To re-iterate what I said in the front page post:
Which games would you pay good money to finally see? Which developers would you trust with your donations? What fan-games have you seen that are really awesome?
Also, anything else I missed, please fire away <3
I have one, possibly two things that I'm going to post about this later in the week. But for now: This Sort Of Thing can only be good for the industry.
It seems like it works best for nostalgia fuelled ventures, doesn't it? It may be a good way for developers to revive some of their old franchises which are just lying around. As long as they have the rights.
A fan-made game that I'm really excited for is this:
A remake sure, and heavy on nostalgia as Peter said, yet the work that has went into the project (so far) is astonishing.
On the broader point fan-funded games are very exciting, and coupled with the indie scene offer a lot of hope for more diverse and innovative games.
I can't think of any developer I trust enough to hand over money for the mere concept and potential of a game. Even if we were talking about a possible sequel to a game I already love, I'd still be loathe to pony up. It's different with pre-orders, where you know the game's coming along and you can get a rough idea from videos and preview pieces whether or not you might enjoy it. To ask for money before development has even begun is several steps too far, for me.
Really? You can't even think of ONE? I'm surprised. I figured everybody had at least one weak spot, at least one project they'd be willing to take a punt on. And even if I really was worried about the quality of the game, I don't know how worried I'd have to be for it to stop me throwing $15 at it. We're not talking financial ruin here, and even if we were, that'd be the case whether or not you had a good game to console yourself with at the end of it.
Also, with this particular project, it's not just the game, it's the documentary, the insight into the process that I think is a really compelling reason to take part. I've personally long wanted to get a peek into other people's game development process right from the start, when it's just a little idea.
As for who would get my money automatically, there was a time in the 90s when I would buy anything with LucasArts on the box because having that logo was the same thing as having "9/10 - Everyone, Ever" on the box. Those times have passed. I think at the moment there are relatively few developers I'd afford the same amount of trust but for the right sort of project, who knows? Valve would probably qualify, for me - but they aren't exactly strapped for cash, so they aren't in a position of looking for an advance.
I put $110 into this project, which is about as much as I can reasonably afford at the moment. As you might have guessed, that isn't simply how much the game is worth to me, but it's a little extra which I felt compelled to throw in for a variety of reasons. I'll go into those in another Short Form later in the week.
I would put money towards Mega Man 11 or a new Legends game, but I'm not sure Capcom could be trusted. Mega Man's adamant core fanbase makes it look more popular than sales indicate. But if there were a Kickstarter with the amount needed to make the game, it would show a concrete level of commitment to the game being made by fans. Surely this would be of more value to the developer and a greater incentive than a post on Reddit that said "Hey guys, I'd pay for a sequel to THIS game to be made!"
So, yeah, in short, it could be great for games that would otherwise be dismissed as too out there or niche, to get a chance of being made by another revenue stream. It works well for a lot of less popular musicians, although there's of course it's usually cheaper to record an album than make a game and it has a quicker turnaround.
I think at this point I would put in for Volition and their next Saints Row. THQ are going some incredibly tough times for taking some financial risks with their tablet stuff and I've so regularly enjoyed Volition games that it's a safe bet what they produce would Jive with me, so I'd give money to Volition for that.
There are a bunch of things I'd put money down for, even in terms of DLC. Like I'd pay £40 up from for a procedurral generator for Batman, because all I want is an excuse to play it more (6 play throughs across 2 titles seems excessive now that I think about it) or a subscription service to ongoing challenge rooms or a level editor is something I'd pay money for development. On a similar note, if Retro wanted to take their metroid chops and make a new Metroidvania-style game.
The problem I come to is that I am willing to support these projects on a developer level, but if Konami or Warner Bro.s made the announcement, I'd have pretty strong negative feelings towards it, or at the least, intense apathy.
I've been thinking about "would I put money into saving THQ?" and I think the answer is "No" simPly because they're too big...
If someone promised to port Derby Owner's Club to a console, I would faint with excitement. Then I would give them ALL THE MONIES!
@meagan You need to review that! (or tell me where to get it)
It may sound a bit odd, considering I'm working on one, but I'd pay good money for a new Text adventure. There are good ones out there for sure but there just aren't enough. Like the Darksiders Team, I guess, We make the games we want to see?
@Faye If it existed, I would be all over that! Or do you mean to review the arcade game as it is now?
@meagan Both? Nukezilla's not renowned for it's timely reviews anyway XD
Does anyone know what happened to the Mother 3 fanlation?
You know what, guys? Atlus. I would give as much money as I could to Atlus for an adult themed, persona styled, role-playing game. Think Catherine's day plot meets Persona's scope, meets the depth of an SMT. In fact, slap Atlus on it and I'd pony up regardless of the design. Catherine (up to day 4; no spoilers plox) reminds me of how interesting interactivity can be. My morality slider seems to be leaning about 3pixels to the right all the time and I'm genuinely torn about which direction I want to go. My heart tells me blonde, carefree and cute Catherine, but my head says to stick to my guns, "man up" and stay true to my long-standing girlfriend, bossy and brunette Katherine. I put it down only because I didn't want to complete it in one sitting.
@Faye Altus makes a lot of underrated games. Did anyone ever play Crimson Gem Saga (Astonishia Story 2)? I loved that game! I would help fund the next installment.
To elaborate on the point I made in my Short Forms about people not necessarily being the best judges of what games should get made...
You'd think that people would know what they want. But they don't, really. For example, a lot of people think they want Grim Fandango 2. While I'd be the first in the queue if that game was ever announced, I don't think it's really what people want. People want to feel like they felt when they played Grim Fandango. But that was a different game from a different time when they were fourteen years younger, and all sticking a 2 on the end will to is cause them to constantly compare, contrast, and the game they play will never, ever be the vague, ill-defined one in their head.
