Brackynews

It's been a few years since I last went to CAEX, but I still get the mailings from Mark B. each year and was glad to see what the shirt designs are for 2014. I scrolled all the way to the bottom and discovered this nice collage of arcade logos, which I instantly realized is the first letter(?!) of different games.

So if you have an eye for logo/cabinet art, put your guesses in a spoiler block and compare. Come back and re-guess as long as you don't spoil yourself. I’ll let someone else have the fun of actually confirming what everything is. I'm actually a little upset that I can't place every single one in the top row, since they are all so familiar. (If you don't recognise the year font please turn in your gamer card now.)

Motherfucker, I still haven't finished Wind Waker. :D

I could've said "not" if you get frustrated by hyperbole. ;) And yes I'm well aware Shovel Knight beat the odds, I remember hearing about it long time ago from EpicNameBro.

Polecat made my summary point more factually that I would have, thanks. I would've simply posted http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule, in that successful video game Kickstarters would seem to be the exception. That reinforces having great expectations is setting up for disappointment. Remember the Pitfall developer trying one? Are people super-happy with Broken Age? It's interesting...

And let me be clear, I'm mainly being critical of the middlemen taking a percentage. For all the failed KS that do not complete, one assumes that the processing fees of the successful ones make up for it. Does that make a $150k premium a fair amount to withhold from a struggling creator? I'm not sure.

Also I'm pleased to buy Shovel Knight now instead of when it was cheaper because they still actually need to make a profit now, and I know what I'm getting. Generally I will give any KS I want to support $5 or so, rarely even enough for the lowest reward tier. I gave it a fair try early on, I just try to expect nothing in return.

Fundamentally this sounds like Spec Ops: The Line (which I enjoyed) but with more bandannas.

Permanently putting W_D on my Don't Bother list.

And my track record of never expecting anything out of Kickstarter projects continues unbroken. Paying artists lump sum before they actually begin work is madness. Half-start, half-delivery is the only safe compromise, and I'd want 10 years of expertise before I ever agreed to let someone be paid on good faith. 35,000 is not a retainer fee.

no one and I mean NO ONE has gotten rich from this effort or is even better off then when we started,

This is incorrect. Amazon and Kickstarter jointly pocketed $152,665. That is where people's money went.

We had no way to force that person to pay back any of the funds and it was a bitter lesson to learn. Always get every possible scenario in writing or you will have no legal recourse.

It's interesting that this statement echos how many backers feel.

That's the show with Goku, right?

Excavation Muhammedan is my favourite robot master boss.

I created this original image for the UMN page, because no clear art existed for it, and used it ever since. Like many, a unique avatar is much more recognizable than even a forum name. Especially for the old-timers like me without massive post counts. I've also created a few that you may have seen others use.

Gallery

At site launch, my avi was a bad crop of a James Pond box, and my profile page art was the Solar Jetman box. On Joystiq I made a Solar Jetman profile and avatar but I don't think I used it here or it would be in my gallery. Heh. Joystiq.

@video_game_king: The only result I desire from all this Xbawkery is Adam Boyes appearing on camera with a big shiny "Net Yaroze 4" lapel button. :D

I would agree that the great majority of what Valve releases to the public is brilliant, at least in the long run. Talented people and a refined process of execution.

It truly makes me wonder about the kinds of insanity that get erased from the whiteboard.