Interview with Game Designer American McGee on His Recent Kickstarter and His New Game Akaneiro: Demon Hunters

Most Kickstarters involving video games either far exceed their goals-or fall far below them. American McGee’s Akaneiro: Demon Hunters project, however, just barely made it.

The upcoming RPG is finished and a number of gamers are already enjoying it. But with the Kickstarter complete, and funding raised, it’ll be available on more platforms and will include additional features.

I recently spoke with game designer McGee via email to discuss what’s next and what he was thinking now that the Kickstarter was finished. You can also see a previous interview I did with him here.

Congrats on hitting your Kickstarter goal! Did you guys start to get a little nervous towards the end?

There was a sense of nervousness throughout the campaign-largely driven by the fact that we were always heading towards a very close funding goal. Early on it was obvious that a lot of effort was required to push the thing towards success, so we were busy with daily updates and improvements to the campaign. It’s like having 24 hours to push a boulder up a hill!

Even though you didn’t make your stretch goals, will you still be able to maybe port the game to Ouya or accomplish any of the other stretch goals?

We certainly hope to accomplish ALL of the goals listed in the Kickstarter, even the Stretch Goals which we didn’t hit. With something like Ouya, it’s simply a question of priority compared to the other things we’re trying to accomplish with the game.

It’s very likely to happen, the question is just whether it’ll be in 3 months, 6 months or more.

The game is out now-are you learning anything from some of your early players that might make you change parts of the game before it launches on other platforms?

We’re seeing a huge number of players pour into the game with very high retention rates. The feedback we’re hearing from players tends to focus on convenience features like sharing collected items across characters, broader ranges of sound/visual adjustments and requests for additional classes and pets.

All of these are relatively easy to achieve and will arrive in-game soon. Probably the biggest addition we’ll make beyond that is giving players more places where they can spend Karma – as we’re hearing lots of feedback on things players would be happy to pay for – like changing character names or gender after the initial character creation.

Do you currently have a roadmap for when the Android and iOS and Linux versions will come out?

Not yet.

Here in Shanghai we just entered into Chinese New Year, during which time the entire country (including our studio) is on holiday. We’ll start the process of planning new features and devices once we’re back in the office. Regardless, we expect most of the major features to take at least 2 months of development before they arrive-this is because we must completely replace the current in-game UI system.

The current system isn’t compatible with the latest version of Unity3D (the game’s engine). That means UI is blocking an upgrade of the engine, which is linked to stuff like the Linux port and tablet versions.

You offered a lot of additional features depending on how the Kickstarter went. Do you have planned updates beyond what you offered fans there?

We’re hoping to build on Akaneiro in a big way over the coming years. If early reactions from gamers are any indications, we’ll have a strong and supportive community driving us towards content updates, expansions and new features for many years to come. My hope is that Akaneiro will blossom into a well recognized IP in its own right-bringing to life variations in comic books, novels, art books and more.

What did you learn over the course of doing the Kickstarter? Would you do anything differently?

We’d probably do almost everything differently!

First off, if I were to start another campaign today, I’d spend 1+ month simply building a roadmap of artwork, updates, reward additions, videos and more, so that we were releasing 60%+ of our content per an existing plan and from a library of already finished content. That would free us up to focus on customer interaction and support, without having to juggle that with content creation and campaign adjustments on the fly.

Now that you’ve been through your first Kickstarter-any advice for anyone out there struggling?

If you’re in the middle of a campaign and struggling, then it’s probably too late unless you’re willing to produce and present a ton of sticky content while the campaign is ongoing. The real trick, though we didn’t exactly take this route, is to pre-plan and prepare as much upfront as possible.

We also found our PR team to be really helpful in getting exposure for the campaign. Reaching new eyeballs is really critical after the first week (that period being where you’ll likely gain your more loyal backers). We saw our initial backers constantly increasing their support-but that sort of thing isn’t sustainable.

A steady flow of new backers is critical and that requires significant effort to get the word out via social networks and news outlets. Personal networks are also important-I ended up saving mine for the final week of the campaign, at which point I sent out a blanket email to every person in my contacts database.

Photo Credits: Spicy Horse Games

Keke Palmer To Portray Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas In TLC Movie

Singer/actress Keke Palmer has signed up to play Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas in an upcoming biopic about TLC.

Palmer joins rapper Lil’ Mama, who will play Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, in the full-length TV movie about how the R&B superstars became one of the most successful girl groups in history.

