I just noticed the "Logitech" on the pre-order button and the "Plays best on Alienware" sign on the bottom of the page at http://planetaryannihilation.com/. I've always wondered how they tempt developers in putting these things up. Did they give you a bag of money or did they supply office equipment? If you're not allowed to answer, please tell me and I'll accept that.
"How is selling a banner on your site selling out?" Not that "selling out" is necessarily bad. It likely means that Uber has partnered with these companies to help ensure performance and peripheral support (or, looking at the site, giveaways for fans). Personally, I'm hoping to eventually also see an "Nvidia: The Way It's Meant To Be Played" as well.
Selling out is bad by definition, as long as you consider compromising your morals for personal gain to be bad. However, those particular logos might not be evidence of selling out. Logitech is probably not much of a threat, because for the most part, a mouse is a mouse and a keyboard is a keyboard. Alienware doesn't provide anything unique, so its logo is also unlikely to be a sign of hardware favouritism during development. I think that someone who owns an ATI card would have every reason to be worried if an nVidia logo showed up at the bottom of the PA site, but that hasn't happened yet. While Uber has no obligation to disclose its sponsorship deals, there is a popular expectation that Kickstarter projects be "open" about things. I would be curious about any requirements placed on Uber by Logitech, Alienware, or other sponsors.
Open only goes so so far. I don't feel any obligation to talk about details of our business arrangements (and most contracts contain clauses that would prohibit that anyway). Anyway, in these cases it's just co-promotion. We support their hardware, they promote our game to people that use their hardware. It's not complicated and it's very rare for money to change hands. We just help bring awareness to each others stuff.
