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."
Re:Ugh (Score:3, Informative)
Other ones I miss: (Score:4, Informative)
Sir-Tech
Guess I'm a bit old school
Infocom (Score:2)
Bureaucracy... (Score:2)
My particular bete noire was Spellbreaker. Oy, the cubes!
Re:Infocom (Score:1)
This industry is missing Infocom (Score:3, Interesting)
Infocom did more with text inside of five years than the entire first person shooter genre has done in its lifetime.
My personal favorite was "Suspended." [csd.uwo.ca] You were in a cryogenic state, only able to interact with remote robots to bring a group of out-of-whack computers into working shape again. Each robot had its own abilities and senses -- they rolled or walked, one could smell, and so on. The puzzles made you work at them, and this was one game where the packaging and manual and so on really helped and w
Re:This industry is missing Infocom (Score:1)
Another Old School - SSI (Score:2)
SSI - Strategic Simulations, Inc. [wikipedia.org]
Simply a must have on a gamer's list. /salute
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:here (Score:1)
Re:here (Score:5, Informative)
Re:here (Score:2)
Seems a little glaring, given the effect they had.
Re:here (Score:2)
Re:here (Score:1)
One of these things is not like the other...
Re:here (Score:2)
The Dreamcast was a great system too, and could more than hold its own against the PS2 and Xbox graphically, however it just didn't catch on outside of gaming critics. I blame poor marketing, as the DC had more memorable games in its short lifetime than the PS2 or Xbox have been able to muster thus far. They may have been doomed since the Saturn though, which truly was a subpar console.
Re:here (Score:2)
Working Designs. Now, there's a company that fell and will be missed.
Re:here (Score:2)
Coming soon from Sega: The Adventures of ManBearPig
Re:here (Score:2)
Working Designs was great; I used to deal with them a lot back when I did game reviews. They were always friendly and accessible, even to a small site like the one I worked for.
Re:here (Score:1)
They were off my list of companies to care about back when I was playing Turbo Duo (PC Engine) and buying new stuff as it came out. I made the mistake of buying Exile III (was fun gameplay wise) but the fun ended with a cut scene where the bad voice acted demon attempts to insult the player with the phrase "Poopy-boy". If I had wanted games aimed at the 5 year old maturity level, I would have bought Night
Re:here (Score:2)
Manic....the person I missed (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Manic....the person I missed (Score:2, Insightful)
Also, I recall dealing with being forced to have Maniac as my wingman in the earlier games by shooting him down myself, and just flying the rest of that branch of the story without a wingman. Plus I got to say some moving words at his funeral!
Re:Manic....the person I missed (Score:2)
And a moment of Silence for... (Score:5, Insightful)
Maxis...
Westwood Studios...
Mythic Entertainment...
ect...
*cries*
Re:And a moment of Silence for... (Score:1)
Re:And a moment of Silence for... (Score:3, Insightful)
They made Syndicate!! While Populous was cool, nothing compared to Syndicate at the time. They could recreate it today and it would probably still be regarded as a fantastic game.
Re:And a moment of Silence for... (Score:1)
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 :(
Lode Runner: The Legend Returns (Score:1)
Re:Lode Runner: The Legend Returns (Score:1)
OT: noisy banners!? (Score:4, Insightful)
Include a banner ad that makes a lot of annoying noises that appear without warning and are deafeningly loud, especially through headphones. Of course, simply causing physical pain for your readers is never a good stopping point, so why not add insult to injury by giving no way to turn the damn ad off?
And then all the bad formatting. . . great job, guys.
Re:OT: noisy banners!? (Score:2)
Hmm, wait, maybey it was the jittery add I couldn't read when I tried to figure out how to shut it down.
Re:OT: noisy banners!? (Score:2)
Block the ads! (Score:2)
Re:Block the ads! (Score:2)
Just me? (Score:1)
Yes (Score:2)
If you have not heard of them you are either very young, not a pc gamer or a filthy console user. Frankly there is no excuse for any of this and you should kill yourselve to atone for your sins.
