Sportsfriends scores Kickstarter goal

Propose something nostalgic and people will whip their wallets out, but ask for help with something new and you may lose all hope in this so-called culture. Fortunately, the phenomenal Sportsfriends managed to narrowly hit its Kickstarter funding goal in the final day, after an awful struggle. Rejoice! J.S. Joust and several other wonderful, wonderful local multiplayer games will receive a proper release.

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Propose something nostalgic and people will whip their wallets out, but ask for help with something new and you may lose all faith in this so-called culture. Fortunately, the phenomenal Sportsfriends managed to narrowly hit its crowd-funding target in the final day, after an awful struggle. Rejoice! J.S. Joust and several other wonderful, wonderful local multiplayer games will receive a proper release.

The Kickstarter campaign ended yesterday with $152,451, just over its $150k goal. Half of the funding arrived only in the last few days, and it only leaped across the finish line with 9 hours left.

Sportsfriends is a merry big bundle of competitive local sport-ish games. Along with the wonderful first-person shover J.S. Joust, which uses PlayStation Move controllers to govern a big game of shoving, it packs Hokra, Super Pole Riders, and BaraBariBall. These fine games have been big on the indie event scene but hard to get your hands on for keeps.

With funding secured, Sportsfriends will be formally released for PC and PlayStation 3, starting October 2013-ish. Thanks, Internet, for bringing some hope to video games.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 11, 2012 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Sportsfriends scores Kickstarter goal.

    Propose something nostalgic and people will whip their wallets out, but ask for help with something new and you may lose all hope in this so-called culture. Fortunately, the phenomenal Sportsfriends managed to narrowly hit its Kickstarter funding goal in the final day, after an awful struggle. Rejoice! J.S. Joust and several other wonderful, wonderful local multiplayer games will receive a proper release.

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      December 11, 2012 6:21 AM

      I am so fucking psyched to play me some JSJoust sometime in the near-orbit-of-Earth-around-sun!!

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      December 11, 2012 6:26 AM

      I am all for those guys but i dont have move controllers nor ever plan on buying any. At the last hour I was planning on donating if they didn't hit their goal yet. But you shouldn't be surprised by the lack of enthusiasm for such a niche market

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        December 11, 2012 7:03 AM

        Seriously. I really want to play J.S. Joust, because everyone says it's amazing, but who has that many Move controllers?

        Just make a damn iPhone version already.

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          December 11, 2012 7:39 AM

          This game makes the move controller like a piece of sports equipment... everyone buys their own. It's as cheap as a hockey stick...

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        December 11, 2012 7:43 AM

        There are 4 other games, all played with controllers you know.

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      December 11, 2012 7:17 AM

      I have watched this video a bunch of times and the game JSJoust sort of confuses me. Is the game basically they guy has added firmware code embed in the motion controller that is a little program? That program basically is different tempos(there is no audio coming from the wand that I know of is there? It's not the Wii controller) that relies on the gyroscope and the user has to move to a certain pulse and if not the wand turns red and your dead? Secondary the primary gameplay aspect is if anyone touches your wand the wand turns red and your dead?

      If anyone can clarify what exactly the purpose is that be great for in the video you really are like WTF?

      Weird.

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        December 11, 2012 7:38 AM

        Ok, so I've gotten to play a couple of times at Pax and such. I have to agree that the biggest problem is that until you actually watch the game being played it can look confusing. The video's do a very poor job of showing the game... If they even showed a full round of play it would be clear...alas. Here is what is going on:

        The game is like tag where eferyone is 'it'. The last one not to get tagged wins... then on top of that: you tag someone by making then jostle their controller, while keeping yours steady. Then on top of that music is playing, the slower the music the MORE sensitive your controller is, so you have to slow down or you will jostle your own controller. When the music gets fast you can move more without setting your controller off. That's the basic game... but...

        On top of that you can play with teams, each team gets a color (green, blue, yellow) and teams are randomly assigned when the music starts, last team standing wins.

        And... you can have a traitor on your team. If your the traitor your controller will vibrate at the start of the match... last team standing wins and the trators from each team count as a hidden team.

        And... you can have invensibility so when you pull the trigger on your controller your light gets bright and you can't trip your own controller... but your light fades and when it goes out you die...

        And... you can play it in the dark...

        Does that help?

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          December 11, 2012 7:42 AM

          Awesome, this is very helpful that does sound cool, so the only question I have what plays the music not the wand? The wand does not have a mic to pick up sound? That is the only part now that makes no sense, sounds cool but I can not make the connection.

          Thanks for the info btw.

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            December 11, 2012 7:52 AM

            The sound is just an audio clue to the changing sensitivity of the move controller. In the early builds that I played the game was being run from one or more MacBook's and their speakers were used.

            It turns out that the bluetooth networking that the controllers use only supports 7 devices, so if you want to play with more (in the test build anyway) you needed a second and third and so on computer. The JSJoust program coordinated the multiple sets of controllers.

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              December 11, 2012 9:55 AM

              Ah link completed got it, thanks for this, hmm very interesting. They really should explain this somewhere.

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                December 11, 2012 1:42 PM

                I think they would have had a much easier time meeting their Kickstarter goal if they had presented the game more clearly... still I'm glad they got there and I'll be laying out a good chunk of cash for a bunch of move controllers...

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          reply
          December 11, 2012 1:57 PM

          "And... you can have invensibility so when you pull the trigger on your controller your light gets bright and you can't trip your own controller... but your light fades and when it goes out you die... "

          This sounds like the point at which the game pretty much just becomes a blood sport.

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            December 11, 2012 3:19 PM

            Special package, JSJoust + move controller + offhand shiv.

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      December 11, 2012 9:48 AM

      so happy for this

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