Supdrive will serve up video game NFTs that you can actually play, with every edition possibly trying or enjoying in a different way than the remaining.
- Supdrive is a new video game NFT project from Dom Hofmann, co-creator of the shuttered video-sharing app, Vine.
- Each NFT will be a playable, original video game, and varying editions may look or play differently than the others.
We’ve seen interactive in-game objects offered as NFTs, such because the cartoonish monsters from the surging Axie Infinity and LAND plots within the upcoming The Sandbox. However, NFTs which can be precise, playable video games? Now that’s something new.
That’s the vision behind Supdrive, a newly-revealed NFT project spearheaded by Dom Hofmann, best known as the co-founder of shuttered looping video service, Vine. Supdrive might be an “on-chain fantasy console” the place the NFTs themselves serve as the video games. If you own the game NFT, then you can play it through the “Supdrive Digital Firmware” software.
An NFT acts like a receipt or deed of ownership to a digital item, whether it’s a digital painting, video clip, or in-game merchandise—or perhaps a video game itself, as Supdrive plans to introduce.
Supdrive will initially be supported by original video games created by Hofmann himself, with the primary referred to as “Origin.” Over time, he plans to open up the platform to collaborators to create additional titles. In a Discord post, Hofmann likened the mission to Artwork Blocks, an Ethereum NFT initiative that has so far spanned generative artwork drops from a wide selection of artists.
“Working within smart contract constraints is challenging and fulfilling, and the ideas of permanence and provenance are compelling,” Hofmann instructed Decrypt, referring to the bits of code on blockchain networks like Ethereum that make it potential to do progressive issues with NFTs and different crypto assets. “Zooming out a little bit, NFTs are an unimaginable constructing block for online communities.”
“Most NFTs naturally fall beneath a grouping of some kind, whether that is a collectible project or an artist’s body of labor, and that grouping creates a considerably tangible shared aspect that brings individuals together,” he continued. “These communities have robust alignment and shared purpose, and we’re starting to see interesting things come out of that.”
Each Supdrive sport will are available a number of NFT editions, every distinctive from the others: they could have various difficulty settings, color palettes, and gameplay variations, relying on which model you purchase.
Moreover, while the initial video games are deliberate to appear and feel like retro Atari-style arcade video games (assume Pac-Man or Galaga), Hofmann envisions future firmware upgrades that result in more superior graphics and gameplay mechanics. Superdrive hasn’t shared a have a look at its precise video games but, however, the official Twitter account has posted low-polygon renders that look like a retro game cartridge and console.
“It mostly started as ‘why not?,’ however there are new mechanics to explore,” Hofmann told Decrypt about the origins of the project. “The concept that your version of a sport is exclusive and should seem or play in a different way than my version—and that we will commerce them—is attention-grabbing.”
“The concept that proudly owning an edition of one sport would possibly feed into the end result of a unique sport is interesting,” he added. “The concept that a fantasy console would possibly seem in a number of contexts is interesting. Past mechanics, it is also an exploration in-game monetization outside of the models we’re familiar with as we speak.”
The NFT market exploded in early 2021, producing $2.5 billion worth of transaction volume for the first half of the year. Following quieter buzz across the market in the late spring and early summer, the latest resurgence suggests a sizable Q3 tally to come.
