KickStarter Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road Studio & Moebius Closed Down

[zeitgeist]

A lot, actually! The casual games I’ve been doing for the past 9 years or so were constrained by limited size/budget and also that they had to have, well, a lot of hidden object scenes in them. And we couldn’t have a 3rd person ego or much in the way of animation. So that was all very limited on how much of a story I could tell.

I'm perpetually amazed at how many of these exist for the PC, yet I don't think I've ever encountered a real person (who admitted to) playing them. How did this genre get so incredibly huge? It was completely under my radar until I somehow stumbled on it on some new PC game release list or something like that, when I realized there were thousands of them out there. Was it mainly due to those casual gaming portals? Are they the ones who keep funding them and setting those limitations Jensen mentioned? I've noticed that they're all basically the same game with different pictures. Does anyone have any sales figures for those? Anything about the history of the genre?

 

[Jaesun]

I'm perpetually amazed at how many of these exist for the PC, yet I don't think I've ever encountered a real person (who admitted to) playing them. How did this genre get so incredibly huge? It was completely under my radar until I somehow stumbled on it on some new PC game release list or something like that, when I realized there were thousands of them out there. Was it mainly due to those casual gaming portals? Are they the ones who keep funding them and setting those limitations Jensen mentioned? I've noticed that they're all basically the same game with different pictures. Does anyone have any sales figures for those? Anything about the history of the genre?

http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/genres/15/hidden-object.html

As for exact sales figures, the company has been in business... for a LONG time.... to list one example.

 

[Aeschylus]

I'm perpetually amazed at how many of these exist for the PC, yet I don't think I've ever encountered a real person (who admitted to) playing them. How did this genre get so incredibly huge?

Bored housewives.

 

[trustno1code]

Second "Mystery Game X" confirmed, thanks to outside funding. Plus Moebius BigBox added to the 100$ tier.

 

[Azalin]

No hot stepdaughter?

 

[mikaelis]

Gaben Night 4. I bet my crapped underwear on that.

 

[Azalin]

Who owns the rights these days?

 

[Aeschylus]

Who owns the rights these days?

Activision.

 

[udm]

I could be wrong, but given that the first 3 games are released on GOG with Activision as the publisher, I would think it's them. (edit: ninja'd by Aeschylus)

Anyway I've pledged $200 following their latest update. I was hesitant to pledge $200 at first for just one game, but now that it's confirmed they're releasing 2 games, well damn it's a risk I'm willing to take.

 

[trustno1code]

No hot stepdaughter?

Have some Gabriel in the flesh instead:

 

[udm]

Dean's certainly aged quite gracefully

 

[Azalin]

Yeah it's 17 years since that game and he looks almost the same,I wonder how the actress who played Grace in GK2 looks now

 

[Stabwound]

Holy shit, how did they get him to make a video? GK2 was literally the last acting role he had, and then he more or less disappeared. It's very cool to see him again, no way does he look like a 55 year old man, crazy.

 

[trustno1code]

Dean's out of the biz, but is pretty approachable - he showed up in those Adventure-Treff Christmas Greetings videos (followed in that one by another FMV blast from the past, David Homb, aka Don from Phantasmagoria... Mandel does a pretty good drunk at the beginning as well).

 

[General Maxson]

This looks very nice. I really wonder though why Mrs. Jensen can barely get 300000$ for a new game, and now even maybe a Gabriel Knight 4, and Mr. Lowe got 650000$ for a remake of a game...

 

[Azalin]

Her original proposal was probably too vague,it's already a gamble to basically preorder a game before the production even starts,she made it even harder for people to give her money with the whole "season pass for some game from our studio" thing

 

[kaizoku]

It's not certain it's GK4. It could be GM2.

This looks very nice. I really wonder though why Mrs. Jensen can barely get 300000$ for a new game, and now even maybe a Gabriel Knight 4, and Mr. Lowe got 650000$ for a remake of a game...

Smaller fanbase. I don't think many people played her games, in comparison to the humorous Larry or Lucas Arts games.

Will be upping my pledge to $200 or the $224.
It's a lot of money but I really want this project to succeed.

 

[Alex]

Did anyone pledge $250? I am wondering if there will be codexers at the Open House.

 

[Jarpie]

Also the "Pledge 50 dollars and you might get one or two games" probably didn't attract pledgers.

 

[Executer]

Projects now funded, I pledged $50 on the 2 game news.

 

[Aeschylus]

Also the "Pledge 50 dollars and you might get one or two games" probably didn't attract pledgers.

It didn't attract a lot of new pledgers, but it got a lot of people to raise their pledge.
http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/1005365109/jane-jensens-pinkerton-road-2012-2013-csg/
Lots of money (relatively) in the last three days, though not a ton of new backers.

Anyway, congratulations to Jane, and I hope and believe that the games will be excellent. I hope a publisher being somewhat involved will not end up screwing things up.

 

[Executer]

The publisher would be wise to be wary, the fact these 2 games are being developed side by side is going to make people draw conclusions (fair or not) if Mystery Game X doesn't deliver.

 

[Jaesun]

YES!!!! So happy this got funded. <3

 

[likaq]

I hope that some day Jane will buy rights to Gabriel Knight and will make proper Gabriel Knight 4 ( not 3D ).

 

[Jaesun]

It will depend on if Activision will be total fucking dicks about it, or be reasonable. As long as she can make a GK4 by purchasing the trademark, so that the shit publisher is no way shape or from involved in the development of it, this would be good.