Crowdfunding is Seriously Getting out of Hand

FrontBurnr: Can we please knock this off already?
I know games aren’t cheap to make, but if you’re looking for a Kickstarter goal of tens of thousands or even millions of dollars to make what is essentially a clone of an old game with a few new ideas, perhaps you’re thinking a little bit too large. Most of us have seen Indie Game the Movie, there’s not a single word about Kickstarter anywhere in the chronicles of Braid, Super Meat Boy, or Fez and that’s terribly refreshing.

To me, crowd-funding was a great idea that has been terribly exploited. It's like saying "Hey, I have 4 tires, so please give me $65,000 so I can build a car to put them on".

[badjournalism]

Another monkey with a blog and an opinion. The internet is truly 21st century AM radio.

[Garbanjo001]

however I agree with the monkey... until he starts flinging poop.

[SilentNegotiator]

Thanks for your opinion that you didn't back up at all, caller.

[samiahm]

Not a very tasteful article that's for sure. I have to disagree because Kickstarter is the option for many games that would never would have happened without crowdfunding. It's the option for the Alice: Madness Returns sequel, and possibly for games like Shenmue 3. They're not crappy, they're big name games that hit a rough patch. It's also a great option for indie games, and if a game is crappy no one will fund it, so it won't come to life anyways.

[agentxk]

i'll tell you what is hilarious. a pr email that tells you about the great features of an upcoming game, only to scroll down to a link to their kickstarter. it works in some situations but also can be a crap-fest as well.

Ouya? Not a game changer. Tim Schafer? Why the hell does HE need a kickstarter at all? The Stinkyfoot Controller? i paid into that one, it's fresh and unique. Penny Arcade? You have got to be kidding me.

[samiahm]

Every situation is unique. I get that a lot of games don't deserve a kickstarter, that's true enough. But when you look at that homestuck game that did amazingly on kickstarter it made a lot of fans of the webcomic happy, and they didn't really have any other options, so they chose kickstarter. I'll be putting some money into the alice in otherland kickstarter, that's for sure. The reason American McGee needs a kickstarter is because EA is unwilling to make the third Alice game despite the previous installments success. So no funding from EA= Kickstarter.

[Rushing_Punch]

I agree with Spicy Horse/American McGee's Alice 3. Shenmue though? No, please.

[agentxk]

@samiahm, that comment is very well said. Like I said in my comment, I think the writer Jon is saying that people are using some of the success stories from kickstarter to get their easily fundible games funded on the public's dime.

Games that won't happen either way should be able to use this feature but as a journalist and member of the media, it is apparent that behind the scenes EVERYONE wants to use it, that is just sad.

[Rushing_Punch]

I read through it. i agree and disagree.

I think the game has changed, FTL is one of the best games I have played in the last year, it was kickstarted. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few games not deliver on the scale they have promised before. I spent a few hundred dollars on kickstarters instead of buying new games, I can't say my expiriment was a success, but it also wasn't a failure either.

[cyguration]

Don't look at it as "spending a few hundred dollars on kickstarter instead of buying new games" look at it as investing money into the history of your hobby.

The money you invested into these games will forever be chronicled by their existence and YOU were a part of that. For better of for worse you have attributed a part of yourself to the legacy of software entertainment for ages to come.

I think by all accounts, this is a success because without that money -- whether the game is good or bad -- the game would never exist. And taking away the existence of a thing removes all possible historical tie-ins that could have been created or spawned from that entity.

I'm just grateful for every big Kickstarter success out there because it's created an entirely new historical meta-culture of video games that otherwise would never have existed...at all.

[Qrphe]

I'd be more ok with Kickstarter if there were stricter enforcement on the way end results are delivered. How many projects have already passed their deadlines and haven't shown a thing nor updates or anything?

[Hambo]

The idea of Kickstarter is great. I love it, I have backed things in the past.

What I DON'T like seeing is major companies and rich people using kickstart. Get some investors or take out some stock for that.

[Captain Qwark 9]

i have zero problems with it i just wish they would bring back some games id like to help. example, eternal darkness 2 lol oh wait they did but he wants to make it for plaforms nobody cares about. the wii u which nobody wants and the pc which everyone will just pirate

[majiebeast]

Penny Arcade is now asking people to fund their podcast and their goal is 10$ so they can always keep the money. Kickstarter is becoming a big joke with alot of scammers, like Susan Wilson and Anita Sarkeesian who both used gender issues to fill their wallets. This kickstarter bomb is gonna blow soon.

[xilly]

Penny Arcade doesn't even need the money, they do it pseudo-ironically.

[Snookies12]

I've been excited for more Kickstarter games than AAA titles in the last year or so... Make of that what you will, but I say keep them coming. It's not like everything HAS to be funded. Good ones will be funded, and the bad ones won't. What's the harm in that? Nothing. What's wrong with people wanting to spend their money to help support a truly unique game over yet another AAA rehashed first person shooter. At least it's moving gaming along instead of stagnating it like it has been the past few years.

[Morgue]

I have a Kickstarter set up to fund my XBL Gold subscription.

On serious note.

Some of those projects seem like scams and my friends had one to finish up this movie they're doing and got mad at me because I wouldn't kick any money down.