Five That Fell 114
Ground Glass writes "The games industry is as cutthroat as any in entertainment or tech, and it so happens that many loved, respected, and influential companies nevertheless get crushed in the waves of hardware transitions or left behind by market forces. Given that one of those shifts is rapidly approaching, now is as good a time as any to look at five such companies that are no longer with us, but are still remembered and revered by their fans."
Other ones I miss: (Score:4, Informative)
Sir-Tech
Guess I'm a bit old school
here (Score:5, Informative)
origin
serria on line
black isle
looking glass
there I just saved you from having to trudge through a horribly formated article. (ad impressions ftw). We really should be linking to the multi-page spanning articles. Link to the printer friendly or not at all.
Re:Ugh (Score:3, Informative)
Re:here (Score:5, Informative)
The market condenses (Score:4, Informative)
Time warp back to the 80s. The game market was fractured, many, many small companies puttering along, some creating great games, some creating mediocre games, and even the odd gem surfacing every now and then made by a handful of freaks. The market was small, there wasn't a lot of money in it, and thus everyone took the share they could. There were EA (yeah, they already existed. But back then they actually even made games), Accolade, Bullfrog, all of them were more or less "small" businesses.
Snap back to today. The game market exploded, literally. Games ain't anymore something for the geeks in an age range of about 12 to about 18, it's gone mainstream. It's become everyone's pastime, age independent. As soon as a market appears to actually generate revenue, money is being pumped in. As soon as money is blown into a market, small companies are hoovered up in the process by the companies that let the money flood in.
That's pretty much what happened.
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:2, Informative)
Re:And a moment of Silence for... (Score:2, Informative)
Don't forget Origin, the geniuses who brought us Wing Commander.
And Bullfrog, who made my two favorite games when I was a kid: Theme Park, and later, Theme Hospital. RIP Bullfrog :(