions to Billions!)..... The mainstream publishers are too big for their britches, and the profits on these would be peanuts to those fat cats.
However, it still leaves room for independent game makers to carve out a decent living. I don't want a Lear Jet, but to pay my bills from making computer games sure would be nice.
Bt
Ron Gilbert himself said it best. The future of innovative and well written video games is in the indie market. Double Fine may not be indie, but they're treating this project as indie as anything else. Let the big enterprises make their "best sellers" if they want, but keep some room for the truly inspiring and creative stuff as well! And it's in indie. It's in indie because they are truly passionate gamers doing it for the love and the (dare I say it) art, and not so much the money. Not as much as the big giants, anyway.
Screw publishers and screw the short-sighted big (and small) game developer labels.
I hate the term "indie." What a stupid, pretentious, FAKE f****** label. What does it really mean? INDEPENDENT. Anything without corporate backing is BY DEFINITION, "indie." "Indie" is not a genre, it is not a style. It is a description for a source of revenue. Double Fine is not ALWAYS "indie," but this project absolutely is, because its financing is coming from independent, non-corporate sources.
F***BALLS.
**I like that "f***balls" doesn't trigger the censor, yet "p****" (the proper anatomical word for the male reproductive organ) does. Lame.
Dark-Daventry edit: The censor may not have picked it up, but I did. Your post has now been censored. Please don't use such language here; this is a family friendly forum.
Alternatively, knowing that it's something that would be censored, you could do it yourself. :P We are trying to keep it relatively family-friendly here.
Also, I've never heard of "Indie" being used as a video game genre. I mean, I guess it might be used to describe "art" games, but honestly I've only ever heard it used as a music genre. I mean, that doesn't make any more sense than what you're talking about, but that's not what's going on here. :P
Usually, indie just means the opposite of AAA. Basically anything that's self-published and then distributed via Steam or XBLA. I've never seen it refer to a genre of game. :P
Lambonius, I have edited and self-censored your post; please don't use such language again. As Rosella said, this forum is family-friendly.
As for indie as a genre, I see it all the time, though I suppose more-so in movies than in video games. There's a section on Netflix just for indies. I think it comes down to a mindset, really. A lot of people have just associated the word Indie as a genre.
I've personally never understood all the praise behind Grim Fandango, but I did enjoy it. We will never fully agree with "best-lists", but it's safe enough to say that people didn't pull them out of nowhere. I'd personally fill the list with Sierra games at the top 10, but even I admit that LucasArts always seemed to lead what was popular and what was "better". So, I'm not surprised to see so many of them populating the top 10 list.
It's the same argument we've always seen about what's the best King's Quest. The popular feeling ALWAYS has pointed to King's Quest VI, and this list reflects that, with the game making it to the top 20. Whether you feel King's Quest V is the better game IS a personal feeling, not what overall the masses or the critics have considered over the years. But there's nothing wrong with that either. I for example would have never put Riven in that list at all, BUT, I know Riven "deserves" its spot. I just personally don't like it.
I would guess Tim S saw this list. Jane Jensen doesn't frequent the site either, but a lot of people made sure she saw it when she placed 3 of her games at the top 20, one of them (GK2... YES!) at number 3. Same with the Sierra people if you notice what was posted about in facebook in their profiles, etc. I'm sure Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert saw it. They have too many fans and I'm sure it was many that congratulated them for making it to the top 10 and top game --and, in general, adventure gamers all agree. So I'm sure that triggered a lot of nostalgia.
Right. The whole "indie-as-genre" thing was sort of a separate, unrelated rant that was triggered by MI's use of the term. ;) No worries.
I have a problem with any top 100 Adventure Games list that includes "historically significant" games like KQ1, but not KQ5, since KQ5 not only brought adventure games into VGA but also effectively brought Sierra games into the Point and Click interface, and thus is easily more historically significant than half the games that actually MADE the list. I don't think anyone could convincingly argue that KQ1 is a better game than KQ5 based on gameplay, story, or production values alone, so really, its placement on that list comes from pure historical significance. But then, they skip other "historically significant" games like KQ5. The list just seems so incredibly arbitrary--like it's using totally inconsistent criteria by which to judge which games make the list and in which spots. It's a problem of consistency--they need to define the criteria ahead of time, and then stick to it. That list doesn't do that at all.
Additionally, AdventureGamers is wildly inconsistent in the objectivity of its reviews. In fact, the reviews on that site are often SO biased, SO colored by nostalgia, that I have a hard time understanding why they even do reviews at all. The whole point of reading a game review, even one of an old game, is to find out whether the game would be worth one's time to play. Again, because of total inconsistency in defining the criteria by which scores are given, AdventureGamers negates the whole point of doing game reviews in the first place, rendering their reviews effectively worthless.
So in conclusion: I just think it's a stupid site run by a*******. HUMBUG!
This is truly amazing. Unbelievable result.
It's like a glorious middle finger to publishers who say there is no market for adventure games.
Look what happens when you cut out the all-knowing middleman?
