Late last week WayForward began a countdown to a Kickstarter project, prompting fans to speculate on what it could be. Perhaps unsurprisingly it's for a new title in one of its most adored original IPs — Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. If funded it'll be a multi-platform HD adventure for the character, with the Wii U listed.
Led by the company's Matt Bozon, its main goal of $400,000 will deliver an opening stage and boss, three chapters and a big conclusion; stretch goals beginning at $600,000 could potentially add additional chapters. The usual re-traversal will be included, as returning to previous chapters with new abilities will provide accessibility to fresh areas. In explaining the choice to use crowdfunding, the studio explains that it wants to "create a large-scale multi-console game that's well beyond our usual self-publishing budgets".
The cheapest pledge that will secure a copy of the game is $15, though there is an "early adopter" option limited to 1000 backers that offers the same deal for $12; these are disappearing fast. You can check it all out on the official Kickstarter page; the target release window given is October 2014.
So, are you excited for this? Check out the video below and let us know what you think.
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 84
WOAH!
This is different than the new Shantae announced for 3DS?
@Squiggle55 Yes, completely different.
@Squiggle55 Yes. That one is different from this one.
On topic, though.........ALL OF MY WANT!O_O And that MUSIC! I GOT CHILLS!
Sweet, more Shantae. Will it also be available on Steam?
HOLY Pardon the Language MUSHROOM!
By the way all, the $12 options are disappearing super fast :/
@Yasume - Yep, Wii U, Steam, 360, One, PS3, PS4.
Yo new art style.
You have my sword wayforward.
Is the 3DS Shante still coming? I haven't really heard anything about it for a while.
Very...much...have to...have...this!
This reminds me I still have to play the other two games.
@Luigifan141 - Yes, no worries there, it's coming
GIMME!
With this and Mighty No. 9, I feel sorry for any indies starting their donation campaigns this month. They won't hold a candle against big names like Wayforward and Inafune.
Has her skin colour changed?
Woah.
I was not expecting this.
Now this is what i am talking about! the good stuff
AWESOME! Got my money!! Come on people - if you're reading this then you're a Shantae fan - get your hands in your pockets!
@Capt_Charlie
mine already were once i read the article
Hero as a Half-Genie... Shantae Power
Yea that was bad lol
...all of my money, all of my money, all of my money... o.o
Hehehe, awesome! I guess they read my tweets last night! ^^
As soon as I figure out what rewards I want I'll be pledging. Sheer genius of them to make the t-shirt as high a tier as it is; if it were lower I'd have pledged already.
I hadn't backed a Kickstarter since Massive Chalice. In the past week I've backed Mighty No. 9 and now I'm a proud backer of Shantae: Half-Genie hero.
More belly-dancing goodness? In H to the flippin' D? Say what you want, but great gameplay aside, Wayforward cartoon girl games are still stunning.
@Kroisos Well you can always just pick the lowest one for now and change it later if you want more rewards.
@Yorumi I thought about that at first, but you do get a copy of the game. $12-15 feels more like a pre-order than a "please just give me money" type deal. If this helps keep quality companies like WayForward away from big publishers, I'm all for it.
@Sony_70 And my axe!!
@alrighthearthis Same Here! I knew the Shadow of Eternals was gonna fail; but Mighty No.9 amd Shantae I have pledged for as well. Though sadly I'm cheap, I'm just pledging for the pre-orders.
I wanted Mighty Switch Force 2 in a big screen, so of course I will support a Shantae in the big screen too.
And while I am there, I think I will pledge more for Mighty No. 9. They just said the stretch goal for the console versions lowered to 2 million 2 hundred K!
@Yorumi
Throughout the 90s and 00s, Wayforward used to make 2-3 titles a year and have only started to take on more and more projects since the turn of this decade. They are planning on releasing at least 7 titles this calendar year - their most productive year to date. That type of growth requires significant funding and whilst they're still not making Ubisoft money they do have an established core Fan base who they can [intelligently] rely on to support further projects and ambitions. You can't knock their strategy.
Is the last goal a television series? O.O No freaking WAY! >.>
I <3 the music in that video!
I just lol'd around 27 seconds in. Just smacking that rock repeatedly with her hair.
Happy to back anything Shantae related, one of my favs. I don't know if it's popular enough to hit most of the stretch goals (which is a shame because I want ALL OF THEM), but I'm really hoping it at least gets funded. Really thinking Shantae, Shovel Knight, Mighty No. 9, and Project Phoenix should help and promote each other to get more support.
Why they change her skin tone so much?
Looks like the same as the previous two games - wasn't impressed at all I'm afraid, although they were good looking.