To be fa
Re:Yes (Score:1)
Re:Yes (Score:1)
Re:Yes (Score:1)
Re:Yes (Score:2)
Re:Yes (Score:1)
This is a good gamer survival skill. I remember when I was playing FFVII for the first time and had just defeated the first Weapon and was tooling around in the airship. I see some small red thing in the desert and swoop down to check it out. Lost 4 hours of game play because I hadn't bothere
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Yes (Score:2)
Damn You kids! Get off my Lawn!
Re:Yes (Score:2)
Oh well, Looking Glass you will be missed, I bought your games, pity nobody else did.
I bought three copies of Ultima Underworld, two copies of Ultima Underworld II, four copies of System Shock, one copy of Terra Nova, one copy of Thief, two copies of Thief Gold, and one copy of Thief II.
Yes, they went down, but I did my part to prevent it.
They left out (Score:4, Insightful)
Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:2)
6. Republican control of the White House and Congress.
Re:Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:1)
One Thing You Forgot (Score:1)
Spelling.
San Francisco BTW.
Re:Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:2)
Re:Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:2)
Re:Five Things That are Going to Fall Eventually (Score:2)
Too little, too late.
Or we will start drilling on our own land and say screw you to the environmentalists.
Uh, by "our own land" I think you mean the USA, which passed peak oil in 1970s. Start drilling? You've done finished already. You mean those fields left in ALaska? Too little, too late.
Or we'll tap into our doomsday reserve that we're never going to use.
What doomsday rserve?
Next Generation (Score:1)
"Next Generation" is a good name for the site anyway.
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:The market condenses (Score:2)
The difference is, a game that was made by a handful of people and sold 10,000 copies was considered a "sucess" back in the day, where as a game created by a handful of people that sells 10,000 copies is considered a "hobby" nowadays.
But in terms of making a game and selling comparible to old school game sales, that has never been easier than today, and there has never been so many small independent little game c
Re:The market condenses (Score:1)
Holy crap! Literally exploded? How many died? Was it a car bomb?
Re:The market condenses (Score:1)
Gaming is not and has never been mainstream (especially when you account for population growth). In North America, the console penetration has never exceeded 33% (which was achieved during the NES days). Most of the growth coming into the industry has been from multiple console ownership. Many gamers just got more 'hardcore'. And the best selling video game is still Super
but what is the precipitate? (Score:1)
We used to have a socio-political system intended to prevent that. It was believed that many players in every market would be good for the social and economic health of the nation. It was also believed that taxpaying, gainfully employed citizens in such a system would be better able to weather the inevitable fluctuations of supply, demand, and technology. Of course, that sort of belief is considered outmoded and hope
Where's Microprose? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Where's Microprose? (Score:1)
Although documented heavily in other locales, I would have appreciated a serious mention of Infocom. And for mid-90's companies, I would have liked to have seen mention of the original Bungee. Marathon was a comrade of the first System Shock, and Myth: The Fallen Lords is one o
Re:Where's Microprose? (Score:2)
Even you picked up a bit late with the list
Try f-19 stealth fighter(my 1st retail game i think, PCmoria and chess came with computer) and M-1 tank platoon, just incredible for the time (and considering i had a monochrome setup) and with more info in manual than you could ever digest
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Where's Microprose? (Score:1)
Re:Where's Microprose? (Score:1)
Re:Where's Microprose? (Score:1)
Definitely one of the best turn based games ever, IMHO.
It was the only thing that pulled me away from long, long Civ stints.
I still have it, I load it occasionally and I play it from time to time. There was rumor of a MoM:2, but it never happened probably because of one of these buyout, shutdown, assimilation things.
As a longtime mac user... (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm still pissed at microsoft for having the insight/monopolistic impulse to buy them. They put out some great titles, Pathways into Darkness, Marathon, and of course Halo, originally demoed in the late 90s on a powermac.
Don't forget the Myths (Score:2)
Soulblighter is still extremely fun, still playable and respectable after all these years.
I remember the press releases when Bungie sold out. Eck.
Orphan Code? (Score:1)
Has anyone ever attempted to get some of these games publicly released so they could be ported to current systems?
If the code is gone, what a f*ucking waste!
Duh... they couldn't make money any more. (Score:2)
Remember Novalogic? They haven't had an honest-to-goodness hit since that voxel helicopter game back in the early 90's. And they're still around because they understand this basic principle: Ship the game when you know that it's
Huh? (Score:1)
Re:Huh? (Score:2)
No, I was saying the exact opposite with my example of NovaLogic.
