Since we don't have a general kickstarter thread I figured I would put one up.

For those who don't know Kickstarter is basically a crowd-based funding website. You can list up a project you want to do, be it a movie, game, book, music, whatever you can think of. You then set a goal for funding and anyone that's intersted in helping you make it can put in some money in whatever amount they want to.There's a time you can set on it (30 days, two months, etc).

Now you have to set a goal to hit, if your project doesn't meet it's goal for funding (say you set the goal at 2k and it hits 1.3k) you won't get any money. This way no one loses anything, no money changes hands until the end of the time and the goal has to be met. Then the money is collected , kickstarter takes their cut of it and passes the rest to you.

You entice people to pledge by actually showing them things, you creditionals, who you are, what your goal is. Then you set various "rewards" for the tiers that people can pledge at, from getting your game/movie/music (usually hte lowest tier, since they are funding it) then collectibles and even trips to meet and have a studio tour, etc for the higher tiers (1k+ donations usually).

With the recent Tim Schafer project that gained a huge amount of attention and really set kickstarter off there have been a LOT of great old game developers taking notice. This is something that is shaking up th epublishers world, as it's a way for game developers to completey cut out the publisher and go directly to the fans for funding.

So I figured I would make this post and list some game related kickstarters from developres looking to revive older games/genres.

Active kickstarters:

The Banner Saga:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga?ref=users

Jane Jenson (Gabriel Knight creator) pinkerton road studios kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg

Leisure Suit Larry (remake from Al Lowe):

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/leisuresuitlarry/make-leisure-suit-larry-come-again

Shadowrun:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns

Starlight inception:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732317316/starlight-inceptiontm?play=1&ref=users

Wasteland 2:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2

Notable closed kickstarters:

Tim Schafer's adventure game:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns

Takedown (tactical shooter, a la old Rainbow six/Swat III/4)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/355932838/crowdsourced-hardcore-tactical-shooter

All of these offered 15$ to get the games once finished.  I personally pledged at least 15 to all of them, and 50 to the takedown project (I miss old school tactical based shooters, nothing like playing R6 back on msn zone).

However the way I look at it, 15 a pop each comes to 75 bucks, that's just a tad over the price of a brand new AAA backe dpublished game, and less then the cost of most "limited/collectors" editions.

So you are getting all of these games plus helping send a message to publishers that there IS still a market for these brands/games out there.

I encourage anyone here to post links ifyou find other games you think should be pledged, and pledge to games you'd like to see make a return.

Good idea! A couple of suggestions:

Starlight Inception, tactical space sim:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732317316/starlight-inceptiontm?play=1&ref=users

The Banner Saga, Turn based strategy with RPG elements. Also, Vikings!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga?ref=users

Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road on kickstarter.

Donate and spread the word.

That Shadowrun kickstarter sounds really promising. I wonder how they managed to get through the licencing jungle that is Shadowrun (the licence is currently owned by 2 different companies, but at least those two don't hate each other). 

I hope the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective kickstarter will be able to pick up some speed. There are still 23 days left to go.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1920171553/sherlock-holmes-consulting-detective-adventure-mys

I'll only back established game developers for now, because i've been let down by indie developers way too much in the past.

Either they're already spending more than 5 years developing a game (like Infinity:Quest for Earth) or the final product just turns out to be a shitty game.

Forgive me for being a bit sceptical about this, but IRL it's also my job to weed out bad ideas.

So I'll wait and see how this way of developing games evolves, before I consider investing more money into it.

It's not like they are asking for a set price, or even a lot. You can even donante a single dollar...

Many of the people on kickstarter ARE established game developers, some that have been moved toward casual games because their genre has changed (IE Jane Jenson) or those that have been stuck making games they don't want to becaues publishers won't fund them.

As far as I can tell, all of the above posted ones are by industry veterans. The Banner Saga are by former Bioware people, Shadowrun will be created by a former FASA people (but the lead dev also has a lot of videogame experience), Starlight will be made by a former Lucas Arts vet and Wasteland 2 is being made by the person who made Wasteland 1 and Fallout. 

Out of the ones in the original post, I feel that Shadowrun and Starlight are the ones that I would be most likely to support (I've already given my support to the Sherlock Holmes project), probably prioritizing Shadowrun (I love the setting). I wonder if they will work closely with Catalyst Game Labs and put the game in its current in-game year or stick to the older, slightly more familiar (as in closer to classic cyberpunk) time period. 

For those who wonder, the 80's & 90's Shadowrun setting is quite close to Johnny Mnemonic with a fantasy element, while the more recent Shadowrun releases have moved it towards a more Ghost in the Shell kind of setting (but still with a strong fantasy element). The kickstarter site does send out mixed signals in regards to this, as they use artwork from both eras of the game. 

*edit* Darn ninja

Wow, Shadowrun skyrocketed, completely funded within 28hours!

Wish Jane's project would do that.

Don't get me wrong, i do support some of the above, i'm just a bit more picky.

And i'll only invest at least 15$, because i want something in return, i'm a capitalist pig after all 

Jane's not doing bad, their project already found a sixth of the funding in two days time.

RPG's or action games are more popular so it's normal they get funded more quickly

Chuck's Challenge 3D

A puzzle game from the creator of the classic Chip's Challenge:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/niffler/chucks-challenge-3d?ref=users

Originally Posted By Andromus (17 APR 2012 3:58pm)

Chuck's Challenge 3D

 

A puzzle game from the creator of the classic Chip's Challenge:

 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/niffler/chucks-challenge-3d?ref=users

 

 

 

I'm in! I loved Chip's challenge, that kind of puzzle games of good quality are quite rare 

Well, the Chuck's Challenge Kickstarter has a little over a day left, and needs just a bit of help. $840, as I type this. It would be a shame  to see this fail over a relatively small amount of money, any new pledges are more important than ever!

Update: Made it! Woo hoo!

Just came across an intriguing looking stealth oriented game, Republique. Unfortunately, it looks like it's about to fail, but I think I'll throw some money at it anyway.

Check it out here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/486250632/republique-by-camouflaj-logan

Jane Jensen is now able to offer TWO games, both included in the pledge, if pledging $50 and above. To be noted: the $200 pledge gets both games signed! This is absolute gold for JJ and adventure games fans. Give or up your pledge if you can! Lets get this started!

http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/1005365109