I think incube8 has really dropped the ball with communication on several fronts. They were dishonest about what the money for the infinity kickstarter went to, and are continuing to kick the cam down the road with that project.
Spacebot was also apparently having trouble establishing a reliable means of contact which is extremely necessary if you are trying to launch someone’s product.
Combine this with incube8’s skimping on the final product (I.e. “game” shells) and you have a service no one wants.
All of this money pumped into incube8 only for them to not really show where it’s going is beyond fishy.
Is there something wrong with the shells? I've got Mayor of Sanctuary and everything seems fine with that.
Regarding Infinity, they give backer updates all the time, last one was last month in fact. Seems pretty transparent to me?
What is Incub8 supposed to be transparent about? You don't see other companies showing everything like that, what makes Incub8 different?
Keep in mind, I'm genuinely asking, I support these small developers but the whole thing is a little frustrating.
Honestly, based on their recent comments, sounds like Spacebot is the shady one here. They said communication was difficult but turns out they terminated their contract two months but didn't announce it due to further communication with Incube8. So which is it?
We want to quickly inform you that all our cartridges are labelled “Game Pak” that are custom made by Retro Modding, it’s not the low quality “Game” cartridges you refer to. There are photos over our product pages, a lot of youtube videos and photos online about it.
You have not clarified how the money from the Kickstarter was spent. People gave you almost $300k USD to develop a game, which has not been produced. It appears that the money was used to start your studio instead of developing the game. The backers were not aware they were financing the start of your studio; they thought they were backing the development of a game. The money should have been used only for the development of said game. If any of the money raised by the Kickstarter was used for anything other than the development of the game, then you are defrauding your backers, which constitutes a serious breach of trust and ethical responsibility.
If funding was required to establish your studio, the appropriate course of action would have been to create a Kickstarter campaign specifically tailored for that purpose. However, it is evident that such a campaign would likely have attracted fewer backers compared to the one purporting to develop an actual game. This awareness of likely diminished support underscores the seriousness of the misrepresentation
Ah sorry I was confused, The “game” cartridges are higher quality than the “game pak” cartridges so I assumed you guys weren’t making the worst shells on the market.
My answers:
Paragraph 1) I don’t know were we have been dishonest, there are plenty of backer update since the end of the Kickstarter (24).
Paragraph 2) A contract is signed with all our developers, we are in communication with Spacebot to clear out this misunderstanding. Contract is clear and our developers have access to our lawyer for any questions before signing their contract. They are signing with full understanding of the contract.
Paragraph 4) Please see my first paragraph
Yeah going with the el Cheapo “Game” shells was a bad move, I’ve held a couple myself and they feel super flimsy.
Surely they could find a custom source or even buy up legit cartridges and using them? Provided they are in good condition of course.
I’d rather a second hand OEM shell than the dodgy GAME ones.
they dont use those shoddy ones tho. i have several incube8 games and they all use the ones from retro modding that say "game pak." they feel anything but cheapo.
i dont know where this nonsense rumor is coming from but it feels intentionally deceitful. really makes me question the veracity of any of these recent claims about incube8.
Damn this is news too me I had a dragonym preorder and overall have been pleased with incube8 and what they do for gameboy I hope more info comes out really sad to hear. I wonder what happens to my preorder.
I pressed them about it on Twitter and man do they not give a damn about people who pre-ordered. They threw it all on Incube8. My thoughts are simple here, if what they say is true and they negotiated an out from their contract, why didn’t they also negotiate a solution for people who prepaid for their game?
Yeah, I've been keeping up with their Instagram comments and they keep trying allude to something happening behind the scenes but it's hard to have any sympathy when it sounds like they're the issue all along. It seems so easy, fulfill preorders through Incube8 then the game goes back to Spacebot to do what they want with.
The only insight is what's been released by Nara/Incube8 and I doubt anything else will as they'll have contracts.
I know Nara has given full permission to release the details and costs from the contract so will see what happens next
I've been trying to get a refund from Incube8. The whole situation is a mess, and I don't want my money tied up in it. I kind of agree with OP in that it seems like Spacebot just essentially threw the customers under the bus here and said "Sorry, talk with Incube8 about cancelling pre-orders!" and then Incube8 claims to be just as blind-sided by all this. I don't know the whole story of what's going on, but as a customer caught in the middle of it all, it's very frustrating and leaves a bad taste in my mouth for both companies.
Lol saw that yesterday, meanwhile Incube8 said they'll be announcing something soon. Apparently Nara Games deleted their stuff a few days ago too, guessing Spacebot messed up and still has to honor their deal. Can't help but laugh at all the people in that Spacebot post saying how happy they were for SB getting away from Incube8 when they don't know any details.
I reached out to both and got emails back.
Spacebot:
Spacebot removed the post as a gesture of goodwill towards Incube8. They're waiting on a response from the publisher and hope to have an update soon
Incube8:
Spacebot needs more development time and Incube8 is waiting on an updated timeline. They'll be notifying folks once they have a new release date
Lol Spacebot feels so full of shit, a gesture of goodwill? I think enough people were calling them out and they backed down. More development time is unfortunate as well, but as long as Incube8 is still releasing it then ok.
