Activision and Bungie sitting in a tree
Yes it makes me sick, but at least there are MUCH better off than they were sitting under the Microsoft skirt getting all green and rancid like Rare and Lionhead. That is to say, Bungie needs to be set free, because there's still life enough left in them for there to be games made that can change the world, unlike Rare and Lionhead.
The arrangement feels more like aged partners bargaining for a high yield future through cooperation, not subjugation or assimilation as would have been expected.
Even if Activision (and every other mega publisher, to a lesser degree the reformed EA) is sucking the life out of other studios, Bungie has classed themselves above and beyond being merely a studio thanks to Halo. What they have in talent and potential, plus money, time and freedom, should result in more than enough money for even the worst villain of the software publishing fatcatocracy to sit back and wait.
While it might be a short Lune-de-miel for Bungie.. 2 to 3 years if things are going to get bad in the next 10.. meaning unless they actually do produce something monumental, it won't last with Activision. Any success that isn't big enough will just make Activision bigger, hungrier and meaner. The only good thing about Microsoft is that it is effectively comatose. Things are bad, can't get better, and everyone is expecting it to keep getting worse.. but it is on a long time scale. Bungie is in a position to really do that, they could give Acitivision another golden egg worth billions in the next 10 years. This is the price of doing any business with villains like Microsoft and Activision. Not knowing how good it might get but being so sure that you can and will get ripped apart, that the only security for the future is a 9 month long in the gestating, hopefully Mjolnir armor clad, plus overshield, pre-nup. That and a game like Wow up your sleeve. Or Halo. And Bungie is capable.
But it isn't like EA was an option given they already are having trouble with Bioware. Meaning Bioware ought to be doing so much more with their core franchises, but with Mass Effect being exclusive to Windows and Xbox, that's sadly limited.. and having Bungie around would be like trying to get prima donnas to play nice in the same house.
There would just be resentment, finger pointing, hate.. murder... as they both have a good claim, Bioware makes games in more than one franchise at a time which end up being successful. But neither can touch Blizzard. If Bungie has a shot at that level, it certainly won't be at Microsoft, even with Halo. They just don't want that anymore. I personally want to see them outshine even Blizzard.
Where it's a shame that the Infinity Ward guys didn't fold into Bungie. Are they looking at a multi-billion dollar decade? or bust? Not likely.
Games, or rather the new "Universe"
Anyhow, BungieVision, though far from sanct, seems stable.. at least if Bungie says it is. And if they remain confident that it was a deal struck in their best interest.
All it can mean, short term, is win for gamers. Bungie is finally really out of the box. Not soon enough of course, since at least for right now, it seems like they have too much ambition for the available platforms. Meaning I think it would be a waste for them to rush anything to market just yet. But no more Halo, no Oni, no Marathon.. what could this new Universe be? Where does Luke Smith go after Reach? He's got green blood that one. It won't easily scrub out.
But personally I think Bungie is wasting time and money if they support Reach if their new Universe is all that and not just the giddy spewlings of a studio getting their freedom with a slice of cake with the promise of a fat belly over the next 10 years. Yes Reach will make millions. Millions for Microsoft. Do they put money back into studios? nope. Too bad. Activision is doubtless happy for paydirt but again, how long is that going to last if success was just sweet nothings whispered in the night?
Makes you wonder if in the meantime turn10's PGR or Ruffian's Crackdwon matter.. as well as if 343's Halos will ever get made, and how long they will last after Halo sans Bungie it made to stand on it's own legs.
Should Bungie wait just a little, Natal and Move may change the market. So that if they launch into anything that doesn't support Natal or Move, like Reach, the new "Universe" might seem pass. It didn't take long for Mass Effect 2 to pass out and roll of the face of the earth. Or at least my radar. Bungie's game will have to be mighty.
Or should they wait to release anything on Xbox until after Natal faceplants with a real potential of seriously harming the platform... Bungie could save it from death even if it isn't with a Halo title... and then they can whisper why.. But it isn't as if Bungie wants that. They'll make Xbox games, they'll make Windows games. And they will sell. There will be success for all, just less money for Microsoft to burn.
Going back to Apple
The rumblings in Apple for gaming outside of portables, for gaming on their computer platform, for growth where there hasn't been enough of it before, are getting louder. Like ground around a volcano. Wouldn't be it be interesting for Apple to be considered a primary development platform for game franchises? Some things would have to change, like getting Bluray as standard...
Another odd thing is that people automatically see their union with Activision and meaning that Bungie will develop for PS3. This is obvious but who cares? Even Bungie making 3rd party games for Ps3 doesn't automatically mean that platform will do any better or worse. The real question is Apple. It isn't a surprise to anyone that many MGS studios, and individual developers love Apple's platforms. Or that many Microsoft employees carry Apple brand portables around with them, and very few care about Xbox or Zune. With Courier stillborn and Zune stubbornly not dead but hardly worth mentioning, it isn't surprising that they aren't interesting in Microsoft hardware.
