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A team of filmmakers is looking to crowdfund a documentary about making video games.
Pixel Heart's creators hope to raise €60,000 (about $83,184) on the French crowdfunding site Ulule to produce a series of web documentaries following the creation of 12 games. As of this writing, they've raised €5,552, about nine percent of the goal.
At the conclusion of the Pixel Heart game jam, the filmmakers plan to have six games playable through the official website, as downloads and as a physical bundle. The remaining six will require "advanced hardware" like touchscreen devices and the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
Pixel Heart is the brainchild of a 25-year-old French director who is corralling six developers from six continents. They include Mark Healey from the U.K. and LittleBigPlanet and Tearaway developer Media Molecule; Tetsuya Mizuguchi of Japan, Rez, Robin Hunicke from the U.S., Journey, The Sims; Edmundo Bordeu from Chile, Zeno Clash; Eyram Tawia of Ghana and developer Leti Arts; and an unnamed sixth developer from India.
The documentary grew from the director's experience playing games and working at Ubisoft.
"As a kid I had no idea how to develop a game," the director, known on the official Pixel Heart site as Charles, wrote. "I used to imagine it was the result of an impenetrable technical process. After spending enough time in the gaming world, I realized that, yeah, there's technical stuff but there's actually a whole lot more to it. People are really the heart and soul of game development. It might start with just an idea from one person but it will take a whole team of crazy geniuses to handle the project in order to make it a game. These creators work with all their passion, they struggle with challenges, and through this collective process they create their masterpiece. Often, the media forget that making games is all about creativity and that real people are behind everything ... whether it be mainstream or indie productions."
