So, I like Lionhead.... I always have. Since way back in the days of the original Black and White, which was about the same time I discovered Populous, I've really enjoyed what Peter Molyneux does with his games... His games have been known to not only to defy classification, but to in fact define entire genres... Who truly appreciated the grandeur a "God Game" could have until one had smacked his monkey, or stroked her cow. Truly breathtaking... So why, am I taking this opportunity to make tongue-in-cheek references to masturbation through the past work of Lionhead studios? Because, to be frank, they've been bought by the Evil Empire (tm) Just like RARE before them Just like Bungie before them So what the heck happens now?!
If you've been reading the site for a while, this will all be old news to you, but for the Newbies out there this is neccesary backround info about me personally. I am a Bungie fan-boi. I made my gaming bones on the likes of Marathon and Pathways into Darkness, and got sucked into the RTS LAN scene with the advent of Myth:The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter. Bungie has been my favorite developer for as long as I could spell the word, (I was a precocious little 8 year old) and in my eyes they could do no wrong. And then they got bought by Microsoft. Immediately that meant the end of developing for the Mac platform (much to my despair) and it meant that the property that would become Halo (which was called "BLAM" at the time) would morph from the 3rd person MMOFPS it was originally slated to be, into what I think can easily be called the premiere shooter on the original Xbox. While it was a fundamental change, you have to examine the reasons behind it to really see where I'm going with this. For almost 10 years Bungie had been breaking the rules, when it came to the games they developed. Some claim that DOOM was the innovator in the FPS genre, and while I would agree that it was a first step, the original Marathon really honed the genre to the games we play today... Golden Eye built upon its success, but it's all in the stepping stones... the Myth Franchise was an INCREDIBLE coup, and did things that developers are only starting to try to replicate now... In 1997 who would conceive of using a camera system for an FPS that could zoom in or out smoothly and spin in 360 degrees? Myth defied the C&C style of gameplay by telling you to forget about base building, and use what you had as best you could. Myth practically introduced the concept of real cooperative play in online gaming, and provided really the only alternative to the "Warcraft" variation on the C&C formula.
And then they got bought by Microsoft,
and they made a (admittedly innovative and quite pivotal) FPS And then they made another one, with Halo 2... Sure, there were new features (and Its the only Xbox game I still play) but ultimately, it was another FPS with a few new features. And that's what Halo 3 will be
Now lets switch gears for a second and talk about RARE...
When you talk about the origins of gaming, RARE just keeps coming back... From their humble beginnings to the Donkey Kong Country, Golden Eye and Conkers franchises, RARE has been a big deal for a long time.
And then they got bought by Microsoft.
Now, this topic has been debated to death - Was RARE a good buy for Microsoft early in the game? For the original Xbox, no way. Grabbed by the Ghoulies was a travesty and Conkers:Live and Reloaded (though I bought it for my ex, a big conkers fan) was ultimately a prettified re-hash with some poorly thought out multiplayer tacked on. This gen they're making a better showing with the likes of PD0 and Kameo, but the question quickly becomes - Where is the creativity? Honestly, I just don't see it. All predjudice aside, when I look at Perfect Dark, I see a feeble attempt at convincing an aging fan-base to re-live their fondly remembered days of Nintendo 64 FPS gaming, while failing to introduce anything significant and worthwhile to the genre. And at the end of the day, Kameo feels... Well, Old. Yes, you can morph into different thingys but that's pretty much it. It's platforming gameplay at its platformiest and is once again inviting its fans to remember the glory days of Conker and Tweety, just dressed up as a fairy.
So let me bring this back around to the beginning.
Why are these developers, who have in the past been our greatest innovators depending more and more on their back-catalog of IP and gameplay mechanics rather than innovating... Pushing the envelope, being so offensive to our gaming sensibilities that we gasp and shudder at the invasive wet-willy of originality as it forces a desperately needed evolution of fun upon us.
I submit the following thought for your consideration
> When a studio is bought by a major publisher, it loses much of its incentive to innovate... Daring Games Do Not Sell. Look at Psychonauts (RIP) Look at Beyond Good and Evil (RIP) Look at Indigo Prophecy (RIP) This is why we'll never see the Halo MMOFPS that was originally speculated on at Macworld '99, and why RARE has lowered itself to Pokemon-esque Pinatas (Gotta Smack 'Em All) So the big question is, where does this put Lionhead. My thought? I suspect we will see a new iteration of Fable that will be very similar in feature-set to what we saw in the previous generation... Will we see another "The Movies"? Probably. Will we see another "Black & White"? Maybe. Will we see original IP coming from them ever again? I doubt it.
I'd have to disagree with you here, Andy.
Before I begin, I'm a long time reader/listener, first time commenter.
Anyway, as I was going to say, I don't really think that what you're saying is totally true. Sure, Microsoft forces some developers to make some rather junky games, but it is in the developer's hand to make those games innovative, good, whatever. It's their responsability and no matter if it is a sequel or a re-hash, it can be innovative, amazing, and eventually evolutionary.
But, what I think is, once developers see that they have the gamers' trust and that they're backed by deep pockets, they essentially get lazy with their games. They slack on making the games look, sound, and feel great and they go with the lowest common denominator wherever they can. Whatever makes their job easier is where they hit.
