Obsidian is independent. Ubi bought the rights to the South Park game that Obsidian is making.
It's worth pointing out that Ubisoft doesn't actually have a firm hand on the South Park game yet. South Park Studios are contesting the sale.
Anyway, this is great news for Relic. I assumed Sega weren't even in contention, given their own monetary issues (not in the same league as THQ but still not great) and were hoping Square Enix would pick them up, as they were the only ones I'd trust to not ruin them. Ubisoft would've been the worst case scenario, given what they've done to Massive. But Sega? That's awesome. The idea of collaborations between Relic and Creative Assembly is mouth watering.
Ubisoft buying THQ Montreal is interesting and pretty crazy, given how enormous Ubisoft Montreal already are. I guess they'll be merged together fairly soon, which will probably suck for Patrice.
Interesting that Koch were the ones that ended up with Volition. Really smart move if they intend to continue expanding, especially if they got the Red Faction and Saints Row IPs with them (which I assume they did). Hopefully they end up with the Freespace license as well, whether it's through that purchase or the last remains of THQ.
Sucks that Take 2 ended up with the WWE license. I was really hoping EA would get it, as I think they'd be the most likely publisher to change things up and do their own thing, maybe even with Aki/Syn Sophia involved. I could easily see Take 2 sticking with Yukes and giving us the same shit we've been feed for the last 13 years.
Lastly, it fucking sucks for Vigil. What I don't understand is that there were meant to be a number of publishers that were interested in them and yet nothing happened. But maybe they were more interested in just buying the Darksiders IP and didn't give a shit about the people that actually made people care about the series in the first place. Disappointing.
I love "This company was valued at $2.6 billion two years ago," Paul Morrison protested."
Yeah...that's what happens when you run a company into the ground, when you have completely unreasonable sales expectations and bank the success of your entirety on games that cannot possibly support those demands.
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
Just yesterday this was their stance:
According to a complaint recently filed with Delaware bankruptcy court, the original contract had South Park Digital Studios providing a license to use the series and characters in a game to be developed by Obsidian and published by THQ. As the intellectual property holder, South Park Digital Studios claims that it is not THQ's decision to auction the licensed game.
South Park Digital Studios claims that it has the contract gives it the right to reclaim the license, provided it pays THQ back for the full amount it has invested into the game.
Just out of curiosity: Since nobody bought Vigil, who is getting the residuals from Darksiders I and II? Somebody has to technically own the IP and draw income from that.
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
The articles stated that THQ is keeping its inventory and any non-packaged assets. Vigil/Darksiders was a packaged asset, but as it wasn't sol it goes back in with the other assets - which are subject to the bankruptcy.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
So if nobody Vigil, it's possible the games just vanish from the market with nobody owning the rights to them, and some piddly scrap of income they made during the THQ bankruptcy proceedings goes to absolutely nobody?
That seems awful. Like, "worse than THQs insane sales expectations" awful.
I think South Park Studios was worried about the IP being bought and either released by a second-rate publisher, or bought and buried. I wonder if they'll have the same objections with Ubisoft winning the auction.
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
Just yesterday this was their stance:
According to a complaint recently filed with Delaware bankruptcy court, the original contract had South Park Digital Studios providing a license to use the series and characters in a game to be developed by Obsidian and published by THQ. As the intellectual property holder, South Park Digital Studios claims that it is not THQ's decision to auction the licensed game.
South Park Digital Studios claims that it has the contract gives it the right to reclaim the license, provided it pays THQ back for the full amount it has invested into the game.
So it'd be an incredibly quick turnaround if true.
Not necessarily. Folks have been working around the clock the last two days to get this all sorted out. After finding out who had the bid, and some negotiations it could have easily been resolved.
I'm sure we'll find out pretty shortly the fine details. The court can't finalize it unless they're on board, and from the sounds of it they're moving forward with everything while working out the final few objections.
Psychotic OneThe Lord of No PantsParts UnknownRegistered Userregular
If WH40k follows Relic to Sega then Sega has a lock on the Space Marine genre
Aliens: Colonial Marines - Heavily armed bad asses facing off against the deadliest species in the galaxy
Warhammer 40k - My armor is contempt / My Shield is disgust / My sword is hatred / In the Emperor's name / Let no Xeno survive
God if they make another Space Marine game I hope we get to play as either the Black Templar or Grey Knights. Or the real shocker would be if they made a space version of Manhunt using the Night Lords
I really hope that Obsidian doesn't get screwed again. Ubisoft better not try to force that UPlay crap on South Park. Their servers are unreliable, the damn thing causes crashes, not to mention how it actually has advertisements.