What they really want is Grim Fandango. But even that's not what they really, REALLY want, because they can't have it again. They've already had it and it they can't capture that same feeling twice without some serious head trauma. The best chance for them to get a similar feeling to how they felt when they played Grim Fandango then is to get an entire new game which is just as surprising and successful at drawing you into its world as Grim Fandango was at the time.
So it turns out what they truly want is an original game and not the thing they thought they wanted at all. Sure, this has nothing to do with what actually sells, but it is a reason to be cautious about putting too much trust in the will of the fans.
The other trouble is that people don't understand the background mechanics of how the industry operates. The number of people who want Tim Schafer to make a sequel to one of his old games is staggering, and they just have no concept of how difficult it would be to get the rights to do so from LucasArts, or how expensive that would be. It's not their fault that they are naive, but it does mean that they're not the best people to talk to about which projects to fund. They not only don't know what they want, but they don't realise what's involved in getting what they don't want.
I completely understand what you're saying, Pete, but I completely disagree on a personal level. When I want a sequel, it's because I want to go back and hang out with my old friends, who still remember me and the good times we had. It's about familiarity with mechanics and the kinds of feelings swinging my sword, skulking in shadows and buttoning through dialogue evoke. Story, to me is a secondary thing that games do, which is why "poor story" isn't a criticism that holds any weight with me, and conversely why "good story" is something that will make me buy a game. I can appreciate it on both levels.
So, for example, Catherine. The gameplay isn't something I would consider exceptional. It's a mediocre-to-good puzzler that I enjoy, but the story is so engrossing that I am riveted to my screen. I want a sequel to this game because I want to see Katherine and (particularly) Catherine again in my dopey, afro-haired avatar's frame. Hey, Bridget Jones managed to get a sequel with the same plot out, why can't Vincent?
Borderlands is a game that I recommend to everybody without hesitation but I'll be damned if I can remember what that game was about. There was something about shooting skags, then that guy dies, then I shot a Giant-Vagina monster, then a Tentacle-Vagina monster appeared and I shot that too. I ALREADY got my sequel here, not in Borderlands 2, but in Dr. Ned's Halloween Shootout Bonanza, Mad Moxxi's Arena Shitstorm, Claptrap's Silly Excuse to Play Mor Borderlands and whatever the fuck DLC3 is called. I just want to put on a podcast and go PEWPEWPEW at things that move and scream obscenities at me.
[Unrelated, the headless kamikaze bombers in SS:TFE are one of my favourite enemies in a game I cannot stand because "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" is an amazing quote.
So the TLDR:
I said I don't agree with you for an excuse to write 500 words agreeing with you.
One word: Transformers.
People say they loved the original cartoon but it, along with countless others, has aged really badly.
Video games are worse because games of this generation have different mechanics and better audio and visuals. The plot can't be the only thing holding a game together, because of the old cliche that it's an interactive medium. So you can say that The Godfather was awesome and you want to watch it over and over, but Mario? Quake? Zelda?
Maybe those aren't plot-driven games so how about Heavy Rain or Deus Ex? How often would you watch Godfather vs. going back to 'classic' games?
Knowing what you know now, if you went back in time would you be happy playing old games? New and different is better, IMHO.
I will be totally honest with you, Adushan, I would. The games that informed my childhood; Sonic, Sonic 2, Crash 2, Spyro, Medieval, Abe's odyssey, Ocarina of time, final fantasy 7, jak and daxter, rachet and clank, kingdom hearts, all these games get regularly played, about once every 2-3 years. New is cool, but good design is timeless. Play any one of these games and tell me they don't hold up. One or two require a concession or two to account for iteration in sequels, but goddamn!! I'm looking forward to the new generations to add Alan Wake, Batman, Catherine and Borderlands to this list.
Oh, I'm not saying that sequels should never exist. I'm saying that a lot of the time people are blinded from a better option by their nostalgia. Case in point, recent comment seen on the kickstarter project: 'Please let this be Monkey Island 3!!!!!!'
Well, let's unpack -that- one. Monkey Island 3 already exists, so what he means is Ron Gilbert's Monkey Island 3 which never happened because he left LucasArts. But this is a Tim Schafer led project, even if Ron Gilbert was involved, so there's a problem already. And they don't have the rights for the Monkey Island series. And as I said, Monkey Island 3 exists, and it pretty damned good. Monkey 4 not so much, but Telltale put in a good showing recently with Tales of Monkey Island... the point being, modern Monkey Island games are already being made. So why on earth is someone getting themselves all excited about the (impossible) dream of a Tim Schafer/Ron Gilbert Monkey Island when they could be much more excited about the reality of a brand new game from the both of them, something that hasn't really happened since 1993? Madness!
@Faye - I'm not gonna say why I didn't prefer FF7 or Kingdom Hearts. All I'll say is that FF13 and FF12 refine things a bit more so the combat flows quickly. Unskippable random encounters were sooo annoying. Newer games have things they can improve upon.
Another problem is linearity. Games like Skyrim and World of Warcraft and Saints Row and countless others are possible because of newer hardware. I loved Abe's Odyssey, but once you know how to solve the puzzles it tires quickly. And unfortunately, the point and click games are in this category.
And the other thing to realise is that wealthy successful game developers are successful because they focus on being here tomorrow, through making money. Do what you want until there's a backlash, change things, repeat. Nice people aren't businessmen.
@Faye: I recognise this thread is well old, but the Mother 3 fan translation came out and is my favourite JRPG 
The rhythm-based combat is a million times more fun than any other turn-based RPG I've played, and the translation is full of wordplay and of such a calibre that you'd never know it was unofficial. I'm done gushing now.
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