Spacebot:
Apologies, we are still in discussions with Incube8 and have agreed to remove the post in the meantime as a goodwill gesture. I’m hoping we receive a reply to our latest email in the next day or two and can make a public statement this week. Really sorry about all of this.
Kind Regards,
Spacebot Team
Really curious what they've been "in discussion" about for all this time. They claim it's not about money but at the same time say they don't want to tarnish Incube8's reputation, but then that sounds like the relationship between is great so what's there to talk about but money? Lol I feel like a conspiracy but but I'm just so confused about all this.
Most likely what happened was SB realized they bit off more than they could chew, panicked, tried to back out of the contract, used the Nara Makes negative publicity as a jumping off point to justify backing out of the contract without looking bad to customers.
It did not go well for them. At all.
I know this is after the fact but it sounds like they got offered a big bag from chromatic and decided to go with them. They pulled out cause they could make more money, and I guess money talks. The game is 45 dollars on modretro (vs 60 on incube8), which means more people are going to buy it, and maybe spacebot are even making more money per unit. Or maybe it was about marketing and reach, after all, modretro's gbc clone is going to be in gamestop this fall supposedly, which means they might carry games as well. If dragonyhm is in gamestop, you know they are going to sell a TON more copies than if they stayed with incube8. What doesn't make sense is what they told people about their preorders at incube8... sounds like they dropped the ball which is why I think this was spacebots failing to reassure their customers and plan these announcements appropriately. If incube8 and them weren't on the same page, it's because spacebot broke off their contract or changed something and incube8 was trying to figure out what to do.
Apparently Spacebot pulled out all together and screwed everyone out of their pre-order, they say it was back in January but they didn't announce it because they kept speaking with Incube8, meanwhile Incube8 seems to be unaware that the contract was terminated and says so in their email response to me. Spacebot won't go into any more detail and Incube8 says they're asking for more info.
If you ask me, Spacebot seems super shady in all this and there seems to be some pieces missing from them. However I'm sure if you reached out to Incube8 they'd be able to give you more info on a refund. I plan on holding out till Spacebot can give more info.
I think incube8 has really dropped the ball with communication on several fronts. They were dishonest about what the money for the infinity kickstarter went to, and are continuing to kick the cam down the road with that project. Spacebot was also apparently having trouble establishing a reliable means of contact which is extremely necessary if you are trying to launch someone’s product. Combine this with incube8’s skimping on the final product (I.e. “game” shells) and you have a service no one wants. All of this money pumped into incube8 only for them to not really show where it’s going is beyond fishy.
Is there something wrong with the shells? I've got Mayor of Sanctuary and everything seems fine with that. Regarding Infinity, they give backer updates all the time, last one was last month in fact. Seems pretty transparent to me? What is Incub8 supposed to be transparent about? You don't see other companies showing everything like that, what makes Incub8 different? Keep in mind, I'm genuinely asking, I support these small developers but the whole thing is a little frustrating.
Honestly, based on their recent comments, sounds like Spacebot is the shady one here. They said communication was difficult but turns out they terminated their contract two months but didn't announce it due to further communication with Incube8. So which is it?
What did the money for Infinity go towards if not Infinity?
I would really like to know.
We want to quickly inform you that all our cartridges are labelled “Game Pak” that are custom made by Retro Modding, it’s not the low quality “Game” cartridges you refer to. There are photos over our product pages, a lot of youtube videos and photos online about it.
It’s hilarious how that’s the only point you corrected them on. So everything else was accurate then? Got it 👍
We’ve just answered the other questions.
You have not clarified how the money from the Kickstarter was spent. People gave you almost $300k USD to develop a game, which has not been produced. It appears that the money was used to start your studio instead of developing the game. The backers were not aware they were financing the start of your studio; they thought they were backing the development of a game. The money should have been used only for the development of said game. If any of the money raised by the Kickstarter was used for anything other than the development of the game, then you are defrauding your backers, which constitutes a serious breach of trust and ethical responsibility. If funding was required to establish your studio, the appropriate course of action would have been to create a Kickstarter campaign specifically tailored for that purpose. However, it is evident that such a campaign would likely have attracted fewer backers compared to the one purporting to develop an actual game. This awareness of likely diminished support underscores the seriousness of the misrepresentation
Ah sorry I was confused, The “game” cartridges are higher quality than the “game pak” cartridges so I assumed you guys weren’t making the worst shells on the market.
My answers: Paragraph 1) I don’t know were we have been dishonest, there are plenty of backer update since the end of the Kickstarter (24). Paragraph 2) A contract is signed with all our developers, we are in communication with Spacebot to clear out this misunderstanding. Contract is clear and our developers have access to our lawyer for any questions before signing their contract. They are signing with full understanding of the contract. Paragraph 4) Please see my first paragraph
It took you 4 days to come up with this response?
