The Canadian Media Fund Is Giving Awesome People More Money To Make Awesome Stuff
Posted by Ben on March 21st, 2012 | 1 Comment | Tags: Capy , Drinkbox , Slant Six
Doing the rounds today is a list of approved production projects from the Canadian Media Fund, a group that aims to, in the words of their official site,”encourages the creation of leading-edge, interactive, digital media content and software applications”. On that list, it would appear that a couple of notable game studios have received funding for their projects, with Drinkbox Studios, Capybara Games and Slant Six being ones that leap immediately out at me.
Drinkbox’s Guacamelee is up first, and they’ve received $450,000 for the fund to make their little slice of downloadable craziness. The description for the game in the document is as follows;
Guacamelee is a downloadable video game for home consoles that ups the ante in the platforming genre. It’s next‐generation Super Mario Bros‐style play, with dimension switching ability opening up new puzzles, combat mechanics and world levels. Target audience, males 13 and up, will be able to use new control and touch interfaces, and also employ social media channels to enhance the gaming experience.
While the platforming and puzzles were previously known, the dimension switching abilities and social media integration aspects are pretty intriguing, so hopefully we’ll get to learn more about those soon.
Next up is Strata: Scavenger, from Slant Six games, the makers of Socom: Confrontation and the recently released Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. The description for this one is somewhat lengthier, and as this is the first we’ve ever heard of the game, I’ll let it do the talking here;
Strata: Scavenger combines the highly addictive practice of web browser resource gathering with next‐generation 3D and arcade flight simulation, all in the immersive, post‐apocalyptic world of Strata. Playstation Move and Nintendo Kinect peripherals allow for greater design flexibility and precise user play with simultaneous screen selection of multiple elements. Strata is also the first to offer flight stick controls. Top‐level arcade game‐play and next gen visuals will whet the appetite for wider franchise through multiple game types, social applications and non‐game releases such as graphic novels.
Sounds like they’re out to build a universe, but as this is really the first we’ve heard of the game, perhaps they’ll expand more on the concept in the future. Especially with the cool $1 Million they’ve raised for the game.
Finally, we have the big one. Capybara’s “Project Grindstone”. Leaked through a trademark late last year, it appears that we have a little bit more information to look over. Its vague, but better than nothing!
Project Grindstone is a new style of action‐hybrid game. With its unique twist on action & surprisingly flexible controls, Project Grindstone is destined for multiple platforms.
Well, its an action-hybrid game. So, I’m going to guess that there’s a puzzle game element in there somewhere. Of course, your guess is as good as mine! Capy’s been given $975,000 to play with, so hopefully the game looks good when they reveal it. Who am I kidding, its Capy. They could release a paper bag and I’d still stare at it fondly for hours on end.