I was saying they should STOP putting any money into a project at the moment it hits the point of diminishing returns..."Not one day later." That is what has kept NovaLogic in business where other companies have failed: They have the business sense and the discipline to say, "If we spend another year on this, it could be a great game instead of merely medio
Re:Duh... they couldn't make money any more. (Score:2)
You must be joking.
Those two games were constantly being played everywhere I went. They were only "crap" in a relative sense: they weren't masterpieces like other Atari Games offerings.
Gauntlet, 720, Marble Madness, Paperboy, Tetris, KLAX, STUN Runner, Space Lords, Primal Rage, Area 51... I'm sure there w
Re:Duh... they couldn't make money any more. (Score:1)
Re:Duh... they couldn't make money any more. (Score:1)
Sure, but it's probably more the fact that while they made great games and we all love them in retrospect, at the time no one bought them. How many people have originals of Thief, System Shock and Terra Nova? Even my copy of TN was an Ebay purchase so I can't get all high and mighty. And my Thief is Thief Gold, so I didn't even get the original. But I did buy the orig
Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
Dynamix
Papyrus
Epyx (If you are old-school, you will recognize that one)
Black Isle is a bummer. As is Origin. I remember a few years ago, there was a GLUT of space flight sims, trying to take the throne from Wing Commander... and since then, there has not been one that has done it right. I wish that we could get a good sequel to Wing Commander. Better yet, a good sequel to Wing Commander: Privateer.
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:2)
Jaysyn
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:2)
I don't play Impossible Mission any more, but Jumpman still pwns me. And I still haven't managed to finish Jumpman Junior.
While I'm commenting, I might as well add a vote of support for those who named Infocom.
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:2)
FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2. The production didn't have as much FMV as WC4 (or that quirky movie called Privateer 2), but what was there was incredible. I still remember the end of FS2, going back to save one of the fleeing ships that was straggling, then going whiteknuckle with shields and weapons down diverted to thrust, going balls-to-the-wall on full
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
I also really enjoyed Microsoft's Alliegence, but I think they screwed that one up too badly... making it pay to play.
Re:Hmmm... they should have enlarged that list. (Score:1)
As a developer I'm appalled. (Score:2)
After Midway retreated from the arcades in 2001, Atari Games found itself focusing exclusively on home releases. Apparently those didn't sell well enough, as on one cold day in February 2003, all of the studio's employees were, without warning, led off premises as the building was locked behind them - much to their collective confusion and dismay. It was not until later that employees were allowed to return for their personal effects. Thus ended the 31-year history of Atari - sa
This is sad (Score:1)
Great Article (Score:1)
I'm with the rest of you old farts. I didn't play all of these, but I definitely remember them. This explains quite a bit that occured and I was unaware of at the time. Rather mysterious how you'd be expecting
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:2)
Now all they do is make star wars games ... they should change their name to the "star wars company" ... I think "LucasArts" is a bit overreaching for what they're doing.
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:1)
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:2)
Not just adventure games. In the action games they came out with in the 80s it still boggles my mind what they managed to accomplish, in 3D no less, on such limited hardware. Purely in terms of graphics, to my mind Rescue on Fractalus has the look of a game 10 years more recent. Plus they were enormous fun! Ballblazer was horribly addictive. (Koronis Rift was a rotten game, though
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:1)
Taken from Mobygames:
"On day an alien race of slugs is out patrolling space, when they encounter the Lucasarts logo. The logo, as we all know looks like a statue of a person with his hands extending towards the sky. Seeing this logo, the slugs determine that ours is a race made up of BONES and of ADVERTISING, two things the slugs simply hate. So they attack."
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:1)
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:1)
But one my all time favourite adventure games is Beneath A Steel Sky. Props to Revolution for releasing it as freeware, and giving the Scum
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:3, Interesting)
Also I think he didn't want to put all his eggs in one basket.
Once the earlier Star Wars games began to greatly outsell the rest LucasArts began to withdraw from that area.
Oddly enough the non-star wars game Armed and Dangerous was published b
Re:Don't forget LucasArts (Score:1)
(I currently have 4 different Star Wars games installed on my computer.)