Joystiq

Double Fine debuts trailer for Broken Age

David Hinkle — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:41:00 EST

Double Fine has shared the first footage of Broken Age, the studio's upcoming adventure game starring a girl who is to be fed to a giant monster, and a boy living on a space station with his only companion, a computer.

Double Fine debuts trailer for Broken Age originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Adventure unveiled as 'Broken Age'

JC Fletcher — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:20:00 EST

Double Fine Adventure, the adventure game whose progress has been a secret to all but Kickstarter backers, was revealed as "Broken Age" at a PAX East panel today. The website for the game is now live, offering art and plot information to the rest of us outside of the privileged Kickstarter class.

"Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure telling the stories of a young boy and girl leading parallel lives," the website explains. "The girl has been chosen by her village to be sacrificed to a terrible monster--but she decides to fight back. Meanwhile, a boy on a spaceship is living a solitary life under the care of a motherly computer, but he wants to break free to lead adventures and do good in the world. Adventures ensue."

Pre-orders are still available on the site, and provide access to the backer-only forums, as well as all past and future episodes of the documentary series about Broken Age's development, by 2 Player Productions.

Double Fine Adventure unveiled as 'Broken Age' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 24 Mar 2013 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kickstarter game projects earn $83 million in 2012

David Hinkle — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:00:00 EST

Most recall Double Fine's conquest of Kickstarter in 2012. It's the drive that initiated "The Year of the Game," a year where some of the biggest and most successful Kickstarter campaigns were attached to video game projects. In a 2012 retrospective post, Kickstarter reveals a total of $83 million was earned for video games through successful Kickstarter drives, the most out of any category on the crowd-funding website.

A total of 2,796 video game projects asked for funding on Kickstarter in 2012; 911 projects successfully reached goal thanks to 561,574 backers. Compared to the stats found in other categories last year (we're looking at you, Dance!), it's difficult to argue against 2012 truly being "The Year of the Game" on Kickstarter.

Kickstarter game projects earn $83 million in 2012 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Minecraft documentary building towards December 7 release date

Sinan Kubba — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST

2 Player Productions is laying the foundations for a December 7 release of its Minecraft documentary. Speaking to Eurogamer, Minecraft: The Story of Mojang director Paul Owens said that while an exact date hasn't been settled on, December 7 is the aim.

After getting the documentary funded on Kickstarter back in March 2011, 2 Player also committed to a similar production for Mojang's upcoming Scrolls. The Oregon-based production company has a strong history of gaming documentaries, having made videos for Double Fine, Sony, and Penny Arcade among many others.

Minecraft documentary building towards December 7 release date originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kickstarter declares 2012 'the year of the game'

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST

Seven of the eleven Kickstarter projects to surpass $1 million in funding belong to the games category. In a post entitled "The Year of the Game," the crowd funding site reveals that games have gone from the eighth most-funded category in the site's three-year history to the second.

This year has seen over $50 million pledged toward game projects on the site, with film and design several million behind at $42 million and $40 million, respectively. In 2011, games only had $3.6 million in funding and in 2010 it was at a mere $519,885.

The great change began in February, when Double Fine Adventure surpassed a million dollars in 24 hours and concluded with $3.3 million pledged. The most recent game to surpass a million was Uber Entertainment's Planetary Annihilation. Head on over to Kickstarter for "the year of the game" breakdown.

Kickstarter declares 2012 'the year of the game' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Kickstarter backer rewards now shipping

Richard Mitchell — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:30:00 EST

Are you a proud (or otherwise) backer of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter project? If so, you could be in for some good news very soon, as the Kickstarter rewards have begun shipping, reports VG247.

Rewards include T-shirts, posters and art books, and lunch with Tim Shafer and Ron Gilbert themselves. Shipping time on that last one probably depends on how long it takes Double Fine to find a box large enough to house Tim, Ron and a reasonably sized table.

