Like Michael Bay, Kickstarter Revives the Dead

If you don’t know what Kickstarter is, you’ve been living under a wifi free rock for too long. It’s the place to go when you have a dream, but haven’t figured out how to financially support it yet. If the internet denizens deem you worthy, they’ll give you money to make your dream a reality.

Otherwise, it’s back to being a normal person with the typical abundance of forgotten hopes.

While Kickstarter helps find funding for nearly everything at this point, one of it’s big uses is for game development. And this is great. It offers indie developers a chance to make their game a reality, and gives them important feedback. Clearly if they don’t meet their funding goals, their idea wasn’t that great.

But if a fledgling game maker has an idea for a game people want, it gives their game a chance to shine. Many games on Kickstarter offer a new and unique take on gaming.

So knowing that Kickstarter is internet based, it would only be fair to assume that the best funded games are innovative, new properties. After all, the internet is full of people that want games that offer new and exciting over old and rehashed.

False. Apparently those people are all broke. And the people with money are the people who line up outside the theater for every new Michael Bay remake. What are the big record setters on Kickstarter? How about the new Ogre Designer’s Edition from Steve Jackson Games, which has set the record for funds raised by a board game project on Kickstarter at $369,238 (and counting)?

The original came out in 1977!

Or if you want to stay true to the video game genre, the rehash of Shadowrun that’s managed to raise $1.5 million dollars!

I love Shadowrun. I played Shadowrun when it was still a pen and paper RPG, and I loved the Sega Genesis version as well. The Xbox 360 version not so much. And I’ll definitely take a look at this game when it comes out. But where’s the innovation and unique idea behind issuing another Shadowrun? Couldn’t that money be better spent on new and exciting property?

The other issue with these rehashes is the fact that they don’t need funded. I understand this is a way for designers and developers to get pre-orders and judge interest in a game. But these aren’t small companies.

Steve Jackson Games can afford to put a new product out with out financial funding. And let’s not get started on the owner of the Shadowrun franchise who can easily afford to start multiple, successful new game companies, but apparently can’t finance an existing IP.

These mega funded projects are taking money away from other projects that have fresh ideas. Ideas that could change the gaming industry. But unfortunately, they’re being passed over for last century leftovers.