Bungie must have more interest in Apple than they would in making PS3 games. That and with Bungie making games on Linux and Apple, I'd really consider dropping windows as a main OS if they and other studios started putting real games (outside of FPS) on other platforms.. other than Windows, Xbox and iPhone. Activision would own Apple gaming like Bungie owned Xbox by putting Bungie games back on PC AND Apple portables, where it is great that steam just launched for Apple.
Consider for half a second what it would mean to have premium games, not just apps, coming from talent like Bungie for Apple's portables.
Literally they could burst open iPad with the right game. Even if it takes a couple of years to get that far, iPad being new and unproven. The Apple version of Sony's PSP. But with a bigger screen and more capabilities it is slightly less useless. It and the other Apple portables are still like MP3 players for games. They might give you shitty little games, but the price is also reduced.
Also, with Steam Apple might very well decide to create a hardware platform for gaming. It would be a long time coming and Apple's portables just don't cut it for me for meaningful game experiences, that could change. Bungie isn't really a catalyst or anything since they can't produce 1000 apps, but it would be good for them to focus on PC, through Apple and Linux, on a proven and trusted money making platform like Valve's Steam.. and PS3.
They could potentially skip Xbox and Windows PC altogether, outside of Steam. That and it would be good for Bungie to hold over until the next batch of consoles anyway. Meaning Activision probably wouldn't have then even skip Wii HD if they could help it. That said all of the 3 platforms are weak when it comes to online potential compared to PC, Apple Linux and Windows. As in if the game is going to be an MMO, that's Xbox 360 out of the picture. Ps3 doesn't have an MMO presence either.
An MMO for Apple, Linux and Windows PC would simply kick ass. With lesser experiences on the consoles if it is profitable to bother. Analysts are claiming 10 million copies.. which I think is ludicrous without any real information.. but based on available platforms, and distribution across all those platforms, makes it easier to see 10 million copies of anything special selling.
Just to look at Mass Effect which was supposed to be hot shit.. it made a splash yes.. but really doesn't feel like a Galaxy. And Spore ought to have washed everything else away.. but interest dried up quickly after people finally got to play it. Meaning, analysts can say whatever they want, even of the venerable Bungie powered by Activision money.. it isn't a guaranty of anything if they choose the wrong platform and waste money on pointless initiatives, like continuing to support Xbox platform outside of Reach, at least in the current form.
And if they decide not to go back to Apple. That would be an incredible oversight.
Meaning of any of them, Apple's platform is ripe for exploitation. To not.. just criminal.
The halo movie
it is sad that it is dead but with all kinds of serious noise behind game movies it's only a matter of time before another director decides to take a stab at something interesting that could fly as a simple 2 hour movie, compared to a 10 year saga like Halo. They need to commit to many movies before just launching a game. If James Cameron and Ubisoft can screw up an Avatar game.. it's only more proof that game tech needs to mature significantly to catch up to the quality and awesome visuals of movies, but also that movies need games to span the gap between sequels.
When James Cameron says he wants to trim the budget of Avatar to make more of them, it might be a good idea to put games in the middle to keep deepen our immersion in those environments and societies. Sadly Halo never made it, but a bit more planning since the whip is lifted is something that would allow Bungie to plan movies and games, and even TV shows before they start tumbling down the hill head first into a new even more compelling universe.
That and Bungie has experience by working on cinematics, outsourced, for Halo 3 with real movie professionals.
One big question that leaves me with is of it being their desire to stick with DVD, to do in game cinematics in-engine, or if Bungie would be looking at other more awesome ways to convey story aspects of games, outside of interactive gameplay.
Will access to bluray matter to Bungie. Would that impact interest in PS3, higher than lesser platforms like iPhone and Wii..
Would Apple+Bluray attract Bungie? or do they not care beyond just having access to hardware that lines up with their vision, whatever it might be.
Yes it makes me sick, but at least there are MUCH better off than they were sitting under the Microsoft skirt getting all green and rancid like Rare and Lionhead. That is to say, Bungie needs to be set free, because there's still life enough left in them for there to be games made that can change the world, unlike Rare and Lionhead.
The arrangement feels more like aged partners bargaining for a high yield future through cooperation, not subjugation or assimilation as would have been expected.
Even if Activision (and every other mega publisher, to a lesser degree the reformed EA) is sucking the life out of other studios, Bungie has classed themselves above and beyond being merely a studio thanks to Halo. What they have in talent and potential, plus money, time and freedom, should result in more than enough money for even the worst villain of the software publishing fatcatocracy to sit back and wait.
