The Black Glove kickstarter

[melmer]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theblackglove/the-black-glove

PC only? Pfft

Oh wait... "and other platforms to be announced". Cool cool, hopefully that means they'll add a ps4 stretch goal if we hound them enough. I've already sent them a begging message

[Cordeos]

Reminds me of the Stanley Parable. I worry this game will be one where you keep replaying mostly the same content to see one thing turn out differently. The art style looks nice even though they are not straying far from Bioshock. This is going in my wait and see pile.

[Twig]

Some part of me dislikes that the surface reminds me so much of the first Bioshock game.

 

But the other part of me likes it.

 

So whatever.

[juv3nal]

It looks interesting, but that arcade game thingyy...it's the kind of thing I wouldn't necessarily mind having to play once, but if that's a thing you have to repeat, blegh.

[Architecture]

That footage looks amazingly polished for being about seven months' worth of work. I've never backed a Kickstarter, and I don't think I'm going to start now, but I could definitely see buying this as an impulse purchase when it comes out next year.

 

I definitely dig how weird it is.

[melmer]

huh, i wonder if this'll struggle to reach its goal? it hasn't moved much in the past 8 hours

 

It doesn't seem particularly exciting :-/

 

A man is singing a song... you play a 1970's arcade game... The man is now wearing different clothes and is singing a different song... Fin

[Justin Leego]

Questions

- What do you actually do? Apart from go into a basement, play a weird Pac-like arcade game, sprint upstairs for 2 seconds to see if you did it right, then run back down and repeat.

- How do you know if you are doing things right? Apart from if you make something gratifying in and of itself. Are there theater investors who require a certain number of visitors? Is this in part a Sim Art Space?

- Are the art exhibits / music performances / films somewhat procedurally generated or is it a matter of unlocking finite, pre-set combinations?

 

Funding levels could have done with a bit of a tweak. $20 for the game but $15 extra for the art book and another $15 on top for the OST? Not sure about that, seems a bit steep. An Early Bird offer at $15 wouldn't have gone amiss either.

 

Good luck to them though. There's certainly a lot of artistic and musical talent here.

[sclpls]

It looks great to me, but yeah, I don't see them hitting a $500k goal for a wonderfully weird game rather than some nostalgia project.

[Dewar]

I dunno, if they shop around the former Irrational stuff they might get a good swell of backers.

[Architecture]

Fellas, let's be reasonable here. They're already around 10% of their goal and have an entire month to finance the game. Expecting it to match the runaway success of earlier Kickstarted games is, well, irrational.

[Twig]

eheheeee i get it

 

I'm going to now work under the assumption that you didn't just type all that for the joke.

 

Usually Kickstarters have the initial "oh that's new!" push and then a lull and then the final "oh time to back now!" push. Some are different, but not many. It's not really unreasonable to be worried when it has a slow start. Especially with as lofty a goal as $550k.

[Murdoc]

That is a crap load of developers for 550k.  Hope they can make this a success, even if it isn't my cup of tea.

[Atlantic]

I want to play a story driven first person game set in a quirky 1920s theatre that has fallen on hard times. I do not want to play this Space Minotaur thing. I'm going to hold back from pledging until I know more.

[Architecture]

eheheeee i get it

 

I'm going to now work under the assumption that you didn't just type all that for the joke.

 

Usually Kickstarters have the initial "oh that's new!" push and then a lull and then the final "oh time to back now!" push. Some are different, but not many. It's not really unreasonable to be worried when it has a slow start. Especially with as lofty a goal as $550k.

While that's true, it's also true that Kickstarter's luster has started to fade a bit, and gaming consumers are no longer jumping in to these crowd-funding campaigns feet first. I think that, coupled with the Lynchian aspects of this game, make it a harder sell than games like Mighty No. 9 or Star Citizen.

 

I would be surprised if this one didn't get funded; it's already gained an additional $5,000 in pledges since my last post in this thread.

[sclpls]

eheheeee i get it

 

I'm going to now work under the assumption that you didn't just type all that for the joke.

