GameSided Roundtable: I’d Rather See Kickstarter Money Go To…
Greetings! This is our inaugural GameSided Roundtable feature, where our writers converge weekly to provide their opinions, wishes, statements or critical thought on one general topic to do with video games. Sometimes it can be funny, sometimes it can be serious. Contemporary, classic; we hope to cover a wide variety of things in this segment as a group. If you wish to submit an idea for the GameSided Roundtable discussion topic, you can leave me an email at: daniel.george@fansided.com.
There is a man who will receive more than $47,000 in crowdfunding resources in order to make potato salad. This is what it means to live in the 21st century, as one Columbus man has found out via the power of Kickstarter. I, personally, find it an affront to the service, and hope for it to be shut down immediately. However, it did get me thinking about the role of Kickstarter has had on bringing niche and Indie gaming products to the masses, even if there are some cases where the public’s trust has been taken advantage of.
The question to start us all off at the GameSided Roundtable: What video game, gaming accessory, game genre or aspect of gaming would you rather see Kickstarter money go towards?
Rebekah Valentine
Potato salad: looks like unremarkable mush, sometimes tastes like it too. But if you put the right ingredients together, you might be surprised. Reminds me of a little, unsuccessful 3DS game — Heroes of Ruin.
Heroes of Ruin was stuffed with unrealized potential. It’s a short, simple dungeon crawler with an unremarkable story, button-masher battles, and puzzles a child could solve. Yet, its use of the 3DS’s wireless capabilities was phenomenal. I completed Heroes of Ruin with three friends using this feature, and the movements, battle flow, and gameplay were nearly as seamless as if we were playing a PC-based MMO. We even used the voice-chat feature which, although a bit fuzzy, added laughter and strategy to even the dullest dungeon.
I’d use KickStarter money for a handheld dungeon crawler with wireless multiplayer that fixed the things Heroes of Ruin did wrong, or (better yet) a handheld MMO. To the multiplayer aspect, I would add complex characters, an engaging storyline, a wide range of choices in skills and strategy, head-scratcher puzzles, more locations, and…well, more everything. With the innovations the 3DS has brought to handheld gameplay, we’re not far away from epic adventures anytime, anywhere with an Internet connection. Bored in the waiting room? Stuck at the DMV? You and your pals could team up to save the world then and there, freeing up time to make potato salad when you get home. Victory is delicious.