ANN: Kasual Kit

[NUView]

New Company, NUView, Company Launch!
NUView Launches this May with their first product, Kasual Kit, a revolutionary new game development tool!

Bakersfield CA, Mar 10, 2006 – NUView software is proud to announce their company launch, and their flagship first product Kasual Kit. Kasual Kit will change the face of game development by giving developers and artists a chance to focus on fun over technical detail.

Kasual Kit will also open the door to people who don't have a strong software development background. Now the art of creating games can be accessible to anyone who's played a game, and wants to share their game ideas with the world. The Kasual Kit Wizard(tm) can be used by software developers and laymen with equal ease.

The casual game's industry has exploded in popularity, and now the tools are starting to catch up with the market!

For more information please visit...

http://www.kasualkit.com

[Savant]

I'm at a loss for words. I'm sure I'll find some 4 letter ones soon though.

[luggage]

brilliant!

[lakibuk]

Making a Zuma-clone by pressing some buttons - great! :D
(see screenshot at the bottom).

[ManuelFLara]

At first I thought this was a (very well done) joke. Then I though it was very sad. But now I think this may even be good, since if most of the succcessful casual subgenres end up being VERY crowded with crappy clones, developers will begin to actually innovate something in this market instead of adding twists to the same match/swap/shoot mechanics over and over.

[Ricardo C]

Code Blue! Code Blue in Savant's house! ;)

[Savant]

I had considered writing something like this in the past, to be honest. Seems like a good way to cut out the middle man. And, truthfully, maybe this will be good as someone stated above - if enough really shitty clones flood the market, maybe people will get tired of them. Who knows?

[PeterM]

*checks the calendar*

Nope. It's not April yet.

We're all doomed!

[Ricardo C]

Well, there's FPS, RPG, and Adventure game makers already, and the market hasn't been "flooded by crappy clones". You still need talent to make a worthwhile game, even with a click-together SDK. So let's not go crazy just yet :p Portals might use it to create exclusive titles, and established developers might take to it like some have taken to Flash, but Johnny Wannabe is not gonna nip at Zuma's heels anytime soon.

Frankly, if the product lives up to its billing, I'll consider a purchase. Then I can get on Savant's blog every day of the week :D

[svero]

Hrm. Well... I donno. I can't expect a generic game maker like this would produce good enough results for anyone to really worry about. You'd probably have to do a lot of code editing.

Even with all these match 3's coming out nowdays, you have to do something kind of newish or very impressive to get a little action. (like that 7 wonders game.. very slick) If portals are flooded with tons of the same game they'll only pick the very best ones, but we'll probably still see match3's etc... for a long time to come.

As for helping the market, I don't know. Kind of depressing to think you'd work hard to workout some new concept and then it just gets added to this kit.

[Sirrus]

I'd still be interested in checking this out...

Could be a solid base for expanding.

[DanMarshall]

$500?

Blimey. You can pick up C++ for dummies for a tenner, you know...

[Polycount Productions]

Very nice! Congratulations for finding such a great market segment. Good job!

[PeterM]

It could definitely do well, considering the ability of the portals to push out as many Match/Zuma games as possible.

I guess it depends highly on what the generated code is like. There are some pretty competent games out there made with various X Maker toolsets, and the ability to extend and modify the generated game is a good feature.

But a part of me has died inside.

[papillon]

I can think of a lot of people who'd play around with it even if they didn't put much push behind such releases - but only if the cost was under $100.

$500 is a perfectly good price if the kit is more intended to sucker people who think they can Make Money Fast than to actually produce lots of games. :) (I have no objection to parting suckers from cash - did I mention my first foray into the porn world was being suckered into buying a turnkey site? I quickly learned a lot more about the business, pawned the site off on someone else for a profit, and moved on.) If that's the business model, perfectly good business model, wrong place to advertise it.

[DanMarshall]

did I mention my first foray into the porn world was being suckered into buying a turnkey site? I quickly learned a lot more about the business, pawned the site off on someone else for a profit, and moved on.) If that's the business model, perfectly good business model, wrong place to advertise it.

That's the best thing I've read all day. Brilliant!

[Sybixsus]

The Kasual Kit game wizard uses a state of the art game code framework designed by some of the largest developers in the business.

Oh no.. they've dragged PopCap into this :(

[baegsi]

Very funny.

Q: How long will it take to make my game?
A: With Kasual Kit, having a fully operational game takes only minutes!

I should be able to have my own portal with hundreds of games up and running within a day :D

Of course the key question to tools/turnkey solutions like this is always: if it is so easy to make make money with it, why don't the creators use the tool themselves?

[luggage]

Maybe they are, or maybe they intend to?

[JoKa]

if it is so easy to make make money with it, why don't the creators use the tool themselves?

Maybe they will? :)
I think this creator would be much more interesting for many people at a lower price. Why don't you offer a cheaper license for non-commercial users or people who want to test it?

[DanMarshall]

Of course the key question to tools/turnkey solutions like this is always: if it is so easy to make make money with it, why don't the creators use the tool themselves?

Why be the Monkey when you can be the Organ Grinder?


for this, and other crap analogies, visit my blog*

Dan

*no actual crap analogies on my blog

[Ricardo C]

I'm guessing the games generated are very bare-bone clones, so to create a game with real sales potential will require the end user to get his hands dirty with the generated code, yes? Any chance for a plug-in system to quickly add customization without having to rewrite the code?

[electronicStar]

That will not change anything.
I have marathon-tested two dozen match-3 game demos in the last couple of days, just for the kick of it, and frankly most of them already look like they were done with a kasual-kit (tm).

[Nikster]

Looking at the "from this to this screen shot", I'm sure I've seen identical products already doing the rounds on portals, and I'm not talking plain clones, but those actual prods heh.

Savant, you're gonna have to hire poop loads of people to maintain your blog ;)

[tentons]

Oh my god, it really is a Klone Kit. :eek:
Q: What if the game I want to make isn't included?
A: Our team is always researching the top game sites to include the very latest and best game ideas. Game types will be added in a timely manner based on their level of popularity and sales.
Wow.

[GhostRik]

Interesting...

The bottom of the FAQ says that you have to have a C++ compiler. Most game-makers are self-compiling. If you have a compiler then you probably don't want a game-maker. Or am I wrong?

[Curiosoft]

For those of you wondering what's going to happen with this clone fest....who knows.

But consider this...
look into what happened with Screensavers in the late 90s. There were folks making a lot of money off screensavers. People started cloning...then folks created their own screensaver makers....

Who knows if the same thing will happen.

Also, the makers of the kit should also consider approaching companies with licensed properties. They don't really care about game quality or innovation. If the produced game is some-what fun and leverages the license...they are happy.

Later,
Curiosoft

[Bmc]

For those of you wondering what's going to happen with this clone fest....who knows.

But consider this...
look into what happened with Screensavers in the late 90s. There were folks making a lot of money off screensavers. People started cloning...then folks created their own screensaver makers....

Who knows if the same thing will happen.

Also, the makers of the kit should also consider approaching companies with licensed properties. They don't really care about game quality or innovation. If the produced game is some-what fun and leverages the license...they are happy.