I also hope Sega doesn't screw with Relic. I really want Homeworld 3 sometime within the next 5 years.
So if nobody Vigil, it's possible the games just vanish from the market with nobody owning the rights to them, and some piddly scrap of income they made during the THQ bankruptcy proceedings goes to absolutely nobody?
That seems awful. Like, "worse than THQs insane sales expectations" awful.
I'm guessing that that means Steam would stop selling the games, but that they'd still be available to redownload and play for people who already own them?
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
The news about Vigil fucking sucks. This generation has claimed too many promising development studios.
This was definitely the most upsetting part about the THQ story. I really, really enjoy darksiders, it would be a real shame if they just collapsed and vanished to nothingness. It shocks me nobody would want to buy Vigil and the Darksiders IP, considering it has routinely reviewed quite well.
The news about Vigil fucking sucks. This generation has claimed too many promising development studios.
This was definitely the most upsetting part about the THQ story. I really, really enjoy darksiders, it would be a real shame if they just collapsed and vanished to nothingness. It shocks me nobody would want to buy Vigil and the Darksiders IP, considering it has routinely reviewed quite well.
Reviewed doesn't make money. and I thought Joe M left the project a few months back? Dunno how important he was to the process, but that might be a factor.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
Many will carry over to new relationships; for example, Games Workshop will "work in good faith" with Sega — the new owner of Relic, the studio that created titles based on its intellectual property — in order to satisfy its objections to the sale.
So it does sound like the 40k license went with Relic.
TheGerbil on
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Not shocking. If GW can get assurances that Relic will be allowed to operate as it has in the past, with creative freedom, they want Relic to keep that license. They've done nothing but make 40k a stronger brand, and gave it serious legitimacy in video games after years of, shall we say, spotty releases.
Many will carry over to new relationships; for example, Games Workshop will "work in good faith" with Sega — the new owner of Relic, the studio that created titles based on its intellectual property — in order to satisfy its objections to the sale.
So it does sound like the 40k license went with Relic.
This makes me happy. I hope that Relic stays mostly intact, team wise as well. Sega is going to become a strategy gaming powerhouse after this.
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
Just yesterday this was their stance:
According to a complaint recently filed with Delaware bankruptcy court, the original contract had South Park Digital Studios providing a license to use the series and characters in a game to be developed by Obsidian and published by THQ. As the intellectual property holder, South Park Digital Studios claims that it is not THQ's decision to auction the licensed game.
South Park Digital Studios claims that it has the contract gives it the right to reclaim the license, provided it pays THQ back for the full amount it has invested into the game.
So it'd be an incredibly quick turnaround if true.
Not necessarily. Folks have been working around the clock the last two days to get this all sorted out. After finding out who had the bid, and some negotiations it could have easily been resolved.
I'm sure we'll find out pretty shortly the fine details. The court can't finalize it unless they're on board, and from the sounds of it they're moving forward with everything while working out the final few objections.
Fair point, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. As soon as things are finalised, there'll undoubtedly be a press release.
If WH40k follows Relic to Sega then Sega has a lock on the Space Marine genre
Aliens: Colonial Marines - Heavily armed bad asses facing off against the deadliest species in the galaxy
Warhammer 40k - My armor is contempt / My Shield is disgust / My sword is hatred / In the Emperor's name / Let no Xeno survive
God if they make another Space Marine game I hope we get to play as either the Black Templar or Grey Knights. Or the real shocker would be if they made a space version of Manhunt using the Night Lords
Preysight
Eh, Space Marines are too ubiquitous. Just off the top of my head, Starcraft, Halo and Dead Space all feature space marines as a part of their mythos.
So since they haven't been specifically named, am I to assume IPs like Red Faction and Homeworld are going to go down with THQ and eventually end up with some holding company after this chapter 11 process is complete?
Because if so....
Red Faction goes with Volition. Some folks have said already that Sega has Homeworld, I believe.
I seem to remember one of the Relic devs that post here now and again say that Relic (and I think he was meaning Relic itself, and not Relic via THQ) owned the Homeworld IP, so I assume it will go with them to Sega.
I had heard that Homeworld was not something Relic liked to think about or had the desire to revive.
A Relic manager, Croak, told me that was not true. He went so far as to call those rumors "poop".
Though he would never go so far as to say they were actually working on HW3!
