A little respect for a true hero -- Pvt. "Little" Sammy Vogel, the rarely heard-of Tyrannosaurus Rex whose bravery helped us beat the Nazis in the second World War.

Historian (and video game artist) Steve Snoey is creating a documentary on Little Sammy, titled America's Fighting Dinosaur, and has taken to Kickstarter to fund the project.

Sammy did his part for America, now it's time for you to do yours.

[motherjones]

A truly commendable fan noticed that Paramount was about to junk the entire Enterprise D bridge set from Star Trek: TNG, and snapped that puppy up with a mission to rebuild.

There's a Kickstarter in the works, and when it's built, the set should be open to the public.

Open to the public? Who wants to get married on the bridge?

[blastr]

With the explosion of Kickstarter-funded video game projects, it's no surprise that companies are taking notice of the democratic process.

Introducing Steam Greenlight, a system from Valve Software that lets the community decide which indie games see release on the Steam platform, if they accrue enough votes. It doesn't cost enthusiasts a cent, (just like LEGO's Cuusoo program) which should significantly cut down on scamming.

Ambitious developers now have Kickstarter to gain funding, and Steam Greenlight for distribution. It's looking like a great time to make indie games.

[pcgamer]

If you haven't heard of Clang, now is the time. The brainchild of Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson, Clang is an exciting foray into accurate, fun sword-fighting combat in a video game.

His Kickstarter has been around for a little while now, but it has only three days left and hasn't quite reached the $500,000 goal. Check out Neal's original video on the donation page for a full explanation, plus a cheeky cameo from Gabe Newell.

Gabe, shouldn't you be busy withholding the Summer Sale?

[kickstarter]

Safeguarding against the inevitability of human error, Hone is a must-buy. Made possible through the magic of Kickstarter, the process is simple: a Bluetooth dongle attaches to your keys, then an app tracks it down. It's currently sold out, but that should change soon enough.

[technabob]

When Tim Schafer's Double Fine Productions raised $3 million on Kickstarter for a new point-and-click adventure game, part of the deal was that 2 Player Productions (of Minecraft documentary fame) would film the development process.

Now, the first part of their documentary has arrived, taking a look inside the wild fundraising ride that took Double Fine Adventure to $3 million.

Schafer is hilarious on camera, as usual, and the footage of the actual development process could be even more entertaining. This is definitely Kickstarter money well spent.

[gamefreakz.]

Pwnee Studios is seeking Kickstarter funding for "the hardest platformer ever," Cloudberry Kingdom.

The game's challenge results from an advanced AI that creates levels using everything the developers know about "flow, spacing, rhythm, player expectation." The program was able to successfully generate awesome levels, but the long process of creating it drained Pwnee of funds for things like "making the game look pretty."

If their Kickstarter is successful, here's how they say they'll spend the dough:

• We'll hire a full time artist to make the game shine in all its glory.
• We'll find an animator to help polish the game and make some awesome cinematics. We promise the cinematics will be less ridiculous than our kickstarter video.
• If any money is left over we will probably upgrade our programmer's diet regime from cat food to human food. Maybe.

The game has no announced release date, but it's being developed for PC and Wii U.

[vgn.]