When a developer is first creating an original IP, they're usually looking for some trust from the gamers. That is what makes some games great sequels. The game has an established fanbase and that by itself pumps up the hype that the developer needs to adhere to. But nowadays the developer is backed by such advertising techniques, such deep pockets, that they really don't go for the fresh feel they first get with a fresh game.
Will we see remakes of old and tired games? Probably. But you have to realize, Bungie, Bethesda, every great developer out there is a business just like Microsoft. No matter how much passion they have for their job, there are few exceptions to the fact that they just want to release a decent game that sells well/adheres to hype.
So Microsoft will milk the Lionhead-cow, sure, but in the end, I'm sure it'll get a second chance with an original IP. Eventually, it has to. Otherwise Microsoft looks bad for essentially killing a great developer.
Something I don't think many people realize: businesses such as Microsoft usually know what they're getting into when they make a deal. Sure, sometimes it's a big mistake. (RARE, I'm looking at you.) But in the end, commitment pays off. And I'm sure one day, RARE will get into its grove again. Until then, we'll have to be patient and bore through Viva Pinata, and hope that an actual title is announced from one of our favorite past time developers.
I agree i played beyond good and evil, Indigo prophecy, and Psychonauts and finished all of them, Psychonauts will go down as one of my fav games i probably will go bac and play it, just like i did Grim Fandango (10 times now) but that said i had to download Psychonauts because it wasnt going to be released in australia, finally this happened 2 months ago and only for PS2 tho i did end up tracking down the PC version and a basement bargain shop, i dont mind if MS bought them just think if EA bought them have sequals that are practically the same game as the last with no soul or based on movie franchise.
Hydrotek:
I wrote this editorial during my breaks in class today, and perhaps I should have done it differently because I think it came off a little wrong.
My problem is with established developers who get lazy... I think being owned by a publisher REALLY supports that laziness, but you're right, it's not just companies owned by Microsoft.
SQUARE is one of the worst offenders in my book, but a company like Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank) does exactly the same thing. When a developer stops innovating and just starts churning out the sequels, thats when we the consumer really feel the burn, and I start to yawn at every new announcement.
"SQUARE is one of the worst offenders in my book, but a company like Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank) does exactly the same thing. When a developer stops innovating and just starts churning out the sequels, thats when we the consumer really feel the burn, and I start to yawn at every new announcement."
Yeah, exactly. Developers get the laziness and eventually just churn out sequels to make their quick buck and 15 minutes of fame. Then they try to innovate but then come up with something totally and completely business related (Viva Pinata) and just aim for that. And we feel that burn pretty damn bad, sometimes.
Glad we agree, Andy. This is the first time I thought I actually disagreed with you on something. :P
Heh,
Apparently we don't disagree... I'm a bit out of practice for the actual content writing... I've been really wrapped up in the whole "contacts" thing for the past few months, so I'm trying to get back into the habit here - My new column "The Outsider" was slated to launch with illustrations when the new Columns design went up, but this just kinda jumped at me and I had to get the monkey off my back (so to speak)
Alright, I'm working with Bobby Blackwolf of Allgames.com to get a working version of GamerAndy Live... Except it'll really be live :)
Podcasted results will be up tommorow
Haha, I actually desperately wanted to publish my thoughts about this very topic. Thank goodness I posted the comment. I got my monkey off my back. :P
Yay for a Live GamerAndy Live! Can't wait.
To be honest, I'd rather see Microsoft get of Lionhead rather than EA. I think that this will at least ensure that Lionhead is behind all of the later itterations of their franchises, where as if they had been bought by EA those games would be like an STD, and go to every shitty developer EA has at there disposal.
You also can't really blame developers. Fans want to see games evovle and get a new twist to them. No one ever complains about Mario or Zelda, Sonic or Virtua Fighter, besides the fact that Nintendo and Sega really do no evil, it's the same thing. Except in Mario's case it goes over the top with games like Mario Party 12 and Mario Curling (obviously made up, but really, it's just a matter of time). I'm a big fan of Insomnaic and the Ratchet series, and even though I don't think any of the sequels compared to the original they all had there place, and were never below Insomnaic's standards. Same goes with Naughty Dog and Jak, all the games were great for what they were, but Jak II was clearly the supirior game.
While a lot of the companies you mentioned did decline, they didn't go into utter garbage, the games still have quality, just not the same quality the developer use to put into them. I like Lionhead, but they aren't really at the top of my favorite list, so I hope they can change the reacurrance and make more games. Only time will tell.
I dunno, I don't realy pay too much attention to anything but to me it seems like the quality of games just keeps going in circles. We get crap for a while then someone decides that they haven't done anything new in a while and seems to develope good stuff again.
I've bought very few games in the past year or two due to lack of intrest but I just have this feeling that it's going to start picking up again.
I'm hoping the exception to this rule comes whe Spore is released. I don't think Maxis has made anything but half-assed sequels and expansions since being bought by EA, but it's pretty clear that Will Wright still has enough power to do what he wants, at least some of the time. Lets hope it's the same way with Peter Molyneux. On a side note, I hope this doesn't mean Black & White DS is cancelled...
"3rd person MMOFPS " tsk tsk tsk ;)
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