A Shantae Kickstarter belly dances onto the scene.

[Aeolus]

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/09/04/shantae-half-genie-hero-announced-for-wii-u-360-ps3-and-next-gen-consoles/

Granted the third game hasn't come out yet, but for a console Shantae, I'd support this in a heartbeat (if I weren't such an unemployed deadbeat).


Edit: Kickstarter link.

[Lando]

Nice!  I'll definitely support this project... once I get paid. 

[Aeolus]

Apparently Metroidvanias are not actually RPGs. :/

[Eusis]

Apparently Metroidvanias are not actually RPGs. :/

No they aren't, not inherently anyway. Castlevania counts for many people because the Metroid-like installments had fully developed RPG mechanics (leveling and equipment namely) whereas a game like Metroid is basically just a non-linear platformer with items to find, and games like Shantae only take a few steps forward by having a shop system with upgrades... which isn't really all that different from a game like DMC or God of War, and even at an extreme something like Saints Row 3 and 4 can easily be argued as RPGs. More importantly far as I can tell Shantae wasn't covered at RPGFan, not unless Neal wrote a reader review in its formative years only for it to vanish.

Mind, more awareness being brought to this is great, but it isn't really an RPG unless you're using very loose definitions.

[Aeolus]

Apparently Metroidvanias are not actually RPGs. :/

No they aren't, not inherently anyway. Castlevania counts for many people because the Metroid-like installments had fully developed RPG mechanics (leveling and equipment namely) whereas a game like Metroid is basically just a non-linear platformer with items to find, and games like Shantae only take a few steps forward by having a shop system with upgrades... which isn't really all that different from a game like DMC or God of War, and even at an extreme something like Saints Row 3 and 4 can easily be argued as RPGs. More importantly far as I can tell Shantae wasn't covered at RPGFan, not unless Neal wrote a reader review in its formative years only for it to vanish.

Mind, more awareness being brought to this is great, but it isn't really an RPG unless you're using very loose definitions.

Eh. I was thinking more along the lines of Zelda 2 over Metroid, but even then, Zelda 2 has experience points so its still not really 1:1.

[Lando]

Shantae doesn't need a genre classification to be her totally awesome hair-whipping, belly dancing, pirate stomping, animorph, half-genie self. 

[Prime Mover]

Can you imagine a Metroid RPG?

eh... never mind, all I want is another Metroid...

NOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

[Aeolus]

Shantae doesn't need a genre classification to be her totally awesome hair-whipping, belly dancing, pirate stomping, animorph, half-genie self. 

If there's one thing Shantae can be classified as, it would be a funded kickstarter.

[Andrew]

I was hanging out to see if they'd reach stretch goals for bonus chapters and characters (cause I feel like it will be quite a short game otherwise), but it doesn't look like they're going to. I might back anyway, hmm.

[Aeolus]

It probably would've helped matters if they waited until the 3rd game had come out before they launched the kickstarter.

I mean, the only games that were out by the start of this year were the GBC one (the very last GBC game) and the DSiWare one. I think more people are aware of this series through the infamy of the GBC's rarity than through actual exposure.

[Andrew]

I was aware of it because Risky's Revenge was released just about everywhere except here. :P

But yeah, you're right. I'm just concerned that without any stretch goals, it's going to be a pretty bare-bones game.

[Kevadu]

The Kickstarter seems to have picked up some steam in the last couple of days.  Kicktraq (just a projection, sure) seems to estimate that at this rate they'll hit not just the first stretch goal, but the second too.

[Andrew]

The Kickstarter seems to have picked up some steam in the last couple of days.  Kicktraq (just a projection, sure) seems to estimate that at this rate they'll hit not just the first stretch goal, but the second too.

That's some useful info. I'll keep hanging out then and see if they make any.

[Aeolus]

The Kickstarter seems to have picked up some steam in the last couple of days.  Kicktraq (just a projection, sure) seems to estimate that at this rate they'll hit not just the first stretch goal, but the second too.

That's some useful info. I'll keep hanging out then and see if they make any.

Yeah. It looks like they've made 20k in the last two days alone. I guess the fact that it managed to succeed in getting funded has improved confidence in the project (well that, or the news that Inti-creates is on board as well as receiving the Mighty Beck Bump).


Edit: Also, they've added a PayPal option so the fear of not hitting any of the stretch goals in time for the Kickstarter's end so hopefully some of the more interesting ones get picked up along the way.

Also they unveiled a new stretch goal involving full voice acting and subtitles.

[Kevadu]

First stretch goal has been cleared!

The second still seems reachable if there's a big enough rally towards the end of the Kickstarter (usually there's a big spike in funding when Kickstarters near the end as people previously on the fence decide to go for it), but it's going to be close.  Still, with Paypal donations staying open for a while I'd say it's pretty likely they'll clear the second stretch goal eventually.  Just not necessarily during the Kickstarter campaign...

But we'll see.

Edit:
Over two days left in the Kickstarter and we're already starting to see a big home-stretch burst in funding.  With $44,551 raised today the second stretch goal looks like a shoe-in now.  The $700k stretch goal might actually be possible when you add in Paypal numbers...