Last summer, Stainless Games announced it was reviving car combat franchise Carmageddon after a decade-long hiatus with a new title called Carmageddon: Reincarnation.

Well, the project is still alive, and Stainless has just thrown it up on Kickstarter.

It seems that after a years-long fight to reacquire the rights to Carmageddon, the company is going the crowd-funding route to ensure that corporate investors and publishers can't interfere with the game they want to make.

Stainless writes:

We're not just doing this because we saw what happened with Double Fine Adventure, Wasteland 2, and the other oldies around here that are making great comebacks; we were already working on Carmageddon: Reincarnation as a skunkworks project. What happened is that these other projects opened our eyes to the fantastic opportunity that crowd-sourced funding represents.

Backer rewards include a chance to appear as a pedestrian or on a billboard in the game, a Carmageddon first aid kit (real physical thing!), posters, stickers and more.

[kickstarter.]

The JoeyBra, designed by two students from the University of Washington, includes a discreet holster for storing valuable things like credit cards, extra cash or, say, an iPhone.

Certainly, carrying a bag or wearing something with pockets isn't always possible, but this might not be the most convenient way to store something you're going to be taking out every 5 minutes (unless you're wearing a strapless dress like one of JoeyBra's co-founders does in the demo video).

JoeyBra is currently seeking Kickstarter funding, and you can get your hands on one for a pledge of $30.

[technabob.]

Brad Leong's Brydge iPad case -- currently seeking funding on Kickstarter -- adds a MacBook-air-like keyboard to the iPad, turning it into a reasonable facsimile of a laptop.

The Brydge's aluminum body also includes speakers and Bluetooth support, and its hinge and clamp keep the iPad secure and allow it to be positioned at any angle.

Basically, it looks like the keyboard case Apple would make, if the company didn't want people to shell out a grand for a MacBook Air instead.

The Brydge can preordered on Kickstarter for $210 with speakers or $170 without them.

[technabob.]

Brian Fargo's Kickstarter campaign to fund a sequel to his classic post-apocalyptic RPG, Wasteland, ended in victory this morning, with nearly $3 million raised.

Although Wasteland 2 didn't technically hit $3 million on Kickstarter -- stopping at $2,933,252 and leaving Double Fine Adventure as the only $3 million project to date -- Fargo and inXile Entertainment have raised an additional $110,000 via PayPal donations.

Donations have far exceeded Fargo's original goal of $900,000, allowing him to bring in Obsidian Entertainment to work on the game.

Wasteland 2 is aiming for a late 2013 release.

[escapist.]

The Pebble Smartwatch, a Dick-Tracy-style wrist gadget that integrates with iOS and Android devices, has racked up over $1,000,000 in funding in just 28 hours on Kickstarter.

Pebble Technology was initially seeking $100,000 to produce a limited run of watches, but the gadgets proved so popular that they've now raised over 10 times that amount.

The Pebble can remotely control your phone, allowing you to play music, make calls and more from your wrist. On Android, you can even send text messages. On top of its smartphone-integrated features, it can also run its own apps, including cycling and running speedometers and a rangefinder.

Now all it needs is an app to remotely unlock your flying car.

[thenextweb.]

Early-'90s cyberpunk RPG Shadowrun is finally getting the video game adaptation it deserves, thanks to fans on Kickstarter.

Jordan Weisman, the creator of Shadowrun, has regained the license to the franchise and raised over $400,000 toward a new turn-based RPG set in the original Shadowrun world (circa 2050).

Weisman:

A graphically rich 2D turn-based single player game with deep story interaction, meaningful character development, and highly-contextual tactical combat, Shadowrun Returns is not only going to make some old geeks (like us) very happy but it will introduce new players to a dynamic gaming universe that is beloved around the world.

Shadowrun Returns will hit Apple & Android tablets, PCs, Macs and possibly Linux. There's no official timeline for release yet.

[gameinformer]

Replay Games' multiplatform reboot of Al Lowe's classic adventure game Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is now on Kickstarter, seeking $500,000 to bring Larry to touchscreen devices in glorious HD.

Lowe himself is on board with the game, after skipping the previous two critically-maligned installments in the Larry series, and he's ready to reimagine the 25-year-old game from the ground up.

Replay says if this campaign is successful, they'll consider remaking other Leisure Suit Larry titles (yay!), and possible even delivering Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Case of the Missing Floppies (yeah, right).

[kickstarter]