Later,
Curiosoft


game design takes a little more work than coming up with a screensaver

[Anlino]

I really don't know what to say about this. Part of me says that this could be a great tool, and the other part tells me that it will help the market to be flooded with clones. I think you guys should offer some more information. After all, this is your target market (and i am definatley interested:) )

[arcadetown]

Sounds pretty similar to Game Maker (http://www.gamemaker.nl) and yet to see a decent game with chance of selling well produced from it.

[WaveRider]

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

-- Jeff Goldblum as "Dr. Ian Malcolm"
-- Jurassic Park

[mooktown]

this is just ethically wrong. and to say they have a research team to monitor the top selling games so they can be cloned too. thats not research... thats plagiarism. why would a creative type release a new idea in the knowledge that it will be tacked onto this list?

plagiarism

n 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work
2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own

Coming May 5th, 2006... the only tool an Indie developer will ever need! Or how about... creativity? :rolleyes:

It will be interesting to see the quality of the clones from a clone of this product ;)

[bondarchukv]

New opportunity for clonerz :)

[Sharpfish]

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

-- Jeff Goldblum as "Dr. Ian Malcolm"
-- Jurassic Park


my (re)quote of the week. :)

[Gilzu]

Don't let the "ugly" side of programming hold you down! With Kasual Kit, spend your time creating, not coding!

I had a dream last night. There was a computerised voice talking to me, it said:

Programming is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Having to do game art is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Sound recording is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Building a website is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Marketting is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Shareware business is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Your life is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

Your wife is ugly. Its holding us all down. Let a questionnaire-guided-script do it for you.

j/k...

I really have no problem with game generators whatsoever. I do have a problem with taking shourtcuts that seem to be optimal for you but really aren't (thought about how someone who hardly know how to code, let alone know the code that was created, handle support requests when they'll come?). And even if it was optimal, I'd like to do those steps myself.

Good luck for those who use this package. I rather have my own hands on the wheel.

[Raptisoft]

I didn't see a tarantulas with laser beams checkbox, is there going to be one?

[Speckled Jim]

Painting by numbers retooled. Eurgh.

[Anlino]

In the FAQ, it says that it will run on "Any windows system". No Mac or Linux Support?

[Sakura Games]

I'm really surprised nobody thought about it before, expecially the portals. To keep traffic up they need a new game every day, so a cloning engine would be very good. That way they could just hire artist and release clones at max speed.
It's becoming more clear that artists are the most important part in a team for casual games nowadays... :p

[Anlino]

Since you will release the thing the fifth of may, i would presume the development have been undergoing for some time now. Perhaps, if there is any, you could offer a playable demo of something that has been produced with it, code untouched after the wizard. That could give us a good idea of the quality of the games created with it. At least give us some more images :o

[sparkyboy]

I'm really surprised nobody thought about it before, expecially the portals. To keep traffic up they need a new game every day, so a cloning engine would be very good. That way they could just hire artist and release clones at max speed.
It's becoming more clear that artists are the most important part in a team for casual games nowadays... :p

Nah.......they are important of course, but you can't put in a box ideas, inspiration, creativity, design, storylines etc. That comes from within.
It's like selling.............as my dad used to say....'you either got it or you haven't'!!;)

All the best


Mark.

[NUView]

Currently, there are two games selling that were made using the Kasual Kit beta. We aren't going to reveal the titles or developers. We'll leave it up to them if they want to let people know their game was made with Kasual Kit.

I might add that the quality of Kasual Kit generated games has been high enough that several portals have already accepted, and are selling these games.

However, there's no real point to us putting up a game demo, because with Kasual Kit, you can have your own high-quality demo up and running within five minutes.

Thank you for your interest in our product!

[mooktown]

yawn .

[dxgame]

I don't see the portals accepting too many (if any) of these cc (casual clones) but I DO see a market for developers/websites who already have a line up of games on their site and want to "jump on the bandwagon" and get a cc on their site. You'll have to decide if affiliating with an existing match 3 game or investing in the $500.00 and selling your own cc is better. ;)

[Ricardo C]

No demo? For a $500 product? Give me a break.

[Anlino]

How about the screenshots? ;) Not necessarily from the games that were on portals, but from one of those five-minute games.

[Phil Steinmeyer]

Based on the small amount of information posted, I see Kasual Kit as something not all that hard to develop - Just build in logic for the few types of matching and sliding that are fairly standard, then have tilesets be dynamically loadable, and the wizard just sets some global variables for the project to drive the actual game mechanics and graphics used.

That said, it would by necessity be limited to pretty straightforward implementations of the 'standard' match-3 game mechanics. Which aren't fresh enough to excite many gamers anymore (i.e. there has to be SOME novelty).

[Speckled Jim]

However, there's no real point to us putting up a game demo, because with Kasual Kit, you can have your own high-quality demo up and running within five minutes.

Thank you for your interest in our product!

Of course there's a point. People naturally want to see what it produces. It doesn't matter how easy it may be to spit out these clones, very few people would pony up $500 just in order to find it's not for them.

[Tom Gilleland]

I'm liking Cliffski's biz strategy more and more every day... ;)

Tom

[Nexic]

I'm liking Cliffski's biz strategy more and more every day...

My thoughts exactly. Getting away from this crap is a very good idea...

[Sakura Games]

You mean getting away from this clones crap? well sure... I bet half of people here would like to do different games, then they just have to live with those earnings. Cliffsky is doing well, but how many others?

[Tom Gilleland]

We've done well since about 1991. But it varies from year to year. Some years I make a lot of money, some years I just get by.

Tom

[Nexic]

You mean getting away from this clones crap? well sure... I bet half of people here would like to do different games, then they just have to live with those earnings. Cliffsky is doing well, but how many others?


Not many, and I understand the whole 'I need the money' argument first hand. But that doesn't change the fact that living and dying by match-3 games will ultimately be the end of many indies. Eventually there will be too much competition for the likes of me and other one man bands to get onto any portal, and we will have to make do selling to our own audience. When that happens I want to have an audience of my own ready, and the only way to attract such an audience is to make something different.

[Bmc]

don't make a match 3 then. many other genres can, and have, done well on the portals.

there are reasons why match 3 games are popular, anyone with knowledge of game design should be able to dissect why and apply it to their game

the basic jist -
1) very few nouns/tokens/entities (whatever term you prefer) for the player to keep track off.
2) a minimal number of verbs/actions that the player is required to learn.
3) rules that most new players can easily understand (if not fully, at least enough to start playing)

[NUView]

I am sorry about the misunderstanding.

A trial game will not be provided, but a trial version of Kasual Kit will be provided.

However, in order to sell games made with Kasual Kit, you will need to make the initial investment. Although the price may seem high, we estimate that even an unmodified wizard-created game will return well over 1000% over the course of a year.

[soniCron]

Although the price may seem high, we estimate that even an unmodified wizard-created game will return well over 1000% over the course of a year. *flabbergasted* And how many unmodified wizard-created games do you think the market will support? *laughs* If it was so lucrative, you wouldn't be selling this technology... :D

[chanon]

$15 * 3 copies per month * 12 months = $540
possible... !!??

