2012 saw the rise of Kickstarter and crowd funded projects (Kickstarter is the brand name for crowd funded projects). What happens is a developer (can be anybody with anything, any idea) shows his or her concept of proof and what the final product aims to be and sets a target (funding required). If the target is met, the project goes into development and then finally a release. There are simply too many amazing Kickstarter projects from 2012 and hence, they will be summarized in a few lines and over multiple posts. Once again, please do pitch in your opinions.
OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console
OUYA (pronounced Oh Yeah!) is a new kind of game console. It's cheap. It's tiny. It's cute. And most importantly, it runs on Android.
OUYA wants to revolutionize gaming without really being a revolution. It wants to introduce cheap gaming, and more importantly free games to all. Games published on OUYA will only and only be of the Free 2 Play genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psCoR4zmIpE
OUYA packs a nVidia Tegra 3 quad core chipset. That packs four ARM Cortex A9 based CPU cores. In addition, the GPU is the ULP GeForce with 12 cores. The console packs 1 GB of RAM, that is more than any current generation console (again those are 7 years old). Although graphical capabilities might not match the very best, we can still expect decent quality level for these titles.
OUYA was excessively successful, with a funding of nearly $9 million making it the biggest Kickstarter project yet. Each console will reportedly cost a mere $99 only. That's quite less for a console to play free games with.
Wasteland 2
The original Wasteland can be thought of as a predecessor to the original Fallout (great, so now you know how it looks like).
You do know how Fallout evolved by the time we were at Fallout 3? Well Wasteland from the year 1988 will do something similar with the help of Kickstarter funding with the next title Wasteland 2.
Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun wants to bring back kick ass old school gaming to PC, and tablets as well. The decision to include tablets in the development is an interesting turn and it shows us how far technology has progressed, so much that a new game considers both PC and Tablet platforms for development of a new game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCrHVqr2uE
With the rise of new consoles (this year, 2013) based on mobile hardware (such as the already massively popular OUYA gaming console), we see the logical shift in game development towards mobile hardware occur in a more open manner than ever before.
Double Fine Adventure
Double Fine Adventure aims to do things differently. In what they define as "The world of video game design is a mysterious one. What really happens behind the closed doors of a development studio is often unknown, unappreciated, or misunderstood. And the bigger the studio, the more tightly shut its door tends to be. With this project, we're taking that door off its hinges and inviting you into the world of Double Fine Productions, the first major studio to fully finance their next game with a Kickstarter campaign and develop it in the public eye."
Double Fine will be a classic Point and Click game and Tim promises the game development cycle to be between 6-8 months long. That means this game should release somewhere in the 2nd half of 2013 itself. We'll see then if the huge (nearly) 3 and a half million dollars that this game collected shows it's worth.
Star Citizen
Star Citizen is focused to deliver an epic space adventure game with trading as well as dog-fighting in First Person. The game is Single Player and can be entirely played Offline or Online as well. Simply drop in to play Online.
There is a Persistent Universe which will be hosted by the developers of Star Citizen and a mod-friendly and able Universe which can be hosted by us, the players. The game features no subscriptions, and claims to have none of the pay-to-win elements in it.
Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG
Who doesn't love zombies? And zombie games? Oh they are always welcome. It's always interesting to see more and more developers release Zombie games and show the world their own take on the Zombie apocalypse. The Zombie games genre hasn't had that many amazing games, and a perfect game is yet to be found. Left 4 Dead does great, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. A Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead hybrid in a Zombie World scenario is probably what everybody is looking for.
Sadly, that is not what Dead State will deliver. What it does promise to deliver is a turn-based RPG style Zombie apocalypse game. Here's what they have to say about themselves:
Got any favorites from upcoming Kickstarter projects? Do comment and let us know. We hope you liked this Best of 2012 series.
OUYA: A New Kind of Video Game Console
OUYA (pronounced Oh Yeah!) is a new kind of game console. It's cheap. It's tiny. It's cute. And most importantly, it runs on Android.
Cracking open the last closed platform: the TV. A beautiful, affordable console -- built on Android, by the creator of Jambox.