Croak was a designer, but he had the right of it. There's a lot of reasons why HW3 didn't happen with THQ but lack of passion or desire wasn't one of them.
Vigil and Darksiders (as well as Relic/Space Marine, and Volition/Red Faction) are definitely a story of how great games just may not sell well.
As budgets increase and sales requirements go higher, that form of game becomes prohibitively expensive. As shitty as those sales expectations were, THQ put money behind games they believed in, even if in some ways they believed in them too much.
+2
AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
So since they haven't been specifically named, am I to assume IPs like Red Faction and Homeworld are going to go down with THQ and eventually end up with some holding company after this chapter 11 process is complete?
Because if so....
Red Faction goes with Volition. Some folks have said already that Sega has Homeworld, I believe.
I seem to remember one of the Relic devs that post here now and again say that Relic (and I think he was meaning Relic itself, and not Relic via THQ) owned the Homeworld IP, so I assume it will go with them to Sega.
I had heard that Homeworld was not something Relic liked to think about or had the desire to revive.
A Relic manager, Croak, told me that was not true. He went so far as to call those rumors "poop".
Though he would never go so far as to say they were actually working on HW3!
Croak was a designer, but he had the right of it. There's a lot of reasons why HW3 didn't happen with THQ but lack of passion or desire wasn't one of them.
There was so much promise after HL2. Sure, I wasn't fond of the progenitor/ancient one angle, but at least HW hinted at it. I couldn't wait to see what was out there past the Bentusi hyperspace lanes.
I will never, ever sell my copy of the Homeworld and Cataclysm manuals.
He/Him | "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." - Dr. Johnetta Cole, 7/22/2024
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Vigil and Darksiders (as well as Relic/Space Marine, and Volition/Red Faction) are definitely a story of how great games just may not sell well.
As budgets increase and sales requirements go higher, that form of game becomes prohibitively expensive. As shitty as those sales expectations were, THQ put money behind games they believed in, even if in some ways they believed in them too much.
Space Marine sold okay from what I understand, all things considered. I have no idea of the total financials, but it sold uhh, 1.5m I think? Something like that?
I mean, surely not up to THQ's lofty standards, but not terrible for a first time outing in that genre, using a relative niche license.
Relic writer [Name Omitted] just tweeted that he now works for Sega
oh boy. that smuck was me. I ended up on Kotaku, Joystiq, and Polygon. Butt of every office joke this afternoon. I should have waited a half hour before talking about it, and am lucky that we're in-between parent companies at the moment or I could have gotten in big trouble.
but yes. Sega. Sounds promising. I'm optimistic.
edit: Also I haven't been a writer for Relic since May. Writing is a side gig.
I should pop over to Relicnews and see how they are taking the news. God, has it been 15 years since I first signed up there during the Homeworld beta?
They haven't made a post since yesterday, apparently. First time I'd been to that site since HW2 came out, I think :P
Also, hi-5 to a fellow Homeworld beta tester! I was so bad at it, but I was like 13 at the time...I wish I had kept the beta disk.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
Just yesterday this was their stance:
According to a complaint recently filed with Delaware bankruptcy court, the original contract had South Park Digital Studios providing a license to use the series and characters in a game to be developed by Obsidian and published by THQ. As the intellectual property holder, South Park Digital Studios claims that it is not THQ's decision to auction the licensed game.
South Park Digital Studios claims that it has the contract gives it the right to reclaim the license, provided it pays THQ back for the full amount it has invested into the game.
So it'd be an incredibly quick turnaround if true.
Not necessarily. Folks have been working around the clock the last two days to get this all sorted out. After finding out who had the bid, and some negotiations it could have easily been resolved.
I'm sure we'll find out pretty shortly the fine details. The court can't finalize it unless they're on board, and from the sounds of it they're moving forward with everything while working out the final few objections.
Fair point, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. As soon as things are finalised, there'll undoubtedly be a press release.
Yeah, from what I have read on the matter it sounds like South Park Studios main sticking point was that THQ could not sell the license without SPS's blessing. They wanted to make sure that whoever got the license would honor the original contract they had with THQ.
If it is true that reps from all involved parties were present in one form or another during the auction (and I have zero reason to doubt they weren't) then the whole mess could have been easily resolved already. Which it sounds like it was.
edit- I think the original lawsuit was filed merely to ensure that the license wasn't sold off before South Park Studios could get their ducks in a row. Basically just a precaution.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
was Space Marine really that good? I mean, I"m playing it now and I'm enjoying it, but the writing is godawful and it's pretty generic.
