If you can't hear the entire internet buzzing outside your window by now it must be because you have the TV turned up way too loud. The internet has just handed Double Fine Productions over 1.2 million dollars literally overnight in return for a fan funded old school, point-and-click adventure game to be named later. The original funding goal was only $400,000 dollars.
Tim Schafer, the dangerous mind behind Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts decided to side step publishers and seek committed gamers to back his newest adventure game through Kickstarter.com. One day later over 32,382 fans have jumped into the process with him — one that Schafer estimates will take "over a six-to-eight month period" to complete with a small team under his supervision.
The project description is a bit short on details, but heavy on trust in the know-how of veteran Tim Schafer. With no real idea of what the concept or plot of the proposed game will be — the internet has overwhelmingly supported Schafer's wild idea which he intends to document on video every step of the way.
One of the more interesting aspects of this Kickstarter adventure will be the fan interaction while the game is being developed. Backers will also be looped into beta testing the game before it reaches the masses.
"There will be a private online community set up for the backers to discuss the project with the devs and submit their thoughts and feelings about the game's content and direction," said Schafer. "Sometimes even voting on decisions when the dev team can't decide."
If it all sounds far too fantastical to be true, that's because something of this magnitude has never happened at such a rapid pass before. Whatever Tim Schafer is selling, there's no question that committed adventure game fans are buying it sight unseen.
"I can confirm that there's not been a project that has raised as much as this one in such a short time frame," a Kickstarter spokesperson told Joystiq.
You can join the frenzy by watching the wildly entertaining Double Fine pitch video below. I'm thrilled just to sit in the bleachers and witness the future of gaming transformed. So let the adventure begin.
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