Nineteen-year-old Palmer admits it is a huge honor to be involved in the TLC movie because she was a huge fan of the trio growing up.

She tells Vibe.com, “I would sing No Scrubs over and over again to the point my parents would have to tell me to stop, but I never did, I had my little hairbrush as my mic and nobody could tell me I wasn’t the fourth member of TLC.

“I am a true fan. I love these ladies.”

The biopic is due to air on VH1.

Photo Credits: PR Photos
, Sony BMG

5 Stories You May Have Missed This Morning

Is Khloe Kardashian leaving The X Factor? Have you seen Kendall and Kylie Jenner do the Harlem Shake? And, why is Taylor Swift being sued for millions?

Celebuzz has the answers to these questions and more in our round-up of Monday morning’s trending stories.

Khloe Kardashian Leaving The X Factor?

Just a month after Britney Spears said goodbye to the show, it looks like Simon Cowell is losing another one of his X Factor stars. Gossip Cop has the details on Khloe’s reported exit from the show.

Kendall and Kylie Jenner Do The Harlem Shake

Ryan Seacrest and the Jenner girls joined the rest of the world in doing the dance phenom, the Harlem Shake. Watch the video on Huffington Post.

Courtney Stodden Reveals Alter Ego In New Video

The reality TV stars lets loose in a new video revealing her alter ego, Courtina. Watch the video on TooFab.

Why Is Taylor Swift Being Sued For Millions?

After a fall-out with a concert promoter, the country singer is being sued for $1.8 million. TMZ has the scoop on the lawsuit and whether Swift actually owes the money.

Country Music Stars React to Mindy McCready’s Suicide

The country music world was saddened with the shocking news that McCready had committed suicide on Sunday. FOX News has reactions from Carrie Underwood, LeAnn Rimes, and others.

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Listen To Mariah Carey’s New Single ‘Almost Home’ In Full

10 Uncomfortable Truths Video Games Force You To Confront

Ah, gaming, that wonderful past-time that so many people view as “pointless”, yet one which those of us reared on it from birth can’t bring ourselves to stop obsessing over.

In recent years, video games have become a far more prevalent staple of pop culture, owing to both the steadily climbing budgets and production values – coming to rival that of Hollywood movies – and the fact that the Nintendo Wii helped gaming to break through the social glass ceiling; being a gamer is now (mostly) de-stigmatised.

Naturally, gaming’s greater presence in our lives also means that there’s a keener eye trained on it, what with the countless studies that have been conducted into the effects of gaming on the brain. Through less academic though no less thorough means, it’s time to look at the other, lesser-known side effects of being a gamer, those unfortunate truths about yourself that picking up a controller reveals.

Here are 10 uncomfortable truths video games force you to confront…

10. The More We Become Connected, The More We Become Disconnected

There’s an irony in the fact that video game developers are trying to make gaming a more sociable activity, hewing away from the closed-off single player worlds towards Xbox Live accounts, voice chat, online multiplayer, and giant, sprawling universes you can spend endless time in with your mates.

While the attempt to open gaming up and stave off the stereotype that gamers are all loner nerds with no lives is mostly a positive thing, there is a troubling side effect to this movement.

So, gaming is now more socially acceptable, and given that we can chat with our friends via microphone, we’re probably spending more time wired into our consoles or PCs. However, that also means we’re probably getting less real life face time with our friends, and isn’t that, well, a bit sad?

If we place a greater esteem and emphasis on the virtual world, it is at the expense of the simplicity of meeting a mate for a pint, or even, you know, gaming together in person. Not to play scaremonger, but as consoles become even more immersive (not to mention awesome), this is probably only going to get worse.

The post 10 Uncomfortable Truths Video Games Force You To Confront appeared first on WhatCulture!.

5 Video Games The Media Always Get Wrong (And 5 That Could Change Their Minds)

When tragedy strikes, the media goes into a feeding frenzy and always come to the conclusion that video games are the cause. Of course, our gaming culture knows better than that, but whoever really listens to us?

Who is going to listen when we say the Grand Theft Auto series has some of the best storytelling out there, when one report tells our parents that we play it to get points for killing civilians (that’s right, points! Good research CNN!). Who is going to listen to us when California senator Leland Yee says us gamers “have no credibility” in the violent media argument?

I would have to disagree: millions of us game and the culture is worldwide. If all of us are the crazed lunatics the media would like to think we are, I’m pretty sure the world would be nearing that post-apocalyptic state we virtually visit so often.

