I hate game companies so much.

[Variable]

Here's why:

Interplay kills Black Isle. I know this is months ago, but its still killing me deep down inside.
Whilst killing Black Isle, Interplay nixes Fallout 3, which was a few months away from going gold. Why? So they could absorb the team (those that they didn't fire) into their console-only departments.

Vivendi killed Sierra. Friggin' Sierra. Sierra, which outside of the games my father purchased when we got our first computer, was the company that introduced me to games. I still have almost every Quest for Glory, Kings Quest, and Space Quest on original floppies. I loved Sierra. So Much.

The final straw, I found out today that EA cancelled Ultima X. Which was about to go into Beta. Yet another game I've been waiting for for quite some time, only to have it snatched away at the last second. I hate most MMORPGs, but I loves me some Ultima. I'll try anything with the Ultima name attached. They could wrap razor blades in tin foil, call it Ultima Bubble Gum, and I'd chew that to pieces.

But no. No fun for Variable. All I can hope for is some cockeyed attempt at marketing another bland MMORPG or FPS that breaks no new ground whatsoever. Maybe another Sims expansion pack. Maybe they could call this one Sims: How to run a business poorly and piss off all your customers.

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

Dude... that SUCKS!

I have heard that Soldner is good from Nilkilla (he keeps raving about it on TS). I've also heard good things about City of Heroes.

Me? I'm not doing much in the way of new games. I'm still recovering from my move to CA, and my car breaking down, and not getting paid last paycheck and so on.

(The gov mixed up my personnel file with a new guy's. Stupid "gotta-have-everything-on-one-card-and-one-file" mentality. My SSN was attached to this new guy's file, so when he started working, EVERYTHING got moved over to him and I became a ghost in the eyes of the government.


But on a better note, I have been playing T2 and America's Army quite a bit. Haven't touched PS for a few days. And I'm pretty busy with work and stuff, so it's hard to get time to really sit down and do things unless it's really late. :/

[Aluscia]

I'm looking forward to T3, despite its Vivendi-ness... But yeah, game companies that take over other studios and nix projects suck.

[Maz]

damn company trying to take over, blask isle was a great company, sierra even better

[KitZune]

Can't wait to get into the industry myself...

[insaneferret]

looks like fallout 3 is'nt dead yet, bethesda will be taking over development, and it looks like they're going to start from scratch, bethesda made morrowind, which i was highly impressed with so things look hopeful

http://www.bethsoft.com/news/pressrelease_071204.htm

[Maz]

thats awsome news

[Variable]

That is awesome. Though I don't buy for a second that they chose Bethesda for their ability to make RPGs. IPLY was going bankrupt, and Bethesda probably fronted the most $$$.

[Gambit]

Bethesda has done other things, but they've just got so much developed in the Elder Scrolls universe that those games are what they're best at and best known for. They've put out flops before, as has (almost) every game company. But at least they CAN put out good ones.

I'm entirely reserving judgement on their acquisition of Fallout until much later. Aside from the fact that it now has a chance where it didn't before.

[insaneferret]

morrowind was excellent, it has an extremely versatile engine and editing tools an idiot could use, i'm guessing they are going to go FPS for fallout3, using the same or modified engine and just creating a different world

[Maz]

FPS? what about turn base? thats what fallout about

[Gambit]

Markets change, Maz. They need to make buxors off of it. I'd be very surprised to see a Bioware-style isometric turn-based game out of them, though it could happen. It'll be some time before they figure out what they want to do with it, though, and of course longer still before we do.

[Maz]

making fallout a FPS would be like making unreal a turn-base RPG, but it is all about money

[Gambit]

Imagine a Fallout in Deus Ex style.

[Variable]

I have faith that a Fallot 3 FPS type game could work, simply because after years of top down birdseye views Origin went and made the two Ultima Underworlds, and those are some of the best games in the series, not to mention some of my favorite ever. If that's the direction Bethesda decides to go, thats fine and well, but they'd better put some heart and soul into the game rather than just throw out something trying to make some money off the franchise.