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NOOOOOOOOOO...Sierra screws up AGAIN
[url="http://www.evilavatar.com/redirected.asp?fromurl=http%3A//www.evilavatar.com/EA/News/M32970/%23discussion"]http://www.evilavatar.com/redirected.asp?fromurl=http%3A//www.evilavatar.com/EA/News/M32970/%23discussion[/url]
Homeworld 2 is canned.....
Comments
[quote]Evil Avatar.com sends along our best wishes to the Relic Entertainment employees who were let go as a result of this project being cancelled.[/quote]
If Sierra managed to fire people, they are out of place. They don't have any control over who can work at Relic last I heard, given that they don't own the company.
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
Defining the 'virus' is the hard part.
Those that survive or are born after this 'age' have passed will have the antibodies to fend off the death that seems to be plaguing the gaming world at large. We have juts got to find the cure.
It seems even small independent developers are succumbing to this disease... mostly by association with the 'host' the big developers/publishers.
I think it has to do with funding. Somehow Studios have to find thier development capital from outside the actual industry. If this rumour is true then it's proof positive of a publishers contol of a games development. They don't have direct control... they cant point the bone at you and watch you die on the spot.. but they can starve you out instead.
The only good thing about Relics position is as far as I know they have thier IP... so a resurection like the ill fated ones for ITF so far... is much more possible.
It's the hard way to do it, but I think the only way anyone will see good quality innovative titles these days is from a privately funded games studio who can negotiate from a position of strength with publishers, ie : "Here's the shrink wrapped product.... SELL IT... NO ! you cant change the box art you fukking little weasel.. "
There needs to be a real sea change in the buyers too. The hardcore gamer needs to pay for all those burnt copies... and somehow we need to apply electrodes to the nipples of all the casual gamers... too lazy to come up to even the challenge of a game... so many games out there spoon feed the audience.
Look at Crimson Skies... great game.. lush... well finished... fun... but boy... its way too easy even on 'hardest' setting. It's prolly sold by the bucket load... and no-one cares about innovation, style, content, or the colour of the frikkin CD when it makes money...
always money
I'm depressed...
every dream I dare to dream has a price tag I can't afford. Is there anybody left out there who believes in things other than bowing down before the greenback ?
[edit: no bypassing the censor, SB!]
[This message has been edited by Sanfam (edited 08-20-2001).]
"Cataclysm" also received good reviews, but I have no idea how it faired.
Fortunately for Alex Garden and Company they have "Sigma" in the wings. Sad part is that Vivendi probably owns "Homeworld" and the associated IP , so there may never be a real evolutionary take on the gaming paradigm they developed.
Sounds so familiar.
And it looks like Cracker-boy knows almost as much as Greno about games, and how to manage them successfully.
Jeff was right...they should just rename the company "Sierror."
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 08-20-2001).]
Besides, it was fun as hell [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 08-20-2001).]
[b]Ah **** 'em all!
If Sierra managed to fire people, they are out of place. They don't have any control over who can work at Relic last I heard, given that they don't own the company.
[/b][/quote]
Doubtful. Relic is a Canadian Studio up in Vancouver. The only thing that could have happened is that the loss of a revenue stream (advance on the game) might have forced a staff reduction to keep the studio afloat; but that is speculation, and should be avoided until Alex Garden or someone else at Relic speaks out.
-R.
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
The thing with Homeworld wasn't confirmed, and currently is just a rumor (at least it was a few hours ago...), so maybe not all is lost...
This move by sierra strikes me as simply one more step towards becoming a publisher. It's quite a sad one, too. Homeworld is one of their most popular modern games, and so many fans were looking towards Homeworld 2. Into the Fire was just the first of many confusing strikes against Sierra's status as a production house. no matter what had happened, I think we can be very sure now that the dev team would have been long since gone. They are single mindedly focused on ceasing internal production. THe strange thing is that this is not an internal production. Relic is an external game studio, which makes this a very strange and confusing move.
I don't know for sure, but I'd say that the words "Revolutionary" and "Critically acclaimed" are words the management at Sierra mortally fear.
*sigh*
[b]
This move by sierra strikes me as simply one more step towards becoming a publisher[/b][/quote]
Actually, it's one step back, which is why it makes no sense. Homeworld was an outside project that Sierra served as Publisher for. Unless sales of Cataclysm were catastrophic, I cannot see the reasoning *at all*.
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
It strikes me that the French have a vendetta to fulfill on Sierra from older days...
I dunno... Maybe during the days of Coktel they saw too much butt crack from Ken Williams and decided they must break his company at all costs and for as long as it takes...
Seriously though, I think Vivendi (Havas) just wanted to rip Sierra down to nothing from the beginning.
I've had the occasional thought that it may have nothing to do with Sierra at all, and it may have been more of a reaction to the HFS/Cendant days.
Makes as much sense as any other explanation for their actions at this point...
Shaking my head...