The argument is always geared at kids, yet they fail to realize these games are mainly aimed at adults. Oh, that’s right, no adults play video games, right? This is strictly a kids medium, am I right? They always say we need to take action to keep these out of kid’s hands. I believe the action has been taken. I must present my I.D. to purchase any game with that big fat M rating on the cover – some retailers even scan my driver’s license.

If a parent wants to scan their I.D. to buy the game for their kid all the power to them (my parents sure did till I reached that ripe old age of 17). It all comes down to parenting which is a whole new tender subject. They obviously trust their kid enough to separate fantasy from reality – if they made a poor judgment that does not mean an entire industry needs to be scrutinized for one person’s actions.

The worst part about these reports on games is how completely wrong the facts that they present about these so-called “murder-simulators” are. It is as if they have seen no hands-on preview, no gameplay footage – and they definitely haven’t seen a damn story trailer. Instead, they see the violence ensue in the montage the team has put together and pull horrible things out of thin air that make society question our sanity.

So without further ado, let’s look at 5 games that have been wrongly accused in news reports for years (and 5 games that could change the media’s minds about video games).

The post 5 Video Games The Media Always Get Wrong (And 5 That Could Change Their Minds) appeared first on WhatCulture!.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Gets Into The Halloween Spirit For Burberry Prorsum

After shopping around Beverly Hills on Friday, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley jetted across the pond for London Fashion Week.

On Monday, the scentual face of Burberry Body made an appearance at Burberry Prorsum wearing a bright orange suit with a black top and heels.

Unlike Miley Cyrus, Rosie’s Halloween-themed outfit looked chic rather than making us shriek.

It must be her bewitching beauty! See what we did there? Ha!

Are U feeling Rosie’s black and orange ensemble???

[Image via Daniel Deme/WENN.]

Selena Gomez Is Side-Boobalicious At The Paris Premiere Of Spring Breakers

Oh, we bet Justin Bieber is running his head into a glass door right now!

Just LOOK at what he’s missing!

At the Paris premiere of her raunchy new film Spring Breakers, Selena Gomez made sure her ex would see exactly how big of a FOOL he is for letting her go.

She wore a seksi and sparkly Gucci dress that not only showed off her long, toned legs, but also gave some nice side-boob action.

Oh la la!

A gorgeous bronze glow and gold Jimmy Choo heels completed seksi Selenita’s revenge look.

Eat your heart out, Biebz!

[Image via AP Images.]

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Recap: ‘Hard Bargain’

Is it the end of Seattle Grace Mercy West as we know it? Not if some of the hospital’s top doctors have anything to say about it. The potential Pegasus merger forced the plane crash victims to come up with a crazy solution – pull together their earnings to buy the hospital.

The cold stormy night set the tone for the plane crash victims (minus Cristina, who was preoccupied with Owen) to meet at Meredith and Derek’s dream house about their next move. Callie informs everyone about her awful experience at Portland General, now run by Pegasus, describing the awful work conditions. It turns out Pegasus only cares about the number of procedures the doctors’ churn out, not research or innovative procedures, and fighting management gets you fired. Meredith, Derek and Callie seem to think it’s a good idea to buy the hospital, but Arizona disagrees. Derek admits to the group he made a deal with Pegasus to help the sale. When Derek backs Callie up saying she’s right, the hospital is a place they helped make and mold and it should remain that way, Arizona accuses of Derek of still being guilty about the plane crash. She explains Derek got his money, hand and career back and now he feels guilty he has to be the hero, but everything he’s done has made it worse and it’s now affecting her family.

Instead of responding to Meredith’s constant text messages about the secret meeting to buy the hospital, Cristina tries to enjoy her night with Owen. But no matter how hard the two try, the hospital’s woes interfere with their evening. Dr. Cahill keeps texting Owen that the nurses are planning to walk out, causing Owen to panic. Cristina assures him that they’re both here right now and they should just enjoy the moment.

April’s new paramedic beau asks her out on a real date, outside of the hospital, which she accepts. She later finds Jackson for advice with the paramedic because she thinks things will end with him the minute he finds out she’s a virgin. A born again virgin, that is. Jackson says she just needs to tell him the truth and she’ll be fine. The two end up going on their date and April is surprised to learn he’s also saving himself for marriage.