So since they haven't been specifically named, am I to assume IPs like Red Faction and Homeworld are going to go down with THQ and eventually end up with some holding company after this chapter 11 process is complete?
Because if so....
Red Faction goes with Volition. Some folks have said already that Sega has Homeworld, I believe.
I seem to remember one of the Relic devs that post here now and again say that Relic (and I think he was meaning Relic itself, and not Relic via THQ) owned the Homeworld IP, so I assume it will go with them to Sega.
I had heard that Homeworld was not something Relic liked to think about or had the desire to revive.
A Relic manager, Croak, told me that was not true. He went so far as to call those rumors "poop".
Though he would never go so far as to say they were actually working on HW3!
Croak was a designer, but he had the right of it. There's a lot of reasons why HW3 didn't happen with THQ but lack of passion or desire wasn't one of them.
I seem doomed to spread misinformation about Homeworld.
Well, I went back and played a few missions of the original a few months ago. Thought it held up really well. The story was simple but elegant.
I made a game! Hotline Maui. Requires mouse and keyboard.
So since they haven't been specifically named, am I to assume IPs like Red Faction and Homeworld are going to go down with THQ and eventually end up with some holding company after this chapter 11 process is complete?
Because if so....
Red Faction goes with Volition. Some folks have said already that Sega has Homeworld, I believe.
I seem to remember one of the Relic devs that post here now and again say that Relic (and I think he was meaning Relic itself, and not Relic via THQ) owned the Homeworld IP, so I assume it will go with them to Sega.
I had heard that Homeworld was not something Relic liked to think about or had the desire to revive.
A Relic manager, Croak, told me that was not true. He went so far as to call those rumors "poop".
Though he would never go so far as to say they were actually working on HW3!
Croak was a designer, but he had the right of it. There's a lot of reasons why HW3 didn't happen with THQ but lack of passion or desire wasn't one of them.
There was so much promise after HL2. Sure, I wasn't fond of the progenitor/ancient one angle, but at least HW hinted at it. I couldn't wait to see what was out there past the Bentusi hyperspace lanes.
I will never, ever sell my copy of the Homeworld and Cataclysm manuals.
HW2 was... okay. It did a lot of things right, but it also did a lot of things not so right. The music was top-notch, as were the ship models. The story was good, but pales when in comparison to the original Dust Wars design docs. The pacing was a bit awful with the forced jumps at the end of every mission, which combined with the auto-scaling AI was just too much. I understand they wanted to convey a sense of urgency but it just didn't work out too well.
All that being said, I want a HW3 that re-captures that magic of Adagio For Strings playing while Kharak burns in the background! I really hope there was no HW3 at THQ due to high level THQ management goosery, and not Relic just wanting to churn out WH40K and COH games.
+3
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
was Space Marine really that good? I mean, I"m playing it now and I'm enjoying it, but the writing is godawful and it's pretty generic.
It was okay as far as action games went.
The combat was decent, but didn't have much depth and towards the end enemies got too samey and it seemed like all they did to add difficulty was throw near endless waves at you.
It was a good basis but had a lot of room for improvement.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
was Space Marine really that good? I mean, I"m playing it now and I'm enjoying it, but the writing is godawful and it's pretty generic.
It's middle of the road. For a first time entry in that genre, from a developer used to making RTS's? It's decidedly not terrible.
Plus how much you did or didn't like it is going to be directly proportional to how much you like 40k. You say the writing is god awful, but it's pretty standard fare for 40k fluff. I've seen GW put out much worse writing than was displayed in Space Marine.
Vigil and Darksiders (as well as Relic/Space Marine, and Volition/Red Faction) are definitely a story of how great games just may not sell well.
As budgets increase and sales requirements go higher, that form of game becomes prohibitively expensive. As shitty as those sales expectations were, THQ put money behind games they believed in, even if in some ways they believed in them too much.
Space Marine sold okay from what I understand, all things considered. I have no idea of the total financials, but it sold uhh, 1.5m I think? Something like that?
I mean, surely not up to THQ's lofty standards, but not terrible for a first time outing in that genre, using a relative niche license.
Again, this speaks more of the issue of budgets throwing off what you should anticipate, but 1.5 could have been decent, but not paid back the initial investment. VGChartz (which if I remember correctly tends to inflate numbers) said under 1-million. But who knows how accurate that number is.
