If you were actively playing PC games around the time when CD-Rom drives were first arriving, then you probably remember all the rather odd titles that were rushed out to take advantage of the massive storage space. Many of these were built more like interactive story books, capitalizing on the ability to include full motion video for the first time ever, than actual videogames in the traditional sense. For the most part – other than for children’s edutainment titles – it was a school of design thought that hasn’t been revisited ever since, which is something that an enterprising trio of Brits sought to change.
Known only by their online handles – GHXYK2, wolfpupy, and FAMICON – the triumvirate recently launched a Kickstarter seeking a thousand British pounds, with the funds being needed in order to produce over 20,000 frames of animation. They managed to fully secure their funding target during the eleventh hour, and will now begin working on the first three chapters comprising their retro-multimedia game: The Scratching Post. The story – which follows various cats, as well as multidimensional territorial conflicts – appears as though it will feature Squiggle-Vision inspired animation, such as was previously seen in the TV show: Dr. Katz.
The first three episodes of their animated adventure – assuming all goes according to plan – are expected to be available sometime during January of next year, with more chapters to follow if sales are good enough. If you found an amusing sort of charm in those multimedia titles of yesteryear, such as Total Distortion or Cosmology of Kyoto – then The Scratching Post is something that you should probably keep tabs on. Those of you who are already chomping at the bit can even download a completely free – PC only – demo of the completed first chapter, which is available on the triumvirate’s website.