THQ Dissolved(ign.com) |
THQ Dissolved(ign.com) |
Which other publisher would dare take on the offensive, lewd sandbox game like Saint's Row, each sequel just a little more over the top than the last?
In a market full of repetitive sequels, played out plotlines, and annual cash-cows, I'm hoping Koch Media do Volition and Saint's Row 4 justice!
Sadly, the worst part is not that an adventuresome publisher is no longer with us. The worst part is that all the other publishers will now be that much more afraid of being adventuresome.
Saints row 1 was largely forgettable, 2 became interesting, and 3 is a sandbox classic, out shining in many ways even GTA IV. The combination of novel ideas and willingness to improve and change is such a crucial combination when developing a product.
So even given that, to me the main thing THQ's name brings to mind is the endless stream of games they churned out under licensing agreements with various TV and movie franchises. If I were going to pick a game company to be the poster child for unoriginal cash cows, the maker of all those SpongeBob, Kung Fu Panda and WWF games would absolutely be a top candidate.
EA just is not what it used to be and all my favorite classic franchises (Command and Conquer, C&C Red Alert, Sim City, Syndicate, etc) are just a shadow of what they once were.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archon:_The_Light_and_the_Dark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_Order_Monsters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Cities_of_Gold_(video...
The games you quoted were not FROM EA per se, they were mostly from studios acquired by EA which were dissolved soon after they released something worthy of publishing. Sim City was from Maxix, SYndicate from Bullfrog, CC from Westwood. Do not assume developer=publisher.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/23/fin-thq-sells-off...
Darksiders are done which is sad.
http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a453020/south-park-stu...
But from all of their recent years - they ran Heroes into the ground, from the fabled AC franchise only the ACII is really good, and whatever they ship they manage to make unplayable with the uplay crap.
Metro 2033 is adapted from a russian '05 novel of the same name, while S.T.A.L.K.E.R is from both the '72 novel Stalker and its '79 movie.
They bear no lineage.
Those didn't seem to be a franchise that got sold off, so maybe is abandonware?
That is, if it's not already deep in development, which I think I remember hearing that it is.
The ability to get additional toys per round is a huge mechanic IMO in replayability.
I also look forward to the improved graphics that Crytek will bring. My only fear is that Crysis from what I have seen feels pretty cold at times so hopefully that does not bleed over.
EDIT: I also don't get why Homefront was so panned by critics. The graphics obviously pale when compared to something like Crysis but like I said, I think they got many aspects of multiplayer very right.
Where they have to improve upon actually is the story and gameplay, Crysis 2 was a little disapointing there, I think. Crysis Warhead on th other hand was way better.
I hope SEGA will make good use of my favorite games.
I didn't have a real PC until I was 11 or so and that was around 1996 (had an NES, Sega Genesis and SNES before that). I did play many of the classic games of the early 90s (original sim city, red baron, panzer general, doom, wing commander, x-wing/tie fighter), but ones from the 80s are kind of beyond my scope, even for an avid PC gamer like me. I could play them now, but not sure if I would be able to appreciate them on quite the same level with the same magic they had when they came out.
I do have one question though for the sake of curiousity. Did you ever lament or rage at the state of pc games in the 90s compared to those in the 80s? Your reply kind of hints at it, but was not sure what your actual point was for sure. I always second guess everything repeating itself, even something like this.
I hold out some hope for the new generation of indie game makers but mostly what I see coming from that crowd is platformers of various stripes. Maybe kids today just don't have the attention span for a game like M.U.L.E.?
I wouldn't mind seeing a remake of M.U.L.E. if it's done right. Though that would probably be somewhat complicated with the original creator dead and EA probably has all the rights to it still. Have to be independantly developed. I would hate to see what EA would come up with if they tried to put it out.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezumas_Revenge_(video_game)
It would depend on if you wanted it to work with the dx11 graphics or dx9 option. Dx9 is all consoles get so it wouldn't be horrible. The game is also nowhere as graphically impressive as some other PC games (Witcher 2, original Crysis, Deus Ex). Lots of low res textures in it that were not improved when porting from the consoles.
Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but it's a console port at heart and has the side-effects that come from porting it without improving graphically really. It wasn't a game I played for the graphics though and not something to nitpick really.
I played on Westwood's multiplayer servers back in the 90s. EA carried on letting Command and Conquer series be pretty good up until Red Alert 3 (bad) and Command & Conquer 4 (horrible), which were made long after Westwood was absorbed[1]. Even Sim City 4 was pretty good and that was published long after Maxis had been swallowed.
My point was, EA is where good games go to die, regardless of who develops them. It wasn't always that way, but something shifted in the company over the past 10 years. Their current mode of operation is treat PC as a second class platform, recycle instead of create, appeal to the lowest common denominator for marketing[2] and stuff as much social/online interaction as they can with no way to opt out[3].
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westwood_Studios
[2] https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=red+alert+3+women&...
[3] http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/The-Benefits-of-Li...
Edit: some clarifications and citations.
Also, they killed off PC sports games by re releasing the same PS2 ports for like 6 years in a row.