Penny Arcade Report on Kickstarter and Video Games
Quote:
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.
CR
Re: Penny Arcade Report on Kickstarter and Video Games
The timetables for internet crazes, their backlashes, and the backlash against those backlashes are getting increasing shorter.
You should probably only support kickstarters that have demonstrated some material or that you trust somewhat personally. I've backed two albums for previously-dead Christian ska bands (lol) plus the Wasteland 2 kickstarter. I only felt really comfortable with one of the two bands, but I figured the odds were pretty good the others would pan out. I feel bad for the people asking for very small amounts of money who get even less, but them's the breaks.