That came out of nowhere. But whoa!
"Merry Christmas, holy s***!"
Wow, that trailer was impressive, needless to say the song was kicking it up!
...but I don't like how Shantae starts looking too much like Mighty Switch Force's art style. They should retain it as they did in Risky's Revenge.
EDIT: I just noticed on their Kickstarter page that apparently, the game seems to get released on WiiU regardless of the outcome, the campaign is seemingly for all the other platforms. So they don't need the money for the game alone, they need it mostly for devkits and stuff on those other platforms.
Anyone know how this "We'll send you a download code for the platform of your choice" works? Does that include the Wii U? I somehow can't imagine Nintendo okay-ing download codes...?
I'll probably up my pledge soon. Very enthusiastic about this.
I still don't see why this needs to be crowdfunded and they can't publish it completely without our money.
I'm assuming that if it's funded, the game will be available in Europe as well as NA?
Edit: Yep, just heard back from WayForward that a European release is planned.
Shantae... Wayforward... Music that remember some nice english adaption of a Anime's opening... I guess we couldn't ask for more ^o^
Actually... I was waiting a bit, but gonna download the VC Shantae asap after this news ^^
I'm with @Yorumi on this one. They are pretty big and more importantly, Shantae 2 sold enough to warrant a sequel. It shouldn't be a problem to get a loan for this one, seems like they go the cheap way "Let the fans pay it upfront! That way we won't have to pay the bank for the loan!".
I'm starting to fed up with all these big stablished developers asking for money. I understand that nobody wanted to finance Broken Age and some other low profile genre games but now they pretend to fund their games through us.
And as I said, if Shantae 2 was profitable they should be able to get a loan without many problems.
Much rather would have had a new IP but this is pretty good and they're probably get $35 for the soundtrack and a PS4 code from me.
Will admit some of those strech goals seem dubious. It seems like the last five of the bonus chapters should be regular levels, and the Carpet ride sounds like DLC.
Looks pretty darn good! I like the new art style - that song was pretty catchy too. What I'm wondering right now is what's going down with The Pirate's Curse?
Bring this to the 3DS.
...why is Shantae significantly paler?
...no.
This is going to sound like a silly gripe, but they turned her into a child AND turned her white. Until they fix that, they're not getting a dime - I'm here for Shantae, not some whitewashed character design.
http://www.shantae.net/images/shantae_main.png
No Cat Without Salad? You broke my heart Wayforward...
In all seriousness, this looks great, Shantae skin color aside. I do wonder what stretch goals they'll meet by the end.
@Yorumi I guess all kickstarters do ...do that. I've only paid a kickstarter once. Although they have been around a long time, they are still a pretty small company. I'd be annoyed if EA decided to do a kickstarter, but WayForward? The CEO's phone # and e-mail address are on the companies website- no secretaries, HR staff, etc. Either they're just super laid back, or WayForward is a pretty small company with a modest budget. In the end, I'll support them for almost anything. Shantae's latest game didn't really do it for me for some reason, but Contra 4 is one of my top 10 favorite games. A $400,000 budget is very small- a team making a full-sized Final Fantasy costs about $9,000 an hour to work on. I don't believe I can do a platformer for under $160,000 or so, and even then it would have to have some realllll simple artwork. Remember when SkullGirls wanted to add one more character for $140,000 or so? I'm rambling here, but essentially, WayForward might be old by gaming standards, but they are a tiny, privately owned company. $400,000-600,000 is a percentage of what a decent game like that costs to make. Just to test it, I'd ask for at least $50,000 for 10 months of work. For programming, developing, level design, 3D modeling if needed? OHhh yeah.
Love WayForward and love Shantae, but something about this seems a bit off to me. The character designs have lost all their charm and sex appeal. Shantae was always about belly-dancing mystique but she does, as @Benjamin says, look a like a child here.
It's a slightly "cartoonier" redesign. I like it. But some animations could use a little more inbetweening in my opinion.
Yup, I like this.
I love the Shantae games, looking forward to the 3DS instalment and now there's this too, sweet, I'm backing this.
Does she have vitaligo, like Michael Jackson or something?? She's been getting lighter and lighter with each game..!!?
...and I thought I was a big fan...two people have pledged $1000 so far. Almost $69,000 total now.
Before the month's time is up I'm going to see if I can pledge enough for the complete platinum set.
Edit: What...the...hell?!
Just randomly checked on Ebay and someone who lives only about 30 min from me has one of the sealed copies of the original game, signed!!! o.o
So im guessing indirectly, assuming that the this game comes out after the 3rd game, then presumably the 3rd game wont end with something debatable about the Genie half of her lineage...or pull some stunt by saying she's Half-Youkai...because one half HAS to be human, right?....right?
