Bean

LINK

So it's not bad enough that we recently lost Blizzard to Activision, now we lose another great RPG company to the Microsoft of the video game world.

Farewell NeverWinter Nights...

Farewell Knights of the Old Republic...

And goodbye Baldurs Gate..

Not that sequels to any of these were a foregone conclusion, but if we do get more sequels to them (Neverwinter Nights 3 HAS to happen) then we know what to expect for quality.

My thoughts are that Bioware and Pandemic are shut down before next fall. I guess the only real hope in the future is going to be open source.

On that note, check out the demo for the "eventually to be released" Beyond the Red Line. It's an AMAZING open source BSG flight sim based on the Freespace engine. You really can't understand how realistic it is, and how professional a job they did with it till you play it.

Beyond The Red Line

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Cymro

Didn't I post about that BSG sim a while back? There's also a Homeworld 2 conversion mod out there somewhere. BTRL is a fantastic effort though, even the voice acting isn't terrible.

__________________
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew: They're a wonderful, friendly people - as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working.

"But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty and as violent as the most blood-thirsty klingon."

iamspenagain

Microsoft, surprisingly, makes high-quality games, and I wouldn't be surprised if they gave BioWare the Bungie treatment (tell them what to do, then largely leave them alone). Still, gaming studios don't really compete against each other like other industries do, since a quality game from one studio is different from a quality game from another, unlike, say, pillows, where a good pillow is a good pillow. I guess they just wanted the rights to those games.

It'll get to the point, though, where EA makes every game, instead of just 90% of them, and anti-trust lawsuits come up, at which time I'd expect to see studios like Westwood reemerge from the abyss. That'll probably be another six or seven years from now, though.

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If I could, I would marry a Magnum bar.

Cymro

I think the biggest fear with these corporate takeovers is that the parent companies will act TV Networks and end up ruining the product in a poor attempt to make a quick buck.

But I don't think the Gaming industry will see an anti-trust situation, I think that we're going to see a small amount of massive studios in control of the market, but not one of them with a big enough share to qualify as a monopoly.

__________________
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew: They're a wonderful, friendly people - as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working.

"But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty and as violent as the most blood-thirsty klingon."

Bean

I think either you or I misunderstood here. Microsoft didn't buy Bioware, EA did. I refer to Microsoft in the "Get in control, then they HAVE to buy whatever you put out" mentality.

And I seriously can't see EA giving them the Bungie treatment. EA is known for buying companies like Westwood, and Bioware to get the franchise titles, thgen promptly shutting down the original developers. Releasing crap knockoffs that don't share the quality that made the original games as successful as they were.

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

iamspenagain

I misunderstood you. Musta been the beer. Yeah, EA sucks.

__________________
If I could, I would marry a Magnum bar.

Bean

Don't feel bad, I'm drinking right now and I don't know what I meant either

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk