BioWare and Pandemic has been bought

[Tullaryx]

It looks like EA being relegated to number two position as third-party publisher and developer by Activision has prompted them to make one of the more surprising moves (even bigger than Microsoft allowing Bungie to branch off from the parent company as of last Friday). EA has made a tentative announcement that they've acquired well-renowned developer studios BioWare and Pandemic.

I, for one, didn't even think BioWare was even up for sale by its managers. Pandemic have been part of past rumors of tying themselves exclusively with a particular publisher but not much had come about of those rumors. With EA now owner of both BioWare and Pandemic will this affect some of the exclusive contracts BioWare has with Microsoft and the same goes for what Pandemic has with Sony.

While this shouldn't really affect the status of Knights of the Old Republic 3 (since that's a LucasArts IP and not BioWare) it does put a shadow on the Mass Effect franchise. And it will be a franchise as BioWare has already announced the game as part of a trilogy. The question being asked now of BioWare is whether Mass Effect will see it ported over to the PS3 with the following two sequels seeing a same day release for both the 360 and the PS3.

So, for those who have loved BioWare titles what do you think of EA gobbling up this studio, and to a lesser extent Pandemic (Mercenaries.
_________________

[Demon Eyes Kyo]

This is very depressing..all EA Games can do is crank out nothing but steaming piles of shit. But are they going to be involved with the development of their games, or are they just going to publish Bioware and Pandemic's games?
_________________



Return that soul to God.

[Himuro]

I refuse to believe. It's not TRUE. Here's hoping Bioware still retains creative control a la Criterion.
_________________
She knows stuff.

[jjrrs]

I think most bioware games are overrated anyways, it takes them forever to put of a game with interesting new ideas but since it's being over hyped like halo or GTA the whole time (for about 2 years), those games just won't live up to that kind of hype, being action RPGs that maybe 1/3 of the halo/gta players will play.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[Tullaryx]

Well, I think some people would happily disagree with you in regards to calling Knights of the Old Republic and the Baldur's Gate titles as overrated. Compared to most rpgs these games are pretty good and weren't milked like most Japanese RPGs. Plus, rpgs is what BioWare does and they've done pretty good work with most of their titles on the PC and console.

Really, outside of the core fans of their titles, most BioWare games are wholly underhyped. Maybe people who have played them constantly saying the games are great may be grating to you but that doesn't mean they're overhyped. Now Square-Enix games are overhyped most of the time, but even then some of the overhype comes from promising much and under-delivering.

I would hazard to guess that the time between title releases from BioWare is the fact that they're not a huge studio. Really the only times they've been late with their titles have been when developing for a new system. Knights of the Old Republic for the Xbox which was delayed for 8 months and Mass Effect for the 360. Even the latter can't really be called late since BioWare never announced a release date. I would say that Konami's work on releasing the next Suikoden may take longer than any of BioWare's title.

From the transcripts of the teleconference announcing the acquisition of both BioWare and Pandemic, EA may give them some freedom to develop their current slate of projects how they see fit. But even with Criterin as an example, EA will end up trying to milk the franchise IPs from newly acquired studios to come out every year or so. Mass Effect will not see a multiplatform release and for the time being the rest of the trilogy seem to be a 360 exclusive. There's still a chance this may change for the second and third leg of the trilogy if the first one sells well and is well-received by critics. EA has been very good about pushing all its titles multiplatform.

The major wildcard in all of this is Peter Moore's recent appointment as one of EA's main executive for its non-sport franchises. Even though he's not a Microsoft executive anymore and has said that he will treat all three consoles equally that may just be some lipservice. I can see Moore letting Microsoft keep the Mass Effect franchise as long as Microsoft compensates EA for the exclusive rights. He could then turn around offer a new IP to Sony to placate them.

All in all, it will come down to just whether Sony can bounce back from the very slow start of the PS3 and create a large enough userbse for their new console. If the PS3 continues to underperform in terms of sale then time exclusives for the 360 may happen more often than not for non-sports titles.
_________________

[Himuro]

Baldurs Gate is NOT overrated. Those games DESERVE the love they recieve.
_________________
She knows stuff.

[jjrrs]

Well maybe it's because I wasn't that on top of PC games like Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights but they just felt like variations of other action rpgs like diablo, I'm sure they play much differently in a good way and have solid storylines but it just feels like it's been done just as well by someone else.

In terms of the overall hype, once again I didn't pay much attention to the early games like Baldur's Gate, and there were less media coverage on games back then too, but by the time bioware started to do consol games like KOTOR, Jade Empire, & Mass effect the coverage have been crazy, any major update on a game is like the leading story for all game sites and publications, while the long delays only compound that hype, to me it just take things to a level that very few games can reach.