Double Fine Kickstarter backer rewards now shipping originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can still buy into Double Fine Adventure through PayPal

JC Fletcher — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:35:00 EST

The Kickstarter may have ended, but you still have a chance to throw money into Double Fine's impressive coffers, and guarantee yourself access to both the game and its ongoing documentary. Double Fine has opened up a PayPal account to which you can contribute now -- you can find it on this very slow-loading page.

For $15, you get a Steam code for the PC or Mac version (when it's done), beta access, backer forum access, and HD streaming documentary videos as they finish. Double Fine graciously released the first episode of the documentary, which we've placed at the top of this post so you can have something to do while the PayPal page loads.

You can still buy into Double Fine Adventure through PayPal originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 11 May 2012 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rise of the Fund-it Pundits

Ludwig Kietzmann — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:10:00 EST

You're reading Reaction Time, a new weekly column that claims to examine recent events, games and trends in the industry, but is really just looking for an excuse to use the word "zeitgeist." It debuts on Fridays in Engadget's digital magazine, Distro.

In 1998, Tim Schafer asked the world to buy his darkest, funniest and greatest graphic adventure, Grim Fandango. Players planet-wide gave a big ol' shrug, despite the impassioned clamor of genre buffs and the constant yelling of critics, who could only find so many synonyms for "masterpiece."

In 2012, Tim Schafer asked the world to give him $400,000 for a new point-and-click project, which had yet to be designed, documented or even described. This time, he got over $3.3 million.

This stratospheric level of success on Kickstarter, a venue for crowd-sourced funding that's now being directed at unconventional games, is not the norm. Tim Schafer and his Double Fine studio are in the midst of a perfect storm of publicity. The designer's cherished legacy, and his perceived role as the charming genius who just can't catch a break in a harsh industry, are the components of a great underdog story. And maybe lifelong Grim Fandango guilt is the glue that holds it all together.

Continue reading Rise of the Fund-it Pundits

Rise of the Fund-it Pundits originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine's Kickstarter kick-started funding for video games

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST

Double Fine raised almost $3.4 million in its Kickstarter campaign, shattering records and publisher's hearts worldwide, but with all that attention on a single project it seemed impossible for any others to get a penny of funding. Not true, Kickstarter says, and it has the stats to back it up (Back that stat up).

Double Fine Adventure catalyzed the entire video games category on Kickstarter: The month before Double Fine's project, video games averaged 629 pledges per week; after its launch, video games received an average of 9,755 pledges per week, excluding those to Double Fine, Kickstarter says.

Similarly, in the first two years on Kickstarter, the video games category raised $1,776,372 in total. In the six weeks after Double Fine, it generated $2,890,704 without Double Fine's contribution, $6,227,075 with it. Before Double Fine, only one video games project had exceeded $100,000; now nine have.

Double Fine brought 61,692 first-time backers to Kickstarter, and they have gone on to pledge almost $400,000 to Wasteland 2, another successful, million-dollar project. Kickstarter offers a more detailed run-down of these surprising statistics right here.

Double Fine's Kickstarter kick-started funding for video games originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter concludes with $3,335,265 amassed

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:18:00 EST

"It's been an amazing experience," Tim Schafer said as the last bit of funding rolled in for Double Fine Adventure. "So much love."

And so much money! The Kickstarter project, which aimed to collect a mere $400,000 for a new, classically designed adventure game from Schafer's San Francisco-based studio, concluded with a total of $3,335,265 in funding -- after just over a month. An accompanying documentary will capture its creation, step-by-step.

"I don't want to say this is the end of the whole game industry as we know it ... it's not, it's not!" Schafer joked, surrounded by festivities in the Double Fine office. As the Kickstarter clock counted down, the visibly grateful designer said fans no longer had to accept no for an answer when it came to their favorite "niche" entertainment. "You can choose."

Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter concludes with $3,335,265 amassed originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Kickstarter hits 3 million, drive closing on Ustream [update: corrected time]

JC Fletcher — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST

The allure of t-shirts proved irresistible (also, we assume, the continued allure of new video games, etc.) The "Double Fine Adventure" Kickstarter, on its last day of availability, has crossed $3 million in contributions. As of writing, the developer has $3,018,892 to put into both a new adventure game and a documentary about its development.

If you think this is exciting, just wait until 3pm PDT/6pm EST, when Double Fine will begin broadcasting the final two hours of the drive live on Ustream. Watch Tim Schafer rake it in in real time!

Double Fine Kickstarter hits 3 million, drive closing on Ustream [update: corrected time] originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Tim Schafer anything this Sunday

JC Fletcher — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST

Double Fine has raised well over $2 million on Kickstarter, and in exchange it's given you these minutes of unintentional amusement. Well, you'll eventually get a video game and stuff too, but enjoy these bloopers from the developer's Kickstarter pitch video for now.

For amusement of a more informative variety, studio head Tim Schafer will host an "ask me anything" thread on Reddit this Sunday from 1-3pm PST (4-6pm EST). Don't ask him about all his hilarious bloopers, though, just in case he's really embarrassed by them.

Ask Tim Schafer anything this Sunday originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Schafer stigma: How his successful Kickstarter went to your head

Jessica Conditt — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:00:00 EST

I first heard about Kickstarter at San Diego Comic-Con 2010 in an early morning panel about black writers and artists in the graphic-novel industry, titled "Nappy Hour." I was there to secure a seat in the following panel -- which was a Dark Horse feature and may have included an appearance by the wonderful Gerard Way, writer of The Umbrella Academy and singer in this amazing band you probably haven't heard of (don't judge me) -- but "Nappy Hour" turned out to be one of the best presentations I saw that weekend.

Throughout the panel, author and performer Pam Noles mentioned Kickstarter as an underground, free-spirited way of funding creative projects, and said she had used it to fund a few of her own endeavors. I imagined an online co-op of artists and philanthropists holding hands and running through rich, green fields together, composing sonnets about how wonderful everything was, and supporting only the most remarkable of projects. When I got home and checked it out myself, I found a site similar to Etsy, but where the items for sale were half-finished, semi-formed ideas from people who seemed dedicated to carrying them out.

I thought it was wonderful.

Continue reading The Schafer stigma: How his successful Kickstarter went to your head

The Schafer stigma: How his successful Kickstarter went to your head originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Kickstarter adds new rewards, Schafer and Gilbert talk it out

Jessica Conditt — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:15:00 EST

Double Fine's fundraiser for its point-and-click adventure title exploded on day one and has currently raised almost $2.1 million, and there are still 18 days left. To celebrate, reward its backers and entice even more, Double Fine has revamped its rewards for denomination-specific donations as follows:

$30 tier: Digital Soundtrack of the Documentary
$60 tier: Double Fine Adventure Book (digital PDF)
$100 tier: Special edition box set with the game disc and DVD/Blu-Ray documentary
$500 tier: Double Fine Adventure Book (physical copy)

As standard for Kickstarter projects, hitting a higher reward tier gets backers all of the rewards from previous tiers as well. For extra incentive, the 35-minute discussion between Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert -- filmed before the Kickstarter began -- demonstrates the passion and thought that will be fueling Double Fine's game; check it out above.

Double Fine Kickstarter adds new rewards, Schafer and Gilbert talk it out originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Adventure surpasses $2 million on Kickstarter

JC Fletcher — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST

So, that Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter. You know, the one you contributed to. With 22 days left on the campaign, the total sits at $2,005,826 -- 501 percent of the developer's $400,000 goal.

When the project hit its goal (in about eight hours), Double Fine studio head Tim Schafer said the extra money would go into more production values for the games and accompanying 2 Player Productions documentary. The result of that, so far, has been multiplatform, multilingual development of the game.

How many of the world's 6,909 known languages can Double Fine translate into, if the money keeps rolling in like this? Think of all the populations who have never experienced an adventure game!