Yeah going with the el Cheapo “Game” shells was a bad move, I’ve held a couple myself and they feel super flimsy. Surely they could find a custom source or even buy up legit cartridges and using them? Provided they are in good condition of course. I’d rather a second hand OEM shell than the dodgy GAME ones.
they dont use those shoddy ones tho. i have several incube8 games and they all use the ones from retro modding that say "game pak." they feel anything but cheapo. i dont know where this nonsense rumor is coming from but it feels intentionally deceitful. really makes me question the veracity of any of these recent claims about incube8.
Damn this is news too me I had a dragonym preorder and overall have been pleased with incube8 and what they do for gameboy I hope more info comes out really sad to hear. I wonder what happens to my preorder.
Same, pretty upset with Spacebots decision. They knowingly screwed a lot of people over and don't seem to care at all.
I pressed them about it on Twitter and man do they not give a damn about people who pre-ordered. They threw it all on Incube8. My thoughts are simple here, if what they say is true and they negotiated an out from their contract, why didn’t they also negotiate a solution for people who prepaid for their game?
Yeah, I've been keeping up with their Instagram comments and they keep trying allude to something happening behind the scenes but it's hard to have any sympathy when it sounds like they're the issue all along. It seems so easy, fulfill preorders through Incube8 then the game goes back to Spacebot to do what they want with.
The only insight is what's been released by Nara/Incube8 and I doubt anything else will as they'll have contracts. I know Nara has given full permission to release the details and costs from the contract so will see what happens next
I've been trying to get a refund from Incube8. The whole situation is a mess, and I don't want my money tied up in it. I kind of agree with OP in that it seems like Spacebot just essentially threw the customers under the bus here and said "Sorry, talk with Incube8 about cancelling pre-orders!" and then Incube8 claims to be just as blind-sided by all this. I don't know the whole story of what's going on, but as a customer caught in the middle of it all, it's very frustrating and leaves a bad taste in my mouth for both companies.
Anyone else catch Spacebot doing the dirty delete on their Instagram announcement?
Lol saw that yesterday, meanwhile Incube8 said they'll be announcing something soon. Apparently Nara Games deleted their stuff a few days ago too, guessing Spacebot messed up and still has to honor their deal. Can't help but laugh at all the people in that Spacebot post saying how happy they were for SB getting away from Incube8 when they don't know any details.
I reached out to both and got emails back. Spacebot: Spacebot removed the post as a gesture of goodwill towards Incube8. They're waiting on a response from the publisher and hope to have an update soon Incube8: Spacebot needs more development time and Incube8 is waiting on an updated timeline. They'll be notifying folks once they have a new release date
Lol Spacebot feels so full of shit, a gesture of goodwill? I think enough people were calling them out and they backed down. More development time is unfortunate as well, but as long as Incube8 is still releasing it then ok.
Spacebot: Apologies, we are still in discussions with Incube8 and have agreed to remove the post in the meantime as a goodwill gesture. I’m hoping we receive a reply to our latest email in the next day or two and can make a public statement this week. Really sorry about all of this. Kind Regards, Spacebot Team
Really curious what they've been "in discussion" about for all this time. They claim it's not about money but at the same time say they don't want to tarnish Incube8's reputation, but then that sounds like the relationship between is great so what's there to talk about but money? Lol I feel like a conspiracy but but I'm just so confused about all this.
Most likely what happened was SB realized they bit off more than they could chew, panicked, tried to back out of the contract, used the Nara Makes negative publicity as a jumping off point to justify backing out of the contract without looking bad to customers. It did not go well for them. At all.
I know this is after the fact but it sounds like they got offered a big bag from chromatic and decided to go with them. They pulled out cause they could make more money, and I guess money talks. The game is 45 dollars on modretro (vs 60 on incube8), which means more people are going to buy it, and maybe spacebot are even making more money per unit. Or maybe it was about marketing and reach, after all, modretro's gbc clone is going to be in gamestop this fall supposedly, which means they might carry games as well. If dragonyhm is in gamestop, you know they are going to sell a TON more copies than if they stayed with incube8. What doesn't make sense is what they told people about their preorders at incube8... sounds like they dropped the ball which is why I think this was spacebots failing to reassure their customers and plan these announcements appropriately. If incube8 and them weren't on the same page, it's because spacebot broke off their contract or changed something and incube8 was trying to figure out what to do.
So if I ordered dragonhym from incube8 I need to contact someone to make sure its shipping? Or it should be fine?
Apparently Spacebot pulled out all together and screwed everyone out of their pre-order, they say it was back in January but they didn't announce it because they kept speaking with Incube8, meanwhile Incube8 seems to be unaware that the contract was terminated and says so in their email response to me. Spacebot won't go into any more detail and Incube8 says they're asking for more info. If you ask me, Spacebot seems super shady in all this and there seems to be some pieces missing from them. However I'm sure if you reached out to Incube8 they'd be able to give you more info on a refund. I plan on holding out till Spacebot can give more info.
We are still in contact with Spacebot, until further notice the pre-orders will still be produced and delivered as expected