The fact is that people are sick of a lot of this garbage that comes out. If Mario weren't being reworked and broadened out to other fanbases (RPG, Racing, et al), it would just be same ol', same ol'. That's happening way too often. If I see another Banjo Kazooie game that just does the same platforming, direction-shifting junk that they've all done, I'm going to scream. These games are just repeats with better technology. People are getting sick of it.
That's why so many fangames are coming out - the people want to make their own choices, since the corporate Fat Cats are just out for "what's been working", instead of what people really want. Unfortunately, there are even "Adventure Game Developers" (like TellTale) who just want to be lazy slugs making games for other lazy slugs. "Casual Games" or "Mindless Games"? You decide.
I like that there are developers bringing back the thought process. Shoot, it's been gone from games for so long that it'll be nice to see some REAL adventure game enthusiasts at work. As long as it's enjoyable, without a bad case of "Try to guess what the designers thought was intuitive", like the Samorost games. I'm looking forward to the future of adventure games. I'm tired of seeing a "1001 Rip-offs of Myst", like the Nancy Drew casual gaming series. We need a third-person view, and we need to THINK FOR OURSELVES! NO MORE JURASSIC PARK!! Now's the time of Reformation!! ¡Sí se puede! ¡Sí se puede!
Oh shut up, Lamb. :P I never said that indie was a genre, nor do I believe it is. So there. 8) I'm curious to know what it was I said that made you think I did, though, as I was completely and totally talking about funding, backing, and publishing as opposed to genre. Besides the fact that saying indie is a genre is stupid, saying that the "indie genre" is the future of gaming is just stupid and short sighted. You really think that lowly of me?? :suffer:
I don't think he was referring to you personally, MI - but there has been a trend to classify "indie" as a genre, which absurd. I blame hipsters.
I think you just accidentally triggered it in him. You know... he sees red, goes crazy. El Toro.
Bt
Oh I figured, I'm just IA-ing around.
DawsonJ, I have to agree with you. While I like some of what Telltale has done, the fact is that they're really the only "mainstream" adventure game publisher around these days. It's great to see Double Fine coming back to the genre. I'm excited to see what they can come up with. A company comprised of some of the best in the industry, plus they all have a passion for what they do; it should be good!
Quote from: Blackthorne on February 11, 2012, 08:17:10 AM
I don't think he was referring to you personally, MI - but there has been a trend to classify "indie" as a genre, which absurd. I blame hipsters.
I think you just accidentally triggered it in him. You know... he sees red, goes crazy. El Toro.
Bt
Exactly this. ;) Sorry, MI. You brought out the beast within.
**OH GOD, NOT A GABRIEL KNIGHT 2 REFERENCE!!!!!!! WHAT HAVE I BECOME!?!?!?!
MWAHAHAHA!!
also, I enjoy the idea of "IA" becoming a verb. "Take it easy man, I'm just IAing with you!" Haha.
So.....Psychonauts 2 anyone? My fingers are crossed. :)
Quote from: Enchantermon on February 11, 2012, 07:08:04 PM
So.....Psychonauts 2 anyone? My fingers are crossed. :)
That won't be this one. Psychonauts is more of a platformer than a point-and-click. However, it's been in the news a bit lately that Notch is going to pitch in to help them make Psychonauts 2. Which is awesome.
Quote from: dark-daventry on February 11, 2012, 09:38:58 AM
DawsonJ, I have to agree with you. While I like some of what Telltale has done, the fact is that they're really the only "mainstream" adventure game publisher around these days. It's great to see Double Fine coming back to the genre. I'm excited to see what they can come up with. A company comprised of some of the best in the industry, plus they all have a passion for what they do; it should be good!
I'm just glad we've got a few "Up-and-Comers", like WizarBox ("So Blonde" Series) (http://games.wizarbox.com/) and Daedalic ("Deponia", "Whispered World" and "Edna & Harvey"/"Harvey's New Eyes") (http://www.daedalic.de), who are making better quality games. I wonder where the fangame groups are going after their projects finish. Certainly "Cognition", "Al Emmo" and "Mage's Initiation" show some real future potential for these groups.
Quote from: KatieHal on February 11, 2012, 04:03:03 PM
MWAHAHAHA!!
also, I enjoy the idea of "IA" becoming a verb. "Take it easy man, I'm just IAing with you!" Haha.
Haha totally. That would probably help our reputation! :D
Quote from: wilco64256 on February 11, 2012, 07:44:14 PMThat won't be this one. Psychonauts is more of a platformer than a point-and-click. However, it's been in the news a bit lately that Notch is going to pitch in to help them make Psychonauts 2. Which is awesome.
Oh, I didn't know that it was PnC; I haven't read much about it. Oh well; as long as it's still a possibility at some point, I'm happy. :)
And they have broken 2 million!
People take tweets way too seriously. Notch tweeted once that he would help fund a Psychonauts 2. That's it. It was a semi-joke. He did say he wanted to meet with Tim at GDC and discuss the possibility. There are no difinitive plans.