I mean, we're not talking franchises like Assassin's Creed (where 5 million units could be a failure), but a company like Relic could actually incur some decent expense making a game like Space Marine, so 1.5 could easily not break even. And that's not me trying to make a mark against Relic. Rather the cost of making games that don't push massive sales.
Space Marine came out right before Gears 3, which probably didn't help sales. It did well, all things considered, but THQ's incredibly unrealistic sales expectations of their games have already been mentioned several times.
Obsidian is independent. Ubi bought the rights to the South Park game that Obsidian is making.
Sucks that Take 2 ended up with the WWE license. I was really hoping EA would get it, as I think they'd be the most likely publisher to change things up and do their own thing, maybe even with Aki/Syn Sophia involved. I could easily see Take 2 sticking with Yukes and giving us the same shit we've been feed for the last 13 years.
Funny, I thought the opposite. EA is the king of sports game stagnation after all (Madden, anyone? How about FIFA on the Wii?), and their entries into the wrestling genre back in the WCW days (which, granted, was a long time ago) flat-out sucked. 2K is, at least, a publisher that hasn't been active in this space in the past, and might actually stand to bring a unique voice.
Posts
Please explain this scale, it smells of correctness.
Steam: BrocksMullet http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197972421669/
It's worth pointing out that Ubisoft doesn't actually have a firm hand on the South Park game yet. South Park Studios are contesting the sale.
Anyway, this is great news for Relic. I assumed Sega weren't even in contention, given their own monetary issues (not in the same league as THQ but still not great) and were hoping Square Enix would pick them up, as they were the only ones I'd trust to not ruin them. Ubisoft would've been the worst case scenario, given what they've done to Massive. But Sega? That's awesome. The idea of collaborations between Relic and Creative Assembly is mouth watering.
Ubisoft buying THQ Montreal is interesting and pretty crazy, given how enormous Ubisoft Montreal already are. I guess they'll be merged together fairly soon, which will probably suck for Patrice.
Interesting that Koch were the ones that ended up with Volition. Really smart move if they intend to continue expanding, especially if they got the Red Faction and Saints Row IPs with them (which I assume they did). Hopefully they end up with the Freespace license as well, whether it's through that purchase or the last remains of THQ.
Sucks that Take 2 ended up with the WWE license. I was really hoping EA would get it, as I think they'd be the most likely publisher to change things up and do their own thing, maybe even with Aki/Syn Sophia involved. I could easily see Take 2 sticking with Yukes and giving us the same shit we've been feed for the last 13 years.
Lastly, it fucking sucks for Vigil. What I don't understand is that there were meant to be a number of publishers that were interested in them and yet nothing happened. But maybe they were more interested in just buying the Darksiders IP and didn't give a shit about the people that actually made people care about the series in the first place. Disappointing.
This is fascinating stuff.
I love "This company was valued at $2.6 billion two years ago," Paul Morrison protested."
Yeah...that's what happens when you run a company into the ground, when you have completely unreasonable sales expectations and bank the success of your entirety on games that cannot possibly support those demands.
According to the article @C2B linked
"Lawyers for companies like 505 Games, South Park Digital Studios, Viacom, Crytek, Games Workshop, Yuke's, and others — all companies that had business relationships with THQ — were either present in person or on a conference call to acknowledge the resolution of their objections."
So it sounds like it is a go. The article could be wrong.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Just yesterday this was their stance: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a453020/south-park-studios-request-stick-of-truth-pulled-from-thq-auction.html
So it'd be an incredibly quick turnaround if true.
it's all up in the air at this point
That seems awful. Like, "worse than THQs insane sales expectations" awful.
XBL : lJesse Custerl | MWO: Jesse Custer | Best vid ever. | 2nd best vid ever.
Not necessarily. Folks have been working around the clock the last two days to get this all sorted out. After finding out who had the bid, and some negotiations it could have easily been resolved.
I'm sure we'll find out pretty shortly the fine details. The court can't finalize it unless they're on board, and from the sounds of it they're moving forward with everything while working out the final few objections.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Aliens: Colonial Marines - Heavily armed bad asses facing off against the deadliest species in the galaxy
Warhammer 40k - My armor is contempt / My Shield is disgust / My sword is hatred / In the Emperor's name / Let no Xeno survive
God if they make another Space Marine game I hope we get to play as either the Black Templar or Grey Knights. Or the real shocker would be if they made a space version of Manhunt using the Night Lords
I also hope Sega doesn't screw with Relic. I really want Homeworld 3 sometime within the next 5 years.
I'm guessing that that means Steam would stop selling the games, but that they'd still be available to redownload and play for people who already own them?