Alex and Jo work on a newborn patient who’s parents can’t stand one another. It turns out the baby was conceived after the two hooked up at an office party. Alex and Jo discuss their patient’s parents and if it’s really worth it to get involved with co-workers. Jo says it’s a disaster but Alex insists everyone’s different. Look at Meredith and Derek, they made it work. Their patient makes it through and Alex asks Jo out for a beer to celebrate. She declines and runs off to her date, a fellow doctor Jo’s been pining over, nickamed “Chest Peckwell,” Stephanie tells Alex. It seems that Jo was talking out about her new guy the whole day with Alex, not him.

Owen has a disasterous encounter with the nurses, who end up walking out midway through their meeting. Afterwards, Derek and Bailey ambush Owen and Dr. Cahill in the hall. Derek tells Dr. Cahill it’s not going to work for him as the new face of the hospital while Bailey questions Owen about the status of her genome mapping procedure. When Bailey retaliates against Owen, he yells that he denied Bailey, not the board. When Bailey angrily walks off, Derek decides it’s not the time to talk to Owen. He instead makes a call to his financial advisor, Stan, asking how crazy of an idea the plan to buy the hospital would be.

Bailey and Arizona work on a young patient who needs a genome mapping procedure, a test which will use the patient’s DNA to find the tumor. Bailey later asks Owen about the approval for the process, but it turns out she was rejected. Bailey, frustrated with the current state of the hospital, persuades the father to go elsewhere for treatment since this hospital isn’t that place anymore. To make matters worse, she tells Arizona that she’s mulling the decision of leaving the hospital, since it’s not the place it once was.

During surgery, Cristina is shocked to hear that the other interns are talking about taking positions elsewhere. Cristina defends the hospital (and Owen), but Stephanie assures her that she only has 5 years to get the most out of this experience and she wants to stay with the best program.

Derek, Meredith, Callie, Arizona and Cristina all take turns in a suspicious van outside the hospital to talk with Stan, Derek’s financial advisor. If they want to own the hospital, they technically can’t work there, but they can form a management company and hire themselves as doctors. Stan insists this is possible to do, but he needs a financial statement. Cristina wants to tell Owen but Meredith stops her because if he knows he can get in serious trouble.

Owen later regroups himself with Dr. Cahill, who tells him that he has a rare leadership quality. She shares that when the two first met and operated on a patient together, he made her feel comfortable. Cahill admits she didn’t become a doctor because she choked. Owen needs to reassure “his people” that something that hurts in the short run will help them in the long run. Cahill’s advice works and the nurses agree to stick with Owen.

Meredith, Derek, Arizona and Callie meet outside and agree they’re going to buy the hospital. Cristina runs out to tell everyone that the buyers from Pegasus are going to finish the sale – tonight. Before Cristina fully gives in, she asks Owen if he really believes in the deal with Pegasus. He says no, but there’s no other choice.

Webber later finds the mastermind behind the defaced pictures of Derek around the hospital. It turns out the culprit was Shane, who was intentially asked to do this by Derek. After Derek applauds Shane for his efforts in front of Webber, he suspects something is up. Meredith reassures Webber that as soon as they can say something, they will, but he’ll know soon.

Derek interrupts the meeting between Pegasus and the hospital board. When Derek tells Owen he’s quitting, Callie, Arizona, Meredith and Cristina follow suit, causing the Pegasus deal to fall through. Owen, angry and upset, insists he played no part in any of this. He demands for Dr. Cahill to fix this mess because he has no one left and everyone’s walked out on him. He later goes to find Cristina at Mer’s old house but she’s not home. She’s at Meredith and Derek’s house with Callie and Arizona, planning the new corporation’s next steps.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Would you like to see Derek, Meredith, Cristina, Callie and Arizona run the hospital?

Carrie Underwood Required Oxygen At Valentine’s Day Concert

During a Colorado concert last week Carrie Underwood required oxygen because the venue’s high altitude bothered her. Symptoms of altitude sickness include headache, fatigue, dizziness, and swelling.

The country pop star performed in Broomfield on Thursday, but before her encore she returned to her dressing room for a little boost.

The singer posted a photograph of herself wearing an oxygen mask on Twitter, writing, “In high altitudes, they put oxygen in my dressing room under the stage! This is me before the encore.”

She later added: “Thanks, Colorado, for the wonderful energy over the last two shows! I can always tell when I’m in a great place full of great people.”

Underwood wowed the audience at the Grammy Awards last week with a special dress that acted as a projector screen during her performance.

She explained: “We wanted it to be artful and dramatic. I just like to stand still and sing sometimes, so this seemed like the best way I could do that and still create something visually attention-capturing. They can do a lot of amazing things with projectors these days. We had a dress especially made.”

Photo Credits: Carrie Underwood instagram