It's official: Black Isle, Fallout 3 dead and buried
Monday, December 8th, 2003 - 10:48pm
Well, start hoarding those copies of Fallout 2, because we'll never see its like again.
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
That''s just sad.
just read that...its a sad day for gamers everywhere..
Bad scene...and primarily caused by Publishers...
<sigh>
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Xbox Live: Nei HD | Playstation ID: Nei_GWJ
Goddamnit
"Poor Eli Nooo... *child starts crying*"
"Come on now, there's no need to make that kind of noise. It sounds awful and you'll upset other people." - Ionae from Spirit Engine 2
weak
What else has Black Isle done? I''ve never played Fallout 2, or 1 for that matter, so I can''t say I''m upset there will be no 3.
"Anakin, as embodied by [Hayden] Christensen, is the kind of needlessly moody kid you might see getting punched out in a Dairy Queen parking lot."
"”Paul Tatara on SW:Episode II
To quote a poster at Blue''s:
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
I ain''t got the words.
Smaller, slower, dumber
Wow. That''s terrible. Unfortunately Interplay has been a sinkhole for years now, and developers stuck with them have been paying the price. On the upside, the guys over at Black Isle have a long list of outstanding credits, and are clearly talented. Here''s hoping their dark days are short.
Planescape Torment, Baldur''s Gate 1&2&expansions, Icewind Dale 1&2, Dark Alliance 1&2, and Lionheart (possibly the only mediocre game of the bunch)
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
You know I had lots of ideas to an intelligent discourse as to why this is an atrocity, but then I figured a much more succint way to put it.
f*ck.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
Steam Profile
My Gamercard
Talent always finds a home.
"All that time you waste dating and having sex could be better spent scouring the web for new game developer press releases." - Quintin_Stone
Another loss in a sad string of losses which includes Looking Glass, Origin Systems, Microprose, and many others. Thank you, corporate suits, for killing creativity in order to achieve your bottom line...assholes...
I thought BioWare was largely responsible for Baldur''s Gate 1 & 2?
In any case, this completely and utterly sucks ass. Goat ass, even.
Mystic Violet wrote:
Expansions, Azure. Black Isle did the expansions.
Planescape Torment alone justifies hiring every last one of those guys to any gaming company out there. Let''s hope they hook up with Urquart or whoever and his new company.
"Poor Eli Nooo... *child starts crying*"
"Come on now, there's no need to make that kind of noise. It sounds awful and you'll upset other people." - Ionae from Spirit Engine 2
To Everyone that ever pirated a single Black Isle game...this is part of the end result of your actions!!
Start feeling guilty...
now.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
I''d like to put the blame at the pirate''s feet Gameguru, but the real blame here is at Interplay. They''ve been a miserable failure of a company for some time, and their mismanagement of revenue and resources is the culprit here. I don''t think the situation would be any different if no one had ever pirated a Black Isle game.
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Thats why I said part of the blame...
Theres enough fan outcry...but given that most of their title''s never sold well.. I gotta think some of the people didnt actually buy the title they so enjoyed.
Interplay doesnt get off the hook either...investing in IP games that end up being crap has to eventually catch up with any company.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
It always seemed like to me that they just made critically acclaimed games that most people just didn''t get. Fans of the series were rabid but it wasn''t something with mass market appeal.
I''ll put it this way, when I see warez I rarely ever see ""OMG So hot Planescape Torment! Download it now!"" Or someone try searching for it on Kaaza for that matter. I mean you can buy it at Wal Mart for $10, it''s worth it just to drive down there and buy it compared to downloading. Same thing with the Fallout games. Usually games that get pirated heavily also have great sales simply because they''re popular. I just don''t buy that whole ""piracy == low sales"" thing, I''ve never seen a correlation with games. I think it''s just a matter of narrow but deep appeal.
"Poor Eli Nooo... *child starts crying*"
"Come on now, there's no need to make that kind of noise. It sounds awful and you'll upset other people." - Ionae from Spirit Engine 2
I agree with Pyro.
At the time they were released new.. for $50.. I''m not talking now..
And no pirate ever uses Kaazza or any p2p for software anyway..I''ve seen all of Black Isle''s stuff on various usenet groups many times..