"nothing will stop you from making your game unique! Open the Kasual Kit generated code in any C++ IDE and extend, extend, extend! Think the score display should be a little to the left? Want your game pieces to shake before they break? Want balls to pop out of line when you shoot them? When you extend the Kasual Kit code, you can do all this and more!"

It's like buying the source code of multiple clones. $500 could get you the gameplay source code for Luxor, Zuma, Bejewelled, Jewel Quest, Chuzzle ... and more if the license includes free updates.

Its going to be interesting to see what happens when this comes out.

[electronicStar]

I'm all for it. Maybe the market will be flooded with cheap clones and there will be a crisis and that will be the end of the match-3 gold rush.
Also it's funny to see all the match-3 devellopers, all up-in-arms and outraged because someone made a kit to create match-3s. I imagine there must be a line that must not be crossed ;)

[jankoM]

My oppinion (I am waiting for something so I have time to philosophise). Code generators are being used (for years and) more and more at Web and DB apps for example. This is the next step of code production on tasks that are easy to generalize.

Feeling for some "hand-coder" is not so good - I know. The same happened to me at php when I look at Ruby on Rails video. And same thing happened to some Win32 DB programmer when MSAccess came out. If you think benefits are really big, the only smart thing is to use it. I still use php however and MSAccess only for small thingies, everything big is python/mysql because I think the owerall result/controll is still better with that.

Match 3 games are very generalized task, because as we all know there are tens of thems and are all more or less the same and they do sell (so "worth" making) - so code generaton for this should be no suprise.

Of course - if you know you can now make a game like everybody else with this tool in few steps, you should also know everybody else can now make games like you in few steps.

There can be another effect... In my ex. country there were times when people hadn't had enougth money.. so "el presidente" just printed it some more - what happened? The money became worth less and less. So in general, the easyer the path to some resource is - less it's worth in general consumption. This is not "bad" - this is the way things go. A car for example was much more expensive thing when it was man-made than now.

The only thing I personally really don't like - someone works hard and finds out a original new casual gameplay. It is succsesfull and Kit "researchers" come and add it to the Kit. That originality of the gameplay becomes allmost worthless for the author of it. So there is now even much less reason to came up with something original.

But things are allowed if they are not forbidden explicitly - so there is not much you can do except nag or "donate to lawyers". Except something like ................... errmm software patents (done right and only for a year....maybe) might help you in this case.

Uh, the gsm is ringing ... off I go!

[lakibuk]

Do you people think that this tool can produce games with the quality of Zuma, Chuzzle and the like? I really doubt that.

[Sakura Games]

I think that in the casual market now production value means more than any programming skills. Don't know about this kit, but if you had the same engine of Zuma or others, you would just need to hire some cheap asian artist and "re-skin it".
It would already sell I bet :D

[jankoM]

(for the record) I doubdt it too. Maybe it can make a game just like zuma, but the "after-zumas" that have a chance of becoming new hits have to bring at least some feeling of "something special and better and different" IMO.

[Grey Alien]

Man, this is so obviously just a joke. You don't all really think this is real do you? It's quite a funny joke, but they'll never finish the other pages on the website.

[Nexic]

Man, this is so obviously just a joke. You don't all really think this is real do you? It's quite a funny joke, but they'll never finish the other pages on the website.

I can't see any reason why this is a joke, it wouldn't exactly be hard to make something like this... I think you are just being optimistic.

[lakibuk]

I can't see any reason why this is a joke, it wouldn't exactly be hard to make something like this...
Not hard to make? They need to make Zuma, Chuzzle, Bejeweled ... That's a huge effort. Next they need to make these 5 games generic so that they can be adapted by the customers = next huge effort. This would be such a big work that they could easily make some portal hits themselves and retire. My assumption: The generated clones will be of low quality.

[Mr.Blaub]

I can just imagine buying the program and sending the portals about 5 games that were exactly the same, except they had some ludicrously minor graphical adjustments. Sure, they probably wouldn't even humour me, but on my end I'd be laughing at them whatever their response.

[Nexic]

Not hard to make? They need to make Zuma, Chuzzle, Bejeweled ... That's a huge effort. Next they need to make these 5 games generic so that they can be adapted by the customers = next huge effort. This would be such a big work that they could easily make some portal hits themselves and retire. My assumption: The generated clones will be of low quality.


Well when I say not that hard to make I didn't mean it would be mega easy, I just meant it wouldn't be anywhere near as hard as a full scale game dev utility like Blitz or GameMaker. As for them making the games and earning loads of money - it isn't that easy, there are tons of match-3s coming out every week and barely any become big hits. I actually think this software at that price will be much more lucrative than making games overall.

[Glen Pawley]

Kasual Kit -like products are simply not sustainable. Even if it initially sells, it is going to crash the market of every game type that it supports. Pretty soon it's buyers will dry up and NUView wouldn't be able to afford adding new game types to it's list of clones. It's the economic equivalent of pissing in and poisoning the trough you're eating from. Sure it'll have some initial sales to gullible idiots, but that won't last forever.

Their marketing approach is similar to a pyramid scheme. If the market for game type X supports 10 variants and can generate $1000 each, i can make more money if i sell the game code and the variant artwork to 30 suckers for $500 each.

Assuming this is real then, the only people it's going to hurt are the developers that are producing clones anyway, which most of us would agree is not a particularly bad thing.

As for copying a game idea and adding it to the kit, as I said, NUView won't be able to sustain the effort to add your game type to it's stable for long.

[Chris Evans]

I find this pretty amusing myself. Weren't a couple of people here about a month ago joking that they were going to create a Zuma-template and give it away for free? Then actually it turns out someone was already planning to do that (minus the free part).

I don't see how this product could really bother anyone except if they are planning to make a clone or possibly worried about being cloned. And really it's only the top 1% like PopCap who are capable of making original casual games that have to be worried about being cloned.

Besides, if you're really worried about clones flooding the market (even more so than now), then why not talk to your portal reps and try to persuade them to not accept cheap knock-offs of your games? After all, they're the gatekeepers with casual games, so if they don't accept clones, then it won't be an issue. Tell them to wait for you to release a sequel in a few months time or whatever.

I guess my point is there's two sides to this. Kasual Kit games will only become a problem if the portals let it. So if this is an issue that really bothers you then why not put a little pressure on your distribution partners. If you make original casual games, I'm sure you'll have some clout. It will make the Kasual Kit a non-issue.

With THAT said, Kasual Kit could be useful for re-branding popular games for your own site. For example, I could make Pow Pow skin of Zuma with all our characters and sell it strictly on my site as a novelty game of sorts. I wouldn't bother submitting it to portals, I'd keep it exclusive to my site. Who knows, it might generate a few extra direct sales a month.

I'm not saying I'm planning to do this, but I think that's where the real potential is for this product. You can use it as content filler on your site between your major releases. Assuming your customers dig these kind of games. It's basically like a cheap Flash web game of sorts...

[Fost]

Hey NuView that's a cool product. I wonder if it might be worth you also marketing it to end users rather than just developers? After all, there's more of them by far, and, judging by some of the replies on this forum, they aren't likely to whine about the fact that you've made creating games easier for people. We get loads of people on our forums who are interested in making games themselves, but don't have the programming skills.

