How A Successful Kickstarter Lost Half A Million Dollars

[ccgr]

http://kotaku.com/how-a-successful-kick ... +jschreier" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Be careful what you kickstart...

[Sstavix]

Crazy. Reading that made me think it could be a modern-day version of "The Producers."

Max reached out and snatched a piece of paper from Leo's hand. "Money?" Max exclaimed. "Someone gave you money?"

"Not exactly," Leo said. "It's money that I already had. I funded a video game on Kickstarter that never met its goals."

Max looked at the check. "Chainmail Bikini Knights? That was the game?"

Leo offered a grimace. "Well, yeah... I thought it sounded neat. I was going to get a copy of the game and a poster signed by the developers if it ever went live."

Max looks at Leo for a moment, a grin on his face, his eyes focused on something distant. Leo turned to follow his gaze, wondering what his boss was staring at. Leo turned back to face Max's suddenly intent stare.

"Do you know anything about developing video games?"

Leo backed away in his seat. "N-no..." he stammered.

"Great!" exclaimed Max. "Neither do I. It's perfect!"

"What's perfect?"

Max held up Leo's check. "What if the game never went live? What if we funded a game on Kickstarter, met all the goals, but never released the game?"

Leo shuffled nervously in his seat. "I think there's rules against that sort of thing...."

"Well, does it say when the game has to be released after the game is funded?"

"No...."

"So development could take years!"

"It could." Leo looked at Max and offered a slight smile. "And who knows how much different things could cost? I mean you have to hire programmers, artists, writers -"

"Musicians!" exclaimed Max. "Testers! Proofreaders! Have you ever seen the credits on some of these games? The list is bigger than the list of kids who graduated from my high school!"

"But the backers will eventually want to see something...." Leo protested feebly.

"Of course. But disasters happen. A developer could land a job with another company after getting his advance. Maybe a personal crisis pops up, and someone can't do the work because they are just too distraught. There could be a - a computer crash! Months of programming gone because some noodlehead forgot to run the backups!"

Leo looked at Max, a smile on his face. "This could work...."

"It will work!" Max exclaimed. "Now we just need a game that people would want to buy!"

Of course, the difference between these scenarios is that in "The Producers" their plans backfire when the play they created turns out to be a hit....

I'm thinking I need to change my signature quote again. If you haven't seen "The Producers," you should. It's hilarious - either the original version, or the musical remake! Both!

[ArchAngel]

I can practically hear Nathan Lane.

[Sstavix]

I can practically hear Nathan Lane.

Wanna hear something funny? When I try to remember scenes and quotes from the movies, I often get the two mashed up. So I've got Nathan Lane as Max ... and Gene Wilder as Leo. Now wouldn't that be fun to see?

I need to find my copy again. Such a good movie. Hilariously wrong in so many ways, but so much fun to watch.

[ArchAngel]

To your credit, I read Max's lines as Nathan Lane.

[ChickenSoup]

Holy crap. I remember when they unveiled the alpha.

I also remember thinking "I'll probably never buy this."

I love the Yogscast and all, but wow.