I''ll say it again and again.. no matter how much we try and rationilize it..piracy does take away a percentage of sales from publishers and in the end hurts the developers.. You can''t just simply say.. Piracy doenst really hurt and just walk away.. its a real problem.
when Napster was at its full tilt and then Kazza I rarely bought a single album.. so lets face it.. the $100-$200 I spent on music went bye-bye.. Nowadays I have no desire to get some stupid letter from my isp saying they''ve turned me over to the RIAA so I''m now buying albums in store and through Itunes..
Its there people..and it hurts people.
That being said.. again..I''m sure Piracy in Black Isle''s case wasnt the main problem. Look at Blizzard and Bioware.. they probably get pirated way more than Black Isle''s ever did and they continue to make quality games and stay in the game.
I always wondered if X developer just said..pay us $49-$99 a year and you get unlimited access to everything we make..would they end up with more or less money in their pocket? of course..it would fail for a dev like Valve which produces .3 titles a year.
Kinda like Steam..but perhaps without the annoying delivery method. I''m rambling now...
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.
http://www.myspace.com/armyofthepharaohs
Anecdotal I know, but I was the opposite. When Napster was around I bought a ton of music, probably a couple of cds a week because I kept finding so much stuff I really liked. These days I really don''t have a way to find good new music easily so in the past year I think I''ve bought maybe four cds.
That''s true, I didn''t have internet access when that stuff was released so I have no idea.
It sounded like I was rationalizing before and I apologize, I really wasn''t. I was simply explaining why I didn''t think piracy as a big issue with these games. In order to keep this from being a P&C thread I''ll just stop now.
This is entirely anecdotal, while Napster was big music sales increased and have been declining rapidly ever since it was killed. I''ll take statistical and economic evidence over anecdotes any day, sorry
"Poor Eli Nooo... *child starts crying*"
"Come on now, there's no need to make that kind of noise. It sounds awful and you'll upset other people." - Ionae from Spirit Engine 2
Rest in peace, Black Isle Studios.
Hopefully the BIS that we knew will reform under Obsidian Entertainment. If not wholly, then at least in part.
Swing harder! Swing harder!
-- Lilarcor, Baldur's Gate 2
Dangit, Veloxi, digging up old wounds
It''s sad enough to know that there''ll probably never be a fallout 3 without recalling the demise of other favorites like x-com, master of orion, and system shock. Waaah!
I think Lionheart probably broke Black Isle. The game just . . . wasn''t good (and sales reflect it--most stores I''ve seen could build walls with their unsold copies of Lionheart). They lost too much talent over the years. At least now I''m glad I didn''t get the job I applied for there earlier this year
Graktar, Orc Hunter
Some hope (from No Mutants Allowed)?
Fat chance of that happening. Interplay isn''t letting go of the license so long as they can milk it on consoles.
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"If ads put your sanity to the test
come on down to Rat Boy's nest!
light up a stogie, and soon you'll see
how rock can be commercial-free!
'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
You know, the only Black Isle game I didn''t buy was Lionheart. That was tough, because after a friend had loaned me Baldur''s Gate several years ago, I pretty much jumped at every game that Bioware or Black Isle put out there. I even bought the original Fallout just to catch up.
Good games, almost every last one of them. (never was a big MDK2 fan, though I respected the game design that Bioware put into it)
Hey, what''re the odds that Bioware snaps up a bunch of these guys and puts them to work as a ""new"" development team?
Well, Feargus Urquhart and Chris Avellone and some other BIS people are at Obsidian, working with Bioware on a game already. For PC and consoles, allegedly. KotOR 2 anyone?
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
Well, it seems to be that time of the year again.
I''ve never understood how companies can be so cruel as to lay people off in December. The holidays are already stressful, and they''ve likely just spent a lot of money on gifts, and it''s not like there are going to be a lot of places that will hire them until January.
Just reeks of a lack of simple human decency.
I can see it now. It''s December 23rd and you''re typing away at your computer at work, trying your damndest to get this game out to the fans when some suit walks up to you, hands you a pink slip and says, ""Merry Christmas, Assholes!"" You then get beaten by security before being ejected from the building.
I disagree with what you say, and I will deny, to your death, you're right to say it. - Bucky Katt