PixlBit

Everyone should take at least one Journey, as Jesse said. It's evocative, it's gripping, and it's wonderful.

True, but investors have a different agenda. They're primarily financing something to get something back, like you said, in a way that benefits them in the future. Kickstarter doesn't appear, to me, to be an investment platform in the traditional sense; it's simply a platform for people to fund a project that they want to see come to fruition.

The original purpose of Double Fine's kickstarter was to finance a small project, mostly for devotees of a genre that Double Fine wanted to tap into, but one that would be difficult to finance otherwise. Out of all the people who grew up playing games akin to Double Fine's pitch, most of them have jobs, many wanted to see a game like this--why not see if people are willing to make that happen? You get a free game out of it and perks, also like you said. If you only want to get the game, then you pay a low price, and you're effectively paying for just the game. If you pay more, it's based on your desire to see the game happen, or maybe the perk is worth it to you. I'm assuming the people who made larger investments simply had the expendable income to do so.

In the case of Double Fine's game, if you do a small contribution, you're effectively just paying for the game. They get the support they need, you get a copy of the game you wanted to see come to life, and everybody's happy. What it boils down to is that you're donating to a purpose that you want to come through; if the result and perks aren't worth it to you, then you simply don't donate.

And that Kiki Trick trailer was pretty fun.

In retrospect, I still like it, but it's not my favorite game I've played in a while. However, it's still very good, taken as a whole.

@Nick: It wasn't too hard, agreed (IIRC). I think being able to tune out the narrator could be considered a success for those who don't want to listen to it; given that the narrator is supposed to be important (even though the concept of a narrator in a player-is-unfolding-the video game almost seems hard to be considered of utmost importance), maybe that's not such a good thing.

I understand where you are coming from about the free-to-play MMO. I think Bastion's are better than that, particularly in reference to the story and the transitional elements of the world "appearing," but it matches the style you mentioned somewhat.

Soundtrack is great, indeed.

Also agree about the levels melding together a bit; thinking back, there isn't a significant amount of variation. But it's definitely not without variety... it could have pushed it up a bit, though.

Overall, I thought it was fun. If they ever make a sequel, considering the team was pretty small, I have a feeling they would be able to improve on some of these more mundane facets. The main point: Bastion developers have good heads on their collective shoulders. Must have faith!

This seems like a really weird thing to do. I can believe the cross-franchise utilization, but this just seems like they picked a random character from the recent AAA character phone book.

And awful character designs? Not every one is great, but to use a double awful?

Paired with the rumors started with the job posting labeled "God of War," I wonder if this is happening. It seems soon; I thought God of War 3 was supposed to be the "end," at least for a while?

Is that picture just random art someone put together for that retail site, or is it supposed to be real-concept-art-acquired-from-somewhere? The background makes me think it's fake.

I agree with Jason, here. This device certainly fits with what Microsoft is doing with its products, but it doesn't sound like a successor to the Xbox. The name Loop holds weight in that regard, particularly with the decreasing number of seams Microsoft wants between its products. I'm thinking this could be a modified Xbox, but that seems like an odd move, so I would imagine it to be an additional product, maybe as a part of the Xbox family. But it still seems odd based on this information.

That's actually a good point about re-releasing PS2 games.

And Final Fantasy VII wasn't an ugly game, honestly. The models were pretty limited, and the blockiness was bad, but the settings and most other elements were well done. But yes, today, it would need to be remade. Upconverting wouldn't cut it.

Awesome. The trailers sold me immediately, and the gameplay looked like it upheld the quality presented. Very glad to see such a positive reaction. Will definitely get this this weekend.

As for the original, I player through it this past Christmas. It looks incredibly dated and some aspects are archaic, but it was still plenty of fun. The level of choices and interactions are there, and the scale of the game was exciting to me. You can always wait for a Steam sale, and if it's too old for you, then no worries, but I would recommend trying it. It's good.