Ghosts 'N Goblins: Demon World Kickstarter launches, game will release "With or Without Capcom"
Phantasm Studios has announced Ghosts 'N Goblins: Demon World, a Kickstarter entry in Capcom's venerable franchise that as of yet, doesn't have Capcom's blessing. Asking for $50,000 and targeting the Ouya, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and "eShop" for release, Phantasm's CEO Monty Singleton is adamant that even should the game not get Capcom's go ahead, it will release with just a slightly altered title and name for Arthur. Check out his plan after the jump.
Now, clearly the most pressing issue here is not the game's planned six months of Ouya exclusivity to get those cofunding dollars, it's someone using the Ghosts and Goblins name to try and get $50,000. On the subject, Singleton seems to have a great deal of faith in the project's power to persuade Capcom to endorse it.
"Capcom only promised to review our submission, and nothing more. We have only discussed a possibility of a developer’s license if the game is up to their standards. We do not currently have one and may not get one.
"The game is not in development yet. We have only finished pre-production (concept art, strategy, story, physically modeling the characters). We are now at the expensive part, paying our veteran coders, designers, and artists (who have worked with Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega Japan) to build a game that’s up to Capcom’s high standards. We need your help so we can create a game so amazing, Capcom won’t say no."
He goes on to invoke the spirit of Miyamoto in explaining the studios fall back plan:
"In 1980 Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo created a Popeye video game but couldn't get the rights from King Features. He transformed Popeye to Mario, Bluto to Donkey Kong, and Olive Oyl to the Princess. This was the birth of Donkey Kong. After the success of Donkey Kong, King Features changed their mind and allowed Nintendo to release a Popeye game. That is why the games are so similar. If we can’t secure a developers license we will change King Arthur and the name of the game, but that is all. Thankfully werewolves, demons, skeletons, reapers, ghosts, goblins, etc. are all public domain. The modifications will be so minor, the changes will be easy and will not change our release schedule."
Thank goodness goblins and skeletons are in the public domain or the industry would be in a tight spot for sure.
At this point, the Kickstarter has raised about 1% of its $50,000 goal. The Kickstarter lists the projects ambitions, which are to create an experience short enough that more than 10% of its audience finish it, as well as a popular console game that doesn't carry an M rating, so the kids can stay involved, which is certainly a worthy goal.
In the meantime, maybe we should get to work thinking of some good faux-Ghosts n Goblins names for the project should it fail to inspire Capcom.
Thanks, NintendoLife.