lol, mystery game x....
well, id actually assume its GK related (remake or 4).
I think we can rule out GM2 because thered be no reason to keep that secret.
And then theres been the recent news/rumors that they opened up talks about the GK license.
And obviously theyd need to have all the details of the licensing hammered out before they could announce it.
And really, what else would fans be really excited about that fit the description? :P

Anyway, this is a good move in general for kickstarter. The speculation of GK will certainly help us.

My guess is that it's supposed to allude to her coming games instead. The whole creepy jumping back and forth in time when she walks thing could have to do with Moebius...

Either that, or it's just to set the mood!

I think it's a GK HD remake. It makes perfect sense.

Jane has said many times she has spoken to Activision about GK. She has said it's possible to do GK4 in the future, but she really needs to convince them it would be a profitable venture.

Activision probably wants to know how interested people still are in the GK franchise. Before fully investing into a new title, they tell Jane they support her doing an HD upgrade/remake of GK1 to assess the viability/appeal of the franchise.

I'm going to soften my stance against remakes. They're not all bad. I think the Monkey Island remake/upgrade was well done. More importantly, it incorporated the original game and allowed the user to seamlessly transition between the two versions. My main concern with remakes is when the original version becomes forgotten or buried. But, a GK remake done right could keep the feel of VGA version well intact using the original voice acting, and maybe Robert will update some of the music (though it wouldn't be necessary).

A GK remake could attract a new generation of fans and bring the older ones out of the shadows. It could get people really excited for the series, allow them to play the other two games (buy through GOG!), and then become full supporters of a GK4. I think this is the most logical or least risky path to a GK4 from Activision's point of view.

So, I fully support this if it's the case. My knee jerk reaction really comes from thinking about what George Lucas did to the Star Wars original trilogy. While neither Jane nor virtually any other entertainer/artist is anything like George Lucas in that regard, I'd feel a bit of regret if newer GK fans didn't get to experience the original game, or at least something very close to it.

My concern is that we have this trend of upgrading and updating older games to make them more appealing to modern audiences. I think that as this practice becomes more prevalent, it sort of diminishes the value of these older games. We use the term "classic" to represent the game itself and the achievement it is given the era from which it game. When we replace the classic games with newer versions, that historical significance goes a bit unnoticed.

I trust Jane will do what's best for the franchise, the fans, and herself. I have more confidence in her than in anybody else in the gaming industry. Of course, the mystery game could be something else entirely. I'll support that too!

Not to sound like a materialistic cardboard-lover, but... Moebius BigBox added to the 100$ tier! Could've been done sooner, but I think this is a really good move - enough incentive to go for the popular 'hundie route', and additional incentive to dish out twice as much to get the Mystery Game box. I think we'll see a nice spike in pledges on that level.

Jane's playing with fire with that tease, obviously everybody's going to think about Gabriel again. So I guess that's a good move as well :P

Yep, this is great news all around! :D

Wait, are we certain "the second game" is not Gray Matter 2?

Sounds great but I'd still prefer if she'd spend all her time in making ONE great game... 2 games in a year seems a little rushed... but we'll see.

Probably not. But I think many people would be disappointed if it were, since Gray Matter was met with very mixed opinions and a sequel is hardly guaranteed to make everyone excited. I'm also leaning towards a GK remake, although it could be anything.

Man, I'm so thrilled about this. Going to have to raise my pledge again. I guess I'll have to survive on porridge and water this week as well! :D

Come on, if it had been GK related, don't you think they would reveal it? That would yield some more pledges easily.
I'm just wondering how another financier/publisher likes the idea that they (pinkerton) will also give the game they are financing away for free to the backers.
Anyway, it's great news and I'm guessing it's a totally new concept

Nope. They cant reveal somthing like that unless alllll of the license agreements are all taken care of. Whatever it is, the reason she cant reveal it yet is because the deal isnt finalized, and they dont want to announce somthing and have the licensing fall through. Which makes somthing GK related make perfect sense.
Also, its safe to say it is not GM2. Because jane makes it pretty clear that they "cant" reveal what it is yet. Why wouldnt they be able to reveal gray matter 2 ? Theyv already revealed it to us.

Ok, then. There's only one way to do it properly:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg137...pg&res=landing

:D

lol

:P

Anyway, looks like their "final push" is working so far - at least, someone's been spending a lot of money on this today... Hope this carries on till the end!

Two games! Jane certainly displays an impressive mastery of mystery with Mystery Game x. Can't wait to see what it turns out to be. I hope the big jumps in the funding continue and go well past the goal, because I want to see the extra scenes and puzzles in Moebius. Now is not the time to be cheap! I've already doubled my pledge, and I hope others do likewise.

some thoughts on outsourcing
 

I'm not sure where you're getting your information from. Russian companies is doing pretty well - companies come and go in every country. The story with Russia is that it has a lot of great talent due to extremely high level of education from Soviet times and a dreadfully poor political and business environment. (also post-soviet) The currency exchange also makes Russian attractive for budgets.

some random facts:

-Top iOS games are made either wholly or partially in Russia.
-Did you know that GTA4 was made in Scotland, US, Serbia and more?
-Even Simon 3D & Broken Sword have ties to russia!
-Parts of the latest battlefield were made in Sweden

Outsourcing is an element of modern game development and things like timezone differences are not relevant.

:r :r :r

My main motivation for supporting remakes is that it'd help dissociate Dean Erickson and his non-existent acting abilities from GK.

Dean Erickson did a fine job. Not perfect, but he was a believable Gabriel Knight. It's the idiotic, embarassing Tim Curry performance in GK3 - way, way over the top! - that should be criticised.

Hi, Арсений! I got my information from Russia, since I am Russian :) And I wrote about outsourcing. It is a well-know practice since 90's. What bothers me is that just 5 years ago we had a number of working development houses. Today almost every company switched to either outsourcing or online gaming. 2/3 of КРИ-2012 is dedicated to Игры.mail.ru! Combined with business/political state, as you wrote, that's not very encouraging. But also not a bad thing I guess. What confuses me, is how Signus is planning to develop a non-casual game. You need at least a fully-functional engine for that.

On the contrary, Tim Curry in GK3 is the best Knight of them all and should be praised.

I really think he wasn't. I'm willing to forgive his seemingly endless store of stupid faces supposed to pass as acting. But he just wasn't Gabriel. Gabe is smooth, charming, confident to the point of cockiness, with a sort of raw, animal sexiness — and with some wisdom that he's managed to gain over the course of the first game. But the guy that Dean Erickson portrays in GK2 is more like an angry and uncomfortable teenager, always looking out of place and ill-at-ease. It definitely can't all be blamed on the actor, but also on the director — and I guess the casting director, who seems not to have looked beyond hair colour. But in any case, he's not Gabe. And I think that hurts the story, which is supposed to be all about Gabriel confronting his wild, animal side — but the only animal side that Dean Erickson's performance conveys is that of a rabbit caught in the headlights.

(By the way, I couldn't agree more about Tim Curry in GK3. His performance was completely over the top and ridiculous. He did a great job in GK1, but was horribly cheesy in GK3. I don't know what went wrong there (different director?), but something definitely did.)