Well done - it's a cool idea. I just hope you can someday add a template for 'Mr. Robot' type games and make my life a hell of a lot easier ;)

[Michael Flad]

This will neither kill the market nor create a flood of bad clones on portals. "Developers" not able to create great gameplay/artwork/sound/music won't be able to do so with tools like that, and the others were able to create good games easily in the past.
Using something like Kasual Kit, given a dev didn't do anything related to one of the gametypes, he may save 2 weeks of startup work ... and have to pay with a codebase probably not written the way he works best with (which may cost those 2 weeks later on during development).
Those devs not able to code such simple stuff like the basics of a match3, Zuma etc. aren't those creating the good clones anyway.

[sparkyboy]

As has been discussed much in the past, the reason that 'Match 3' games are doing so well is simple. The Portals play it safe and tell people what they should like and buy.
It really is quite straight forward, if the portals just supply cutesy, 1 button controlled match 3 look-alikes, people become accustomed and conditioned to these games, that's not to say they wouldn't like something a little different.
You need to remember that people are inevitably 'SHEEP', and most need telling what they like ( that's what advertising and marketing is all about anyway).

I mean if you offer a starving man bread, when there's Roast Chicken around the corner, he'll continue to eat only the bread until he gets offered the chicken!;)


All the best


Mark

[Grey Alien]

Don't forget that LOTS of people DO find match-3s great fun to play and seek out more or the same cos they like it. A bit like me and FPS games or RPG games. As long as people still buy them, people will make them, until the market becomes too flooded to make it worthwhile, which may not be very far away. However, people may still make them as "practice pieces" like Tetris. However, speaking from experience, match-3s still take a lot of programming and testing.

[Savant]

I think there was an interesting point raised above. This should really be marketed at end users, not developers. Make the interface as simple as possible and let people create their own match-3 games to play at home. They wouldn't have to be the greatest things ever but for $29.95 they could buy your kit and make enough simple games that it would be well worth the money for them.

[Nexic]

I think there was an interesting point raised above. This should really be marketed at end users, not developers. Make the interface as simple as possible and let people create their own match-3 games to play at home. They wouldn't have to be the greatest things ever but for $29.95 they could buy your kit and make enough simple games that it would be well worth the money for them.

I really don't think that would work, many would simply dismiss the idea of creating their own game as they think they don't have the time or arent skilled enough, and no amount of saying 'this is real easy to use' will convince them of that. At a low price of $30 you need to sell almost 20 copies in order to make up a single $500 developer copy.

The best way to sell people things is convince them that they will make even more money by using it. You can't convince the end user of that.

[luggage]

You could maybe convince them they will save money by not having to purchase other portal games though.

[Nexic]

You are right if the games could be made in a few minutes and still be as good as the proper games, with each one having enough variety... Which just isn't gonna happen unless the end-user can create an entire set of art for the game instantly.

[Savant]

He's including a bunch of artwork so that's sort of moot.

If he includes 3-4 sample games that the user can play right away then, at the very least, he's sold them a 4 pack of games. The user can then choose to make their own or tweak the existing ones if they want more.

I think it's a great idea.

[luggage]

The games don't have to be as good as "proper" ones though - they just have to be good enough.

And if the site is correct and there's several themes the user can choose between then I don't see why this couldn't be aimed at the end user. Imagine it being like a game with lots of game modes and skins...

[Bmc]

The games don't have to be as good as "proper" ones though - they just have to be good enough.

And if the site is correct and there's several themes the user can choose between then I don't see why this couldn't be aimed at the end user. Imagine it being like a game with lots of game modes and skins...

good luck getting the end user to pay $500 for a program to make their own games

they can buy discs with 500 games (of the same quality) for under $10 at any Walmart

[Nexic]

But you would basically be trying to sell it to people who don't even know they want to make games. So you've go to:

1. Convince them they want to make games
2. Convince them they can easily do it, no programming needed
3. Convince them to buy it.

With people who are already looking into making these games for profit you only have to do the 3rd step in terms of marketing. They already know they want to make games, they will probably feel like they can do it as most people getting to that 'stage' have some game creation experience. Plus they will have a huge financial incentive. As I've said, a low price point like you are suggesting would mean they need to reach 20 times as many people to make the same kind of money... That means they will have much harder time getting a good ROI for paid adverts.

And how exactly is he going to reach these casual gamers on a decent scale? He certainly can't sell this software on the portals or other 'casual' hang outs. Developers on the other hand are right on his doorstep. I'm sure just from seeing this one post there are already several members here would be very interested in using this.

And guys, we know the mainstay casual audience barely knows how to right click, so even if it's MEGA MEGA easy use, do you think REALLY they would be interested?

[Savant]

BMC

Which is why in my first post on this sub thread I said $29.95

Nexic

And guys, we know the mainstay casual audience barely know how to right click, so even if it's MEGA MEGA easy use, do you think they would be interested?
How many people are making levels for Big Kahuna Reef? There is a core audience of tinkerers who like this sort of thing.

You don't have to sell it to everybody. You only have to sell enough to make a profit.

[Nexic]

You only have to sell enough to make a profit.

I reckon even at $500 just from these forums he will get AT LEAST 10 sales of this (assuming it's any good, I don't know yet). In order to get that return with your idea hes got to make 200 sales, which we all know without portals isn't easy. And getting those 200 will be made even harder when he starts trying to advertise a game-making product to non game-makers. His ad's would have terrible CTRs.

[Savant]

Well, hell, he should just charge $100,000 and be done with it then. :)

[Sirrus]

I think everyone is focusing too much on the 'out of the box' end product.

It would be ridiculous to assume that more than one or two developers could release a same genre game with the kit and get portals to agree.

The real advantage here is the code base it generates. Having a base to expand to make a truly unique game is not such a bad thing. Who knows though?

When the portals stop taking clones, we will stop making them. Pretty simple. So instead of arguing about the down fall - do something about it. Portals need encouragement, and more importantly, highly polished games that bring something a bit different.

[Nexic]

Well, hell, he should just charge $100,000 and be done with it then.

But no one would pay 100,000 if they weren't going to make it back. And not many people can even get 100k in the first place.

$500 works because people can still afford it and at the same time they know that they can make more than that figure back. You can't say a lower price will always work, and also can't say that a higher price will always work. What DOES work, is pricing the product correctly for the market. Developers are prepared to pay $100s for good tools.

[Raptisoft]

It would be ridiculous to assume that more than one or two developers could release a same genre game with the kit and get portals to agree.

And furthermore, the earth is flat.

[Sirrus]

And furthermore, the earth is flat.

...Touché...

[Bmc]

off topic: anyone see the Nintendogz clone on Yahoo Games yet?

http://get.games.yahoo.com/proddesc?gamekey=puppyluv

[Midnight Synergy]

I'm still not sure if this is a joke or not, but the first thing that came to my mind (similar to what Chris mentioned earlier) is that this would be a neat way to do bonus games for your product line.

In my case, for example, a Stinky & Loof Match-3. I doubt I'd charge for it, but it could be used e.g. for a newsletter sign-up incentive, or just to keep content fresh on your site while developing a long-term project.

