For an unreleased Game Boy Color game, Infinity's got quite the history behind it. Developed by Affinix Software between 1999 to 2001, it wasn't far off completion, but due to the Game Boy Advance's launch, got cancelled due to publishing struggles.
An unfinished ROM emerged five years ago – alongside a soundtrack release – and now, Infinity's making a comeback through Kickstarter this June.
Development is being restarted by Incube8 Games, who've brought on former staff from Affinix Software to help complete it. Alongside a teaser trailer, publisher Retro Modding has revealed that it will release Infinity as a physical Game Boy Color cartridge, offering a digital ROM too, for greater accessibility.
In preparation for their upcoming campaign, Retro Modding has launched an official website, outlining what we can expect from gameplay:
An ancient, nameless evil stirs beneath the earth, twisting the land and its people alike with its corrupting force. Two rival nations careen toward war, as a shadowy figure arms them both with unholy weapons of immense power. And a disgraced knight is called upon to overcome the centuries-old pain that divides these peoples, his own grief, and malevolent forces fanning the flames of hate. This epic tale frames a roleplaying game with a unique tactical battle system, a detailed world with over 50 explorable areas and more than 100 items, and beautiful 8-bit graphics — all to immerse you into the world of Infinity!
The Game Boy has witnessed quite a resurgence in recent times, ranging from Limited Run reprints to fellow Kickstarter project The Shapeshifter. We're curious to see how Infinity shapes up, and we'll keep you informed when the campaign goes live.
Comments 23
Looks cool, but I am curious as to why they feel they need a Kickstarter.
This is a project that they could crack on with in the evenings, during weekends and holidays whilst holding down a day job.
Why should we fund it?
@nocdaes I'd presume to pay their wages, nevermind publishing costs. They shouldn't be expected to work on it for free
@Terra @nocdaes It's a away of secure interest and sales, isn't it? If they just silently released a GBC game, few people would find and buy it. This way, people back the game, and then receive it "for free". We are buying it beforehand
Edit: the game itself is looking pretty good and I'm interested
I hate kickstarters. A company should fund their own employees, it’s greedy on their part. If they lack faith in the product they’re developing they have no business developing it. Their pay comes from the hard work they put into the game and we buy it.
@TYRANACLES I would of agreed with this years ago but there are SO many game companies that use this as a launching platform, and honestly the ends justify the means.
Big company launching a kickstarter? No, not a good look
Small company trying to secure the funds to make a dream project a reality? Hell yes.
Oh wow!
Hopefully we can also one day have the unreleased GBA sequel to Warlocked. ^^
@pixelpatch this game does look decent and if it turns out great I appreciate anyone who helped by putting money into this to get it off the ground. But I just think these are a gamble, sometimes you wind up backing a game that doesn’t turn out so well. Mighty number 9, wonderful 101, and bloodstained come to mind for me. Tho bloodstained did get a ton of patches to help but still it should’ve released in a better state. Maybe a demo would be nice for any backers to try beforehand.
@nocdaes
A physical release is costly in addition they need to pay the contractors they brought on. It looks interesting and I love that iconic GBC sound but I will wait to see more of it.
@TYRANACLES I wholeheartedly agree. Nowadays i back board game and video game devs that i KNOW will do the work.
New companies I wait for the release
@TYRANACLES
I tend to agree with you. Kickstarters are risky for both the backer and the company relying on the buzz from it. We do not use that avenue and if a product fails then we need to learn form it. Business is always a gamble/risk.
If I can ever get my hands on a Analogue pocket. I would get this.
I have no idea how cancelled project can resurface and get resurrected like this 2 decades later. How does it work legally and how do you purchase an IP and the source code from, I assume, a dead company?
@TYRANACLES Agreed. It's like investing in a company then instead of getting shares, in said company, you get one of their products...two years from now....maybe.
@nocdaes This is a joke, right?
@Terra In any normal industry you wouldn't work for free; however, many smaller start-ups do just that so that they can get their game out the door. I have a friend who left a job like that after three years and they'd burned through their investment funds because it was evident the game wasn't releasing soon. To my knowledge that game is still in development and the company is now a design firm working on the game as a side project.
Looks interesting but after getting pretty much screwed over when I backed Indivisible I think I'm going to never again support a Kickstarter/crowd-funded gaming project. I'll wait to see what it looks like after it's released and hope that maybe they'll put the game up on the Switch eShop or something.
@Wilforce I understand that, don't get me wrong. It just isn't right to expect others should work for nothing. We all need to look after ourselves, can't spend our entire free time working.
@Terra I'm not suggesting they work for free. It sounds like a project they can finish the work on first and then get paid from selling it. Call me old fashioned but that's a perfectly reasonable approach towards a game that is already half finished and is more than two decades old on an expired format!
@DarthFoxMcCloud what happened with Indivisible? I’ve heard good things about the game but I didn’t follow it from Kickstarter just since it’s official release?
this is so cool, i remember seeing screens of this as a kid and wondering what happened to it. love the gameboy getting love atm.
i hope that some of that kickstarter money goes into some graphical updates tho, as the visuals do look very of the time. i've seen some people pull of some pure wizardry with GBC sprite art on the gbstudio discord recently, also some extra flair like little dialogue mugshot sprites would look nice. wish them the best of luck with this project, can't wait to see it finished.
@nocdaes money laundering obviously
@TYRANACLES how on earth is it "greedy" to have folks who are interested enough in the game fund it? of all the avaricious business practices game publishers and certain developers pull, you think crowdfunding is especially egregious? it's basically like being a patron of the arts in the olden days, except we're actually interested in the work being done and we're getting a smaller reward for investment than someone who might fund an artwork upfront. it's not remotely greedy to want to compensate the developers working on a game without running to a publisher/investor, and this is a major appeal of Kickstarter to users like me. I want games with unique ideas to prove that those ideas can sell, and I want devs to be financially stable independently, rather than needing some skeevy publisher like EA or Ubisoft who could screw them over.
@Grahamthecracker as I understand it (I got the game in a Humble Bundle, haven't had the chance to try it yet), the game is good--but the game's director is a lecherous sex pest, so the rest of the devs jumped ship as he is a danger to work with and he wouldn't hand over the reins to them (like Autumn Games has taken up the other game he's known for, Skullgirls). 505 Games (Indivisible's publisher) can't really force him to hand over the rights or anything so development on updates can be continued, and there are Kickstarter backer rewards which weren't shipped out due to this whole mess.
FWIW, the dev team (sans the cackheaded creep who shall not be named) reformed as Future Club back in September, and they seem really cool.
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