Yeah, this.. I could have sworn this was already a done deal and happening, Al Lowe and all. Kind of disingenuous to not mention that in the pitch and not explain why Kickstarter is now needed to fund the project.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter by Replay Games [Ended, $673K funded]
- Thread starter Wario64
- Start date
Exactly.
Well it's cool that it's being made with the original creative minds behind it again, but this is one I'll definitely not be backing. Aside from the fact that I really can't stand Leisure Suit Larry (even the original), the remake doesn't look that inspiring and that animation walk cycle showcase looks dodgy beyond belief.
Now if a new Space Quest was being pitched, though... oh boy!
Now if a new Space Quest was being pitched, though... oh boy!
Haunted
Member
They got him to make the pitch video.
.la1n
Member
Great series and a piece of gaming history.
Definitely in.
Ignore it and move on.
Go play whatever the hell you want to play and leave this to those that are interested.
See above
Troll force out in full effect today, must have been a bad weekend
I think your my favorite member of GAF.
Pachterballs
Banned
Only if it has peppermint Patty....
+
Oh its...a remake
interest grossly deflated
+
Oh its...a remake
interest grossly deflated
ProfessorMoran
Member
There's no guarantee that a complete product will be delivered or even be good, how would the "developer" in question be accountable to those who provide the funding? Instead of paying for a complete product that goes through certification at retail, with the ability to gauge whether you should make the purchase or not based on various media (videos/screenshots) and press reviews or word of mouth, you're basically just handing money over to the developer without knowing how anything will go.
There are other avenues of funding available aside from self-funding, from publishers to banks to various investment funds, the difference is you need to compete for the funding with more than just nostalgia.
GhostWriter24
Member
Like I said in a post before, even if you're paying for the game you really have no way of measuring its quality when it's finished. In this case you're funding a LSL game that could be significantly flawed.
CecilRousso
Member
Are people really disliking the idea of kickstarting a Larry game, or are people just annoyed at having to read the word "kickstarter" this much?
It's just as likely that people are paying for a superior product that doesn't have to compromise to fit a publisher's bullshit focus group specifications.
And gamers ALWAYS fund games, dude. They just usually end up paying more and have no control over what games actually get made.
No one's forcing you to pay for anything; what the fuck are you so afraid of? "Significantly reduced length and quality?" Right, because clearly the big publishers have been moving up to longer and better games, right?
The sooner we loosen big publisher control over the game industry, the better it will be for everyone. This hand wringing about "WHAT IF SOMETHING DISASTROUS HAPPENS" is some irrelevant FUD, and I'm becoming more and more convinced half of it is coming from publisher mouthpieces afraid of losing their iron grip on this industry.
Developers are closing, publishers are imploding, games budgets are out of control, publishers are stamping out creativity and molding franchises into cut down, DLC-whoring, incomplete, buggy, bland games aimed at the lowest common denominator, and you're worried about KICKSTARTER?
We've seen the future of the industry from the big publisher point of view. No thanks. And maybe you're right, and every single Kickstarter project will crash and burn in an explosion that makes Bikini Atoll look like a Bobby Kotick fart, but if there's a chance folks can use Kickstarter to finally get the games they actually want to play, and support the developers who value creativity and complexity over dumbed down nonsense, then gamers need to take that chance.
Now you can get on board, or you can get out of the way, but in either case it's time to drop the corporate sycophancy and see where this thing goes.
You can withdraw your money before the needed amount is reached and the backers are usually provided with a beta or can voice their need to see it in action to solidify their choice.
dirtywhirlwind
Member
I'm surprised that Al Lowe didn't sneak in a link to his cyber joke mailing list.
I will probably contribute, but I don't know, this kind of rubs me the wrong way. At this point it just feels like we're paying for the development costs because they don't want to.
This remake was gonna happen either way.
I will probably contribute, but I don't know, this kind of rubs me the wrong way. At this point it just feels like we're paying for the development costs because they don't want to.
This remake was gonna happen either way.
That's something they should be more transparent about, but I don't think it's "shady."
ProfessorMoran
Member
So when the needed amount is reached you can no longer withdraw the money? What can you do if the beta sucks? Can you get your money back?
To me it seems like they're just asking for free money, with no strings attached.
test_account
XP-39C²
Wasnt this game already announced to be made?
EDIT: Nevermind, already mentioned
EDIT: Nevermind, already mentioned
How is this different than pre-orders, though? And there are absolutely no guarantees about the quality of games in general; how many furious posts have we seen on GAF complaining about game reviewers' tastes not matching the poster's own?
Mr. B Natural
Member
Of course it is. You're not getting ANYTHING until the game comes out and you are in no control of the project. Zilch. Nada. None. You don't know or will know a thing about this project beyond what gaf-news. You are getting what they make in return for your money.
Motivation to impress you? None. You are already paid. You pre-ordered to the nth degree and pre-orders aren't helping this industry in the least.
The concept of kickstarters was made to get people out of the mind-set of doing the same shit over and over and over again, it was to get people with good ideas a chance to approach and experiment with said idea in a world where nobody is willing to fund new ideas...not a major franchise...or any franchise in general. The point was to counter-act franchises. Of course, gamers don't understand how a game could exist without it being a franchise...or something.
If you're stuck in nostalgia mode, fine, we have a giant multi-billion dollar industry tailored specifically to your man-child sequelitis needs. Next up is to kickstart the next halo.
Never let someone else gamble with your money. This isn't some guy in a basement with a big heart, this is for-profit, this is not charity. This is business in which case you are not a share holder. You are nothing but easy money. And even if you were a share-holder, then look forward to hell when share-holder interests battle with dev interests/opinion. Good lord, you think the petitions are bad...just you wait when money is on the line.