$500 might not be worth it, but at $100 for a "freeware licence" I'd seriously consider it.

[Adrian Cummings]

A good idea and maybe it just might work - certainly opens it up wide for newbies and suchlike which can't be a bad thing in terms of progress etc.

Will it work as a viable business model? - actually I reckon it kinda could that's the scary thing for some on here heh ;)

Cheers,

[dxgame]

"I'm not saying I'm planning to do this, but I think that's where the real potential is for this product. You can use it as content filler on your site between your major releases. Assuming your customers dig these kind of games."

Exactly, this is not a tool to submit products to portals. Instead of affiliating with a match 3 game and getting 10-30%, you can invest $500.00 and get your own branded version (with your own media) and sell it on your website and get 100% of the profits.

[Escotia]

Do you people think that this tool can produce games with the quality of Zuma, Chuzzle and the like? I really doubt that.

Yeah. If it can't clone Chuzzle perfectly I don't want it.

[Phil Steinmeyer]

Exactly, this is not a tool to submit products to portals. Instead of affiliating with a match 3 game and getting 10-30%, you can invest $500.00 and get your own branded version (with your own media) and sell it on your website and get 100% of the profits.

Well, let's get the numbers straight first.

Pretty much any reasonable affiliate deal will get you 30% (10%? No...)

You'll only get about 90% from selling your own.

Big difference still (3-fold), BUT, is this wizard and it's canned graphics gonna crank out a Match-3 that converts as well as Bejewelled, JewelQuest, or Big Kahuna Reef? I really doubt it.

[U-Brothers]

kasualkit is Nothing but total disparagement of indie games, developers, quality graphics and overall game content and ideas too..:mad:

no more comment guys - this is just an example of another wrong path for indie games..

[Arthur[VD]]

I think- what if someone will make and publish another CloneKit before this guys and will sell it twice or three times cheaper :D
Then whey will feel on their own skin what is clones.;)

[Nikster]

cloning a clone cloner ? my head is hurting. :)

[bob123]

Announcment: Tommorow releasing "Make your own Kasual Kit"! :eek:

[Anlino]

Uhmmm... Kasual kit kit?

[whisperstorm]

Since I try to look at the positive side of things, I wonder why so many folks bag on this tool. Imagine being able to create a prototype of a game quickly to show to your prospective clients, or to create something fun for just you and a few friends. Commoditizing the match-3 games seems like a good thing in that folks who crave these games will have tons to choose from, and folks who design games can now focus more energy on more innovative games. Your client wants a new match - 3? Bang it out in a week and spend the rest of that time working on your new casual RPG.

I think that the folks who hate this feel like it's making little of their hard work and effort up to now. I think they feel that this trivializes the effort it takes to make a great game and turns it into a "game grinder".

However I dont think that's the case. It seems to be - at least from the description - a way to jump past all the routine coding you normally have to do, which might take weeks or months and discourage you from ever finishing a game. Once you have that, then you can go and build on top of that. Sure there will be tons of crappy knockoffs or just endless clones. That's what happens in places like Gamemaker.nl or KlickTeam, or Blitz.

My guess is this is going to come out, some folks will bag on it, others will genuinely try it out and dismiss it, and perhaps someone will take it at face value, create a few games, and get inspired to create something better than a match - 3.

To me it seems like a way to save time, experiment with ideas, and help move the genre forward with folks thinking of something new that this "doesnt do".

[Phil Steinmeyer]

Speaking for myself, it's not that I resent this thing for trivializing what I (we) do, but rather, that I am highly skeptical of their claims. Specifically, I doubt that this tool will be able to create anything but nearly straight up clones of Zuma and/or JewelQuest, with relatively mediocre graphics and effects.

Yes, if the player takes the really basic template code this thing spits out, and more or less rewrites it, they could likely get a more competitive game, but then, that would largely negate the value of the tool.

Moreover, the fact that they say they're 6 weeks away from release, and have games created with their tool on portals, but won't state which games they are, nor show any kind of game made with their tool (even in beta form), enhances my skepticism.

[Fost]

I'm not entirely sure I understand the negative attitude to this. A while back, wasn't someone working on a shoot-em-up builder type of system? And they got nothing but support.

Why is this any different?

I quite like game making apps myself, they are great fun for hobbyists - not everyone is blessed with amazing programming skills, but they can draw. That's why I thought this would rock as a consumer targetted app.

[Mr.Blaub]

Uhmmm... Kasual kit kit?

KKK! :eek:

Since I try to look at the positive side of things, I wonder why so many folks bag on this tool. Imagine being able to create a prototype of a game quickly to show to your prospective clients, or to create something fun for just you and a few friends. Commoditizing the match-3 games seems like a good thing in that folks who crave these games will have tons to choose from, and folks who design games can now focus more energy on more innovative games. Your client wants a new match - 3? Bang it out in a week and spend the rest of that time working on your new casual RPG.

I see what you're saying. It'll definitely come in handy for some people. Those of us who think clones are the scum of the earth just have a difference of opinion :)

[Anthony Flack]

I doubt this will be a good tool for prototyping - it sounds like it makes games around basic templates. Prototyping is for trying out NEW ideas to see if they work.

[Nikster]

That's why I thought this would rock as a consumer targetted app.

That maybe true, as Savant said earlier, however, I think the suggested price tag currently denotes who the target audience is. A lot of people are not seeing beyond using the templates, myself included, although the fact it basically generates code rather than a standalone application, so would require compilers and knowledge of using them. The app could be usefull, but I see the inclusion of themed teamplates too much of a temptation to do bugger all apart from click.

There's a place for this type of app for sure, at work I use a similar system short of creating a clone of something, it'll just create a skeleton shell and flow, most of which can be created all via a GUI, there's even apps out there that will create frontends and the pro versions cost a bloody fortune, and by fortune I'm talking hundreds of thousands of $.

I have no doubt that this will sell many copies, thanks to the exposure the whole debate has generated :) Did I mention my font tool clones TTF fonts into bitmap form ;) heh..

I'd like to see how well it sells, as I'm sure many more generators will come out of the woodwork if it's worth it, just like people still create match 3 games.

I've not seen the shoot'em up kit mentioned above so can't comment, but I've seen the FPS creator and I feel that is targeted towards consumers.

My gut feeling is if the price tag is at $500 it won't be long before that price drops a lot, and with that you could probably guess at to whom is buying it, developer versus consumer.

I had a relative who owned SUECK for both C64 and Amiga, and he created c64 titles for self satisfaction, he released his Amiga creations as PD, but I guess with the advent of portals and the like, the posibility to generate $ is to much of a temptation, who knows, time will tell :)

[PeterM]

Hehe I also loved the SEUCK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot'Em-Up_Construction_Kit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoot%27Em-Up_Construction_Kit)

I made loads of crappy shmups with this...

[NUView]

The Kasual Kit page has been updated.

Since there has been such a positive response on this site, and from others, we have updated the Walkthrough page to contain more information about the kinds of options Kasual Kit will offer.

You can see this new information here:
http://www.kasualkit.com/walkthrough.htm

Not only will Kasual Kit produce high quality games, it will produce high quality games are that better, more compatible and more stable than the best games available now.