Double Fine Adventure surpasses $2 million on Kickstarter originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine's adventure coming to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices [Update]

Xav de Matos — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:35:00 EST

Double Fine has just announced that its upcoming Kickstarter-funded adventure project will be DRM-free on the PC, Mac, and Linux when the project finally launches. A closed beta for Kickstarter supporters will be available on Steam.

"We got a little bit more money than we thought we'd get," Double Fine's Tim Schafer said in a YouTube video announcing the platforms. "So the game is going to be just a little bit better. Well, it's going to be a lot better, actually." The project will also be available on iOS devices and "certain Android phones."

Schafer also added that, due to the astounding amount that has been donated (now over $1.8 million!), the game will include full voice in the English version as well as subtitle support for French, Spanish, Italian, and German. Another few bucks and we're sure they'll add Klingon.

Update: Double Fine's Greg Rice tells us that backers of the project will have access to the PC, Mac, and Linux versions of the game. Granting access to the mobile version by backing the game via Kickstarter is "not currently possible."

Double Fine's adventure coming to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android devices [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Ben Gilbert — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:00 EST

Double Fine will be able to fund at least two and a half adventure games and/or put an awful lot of money into creating an incredibly extravagant one, as the developer's Kickstarter project has just topped $1 million dollars. After being announced late last evening, the project's page already reflected a number exceeding the goal of $400K within just over eight hours.

With another 33 days to go, and an incredible amount of momentum as is, we're thinking the sky's the limit for the Double Fine folks. And they'll get to that sky in their fleet of private jets, all custom designed to nest within one another like the characters in Stacking, and Tim will be the mothership. It's all so clear now! What have we done?!

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine breaks Kickstarter funding records

Xav de Matos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST

It seems that Double Fine can attach the moniker of "record holder" to its latest venture. A representative from the crowd-source funding site Kickstarter has confirmed to Joystiq that Double Fine's adventure game fundraiser now holds the company record for raising such a high amount of money in a short amount of time.

"I can confirm that there's not been a project that has raised as much as this one in such a short timeframe," the spokesperson revealed. Kickstarter says it does not keep a running tally finalized projects, but its listing of 'Most Funded' ventures shows a number of concepts that came close to the one million dollar mark, since 2009.

The Kickstarter spokesperson also confirmed that Double Fine's project "now has more backers than any other project on the site." The current total of backers sits at over 17,000.

Double Fine's project -- which took about 8 hours and 11 minutes to fund -- currently sits at over $675,000 ... and there are still 33 days left.

Double Fine breaks Kickstarter funding records originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Double Fine's Kickstarter adventure surpasses $400K goal

Xav de Matos — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:45:00 EST

It took about 8 hours and 11 minutes. Late last night, developer Double Fine revealed a new project, one that would only be created with help from fans. Dubbed 'Double Fine Adventure,' the game would bring the developer back to its rich adventure game heritage, which helped put company icons Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert into the industry's spotlight.

The asking price was high -- $400,000 to create a brand new PC-based, "classic point-and-click adventure utilizing modern touch technology -- but gamers were more than willing to help.

Funding for the game still runs for an additional 33 days and support does not seem to be slowing. On the official Kickstarter page, Double Fine notes that "extra money" earned during this process will be "put back into the game" as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary following the creation of the new title, which will only be distributed to those who back the project. The additional fund also mean the game "can appear on more platforms, be translated into more languages, have more music and voice, and an original soundtrack for the documentary, and more."

At the time of publishing, the Kickstarter project has 9,464 backers, putting $432,249 towards Double Fine's next adventure. Joystiq has contacted Kickstarter to find out if Double Fine's project is the fastest project to hit such an impressive funding total in the company's history, but have yet to hear back.

A jovial Schafer wrote on Twitter: "Okay, on to the next project! the next thing we need to do is get this Black Sabbath reunion back on track, people."

Double Fine's Kickstarter adventure surpasses $400K goal originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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