Way, way, way back on September 19, I informed the entire world of a Kickstarter project set up by the creator and lead designer of the original Mutant League Football video game to bring his undead spin on America’s favorite violent game back from the dead in Mutant Football League. In order to make this retro dream a reality, Michael Mendheim was asking for fans of the video game and its cartoon counterpart to chip in a grand total of $750,000 for the necessary funding.
As of Sep. 19, Mutant Football League had only raised $20,000, which left Mendheim and Co. with a lot of marketing and/or begging to do by yesterday’s deadline. And while they did a commendable job in raising $141,821, that was obviously far short of the $750,000 needed to cover the crew’s salaries and licensing fees. But this is not the end of Mendheim’s quest. No sirs, he is still bent on bringing us zombies and land mines.
… the fat lady is walking out onto the stage and she’s reaching for the microphone… It’s been a tough month with a lot of ups and downs but this being my first Kickstarter and all – I must say, it’s been quite a fascinating experience with a lot of lessons learned. The best part of this entire experience was having a chance to correspond with all of you about the project and to hear your thoughts and concerns. Your words and support really means the world to me and I give you all a heartfelt thanks.
There were some surprises but all very useful information to move forward on. You guys said loud and clear you prefer the top down original style view for the game over a Tecmo style view, PC was the overwhelming platform at least for Kickstarter. You prefer a somewhat cartoony art style over realistic and gritty and overwhelmingly want your undead skeletons playing football. The must have feature for the majority is full season mode and you really don’t care so much about physical rewards (we’re going to save a lot of money there) unless they are directly related to the nostalgia of the game. (Via Kickstarter)
It’s like my great-great grandfather told his son when they first moved to America from the old world: “Son, if you’re ever designing a video game and using crowdsourcing as the primary funding source, make sure to research what your demographic desires and demands beforehand, and you’ll save yourself some headaches in the long run. But don’t give up. Now pass me that polio medicine.”
I still can’t get over the fact that Amazon and Kickstarter would have received $70,000 of the money raised had Mendheim’s project matched its funding goal. That just seems criminal, but then this is America and our economy relies on the corporation’s ability to keep its hand in the entrepreneur’s pockets. Hooray, capitalism!
