Zero Punctuation: Mighty No. 9

[ccggenius12]

Why would you want to motorboat cantaloupes? Those things are really coarse.

Right? Should have said "overripe honeydew".
OT: I'm only on the hook for $20, and as the 3DS version still has not come out, there's still (a little) hope that I'll be receiving something half-way decent. In any case, this is pretty common with first forays into Kickstarter (over-promising and being thoroughly unable to deliver), and I firmly believe that if they can scrape together the funds for a MN9 2, they'll do it right. Of course, "right" consists entirely of giving us the art direction we were promised in the first Kickstarter, something they can likely accomplish if they don't decide that a few thousand extra dollars is enough to fund porting the game to another console/device.
Also, would like to note, all backers should have received a free copy of the Azure Striker Gunvolt spinoff, "Mighty Gunvolt", for backing this game. I found that it played decently, and would argue that it equates to shaving ~$5 off of what you effectively spent on MN9, at which point it can be argued, "the game cost $15, what's the big deal if it wasn't so great?" It's not like they charged us for a full-priced game when they gave us this; you'd pay about that much for a shovelware game, and this is at least a step above that.

 

[Jingle Fett]

I didn't like the look of this game from the beginning, the style just seemed off to me, and I didn't like the character designs either. However, I just found out recently they had another style in mind that actually HAD style (a more slick cartoon animation), so it's a shame we never saw that version.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

They could have gone with this...
They could have gone with this and not the "style" they went with...

WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?!

I had a similar reaction at first.

Apparently, it is believed by some, that even with all the money they made, throwing the game on every platform quickly drained them dry, and so they cut down on the 'art' to make good on their promise.

I honestly have no idea if any of this is true or not, but I think a proper artist would want to focus on making one game amazing than even out funds for other things.

Now that I'm done reeling in shock. I'm going to say they could probably do both. Sort of.

They could have just started with one console and then added more licences once the game was done and enough money. It would be slower but they'd have far better chances of being successful. I'd have gone with the PC and maybe PS4 to start with and waited until the game made enough money to justify porting it again. I know they over-promised and all that, but fucking hell I thought they just couldn't get a good artist.

Sorry this will probably upset you some more, but here's some live footage of that original look in action. I remember seeing it during the Kickstarter and thinking it looked pretty nice, so I was quite surprised when I saw the current/released version of the game and it didn't look like this

 

[Amir Kondori]

This game looks fucking atrocious, I knew that Kickstarter was sketchy from the start.

I say nay nay! The game isn't garbage, it is mediocre. I backed it and I've played it. I've also backed my favorite release in the last five+ years, Pillars of Eternity, another great game Divinity: OS, another game I really like, Wasteland 2 and FTL which is awesome.

I've also backed two projects I ended up being disappointed with, Warmachine, a tactics game that just didn't click for me, and now Mighty No. 9, an action platformer that has a good feel kind of ruined by the dashing mechanic.

I've still got a lot of irons in the Kickstarter fire, I'm waiting on The Bards Tale IV, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Yooka-Laylee, Underworld Ascendant, The Mandate, Torment: Tides of Numenera. At least one of those games will probably disappoint me. But how many games have I bought through traditional methods that were disappointing? So far I've actually had a way higher success rate of ending up games I really like through projects I've backed on Kickstarter than traditionally funded and released games.

No one was going to make Pillars of Eternity without it being funded by fans. Obsidian was on the brink of layoffs and maybe worse before the Project Eternity Kickstarter. Now the game has sold approximately a million units and they are already working a sequel, another non-Kickstarted original IP, and are the developing some games for other publishers. Obsidian Entertainment is one of my favorite developers and not only did their Kickstarter produce an excellent game, but it might just have saved their company.

I understand why some people don't like Kickstarter, and I always say if you can't take the risk then don't back anything. But for me it was worth taking the risk on projects that truly excited me by developers that I either trust from their past work or who have made enough of the game to convince me they know what they are doing.

Since Wasteland 2 FTL and Pillars, a few of my earliest backed Kickstarter projects, I have been a HUGE believer in the platform and the idea of crowd funding. I've backed a lot of interesting stuff since then and so far I haven't had a single project fail, i.e. not release a finished project. I'm glad Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms exist because I believe it gives a direct voice to gamers to choose the games they want to see get made as well as opening up a new funding source for smaller developers who don't want to compromise their creative vision.

I don't have money to throw away, so I have no desire to give to any Kickstarter projects, I get why you and others believe in it, but I share Yahtzee's opinion when it comes to Kickstarter. I personally see it as worse then pre-ordering, since you're not even guaranteed a product at the end.

I like Obsidian but Pillars of Eternity didn't really look appealing to me, I hope they do a Kickstarter for an Alpha Protocol sequel.

I haven't really bought any brand new retail games that disappointed me in the least, the few bad games I bought I got really cheap used on Amazon(I.E. Ride to Hell).

I would never urge people to back a project if they aren't comfortable with crowd funding. That being said it very different from pre-ordering, in that these are games that are not going to be made otherwise. NO ONE had made a Baldur's Gate/Pillars type game for well over a decade. Not only did I get an awesome game that was never going to be made otherwise, but it sounds like it prevented layoffs and sparked a good period for a developer I love.

Now we are seeing some publishers try and abuse Kickstarter, by putting up already funded games to try and extract more development money. That is something I don't like, especially when they aren't up front about it. The Bloodstained Kickstarter they were upfront about the publisher money and so I still backed it, as I love the Castlevania series and we haven't had a 2d Castlevania on anything other than handheld since SOTN like 16 years ago.

That is the big difference between a pre-order and Kickstarter, you are getting a game made that otherwise just wouldn't get made. It puts power into gamers hands, especially those of us who love genres that have all but disappeared.

Unfortunately it also puts power into the hands of scammers who are willingly to lie to trick people out of their money.

Luckily outright scammers are quite rare and the community is usually very good at sniffing them out. I've only backed projects by known entities, while that alone does not ensure success I've yet to back something that didn't release.

Of course for people without the combination of the money to spare and the passion to get a game funded and made I would not recommend Kickstarter or crowdfunding.

 

[4Aces]

KS is full of scams, that start out as well-intentioned idiots passing themselves off as experts, who quickly learn how little they actually know. Even Star Citizen is plagued by this reality. After all this time they are still trying to learn how modern game deleopment is carried out, and if they have that kind of funding and talent, what hopes are there for people that put out Love Motion #9.

EDIT - Anyone else think the new British PM looks & sounds a little like Harriet Jones (Dr. Who)? I keep on waiting for her to flash her creds and tell the reporters who she is.