[img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/frown.gif[/img]
NUKE 'EM! NUKE THE BASTARDS! Let's shove those frogs down their throats!
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"Are you a god fearing man, senator? It's such an strange phrase. I've always though of god as a teacher... as a bringer of light, wisdom and understanding. You see, i think what you really are afraid of is me. Me and my kind, the Brotherhood of Mutants. Oh, it's not so suprising really, mankind has always feared what it doesnt understand. Well, dont fear god senator, and certainly dont fear me... not anymore."
[b]
Actually, it's one step back, which is why it makes no sense. Homeworld was an outside project that Sierra served as Publisher for. Unless sales of Cataclysm were catastrophic, I cannot see the reasoning *at all*.[/b][/quote]
Errr....I meant that! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
uhh...it's the keyboard! No...implanting typos! Bad keyboard! It's possessed! Yeah...posessed!
[This message has been edited by Sanfam (edited 08-20-2001).]
Anyway, until Relic says something, I won't believe it's "safe."
Sierra is anything but honest when it comes to the waining ours before a project/people are cut.
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
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[i]Laws to suppress tend to strengthen what they would prohibit. This is the fine point on which all the legal professions of history have based their job security.[/i]
-Bene Gesserit Coda
By the looks hw2 is running on tightrope, it wont take much jingling the rope and it will fall.
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
(lollypop for the quote spotter )
chill fellas. I fly a four x .70cal armed stripped down Fury ( nice cross link there ). It's all very zen, next to no armour, no much more than pedal power to the airscrew, just guns... great fun...
...and the only way to make the damn game a challenge anymore... that's my entire point...
It's too slick, and it does not reward a hardcore gamer, there is very little long term in it. Perhaps online multiplayer may have been good... but there is too much good competition in that department.
[b]"Ease down there, Ease down... you've blown the transaxle.. all you are doing is grinding metal"....
(lollypop for the quote spotter )
[/b][/quote]
Aliens...though I can't remember who said it to Ripley.
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[b]Freejack: The Theoretical Subatomic Particle[/b]
[i]The structure of anger is repetition[/i]
Unknown Artist
That would be Corporal Hicks. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/shad.gif[/img]
[i]Aliens[/i]. Not that's a movie!
[b] Aliens...though I can't remember who said it to Ripley.[/b][/quote]
"It's alright; we're clear! Ripley! You've blown the transaxle! You're just grinding metal! C'mon, ease down! [i]Ease[/i] down... Ease [i]down![/i] Ease down."
It was Hicks.
What do you [i]mean[/i] I've seen it too many times?!
Edit: Doh! John beat me to it by a measily 20 minutes. Stoopit company proxy... Making me force a refresh all the time... *grumble*
[This message has been edited by Brewt (edited 08-21-2001).]
[quote] [b]
ActionTrip has received word from a reliable source within Sierra that they have released Relic series from its contract. This does not mean that the series will no longer be developed; it just means that it will no longer be published under the Sierra label. While the game has received nothing but high marks from critics, sales have said otherwise about the popularity and anticipation of this series. This news comes just hours after word that Sierra has given Homeworld 2 the axe.
[/b][/quote]
just spotted this at [url="http://www.voodooextreme.com/#19811"] voodooextreme[/url]
[b]
ActionTrip has received word from a reliable source within Sierra that they have released Relic series from its contract. This does not mean that the series will no longer be developed; it just means that it will no longer be published under the Sierra label. While the game has received nothing but high marks from critics, sales have said otherwise about the popularity and anticipation of this series. This news comes just hours after word that Sierra has given Homeworld 2 the axe.
[/b][/quote]
Hmmn...now what was it that I said yesterday about Sierra being anything but honest just before the axe falls?
At least they faired better than us-- they have ownership of their IP. My guess is that the "negotiations" were over just this point in the "opt out" section of the relic-sierra contract.
Isn't it like Sierra to can the sequel to a game that garnished several "Game of the Year" accolades...even if the sales of HW weren't "stellar", the press it has gained as a result of those awards will make it's sequel noticed. By that logic WB should drop Matrix 2 and 3. Vivendi really just doesn't "get it."
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 08-21-2001).]
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
From Bluesnews:
[url="http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=27811"]Homeworld NOT Cancelled?[/url]
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[i]"...In the end it would hold because what is built endures. And what is loved endures.
And Babylon 5...Babylon 5 endures."[/i] -- Delenn in the Babylon 5 episode [i]Rising Star[/i]
[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 08-21-2001).]
[This message has been edited by Rick (edited 08-21-2001).]
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras
or.. uhm.. well... no... whatsoever.. i don't know nothing anymore.. need some sleep...
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[b]Required reading: [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/[/url][/b]
Never eat anything bigger than your own head.
The Balance provides. The Balance protects.
"Nonono...Is not [i]Great[/i] Machine. Is...[i]Not[/i]-so-Great Machine. It make good snow cone though." - Zathras