In addition to this Kickstarter, Mighty No. 9, and the billion games and systems I have preordered, I will be broke by xmas.......
"OH MY GOD!"- Skrillex Intro
This is awesome news. Hope it reaches its goal.
I like the new art style... minus Shantae. She just looks so... off. :/
I'm in at $15.00!
Done! Now go and make some truly EPIC game Way Forward!!!!!
People who love Shantae but are cynical about this project: Why don't you just take this as an opportunity to pre-order the game? It's only 15 bucks for a HD Shantae. That's what I did, and I don't even have my Wii U yet. You pre-ordering it now may very well result in extra stages being added.
@ErnisDy Because big video game companies are huge cowards.Just look at Ubisoft,they think Rayman(their best character) is a risk and keep focusing on Assasin's Creed which is getting stale.
Don't want to be a stick in the mud, but "multiplatform" means this is yet another franchise losing its status as a Nintendo exclusive. Sigh.
@AlexSora89 Risky's Revenge was also on iOS, and it's been on Steam Greenlight for over a year (it was greenlit last month, by the way).
@citizenerased The first one way very high quality they have spoilt it afterwards. (If they go back to the same length / difficulty / quality of controls it might be worth it but they won't thinking they are improving things).
@DarkCoolEdge More importantly the only Shantae they did well. (The first one which is truly great) was done in between other games. The rest (Other than Contra 4) have been subpar or too short or basically a tech demo.
@Randomname19 Think Ubisoft's biggest (Most profitable) IP is Just Dance.
Well... I caved and donated $45. I was only going for the $12 variant, but that's a tad sold out. That, and I have the money, so why not?
Sorry Wayforward, but that's just not Shantae. I won't be biting.
@ErnisDy The games Ubisoft made before were even more awesome.I still play them sometimes. I played both Rayman Origins and the Rayman Legends demo and they're good,but not as good.
@Yorumi
I partially agree with your assessment about kickstarter primarily there to help unestablished groups start something, but this is a way around publishers. WayForward isn't a publisher so they have to decide what to make at the whims of others for the most part. In a sense Kickstarter is allowing them to sidestep the publisher system. Not really that different than what other smaller groups benefit from.
To me, Kickstarting games is a step towards closer communication and support (both ways) between the gamer and the developer who makes the games. This follows closely. As an example of the benefit, I betcha she gets her darker skin back before this thing releases, where a publisher might have made the call differently.
About the amount they are asking for:
If 10 people are working on this for a year they are getting a $40,000 salary. That's without any overhead facility costs, benefits, or outside contracting included. That seems reasonable to me.
I´m actually quite angry at Shantaes change from oriental to white. Feels like a cynical switch to me.
EDIT: They changed her back to her real self. Now I´m a backer
I prefer the old pixel style too, but I can live with the vector-looking HD.
cool and good luck to wayforward love shantae
one thing i never understood about these types of campaigns for making games is the fact YOU pay for the development of the game THEN YOU have to pay for the game seems like a raw deal, shouldn't it be free if you already paid for the development. The guys who made carmagedon did something similar starting a campaign to port their game to android they decided as a good will gesture they'd release the game for free for a short amount of time to thank the backers.
Nice cell-shading style! Is the 3DS title canceled? Anyway, this looks good!
AWESOME!
I love Shantae's new look, too!
I'm officially a backer now. Thanks for the heads up!
@Sionyn You can back the campaign by pre-ordering the game on any platform for $15... Most videogame Kickstarters put the game as a reward, so I don't get your point.
Hmmm, I really really like the Stantae series, but I have my reservations about the new art/music style. The enemies look fine, but the 2.5D world reminds me of Lost Winds (in a bad way), and frankly I just don't think the cartoon/kid style suits the main character.
Someone pledged $10,000.
i have backed the campaign, but that it you see that it, they made their money my question was is right they charge for this game after they already asked people to pay for the game to be made, this isnt just wayforward up to these tricks.
seems unethical to ask for money to make a game and then profit after the game what about the kind backers who paid for it to be made do they get a cut ? or maybe it should be free since the development cost have been paid for
@Sionyn: What are you on about? Anyone who pays $15 or more is basically pre-ordering the game while some of the money is going towards development. Once it gets released, you get a code to download the game (1 download) + other goodies.
People who don't support, basically have to pay for the game and that's it. Why should they get it for free? I don't get what you're on about.
If WayForward do make a profit, well good on them. They don't have to give the backers any money. That's like donating money to charity and expecting something in return. Doesn't work like that. <_<
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