Crazed Rabbit
04-19-2012, 06:50
The Penny Arcade Report has an email address for story leads and tips, and a significant percentage of those “tips” are solicitations for coverage of indie game Kickstarter projects. It seems that everyone is envious of the millions being raised by high-profile game projects, and they want a taste of that sweet, sweet funding. Kickstarter isn’t just a way to find alternate funding, it’s a goldrush, with all the risk and possible reward implied by that term.
Kickstarter allows anyone to become a “backer” of game development, and the crazy thing is you effectively vote with your wallet by purchasing a game before it is finished, or even before development is launched. In one case a development team begged me to help them spread the word about a campaign to fund their presentation to major developers. Yes: the Kickstarter was for a presentation that, hopefully, would result in a publishing deal. This is not a wise use of money.
So let’s be smart about this. If we’re being asked to become backers of projects, what sort of projects should we look for? What should a Kickstarter campaign do in order to make us comfortable handing over our money? It’s time to bring in an expert.
The whole thing is definitely worth a read. (http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/the-ugly-side-of-kickstarter-why-the-risks-in-backing-gaming-campaigns-are-)
CR
Kickstarter allows anyone to become a “backer” of game development, and the crazy thing is you effectively vote with your wallet by purchasing a game before it is finished, or even before development is launched. In one case a development team begged me to help them spread the word about a campaign to fund their presentation to major developers. Yes: the Kickstarter was for a presentation that, hopefully, would result in a publishing deal. This is not a wise use of money.
So let’s be smart about this. If we’re being asked to become backers of projects, what sort of projects should we look for? What should a Kickstarter campaign do in order to make us comfortable handing over our money? It’s time to bring in an expert.
The whole thing is definitely worth a read. (http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/the-ugly-side-of-kickstarter-why-the-risks-in-backing-gaming-campaigns-are-)
CR