The backlash is going to be legendary though, when these poor folks realize why publishers exist and why, many a time, they need to play the bad guy. I guess we are getting that.
The funny thing is that people have already figured out how to bypass the concept of a publisher (for whatever reason). We call it indy development. Yes, you have to put your own money on the line in the long run, but that would be best. That would motivate he who puts everything on the line to make a game that would interest gamers. Then, people get to buy the product AFTER knowing if it's any good AFTER it's made and AFTER reception and AFTER a demo best case scenario.
This kickstarter junk is not confronting the issues with game development of the 21st century, they're amplifying...both for fanboyism and fanboy exploitation, risk/reward and the nonstop sequelitis and for development/publisher/customer relationships (it's just lopsiding it in a different way). And worst will be when publishers start to pay attention and find a way to exploit it. Then we're right back where we were anyway.
stuminus3
Member
It's always amazing catching these things at the start and watching how quickly they raise money in the early days of the campaign.
I don't think I'm in on this one because I was never really down with LSL, but you guys bitching about this crowdfunding business are really fucking stupid. Enjoy your continued corporate rape, guys.
I don't think I'm in on this one because I was never really down with LSL, but you guys bitching about this crowdfunding business are really fucking stupid. Enjoy your continued corporate rape, guys.
Pre-orders aren't funding development.
This is paying to have a game you want made by people unable to attain funding by other means. You can't fault anyone for being skeptical.
ProfessorMoran
Member
I'm not a big fan of pre-orders either, pre-order money goes right into a retailer's pocket.
That said, you can cancel your pre-order, get your money back (except for interest earned by the retailer) and pay absolutely nothing, no money will go to the publisher or the developer for a product you don't want.
Yeah, you are right, a Freddy Pharkas sequel would be great as well.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I really like that Josh Mandel is helping to write this, he's fantastic. He wrote probably the runner-up greatest comedy adventure game ever, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. Wrote Freddy Pharkas with Al, too.
I'm just disappointed that this isn't Al Lowe talking directly to us (I guess this is the team that's redoing the first game instead), and that it's not LSL 4 or something new. It just doesn't seem like a good idea creatively to remake the first game, wasn't that great. I was never even into LSL, but I'll do whatever I can to see these two write again. Not the ideal situation, but I'll take it.
I'm just disappointed that this isn't Al Lowe talking directly to us (I guess this is the team that's redoing the first game instead), and that it's not LSL 4 or something new. It just doesn't seem like a good idea creatively to remake the first game, wasn't that great. I was never even into LSL, but I'll do whatever I can to see these two write again. Not the ideal situation, but I'll take it.
Why not? Everybody likes money.
Bleh, you clearly have no fucking idea what Kickstarter is about, so really, you should just shut up and exit these threads.
no, thanks. if it was an original game...
It's more than Double Fine asked for and countless other game kick starters. Jut seems like a lot to me for what this game is.
If this were true, though, every single Kickstarter product would be a disaster. Is this the case? Is Kickstarter an unmitigated failure the way you're suggesting?
Where did you get this mission statement from? Kickstarter is about 'crowdfunding'. Crowdfunding is about using end-consumers as an alternate source of funding.
You're just tossing out ad hominems, and doesn't even address the point at hand. This isn't even a remake, but a remake (supposedly a full-on rethink) of a 35-year old game. How does that even compare to Halo, a franchise that gets yearly sequels in any non-stupid way?
You're using the term 'gamble' literally and you should probably stop. It's not a literal gamble. It's a pledge. The gamble is that indeed, it could not be good. It might not even come out -- these are known risks of kickstarter. And yes, it is for-profit. Again, this is known, up-front. There's no masking of this; no one's framing this as charity.
In this context, why do they exist? Please clarify.
How is this not indie development?
You reach this conclusion, but from your earlier points I can't see how you're able to support any of with anything but FUD.
Dog Problems
Banned
That's what I'm thinking. Maybe Al's involvement is expensive?
ProfessorMoran
Member
We already have governments giving grants (free money from tax-payers) to game companies, even that has little to no accountability, why don't people just write cheques to Tim Schafer and Denis Dyack directly? At least Kickstarter wouldn't get that 5%, and Amazon wouldn't get a cut.
Gully State
Member
I'm withholding my judgement on kickstarter funded games until I can assess the quality of the final product. We're really not at a proper point to make a judgement on the viability of this model yet. All we know is that proper hype can generate capital.
Sure can't. The problem with the system was that they werent expecting it to be handled as fast as Double Fine Adventure and Wasteland 2. You could try the beta or see if you can get a beta before their asking amount has been filled but once it happens your money is locked and they are legally obligated to finish it or give your money back depending on their decision.
Problem is the people who don't provide a demo/WiP until some time after it's been handled or Double Fine's case where millions of dollars were provided so Double Fine can make "some adventure game".
That's why I supported FTL and that's it so far.
Fair enough, at least you're consistent. I still think you're overstating the sort of quality guarantees you get from publisher-funded game development. It is certainly riskier, but the risks are known up-front. Maybe people are under the assumption that you'll get a product no matter what, but that's mostly their own fault.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
LSL is fine to kickstart IMO, there's shit like this that definitely don't deserve a kickstart: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1761847237/lunar-fashion
Grants usually have to be put toward a goal: making improvements to a building, hiring a certain number of people, doing research, etc. There are also usually, but not always, benchmarks for receiving the money.
Giving a check to a game developer is not the same thing. If you did that, the developer could pocket the money without any restrictions as to its usage.
Yes, the game was announced months ago: http://www.egmnow.com/articles/exclusive-leisure-suit-larry-returns-in-hd/
This abuse of the kickstarter platform is going to ruin it for people that legitimately can use it to bring us good games.