This was definitely the most upsetting part about the THQ story. I really, really enjoy darksiders, it would be a real shame if they just collapsed and vanished to nothingness. It shocks me nobody would want to buy Vigil and the Darksiders IP, considering it has routinely reviewed quite well.
Reviewed doesn't make money. and I thought Joe M left the project a few months back? Dunno how important he was to the process, but that might be a factor.
So it does sound like the 40k license went with Relic.
This makes me happy. I hope that Relic stays mostly intact, team wise as well. Sega is going to become a strategy gaming powerhouse after this.
Fair point, we'll just have to wait and see what happens. As soon as things are finalised, there'll undoubtedly be a press release.
Eh, Space Marines are too ubiquitous. Just off the top of my head, Starcraft, Halo and Dead Space all feature space marines as a part of their mythos.
Croak was a designer,
As budgets increase and sales requirements go higher, that form of game becomes prohibitively expensive. As shitty as those sales expectations were, THQ put money behind games they believed in, even if in some ways they believed in them too much.
There was so much promise after HL2. Sure, I wasn't fond of the progenitor/ancient one angle, but at least HW hinted at it. I couldn't wait to see what was out there past the Bentusi hyperspace lanes.
I will never, ever sell my copy of the Homeworld and Cataclysm manuals.
Space Marine sold okay from what I understand, all things considered. I have no idea of the total financials, but it sold uhh, 1.5m I think? Something like that?
I mean, surely not up to THQ's lofty standards, but not terrible for a first time outing in that genre, using a relative niche license.
They haven't made a post since yesterday, apparently. First time I'd been to that site since HW2 came out, I think :P
Also, hi-5 to a fellow Homeworld beta tester! I was so bad at it, but I was like 13 at the time...I wish I had kept the beta disk.
Yeah, from what I have read on the matter it sounds like South Park Studios main sticking point was that THQ could not sell the license without SPS's blessing. They wanted to make sure that whoever got the license would honor the original contract they had with THQ.
If it is true that reps from all involved parties were present in one form or another during the auction (and I have zero reason to doubt they weren't) then the whole mess could have been easily resolved already. Which it sounds like it was.
edit- I think the original lawsuit was filed merely to ensure that the license wasn't sold off before South Park Studios could get their ducks in a row. Basically just a precaution.
I seem doomed to spread misinformation about Homeworld.
Well, I went back and played a few missions of the original a few months ago. Thought it held up really well. The story was simple but elegant.
HW2 was... okay. It did a lot of things right, but it also did a lot of things not so right. The music was top-notch, as were the ship models. The story was good, but pales when in comparison to the original Dust Wars design docs. The pacing was a bit awful with the forced jumps at the end of every mission, which combined with the auto-scaling AI was just too much. I understand they wanted to convey a sense of urgency but it just didn't work out too well.
All that being said, I want a HW3 that re-captures that magic of Adagio For Strings playing while Kharak burns in the background! I really hope there was no HW3 at THQ due to high level THQ management goosery, and not Relic just wanting to churn out WH40K and COH games.
It was okay as far as action games went.
The combat was decent, but didn't have much depth and towards the end enemies got too samey and it seemed like all they did to add difficulty was throw near endless waves at you.
It was a good basis but had a lot of room for improvement.
It's middle of the road. For a first time entry in that genre, from a developer used to making RTS's? It's decidedly not terrible.
Plus how much you did or didn't like it is going to be directly proportional to how much you like 40k. You say the writing is god awful, but it's pretty standard fare for 40k fluff. I've seen GW put out much worse writing than was displayed in Space Marine.
Again, this speaks more of the issue of budgets throwing off what you should anticipate, but 1.5 could have been decent, but not paid back the initial investment. VGChartz (which if I remember correctly tends to inflate numbers) said under 1-million. But who knows how accurate that number is.
I mean, we're not talking franchises like Assassin's Creed (where 5 million units could be a failure), but a company like Relic could actually incur some decent expense making a game like Space Marine, so 1.5 could easily not break even. And that's not me trying to make a mark against Relic. Rather the cost of making games that don't push massive sales.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Funny, I thought the opposite. EA is the king of sports game stagnation after all (Madden, anyone? How about FIFA on the Wii?), and their entries into the wrestling genre back in the WCW days (which, granted, was a long time ago) flat-out sucked. 2K is, at least, a publisher that hasn't been active in this space in the past, and might actually stand to bring a unique voice.
I hear it. I read those words and I hear the music in my mind.