It's coming together... can't say I've seen that shape on a PCB before...
Hmmm... this is an interesting turn of events. They've completely deleted these images from their Facebook and instagram accounts. I don't blame them, I think they do more harm than good. I don't know about you guys but based on the way they've conducted themselves so far, I assumed they had a rough working prototype already.
Because of this, I don't think they're even going to
be allowed on Kickstarter. Having a working prototype is required for physical hardware projects.
From
Kickstarter:
Projects that involve the development of physical products must feature explicit demos of working prototypes.
There is an exception but only for projects whose sole purpose is to make the prototype. I guess that's for projects that are trying to make a flying car or something, and they're not allowed to offer the finished product as a reward. They've said before that they are considering other crowdfunding sites so I think they'll probably go with IndieGoGo since they have no prototype requirements on that site.
Also, on Kickstarter they would not be able to show their "sizzle" reel or most of the product shots we've seen so far because it's a clear violation of
their rules.
Don't use photorealistic renderings.
Technical drawings, CAD models, and sketches are awesome and encouraged, but photorealistic renderings that someone might mistake for a finished product are prohibited.
The Retro VGS demonstrates why Kickstarter made those rules. If you don't know a lot about the Atari Jaguar, then you could easily be misled into thinking that their transparent case shots show a completed product and not just an old Jaguar board that they used in there. I have a hunch that they probably assembled that transparent case with the prelim cardboard mock up board and were told (perhaps by Kickstarter) to get rid of it. If you're not looking closely, when shown assembled and without context that could mislead a potential backer into thinking the project is further along than it actually is.