[luggage]

Grrr... It doesn't let you clone Hamsterball :(

[ggambett]

Not only will Kasual Kit produce high quality games, it will produce high quality games are that better, more compatible and more stable than the best games available now.
I don't get it. Your website lists 10 types of games and 15 builtin themes. That's 150 high quality games are that better, more compatible and more stable than the best games available now. So why will you sell this for $500 instead of releasing these 150 games in the next few years and become a multibillonaire?

[princec]

C'mon guys, you're all being far too harsh here, it's just a bit of software to help wannabees write simple games with a bit of advertising hype. You know it isn't seriously competing. Leave 'em alone!

Cas :)

[Gilzu]

I don't get it. Your website lists 10 types of games and 15 builtin themes. That's 150 high quality games are that better, more compatible and more stable than the best games available now. So why will you sell this for $500 instead of releasing these 150 games in the next few years and become a multibillonaire?

Reminds me of a story about an analyst that said he has the perfect model for stock exchange trading. He built an application that uses this model and should be able to bring mucho $$$ for those who use it.

Its just a story. AFAIK, its still is.

This story brings the same conclusion as ggambett's post. actually, two conclusions:

1. If you want to make money, why not use the golden eggs instead of selling the goose? where's the logic in that?
2. If the story about the trader was true, for those who know a little bit about the stock exchange and marketting, if everyone used the same model to make profit, then this model would be less and less profitable.

Grrr... It doesn't let you clone Hamsterball :(

/

C'mon guys, you're all being far too harsh here, it's just a bit of software to help wannabees write simple games with a bit of advertising hype. You know it isn't seriously competing. Leave 'em alone!


<sarcasm>Thank god they included an MMORPG checkbox for the future generation of top-notch game developers</sarcasm>

[Speckled Jim]

Wow, this thread is still rumbling on. Hasn't he come clean yet?

[whisperstorm]

I'd be really curious to see a game created with this. Would the owner of this thread consider posting a sample game created with the Kit? Seems like that would be a great way to preview what it can do...

[Pyabo]

Come on guys... this is a joke.

"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"
--Johathan Swift

I have to applaud NUView, whoever they are... on their excellent sense of humor. You had us going for a while.

[jankoM]

Do you think someone would buy domain just to make a joke? And why would not someone be doing this?

[Chris Evans]

Yeah the more I think about it, the more it seems like a big ruse. I guess April 1st isn't too far away after all...

Especially since a quick Google search shows that this was the only place the press release for NUview/Kasual Kit was posted to. Any other mentions are just blogs that eventually lead back to here. Their website doesn't contain a company address, copyright notice, and etc... This is either like the Phantom console or the joke is on us. ;)

[Chris Evans]

Do you think someone would buy domain just to make a joke?

A domain costs about $2-5 these days. That's like a lunch time snack.

Personally I think it's possible to make a product somewhat like this, but something about this particular company & announcement seems odd. Why just submit a formal looking press release here?

New Company, NUView, Company Launch!
NUView Launches this May with their first product, Kasual Kit, a revolutionary new game development tool!

Bakersfield CA, Mar 10, 2006 – NUView software is proud to announce their company launch, and their flagship first product Kasual Kit....

For a product that's supposedly this significant, I would imagine it would be picked up by at least a few online news sites if they actually sent it to them. Heck, you can submit press releases to PRWeb for free...

The company has apparently taken the time to clone and make a custom wizard for Zuma, Jewel Quest, Bejeweled, Chuzzle, and etc but doesn't have the time (or know-how) to submit a press release beyond the Indie Gamer forums? That should set off some red flags...

[jankoM]

you are right about domain. Well I don't know - maybe I am one of the suckers of the month :).

I would expect a joke to be something more absurd but this actually isn't all that "outside-the-box" ;) idea. At the bottom of the line, this is not so different as making a matcha3 game and selling source code to the interested parties - which is by far the least complicated and quickest way of doing "match3 maker".

[ggambett]

Yeah the more I think about it, the more it seems like a big ruse. I guess April 1st isn't too far away after all... Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky. I think I know who is behind this. Use the source, Luke.

I may be wrong, of course, which will be embarrasing. It's funny to play Sherlock though.

[Chris Evans]

I may be wrong, of course, which will be embarrasing. It's funny to play Sherlock though.

Yep. :)

To throw a little more wood on the fire, a WHO-IS lookup shows the domain name "kasualkit.com" was registered (or renewed) on March 8th, 2006 just two days before this thread was made. In another words, 48 hours for the DNS to propograte across the net... ;)

I'm sure it's possible to have a legit explanation for this, but who seriously works on a product for months/years and registers the domain at the last minute right before a company/product announcement? I personally register domains early on even if I'm not 100% sure if I'll use them, just to be safe.

[sparkyboy]

Hmmm interesting points of view guys. April fools joke or not, it certainly has everybody talking. I mean 119 posts and counting........:rolleyes:
Controversy always sells guys............. you can't buy that sort of publicity, know what I mean!!;)
Still, for what it's worth, I too think it's just a big red herring. We'll just have to wait for the 'Hah Gotcha guys, April fools' to pop up on this thread :D


All the best


Mark.

[Pyabo]

Anyone want to have a betting pool for who the instigator turns out to be? :)

I certainly have a suspicion...

[Savant]

If it's fake, I'll probably end up doing it for real. I think it's a goldmine if done properly.

[Glen Pawley]

If it's fake, I'll probably end up doing it for real. I think it's a goldmine if done properly.

I get the feel that this is a sensitive subject, so I want to point out that I don't mean to be snarky in any way. Are you making a joke? Because that combined with your blog just doesn't make sense. :confused:

[papillon]

It does if he believes that *really* flooding the market with clones beyond its ability to cope will crash the market for such things and force everyone to make less clonable games. :)

Making a kit that allows you to easily clone *one* kind of game and selling it cheaply wouldn't be that hard, would probably move a good few copies, and would amuse him to no end. :)

[Ricardo C]

If it's fake, I'll probably end up doing it for real. I think it's a goldmine if done properly.

Dammit, you were my lead suspect if this does turn out to be a prank ;)

[cyodine]

Well, technically, many of us can already do what the Kit does, although only with a limited number of games - chiefly the games that we've already coded for. The question is, would portals accept the exact same game re-skinned by the same company? They apparently do that if it's done by another company. Note that when I say clone, I'm not referring to a sequel, since they're assumed to have more content, additional gameplay, etc.. Perhaps an expansion might be the correct term.

But I wonder if the same company doing this would help their sales any or would they just be competing against themselves. For individuals that want clones of the same product and would purchase the original and all clones, then that company would benefit by cloning themselves. For individuals that would only purchase one variation of that game, then although the company would be competing against themselves, they would also be diluting the leeching effect of other clones.

Furthermore, if the company name appearing on the same product would deter portals, then I'm sure workarounds could be accomplished. Have a few of your real life friends start up their own company and publish your clones and then pay you an outside-contractor fee or some such. Most people don't pay attention to the company name on casual titles anyway, assuming the portals even let them appear.

I know the cloning yourself concept might seem a little unusual, but I suppose if this Kasual Kit does come along, this industry has to adapt somehow. Either by scrapping the genres supported or some other means such as the above.

