La-Mulana 2 ventures onto Kickstarter, $200K funding goal

by Sinan Kubba on Jan 21st 2014 10:00AM

La-Mulana 2 is seeking $200,000 in Kickstarter funding to be made for Windows PC, a turn of events as unexpected as one of the spelunking plaformer's traps. Publisher Playism and developer Nigoro first announced the sequel to the WiiWare and PC game at last year's Tokyo Game Show, and now the two studios have a month to raise $200,000 and greenlight the game. Going by the this morning's rapid funding, they won't need the time.

As for what we know about La-Mulana 2, it stars a new hero in Lumisa Kosugi, the possibly illegitimate daughter of the first game's protagonist. If her legitimacy is in question, the sequel's gameplay doesn't look to be. As we saw at TGS, players will once again scavenge for clues in the 2D caves and tombs of La-Mulana 2, and carefully dissect the riddles they find there to avoid falling victim to the many lurking deathtraps.

For those willing to stump up the cash for La-Mulana 2, a $15 pledge earns you a Steam and DRM-free copy of the game upon release. With funding accumulating quickly, Playism and Nigoro will already be looking to the stretch goals they've outlined: Highlights include Mac and Linux versions at $500K, a 3DS or Vita version at $1.15 million, Wii U, PS4, or Xbox One versions at $1.65 million, and Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360 versions all the way up at $2.35 million. The stretch goal platforms are "subject to negotiation," indicating Playism and Nigoro can't guarantee more than one for each stretch goal.

In the campaign video, Nigoro Director Takumi Namamura said his studio wants to take original game's system and evolve it into something that can push "2D games further than they have ever been before."

"I grew up in an era of Japanese game development that made it the envy of the gaming world," said Namamura. "The quality of games accelerated at a high pace. It felt like every single release was another step forward. It was an exciting time for us, with both games and their technology evolving right before our eyes. I feel this evolution of gaming stopped sometime after 3D games became mainstream. But what if 2D games had never stopped evolving? We are challenging ourselves to make a game that answers that question."

Whether or not it answers that question, Nigoro says Lu-Mulana 2 will probably be a 20-to-30 hour game for newcomers, with more than 18 areas, 9 bosses, and 40 mid-stage bosses to explore and confront. Another key figure is that of 16:9, the enhanced aspect ratio from the 2011 original. As for an ETA, when the game was first announced the aim was this year, but the newly unveiled Kickstarter notes an estimated delivery of December 2015.

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Video Games Live: Level 3 rocks its goal on Kickstarter

by David Hinkle on Sep 12th 2013 4:00PM

The Kickstarter campaign to fund the third studio album for Tommy Tallarico's Video Games Live is a success. The pledge drive has surpassed its goal of $250,000 today, within its final 24 hours of the pledge drive.

Video Games Live is a confluence of video game music and live spectacle, usually a touring live concert series where musicians cover select tracks from video game soundtracks while gameplay is projected on a massive screen. There are currently two Video Games Live albums, each available on iTunes.

The target release date for this third studio album is February 18, 2014. Some planned compositions already outed include pieces from Street Fighter 2, the Monkey Island series, Skyrim, Journey, Shadow of the Colossus, Beyond Good and Evil, Tetris, Silent Hill 2, World of Warcraft and Diablo 3.

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[PC, PS4, Wii U] Shadow of the Eternals Kickstarter has officially relaunched

[PC, PS4, Wii U] Shadow of the Eternals Kickstarter has officially relaunched

Hey, guess what? It's time for the Kickstarter re-launch for Precursor Games' ambitious new project, Shadow of the Eternals.

A press release has also confirmed that David Hayter, best known for playing the role of Solid Snake and previously Big Boss in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, will be taking on the role of Paul Becker.

"Playing the role of Paul Becker will be a blast as he is both complex and conflicted," said David Hayter in the press release. "I intend to provide gamers with a provocative and memorable experience on the roller coaster ride that is Shadow of the Eternals."

You can check out the game's Kickstarter page here or the official Shadows of the Eternals website.
Currently over $100,000 worth of pledges have been made, but the game will need to hit $750,000 within the next 28 days to be funded. Can it do it this time? I'm still not sure where I stand on the matter. On one hand I'm excited that a spiritual successor to Eternal Darkness might come to fruition, but at the same time I'm dubious about the team working on this game.

I should clarify that I'm not dubious because of the team, but mostly because they are leaning very heavily on referring to Eternal Darkness instead of striving to sell the IP on its own merits.

If funded the game will be a fully complete action-adventure game wading through pools of uneasy psychological horror that should run for roughly 8-10 hours, it will be available for PC and Wii U. Additionally, Precursor Games has confirmed that their first stretch goal will be a PlayStation 4 release. If you are really eager to support the game then head over to Steam Greenlight and show your support.

Here's the gameplay trailer released awhile back.

What do you think? Can Precursor Games pull it off?

Written by: Kyran Morrison

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Idle Thumbs Kickstarter includes exclusive game, neat artwork

by David Hinkle on Feb 20th 2012 4:30PM

It seems everyone's got a Kickstarter nowadays. Double Fine just surpassed $2 million, inXile is going to use Kickstarter to reboot a classic and now the Idle Thumbs video game podcast is using the site to finance its future.

The interesting thing about this Kickstarter campaign, however, is that it includes an exclusive game called Thirty Flights of Loving by Blendo Games. It's a sequel to the one-man indie development studio's previous effort, Gravity Bone, a spy-based affair blending adventure and first-person shooting elements. Thirty Flights of Loving will be given to all backers who drop $30 or more down.

If you want to throw down more cash, Vincent Perea and Graham Annable, the artists behind The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Puzzle Agent, respectively, will toss in some of their doodlings. So hurry up and help the crew finance their -- oh, they already hit their goal? Okay then, head on over if you want to pay for some stuff you want.

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