
Double Fine Adventure - cliff
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure?ref=live
======
OSButler
One interesting response in the reddit thread about this was someone saying
"...now you can fund the shit that nobody still wants to play?", followed by
"20.000 is nothing", when another poster pointed out that over 20.000 people
were already backing this project.

This seems to be exactly the publisher's point of view. If you consider
marketing, development costs, console licensing fees, ... paying everyone
involved in the project and to make sure that there's still profit left over
for everyone involved, then 20.000 people buying your game is not that much.

However, for me this kickstarter project is kind of the opposite of pirating,
where the developer gets the money before the development process has even
started and they don't need to worry if they will break even, since the
original goal has already been reached anyway. Plus, as already mentioned
several times, they cut out the middle-man with this approach, so that this
could definitely open doors for new & interesting projects.

Even though 20.000 is not much for a publisher of a AAA title, I am pretty
sure that the final amount will turn heads in the gaming industry and might
spawn some new developer <-> customer relationships similar to this
kickstarter funding.

~~~
noonespecial
"kickstarter project is kind of the opposite of pirating". I love it.

Maybe even Kickstarter is the dual(1) of pirating?

(1) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duality>

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teyc
Some analysis here:

1\. The publisher in this case has a track record, so there is less risk
involved.

2\. $15 for an adventure game sounds "well priced"

3\. There is a bit of risk reversal on the pledgers since the game might turn
out to be awful. This is compared to buying a game after it has been reviewed.

4\. However, the risk is only $15

5\. There is much nostalgia, and even if $15 is wasted, it would have been a
nice way to thank Tim for the good times in the past.

6\. Presumably the game might cost a little bit more when it is released.

7\. What happens if the publishers blow out their budget? It is a sizeable
team.

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lukeholder
Thankyou for your analysis.

<http://i.qkme.me/35z247.jpg>

~~~
teyc
:)

I didn't have time to expand on the ideas.

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gavingmiller
What makes a project like this succeed so spectacularly on kickstarter? Is it
because the video is so well done? Or because Tim Schafer is behind it? Or
because a lot of people want to play an adventure game? Or the perfect storm
of all of the above? Just trying to wrap my brain around it.

~~~
Lewisham
It's Tim Schafer going back to a game genre where he produced games that
people (rightly) have an undying love for.

The only surprise with this is that you wonder why he didn't do it already.

~~~
toast76
No surprise really; no publisher will support an adventure game. If it's not
an FPS/Action/Sports game no one will touch it. It's the reason Schafer
started doing "indie" games in the first place.

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bishnu
I'm actually quite shocked that game publishers aren't lining up to give Tim
Schafer all the money he wants. But I don't really know what's going on in
that industry.

~~~
alex_c
Industry insiders correct me if I'm wrong, but Grim Fandango was pretty much
the final nail in the coffin (no pun intended) of the pure adventure genre,
because it had terrible sales. Simultaneously, it was a true masterpiece - one
of the best in the genre. So it's not surprising that lots of people grew up
loving adventure games and now have the disposable income and the nostalgia to
fund a Kickstarter project, while at the same time making this a risky project
for a game publisher.

~~~
jeffool
Interesting that the Wiki entry continually calls out a commercial failure and
goes on to say:

Total cumulative worldwide sales are estimated

between 100,000 and 500,000 units. [61] The game is commonly considered a
commercial

failure, [62][63][64] even though LucasArts has stated that "Grim Fandango met
domestic expectations and exceeded them worldwide".

~~~
InclinedPlane
I wonder if it's the Radio Shack problem. Why make only a little money selling
electronics components when you can make a lot more money with the same
resources selling cell phones? See also adventure games based on new IP vs.
FPSes based on Star Wars IP.

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agildehaus
They're currently $300k over their goal. Amazing.

Can we get a Kickstarter project going for an open-engine, updated graphics,
Grim Fandango?

~~~
int3rnaut
Do you think there is ever a risk to being "over-funded"? I know it sounds
stupid, but it's an honest question.

~~~
masklinn
'course there is, but Schafer and Gilbert have been in the industry for some
40 years combined, and Double Fine seems to be nicely run as a pretty tight
ship.

I think that's a case where it shouldn't be too much of a risk.

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fufulabs
At this rate, this adventure game will also be ported to MS-DOS

~~~
aw3c2
All I really wish for is non-Steam and possibly Linux.

~~~
_frog
A Mac port, whether throughout Steam or the App Store seems likely as well.

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sp332
There are actually more donation tiers, but they're not listed on that page
because KS only goes up to $10,000.
[http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/the_double_fine_adve...](http://www.doublefine.com/news/comments/the_double_fine_adventure-
adventure_is_here/)

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cgoddard
It's really amazing he raised that much money so quickly, with so many in the
higher tiers as well, especially since the higher tiers of funding are still a
donation and do not provide any equity in the project. I suppose the original
art wouldn't be worthless though!

~~~
InclinedPlane
What better use of one's money than to change the world? To help get something
created that you will enjoy?

Imagine if the world didn't have ice cream or steak? How much money would you
pay to live in a world with those things?

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thinkdevcode
This project may exceed the previous highest donation record on kickstarter,
which that record was awarded yesterday to that iPhone dock. Kickstarter is
really starting to make some money I see.

~~~
alanfalcon
Elevation dock: $1,052,809 w/ 43 hours to go Double Fine Adventure: $1,026,265
w/ 32 DAYS to go

There is no doubt in my mind that Double Fine will obliterate the record.

~~~
skeletonjelly
Would love to see the graphs for these.

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Aloisius
Sigh. PC game. I'm not sure how long it's been since I've even seen a PC. I
suppose I could kick in some money and hope it works under Virtualbox.

~~~
ido
"PC" these days is often a general name for "desktop or laptop computer" - it
doesn't mean it won't have a mac version.

~~~
georgekv
In the FAQ, they mention additional release platforms would be one of the
first things they would add should they raise enough money.

I think chances are good then since they've quite surpassed their initial
goal!

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atesti
And right after this adventure he should create a sequel to Brütal Legend!

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petercooper
On a tangent, is there anything as well designed and with as many features as
Kickstarter but that can support projects from outside of the US?

~~~
arkx
I'm not sure if it's a match featurewise, but <http://indiegogo.com> looks and
feels very similar.

Nikodemus Siivola used it to fund SBCL threading improvements:
<http://www.indiegogo.com/SBCL-Threading-Improvements-1>

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Melyan
Could this work for a project that ended up free for everyone? What would the
rewards be?

~~~
egypturnash

      limited-edition t-shirts
      limited-edition action figures
      dinner with the devs
      cool gold-colored cd/dvd/usbkey/etc with the software
      your likeness as a minor character
      limited-edition plush toys
    

Basically any kind of promotional tchotchke you can think of. It would have
little intrinsic worth but it would be RARE which means that if the product
became well-loved it would be worth something down the line when you decided
you no longer had room for it - and until then it's an item that tells people
something about you. "Oh man is that the commemorative bong for Psychonauts 2?
Holy cow I loved that game."

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f8seer
Wow, I've never even heard of kickstarter. This is a space I'll be looking at!

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pkamb
Please be Maniac Mansion III.

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hackermom
Funny headline allusion error. It was a nice surprise to see that they were
100% funded in just 8 hours. I guess Notch's push made a big difference.

~~~
amelim
As far as I'm aware, this is a completely different project from Psychonauts
2. I don't think Notch had any real significant involvement in this
Kickstarter campaign.

~~~
sp332
Notch tweeted this and got them some attention. Oh, and he pledged $10,000 to
_this_ project. <https://twitter.com/#!/notch/status/167551424396394496>