But then again, perhaps the industry doesn't need to adapt. Perhaps what will happen is that the artwork and sound will take up 95% of all successful project budgets, so the coding won't matter. Cheaply cloned games will get no where. This field will be dominated by artists and musicians instead of programmers since the programming is "canned". However, if one can someonehow find high quality "canned" art and music (I know lots of not so high quality exist), then the playing field will level again.

[BIGZIPZ]

I just did a domain WHOIS lookup of the website and found:

Website Title: Kasual Kit - The Casual Game Development Kit!
Meta Description: Your download place for Raptisoft games!

A domain lookup for raptisoft.com produces:

Website Title: Raptisoft Computer Games
Meta Description: Your download place for Raptisoft games!


See links: http://www.whois.sc/kasualkit.com && http://www.whois.sc/raptisoft.com

[jankoM]

Chuzzle itself is done in the casual kit?! :) Well that would be good reference for it.

[dxgame]

"I just did a domain WHOIS lookup of the website and found..."

ooh.. the cats out of the bag perhaps? :eek:

[Sakura Games]

Is good to see an April's fool, since the discussion about clones was getting too hot lately. Cheers to Raptisoft! :D

[BIGZIPZ]

I wonder if the meta description was an oversight by raptisoft or a purposely left clue?

[soniCron]

I know the cloning yourself concept might seem a little unusual... Perhaps, but that's exactly what I intend to do if Jeweltopia sells well. (Not to mention sequels for both games.)

About Raptisoft: I must say, I'm genuinely surprised! Now I don't know what to think of this... :)

[ggambett]

I want my prize!
Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky. Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky.

For some reason WHOIS didn't show the meta tags for me so I had to guess. I thought it was svero or someone else with a good sense of humor. However the only site that had the same HTML coding style and even the same image swap Javascript function was Raptisoft's. And it all made sense! John has repeatedly shown a great sense of humor AND is one of the most cloned people here, so the laugh is on us, and the "vengeance" is well deserved. Congrats John, it was a brilliant joke!

[lakibuk]

Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky.
Haha, cryptography at its best.

[Nexic]

Wow it really had me that's for sure! Great one :)

[whisperstorm]

Gee - makes me kinda sad. Having tools that make creating games more accessible for less hardcore programmers would have been a good thing.

[Sharpfish]

Well.. luckily I didn't take it seriously as a product (even if it was true or not). I didn't get stuck in and post long essays on the good and bad points(for a change).I had a feeling that if it were a joke, the originator just wanted to see the cloners (or potential cloners) coming out of the woodwork.

Now we think we know who was behind it and that it probably was a joke, it's quite funny as we all know what he would do to the next person to rip-off Chuzzle (something Uber-violent if I recall). ;)

And

Originally Posted by ggambett
Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky.


That was very clever g! Didn't read between those lines.. :)

[Anthony Flack]

Only now am I going back and actually reading that website properly. Seeing the little jokes and digs.

Anyway, congratulations guys. That was awesome. Shame about the meta tag, but hey.

[Sirrus]

I think everyone is jumping to a new conclusion way too quickly.

I'm not convinced either way.

[HairyTroll]

Oh my god, it really is a Klone Kit. :eek:

Wow.

Prepare to be 'ass'imilated!

[iopred]

The funny thing about this thread, is that while everyone was discounting the existance of the software, talking about how it would destroy some peoples jobs etc, no one mentioned that this is what is happening already! Even today, most of the games that are released are exactly what Klone Kit would have produced, except they were programmed by hand. What would the difference have been?

A lot of truth is said in jest, and although Raptisoft pulled a prank, don't for a second think that its just fun, I feel this is more of a warning. Then again, if it sells, who cares about keeping up appearances, it's all about money anyway, bring out your Zuma clones - innovation is dead.

[Anlino]

It is hard for me to see anybody willing to do the work(Website, text, gfx) with this, if it is a joke. Now, if it is, then it is the greatest ever. We will probably find out sooner or later.

[suryanievi]

whoever made this jokes is a genius :D

[Raptisoft]

You internet "sleuths" suck. Why can't you all just sit down and get all angry about this? And people wanting to BUY it? You all make me sick, PLUS that web page was two days work and this did NOT dissolve into a satisfactory flame war. And you could've at least waited until the 1st so that we could spring the incredibly cool reveal, LAM3RZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

Anyway, it was me and Svero. Total joint effort. We were having some kind of clone discussion on MSN and somehow it turned into this. But yeah, reading the thread, I have half a mind to make the frigging thing. Our actual horror/fantasy was that some portal would roar up and offer us like a $500,000 buyout on the thing, and we'd have to whip it up in about a month's time, lol.

Anyway, yeah, those who thought it was a joke, it's a joke.

Impressive net sleuthing. Thought we had everything covered. To be nailed by the metatags... sheesh.

I even accidentally posted a NUView post under Raptisoft at one point, and repaired/edited that in time. Didn't even think to check the metatags, so... good jobs.

Next time it will be 1,000 times worse, and there will be no way to sleuth it.

Really, are people this incredulous? Something obviously feels tricky.

And mad props for that. :)

[Anlino]

Next time it will be 1,000 times worse, and there will be no way to sleuth it.

Cant wait, Raptisoft:D Man, you got us all (and me especially!). Bet you had a real ball with this, didn't you? I even posted questions through the contact form on the site!:rolleyes:

[Ricardo C]

What about me? I suggested adding a plug-in system to make it easier to extend the template games :D

I wonder what Raptisoft's reaction would be if right before revealing the truth, Real or Yahoo came along with a seven figure offer to buy the "company" outright ;)

[AVataRR]

aww I missed all the excitement. I was like "what what what" and two seconds later I find out its a joke. oh whell.

[Phil Steinmeyer]

Minus the marketing hype, what this kit proposed to do is quite feasible. As I was playing around with prototypes a month ago, I was exploring variations of several of the standard game types, with much of the code the same, just swapping in and out certain key functions.

It could be done, though the games it produces would likely be rather bland without additional code. That said, I'm not sure it's a great business idea, since at $500, the market would be small (10-40 copies, maybe?) At $99, the market would be bigger, but probably not big enough to make a noticeable profit.

[Chris Evans]

First off, nice prank! :) Though I'd like to take credit for initiating the effort to unravel the hoax. :D


Anyway, it was me and Svero. Total joint effort.


Fack. I thought it would probably one of you. I even abused by mod powers by looking up the IPs of yours, Svero's, and NUViews. NUView's IP address came from Amsterdam in one post and Utah in another, so I knew he was fake. But it didn't match yours or Svero's. When I did a WHO-IS lookup, even though the contact info was blocked for KasualKit.com, I still checked to see if the nameservers matched Raptisoft.com or twilightgames.com. They didn't match, so I figured it was an outside prankster. If my WHO-IS search showed the meta tags I would have gotten you sooner. :cool:

But again, good job. You covered your tracks pretty well and made the whole Kasual Kit website/product seem somewhat plausible. I probably wouldn't have caught on if the first post didn't contain a formal press release. If it was more of an informal announcement then I probably wouldn't have bothered to check other news sites for it.

