On November 24, 2014 Kickstarter suspended the Canadian project, Blood Sport: The Ultimate in Immersive Gaming by Brand & Grotesque. The idea was pretty simple – attach gaming consoles that come with rumble pads to a blood collection system. When your character takes damage in the game, you then correspondingly lose blood in real life. Since their launch on November 18, they have raised just over $3,000.
One thing that is often noted when it comes to attracting backers to a crowdfunding project is the creators’ expertise. In this case Blood Sport’s Kickstarter page clearly states:
“We’re just two dudes, who normally work as digital creative experts at advertising agencies, who took some time off. We’ve made all of this in our apartment with the help of some friends.”
As the team’s page outlined they are currently working on a rough prototype with a blood collection system that the friends found. The $250,000 they were asking for from backers would go towards buying new blood collection systems compatible with the gaming consoles being used, programming so that two real people can play against each other, and travel costs for a nation-wide blood gaming tour to encourage more people to donate blood.
A Game Rant post recently took notice of creators Taran Chadha and Jamie Umpherson’s off-putting dedication to this project:
“Ostensibly this is all for charity, although the Kickstarter campaign focuses much more on how ‘hardcore’ the idea is. The pitch video opens with images of digital characters covered in blood, while Umpherson crows about ‘raising the stakes of gaming.’ The page challenges gaming and pop-culture celebrities to show ‘they can handle’ Blood Sport by participating in blood-collection matches.
Even the end of the video, which addresses Canada’s blood shortage, implores viewers to ‘grab your buddies, go down to your local donor clinic, and see who gets dizzy first.’ That’s… not really how blood collection works.”
The team assured their audience that the machine already has built-in safety features so that too much blood isn’t taken; this includes inputting your age, weight, and pre-existing medical conditions. They also make a note that they’ve done “carefully monitored tests with medical professionals,” but do not cite who these professionals are or what medical associations they intended to partner up with for this tour.
Brand & Grotesque reminds potential backers:
“Remember, we’re coming at this as gamers, and that’s really what the hardware is all about. We’re not inventing any new medical devices and it’s not for sale. All we want to do is create the best, most immersive gaming experience possible – while also helping people in need.”
Even though their hearts might be in the right place with this project it seems as though it might not be right for the Kickstarter community (especially the squeamish ones). It will be interesting to see if the project is cancelled completely and whether or not the team will persist by launching on a different platform like Indiegogo. It seems like that is where many rejected Kickstarter campaigns turn.
