Say what you will about Tim Shaefer’s legendary game industry career, his most recent accomplishment of utilizing Kickstarter as a means of funding the creation of a video game could very well be his most profound in hindsight. Since he raised millions of dollars towards his point-and-click adventure game, it’s opened the door for countless other game creators to follow suit. Odds are, this Kickstarter revolution will be directly responsible for the creation of a number of games that never would have been possible without crowdsourcing for funds.
Having put some thought into this, I’ve put together a list of 5 gaming projects that deserve a Kickstarter campaign. I would love to see these come to life, and I’d probably throw in a few bucks if someone was going to give these an honest try. I’d love to hear from you what game projects you’d love to see get a Kickstarter campaign so you can help make them happen too! Drop a line in the comments!
A sequel to Enslaved
Enslaved was one of the most under-appreciated games of this generation. I’ll be the first to admit that I was part of the problem, as I didn’t pick up the game until I bought it used at a Blockbuster going-out-of-business sale well after the fact. Turns out I missed out on my chance of supporting an awesome game that for whatever reason, did not gain any traction at retail. Because it tanked so hard at retail, there currently aren’t any plans to bring the franchise back, which is a shame.
I genuinely have a soft spot in my heart for the original Enslaved and would love to see the game come back. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign, it might be enough to get Ninja Theory to change their mind. If this were to happen, I doubt there would enough interest in the community to support this project, but they’d be sure to at least get some of my money.
A more complete Skullgirls experience
The core fighting game engine that drives the Skullgirls experience is awesome. The more I play it, the more I grow to love the nuances of the game. However, beyond the fighting engine and the gorgeous graphics, the game has some issues, many of which can be directly related to the fact that Autumn Games didn’t have the money to flesh things out, such as the limited character roster and no in-game moves list.
Though I know that Skullgirls will be getting patches and DLC, I don’t know if that will be enough to ‘complete’ the experience. I’m not sure if I’m necessarily asking for even more patches and DLC, or Skullgirls 2, but I think that Skullgirls is definitely a game where consumers voting with their wallets is going to impact where this game ultimately goes. Though a Kickstarter probably isn’t likely till a full-fledged sequel, I’m fairly certain that I’ll pick up any new characters they make available through DLC.
A sequel to 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand
50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is arguably the guilty pleasure game of this generation. Who would have thought that a past-his-prime rap star shooting up terrorists in the Middle East in search of his diamond-encrusted skull would be so…fun? Though it had it’s fair share of rough spots, it was a really fun game to play whether it starred 50 Cent and the G-Unit or not. With that said, 50 Cent and the G-Unit added a ton of charm to the overall experience. I’ll never get tired of quoting my favourite Tony Yayo lines from that game, such as, “Yo 50! Hit that ramp!” and, “I’m a kill your entire generation!” just to name a few.
Despite how fun it was to play, Blood on the Sand tanked at retail, probably because his star power had fizzled by that point. The odds of us ever getting a 50 Cent game again are slim to none. However, with the power of Kickstarter, maybe the makers of Blood on the Sand could drum up enough money to make a sequel. If you haven’t played this game yet, give it a shot, and your probably won’t think I’m crazy for adding this to the list.
In Third Person 