 

Usually Kickstarters have the initial "oh that's new!" push and then a lull and then the final "oh time to back now!" push. Some are different, but not many. It's not really unreasonable to be worried when it has a slow start. Especially with as lofty a goal as $550k.

 

Maybe this assumption is wrong, but I typically feel like a kickstarter needs to hit like 1/3rd of its goal within the first day or two, or it very likely won't reach the finishing line.

[Bjorn]

Maybe this assumption is wrong, but I typically feel like a kickstarter needs to hit like 1/3rd of its goal within the first day or two, or it very likely won't reach the finishing line.

 

That's generally my impression of the ones I've watched.  They don't need to be a blockbuster out of the gate, but they need some solid excitement and early buy in.

[Twig]

While that's true, it's also true that Kickstarter's luster has started to fade a bit, and gaming consumers are no longer jumping in to these crowd-funding campaigns feet first. I think that, coupled with the Lynchian aspects of this game, make it a harder sell than games like Mighty No. 9 or Star Citizen.

That's definitely true, and I think that just further emphasizes how much less likely this one is to make it because it didn't get that huge initial burst.

[sclpls]

Meanwhile, here's another ex-Irrational Games kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/molassesflood/the-flame-in-the-flood

 

Unsurprisingly, this looks gorgeous.

[melmer]

I think they missed a trick not announcing a ps4 version in the pitch, they've missed out on my money for a start, even though I'm not seeing much of interest I think I'd still pledge enough to get the game.

This game will appeal to Bioshock super fans (the new breed, not system shock fans), and when I think of a bioshock super fan I think of a console gamer.

[Twig]

Console games suck and I love Bioshock!

[Murdoc]

I think there is a huge market for Lynch style of weird, so I don't think The Black Glove will suffer from that aspect. I think it's the whole package, the art is okay and the concept isn't an easy sell. The hook itself is a bit hard to get, I tend to read a couple paragraphs, look at a couple screenshots before anything and I didn't immediately "get" what was going on, the clash between arcade games and 1920 theatre didn't inform me what the game was or how it played, so the wow factor is completely missing if you have to spend a couple minutes in a video to show/explain what your game is.

 

Comparing it, a little unfairly, to Flame in the Flood, it takes me two seconds to look at the screens and see a more solid sense of what it's about. I may make wrong assumptions, but I can see a game there that I think it is, that pulls me in to read and discover more to either confirm, challenge, or turn me off of that assumption.

 

It also doesn't hurt FitF (ew) that it has a stronger execution of art and concept, it's a safer idea and concept than the Black Glove. 

[sclpls]

I think they missed a trick not announcing a ps4 version in the pitch, they've missed out on my money for a start, even though I'm not seeing much of interest I think I'd still pledge enough to get the game.

This game will appeal to Bioshock super fans (the new breed, not system shock fans), and when I think of a bioshock super fan I think of a console gamer.

 

That seems totally wrongheaded. You need a PC to really see how amazing Bioshock Infinite looks!

[melmer]

Or, 2k needs to pull their finger out and release a PS4 definitive edition. That's a no brainer in my book. Although I feel that sky ship has sailed now

[Malfsyde]

This is leaving me conflicted. On the one hand I was frustrated that Bioshock: Infinite obviously had a large number of talented artists behind it that were kind of wasted on what was basically another bombastic and formulaic shootyman game. I'd hoped they would get a chance to make something that was actually better suited to them, and it's not surprising that this game is about the creative process. On the other hand I have no idea what this game actually is, and stylistically it is all over the place. These sorts of "weird" games usually have a difficult time getting crowd-funding support.

 

Also that minotaur thing looks like butt.

[Bolegium]

The combination of Lynch, first person exploration, and art exhibition sounds interesting. The maximalist visual/audio design is bothering me though, as it did in Infinite, even though it's undeniably lovely.

 

I'm feeling quite conflicted as well. I was ready to back this immediately, but then that eagerness dissipated quickly. I'm struggling to separate the bad bits of Infinite from affecting my perception of The Black Glove.