I did think that KOTOR was way better than anything similar at the time it came out that's only been matched recently by oblivion and it was worth the hype, but that's also due to it's star wars setting, while I'm not even that big of a star wars fan, I think it makes a big difference on attracting interest alone. On the other hand, if Mass Effect is just as revolutionary a game when it comes out, it's more generic sci-fi space travel setting won't gain attention in the same way. I'll still play the game, but I don't see how it would make the same impact.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[Tullaryx]

Well, you seem to mistake something that doesn't revolutionize (though their new system for branching dialogue and its effect on the game seems to be levels beyond that of Jade Empire) as being overrated. I don't get that. If one used that definition then all the Suikoden would be considered overrated since the games brought nothing new to the table and according to its hardcore of fans it's one of the best rpg franchises out there.
_________________

[jjrrs]

yeah but when it comes to japanese RPGs and tactical RPGs it's the story and the improve modification of the traditional gameplay that makes a game, just as the reviewers that wanted major improvements in gameplay hated Suikoden V, the people who loved it liked the game because of it's retro gameplay and storyline. Also unlike many over promoted titles, you are not force feed the idea that those games are the best ever made before they even come out.

However, I do consider FF and many other square games to be mostly overrated over the years for the same reasons, they get major attention, extra long delays, and don't live up to all the hype. With bioware's Mass effect, I don't see how I would be impressed the same way like KOTOR since oblivion's already set the standard for action RPGs very high, and I can't imagine Mass Effect topping it as much as KOTOR did.

I would say nowadays games of the disgaea or xenosaga series (maybe Tales games too cause I get the feeling it has a bigger following than Suikoden) and the activision x-men/marvel rpgs gets about the right amount of promotion and consistently deliver very solid results, though good japanese rpgs still don't get the type of attention those activision games get. It's rather rare that RPGs get that ratio just right since most are either very overrated, underrated, or just sucks. Maybe I just love the over achieving games, because I will never be overly impressed by bioware or square games after all the hype, unlike the titles that don't have unrealistic expectations and over delivers on content.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[retrospect.]

EA funds these companies, and often has very little to do with the production. Their own franchises make them more than enough money (Madden is the highest selling game every year) and through purchasing other companies they just encompass all demographics, banking on the fact that they know they dont appeal to EVERYONE.
_________________

[Ujitsuna]

EA are starting to become the Tesco/Wal-Mart of Games Publishers, if they stay out of the developer's faces though, there should only be advantages from it.

[retrospect.]

[Tullaryx]

I think you're pretty much setting yourself up to not like games that you think are overhyped. Even before the game is out and you try it out you're already coming in thinking this will never live up to the hype. So that means you are falling for the said hype you decry and make fun of. If that's the case then why bother even buying the game to play it if you already think it won't live up to the hype.

Myself, unless it's a game genre I don't particularly enjoy playing, I don't make advance assumptions of whether a game is good or whether it'll live up to the hype. I'll be excited about it since it's going to be a new game, but judging it before I've even laid hands or even played through it is like me telling every developer involved in the creation of the game that their game will never be as good because I thought it was overhyped.

Getting back on topic. I think EA has been good in regards to handling some of the more creative studios they've acquired in the past. One major particular one being Criterion Studios which developed the Burnout games. They could easily have run that studio to the ground like they did Origin and Westwood Studios, but so far they've been pretty hands off. Plus, if EA tampers or micromanages BioWare and Pandemic developers to the point working for them becomes too much then the staff could always leave to begin their own studios. It seem to have worked with Bungie and pretty much forced Microsoft to let them go but at the same time keep exclusive rights to their IP. If they hadn't done that then Bungie while still in Microsoft would've lost pretty much everyone to start their own companies thus leaving MS without the brains behind the game.
_________________

[jjrrs]

a good game is a good game, it's not like if a game is over hyped I'll personally hate it just because of that. When a game gets lots of coverage for a long time and is a good game: god of war, gears of war, mass effect... I always can't wait to play them and will do asap, but dispite that I don't even read the details of the endless previews or expect too much, most of those titles just fails to be too impressive. Because 90% of the time they are what they are: a really good or better version of a similar game. It's very rare a way advanced game like KOTOR or Oblivion is made, so after being told for years that a game is going to be by people that only knows what the producers want them to know, it only makes the final product less impressive.
_________________
SAVE A.D. - S.O.B.s
www.saveourbluths.org Note:website does not work
Narrator: Please tell your friends about this show.

[Tullaryx]

I have no idea what you mean by that last part. And I think we've spent enough time being off-topic. If you want to start up a topic discussing why games are overrated I'll be more than happy to discuss it there. Now, if you have thoughts on how the sale of BioWare and Pandemic to EA will impact the three console makers and the industry as a whole feel free to continue to chime in.
_________________