OUYA wants to revolutionize gaming without really being a revolution. It wants to introduce cheap gaming, and more importantly free games to all. Games published on OUYA will only and only be of the Free 2 Play genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psCoR4zmIpE
OUYA packs a nVidia Tegra 3 quad core chipset. That packs four ARM Cortex A9 based CPU cores. In addition, the GPU is the ULP GeForce with 12 cores. The console packs 1 GB of RAM, that is more than any current generation console (again those are 7 years old). Although graphical capabilities might not match the very best, we can still expect decent quality level for these titles.
OUYA was excessively successful, with a funding of nearly $9 million making it the biggest Kickstarter project yet. Each console will reportedly cost a mere $99 only. That's quite less for a console to play free games with.
Wasteland 2
Wasteland 2 is a sequel to the amazingly popular 1988 RPG Wasteland and the post-apocalyptic predecessor to the Fallout Series.
The original Wasteland can be thought of as a predecessor to the original Fallout (great, so now you know how it looks like).
You do know how Fallout evolved by the time we were at Fallout 3? Well Wasteland from the year 1988 will do something similar with the help of Kickstarter funding with the next title Wasteland 2.
Shadowrun Returns
Shadowrun Returns brings back one of our most original & cherished game settings as a 2D turn-based RPG for tablets & PC.
Shadowrun wants to bring back kick ass old school gaming to PC, and tablets as well. The decision to include tablets in the development is an interesting turn and it shows us how far technology has progressed, so much that a new game considers both PC and Tablet platforms for development of a new game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCrHVqr2uE
With the rise of new consoles (this year, 2013) based on mobile hardware (such as the already massively popular OUYA gaming console), we see the logical shift in game development towards mobile hardware occur in a more open manner than ever before.
Double Fine Adventure
An adventure game from Tim Schafer, Double Fine, and YOU!
Double Fine Adventure aims to do things differently. In what they define as "The world of video game design is a mysterious one. What really happens behind the closed doors of a development studio is often unknown, unappreciated, or misunderstood. And the bigger the studio, the more tightly shut its door tends to be. With this project, we're taking that door off its hinges and inviting you into the world of Double Fine Productions, the first major studio to fully finance their next game with a Kickstarter campaign and develop it in the public eye."
Double Fine will be a classic Point and Click game and Tim promises the game development cycle to be between 6-8 months long. That means this game should release somewhere in the 2nd half of 2013 itself. We'll see then if the huge (nearly) 3 and a half million dollars that this game collected shows it's worth.
Star Citizen
Reclaim the stars in the exciting new Space Epic from legendary game designer Chris Roberts.
Star Citizen is focused to deliver an epic space adventure game with trading as well as dog-fighting in First Person. The game is Single Player and can be entirely played Offline or Online as well. Simply drop in to play Online.
There is a Persistent Universe which will be hosted by the developers of Star Citizen and a mod-friendly and able Universe which can be hosted by us, the players. The game features no subscriptions, and claims to have none of the pay-to-win elements in it.
Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG
A turn-based RPG with branching dialogue, shelter management, and survival mechanics set in the zombie apocalypse.
Who doesn't love zombies? And zombie games? Oh they are always welcome. It's always interesting to see more and more developers release Zombie games and show the world their own take on the Zombie apocalypse. The Zombie games genre hasn't had that many amazing games, and a perfect game is yet to be found. Left 4 Dead does great, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. A Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead hybrid in a Zombie World scenario is probably what everybody is looking for.
Sadly, that is not what Dead State will deliver. What it does promise to deliver is a turn-based RPG style Zombie apocalypse game. Here's what they have to say about themselves:
Dead State is a compelling, high-tension RPG set at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. As society is beginning to fall apart, the player must organize allies, fortify a shelter, scout for food and supplies, and make uncertain alliances, attempting to hold together a group as humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. And although the zombies lurk as an ever present threat, the biggest obstacle to the player may just be other humans with the same goal: survival at any cost.
Got any favorites from upcoming Kickstarter projects? Do comment and let us know. We hope you liked this Best of 2012 series.
Buying a new phone? Or a tablet? Need help with something everyday-tech related? Ask me and I'm sure to help!
— Preetam Nath (@hipreetam93) April 18, 2013
— Preetam Nath (@hipreetam93) April 18, 2013