Though you pretty much "Zing"-ed anyone who wrote about it in their blog. :)

[svero]

Well the IP was one example of how we were careful. I changed the IP listed with the NUView account as a mod, but I couldnt change the posting IP's so John posted all the NUView stuff through a Proxy server.

Mad Props to Gabriel who suggested my Humour and Johns web coding. That's eerily prescient. I have to give most of the effort over to John though who actually setup the site and got a domain for it etc... All I really contributed was text for the page and some of the ideas. My stuff was a little over the top and John would edit it down to make it a little more realistic. We assumed people would be skeptical, but we wanted to make it just real enough that nobody could be 100% sure.

As to the reveal well... What we had planned was to post here as NUView on April first the following... (I dont have JR's edited text so this is the original text)


Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the interest and moral support but it seems Kasual Kit will not be released as planned. We've been contacted by a major portal and they are buying all the assets. For more information please see our new press release

<LINK>


and then on The KK site...


NUView Kasual Kit Acquisition Announcement

Bakersfield CA, Apr 1, 2006 – After announcing their flagship product NUView software quickly entered into serious negotiations with a major player in the casual game industry. The result of those talks has been a favorable agreement to sell the Kasual Kit product and all related assets. The Kasual Kit will be used for their new certified developer program which will replace the old system of unscolicited game submissions. It's not clear yet how the certified developer program will be announced or how developers will get the kit once they've been certified, however, what is very clear is that you have been the victim of a pretty damned hilarious April Fool's joke conceived by Raptisoft with a little moral support and help from Twilight Games.

[svero]

I wonder what Raptisoft's reaction would be if right before revealing the truth, Real or Yahoo came along with a seven figure offer to buy the "company" outright ;)

Me and John would have stalled and made it of course :-)

[Chris Evans]

Well I'm a little disappointed that you guys didn't purposely leave a cryptic clue. Such as having something like Gaberial's cryptography for your Header text or something. :)

[mooktown]

haha! I was totally fished in, I feel like a total sponge! :D

I only came back to the thread to slag people off for keeping the thread going!

[dxgame]

"Coming May 5th, 2006" - Now THAT would be a shocker if the product DID come out still. Even BIGGER joke on us after all this. ;)

[WaveRider]

Too bad... I was actually saving up for it :(

[Anlino]

I am pretty sure there could be a lot of money in something like this, even if this was just a joke. But, now we all have Savant working on it, right? :p

If it's fake, I'll probably end up doing it for real. I think it's a goldmine if done properly.

I didn't see a tarantulas with laser beams checkbox, is there going to be one?

Schizofrenia. I say nothing more:)

[Gilzu]

ROFL...

Now thats a good one. Sure is a shame that it couldn't hold up till April 1st.

[Nikster]

Why? it would still have just been a hoax and not an Aprils fool joke.

[Anthony Flack]

This is simply the coolest damn thing that's ever happened around this forum, so I'd just like to take the opportunity to congratulate you guys one more time, and express my regrets that your brilliant reveal did not pan out.

[Nexic]

The Kasual Kit will be used for their new certified developer program which will replace the old system of unscolicited game submissions.

Wow, I can imagine a ton of peaople reading that line and feeling really depressed O.O Me included. I wonder how long that will take to happen for real?

Brilliant joke guys :-D

[Nikster]

So, who's really going to start writing it then ? or have we got several people going to start it ? ;)

[Savant]

So, who's really going to start writing it then ? or have we got several people going to start it ? ;)
Well, this has the earmarkings of the bi-monthly Indie Portal movement so I imagine there will be lots of talk of writing it but nobody actually will. :)

[tolik]

And not a single person does remember my first April's joke last year...
http://www.bobcatgames.com/aaamazing/

Actually I was prototyping a concept around 2001 that would allow to script any kind of game - be it Tetris, Bejeweled or Puyo Puyo but then I got into gam(b)ling, Xbox and never had time to do anything besides standalone engine experiments.

[Frozen In Ice]

Someone has too much bloody time on their hands! :D

A while back I even checked the domain registration and it brought some strange information. The domain privacy was protected, issued in Montreal somewhere and I forget the rest of it now.... :o

You guys REALLY need to get a hobby!:p ;)

[Tertsi]

Wow, nice prank guys. I didn't think it was a joke just because of the amount of work you put into that joke.

[Pyabo]

And not a single person does remember my first April's joke last year...
http://www.bobcatgames.com/aaamazing/


haha...AAAmazing! Hey, I remember it... had to click the link and look at it, but I definitely remember it. Reminded me very much of Experience Quest or whatever that "RPG" was that just played itself.


Actually I was prototyping a concept around 2001 that would allow to script any kind of game - be it Tetris, Bejeweled or Puyo Puyo but then I got into gam(b)ling, Xbox and never had time to do anything besides standalone engine experiments.

Isn't this called PyGame? :)

[tolik]

haha...AAAmazing! Hey, I remember it... had to click the link and look at it, but I definitely remember it. Reminded me very much of Experience Quest or whatever that "RPG" was that just played itself.

And pretended to be played at server ;)

Isn't this called PyGame? :)

Is there a single "production" quality PyGame?

[Ricardo C]

Is there a single "production" quality PyGame?

IGF finalist The Witch's Yarn (http://www.mousechief.com/witchs_yarn/index0.html), for starters :)

[PoV]

Holy crap! This was actually a joke!? Oh my, you guys rule. I glanced over this thread when it was started way back when, and didn't think about it much. It took a lovely hint from Phil Steinmeyer's blog to get me to actually take a 2nd look.

Bravo. I demand bizarre press released on Saturday. Terin, I'm looking at you. ;)

[sparkyboy]

Well done guys!:p
A lesson well learned I imagine, as we all should know the old saying..............

'If it seems too good to be true....it probably IS!':D

Kudos though guys, sheer bloody kudos.;)

All the best


Mark.

[Pyabo]

'If it seems too good to be true....it probably IS!'


I would certainly argue that this saying does NOT apply in this case. :rolleyes:

[MrPhil]

AWESOME, you totally got me. My reaction was, "Jez, the ideas people think are good ones."

heh heh

[Greg Squire]

LOL, Good One! You had me going. :D There goes my Chuzzle clone now. ;)

[Pyabo]

Hey guys, I'm just wondering when you are going to update the Kasual Kit with a "mystery hunt & click" template? My Zuma, Bejeweled, and Diner Dash clones are doing very well in the Chinese mobile market, but I want to compete in this new and exciting genre.

[GBGames]

Ok, just so everyone can have a laugh, I just spent the past 10 minutes reading through the thread, wondering how I missed it as it was just a few days ago, and wondering why the links are already down. I couldn't enjoy the joke!

Then I realized that this thread was from a year ago, and was recently brought back to life with the last post.

So, April Fools on me. Just a year later. B-(

[Pyabo]

It's too bad the site is down... I think this whole thread is a classic and needed to be bumped for it's anniversary. :)

[Grey Alien]

Yes! I knew it was a joke and was the first to say so - do I win a prize?

[svero]

Actually I've got a zip of the site which I plan to archive somewhere shortly. Just been busy to get to it.