While it might be a short Lune-de-miel for Bungie.. 2 to 3 years if things are going to get bad in the next 10.. meaning unless they actually do produce something monumental, it won't last with Activision. Any success that isn't big enough will just make Activision bigger, hungrier and meaner. The only good thing about Microsoft is that it is effectively comatose. Things are bad, can't get better, and everyone is expecting it to keep getting worse.. but it is on a long time scale. Bungie is in a position to really do that, they could give Acitivision another golden egg worth billions in the next 10 years. This is the price of doing any business with villains like Microsoft and Activision. Not knowing how good it might get but being so sure that you can and will get ripped apart, that the only security for the future is a 9 month long in the gestating, hopefully Mjolnir armor clad, plus overshield, pre-nup. That and a game like Wow up your sleeve. Or Halo. And Bungie is capable.
But it isn't like EA was an option given they already are having trouble with Bioware. Meaning Bioware ought to be doing so much more with their core franchises, but with Mass Effect being exclusive to Windows and Xbox, that's sadly limited.. and having Bungie around would be like trying to get prima donnas to play nice in the same house.
There would just be resentment, finger pointing, hate.. murder... as they both have a good claim, Bioware makes games in more than one franchise at a time which end up being successful. But neither can touch Blizzard. If Bungie has a shot at that level, it certainly won't be at Microsoft, even with Halo. They just don't want that anymore. I personally want to see them outshine even Blizzard.
Where it's a shame that the Infinity Ward guys didn't fold into Bungie. Are they looking at a multi-billion dollar decade? or bust? Not likely.
Games, or rather the new "Universe"
Anyhow, BungieVision, though far from sanct, seems stable.. at least if Bungie says it is. And if they remain confident that it was a deal struck in their best interest.
All it can mean, short term, is win for gamers. Bungie is finally really out of the box. Not soon enough of course, since at least for right now, it seems like they have too much ambition for the available platforms. Meaning I think it would be a waste for them to rush anything to market just yet. But no more Halo, no Oni, no Marathon.. what could this new Universe be? Where does Luke Smith go after Reach? He's got green blood that one. It won't easily scrub out.
But personally I think Bungie is wasting time and money if they support Reach if their new Universe is all that and not just the giddy spewlings of a studio getting their freedom with a slice of cake with the promise of a fat belly over the next 10 years. Yes Reach will make millions. Millions for Microsoft. Do they put money back into studios? nope. Too bad. Activision is doubtless happy for paydirt but again, how long is that going to last if success was just sweet nothings whispered in the night?
Makes you wonder if in the meantime turn10's PGR or Ruffian's Crackdwon matter.. as well as if 343's Halos will ever get made, and how long they will last after Halo sans Bungie it made to stand on it's own legs.
Should Bungie wait just a little, Natal and Move may change the market. So that if they launch into anything that doesn't support Natal or Move, like Reach, the new "Universe" might seem pass. It didn't take long for Mass Effect 2 to pass out and roll of the face of the earth. Or at least my radar. Bungie's game will have to be mighty.
Or should they wait to release anything on Xbox until after Natal faceplants with a real potential of seriously harming the platform... Bungie could save it from death even if it isn't with a Halo title... and then they can whisper why.. But it isn't as if Bungie wants that. They'll make Xbox games, they'll make Windows games. And they will sell. There will be success for all, just less money for Microsoft to burn.
Going back to Apple
The rumblings in Apple for gaming outside of portables, for gaming on their computer platform, for growth where there hasn't been enough of it before, are getting louder. Like ground around a volcano. Wouldn't be it be interesting for Apple to be considered a primary development platform for game franchises? Some things would have to change, like getting Bluray as standard...
Another odd thing is that people automatically see their union with Activision and meaning that Bungie will develop for PS3. This is obvious but who cares? Even Bungie making 3rd party games for Ps3 doesn't automatically mean that platform will do any better or worse. The real question is Apple. It isn't a surprise to anyone that many MGS studios, and individual developers love Apple's platforms. Or that many Microsoft employees carry Apple brand portables around with them, and very few care about Xbox or Zune. With Courier stillborn and Zune stubbornly not dead but hardly worth mentioning, it isn't surprising that they aren't interesting in Microsoft hardware.
Bungie must have more interest in Apple than they would in making PS3 games. That and with Bungie making games on Linux and Apple, I'd really consider dropping windows as a main OS if they and other studios started putting real games (outside of FPS) on other platforms.. other than Windows, Xbox and iPhone. Activision would own Apple gaming like Bungie owned Xbox by putting Bungie games back on PC AND Apple portables, where it is great that steam just launched for Apple.
Consider for half a second what it would mean to have premium games, not just apps, coming from talent like Bungie for Apple's portables.
Literally they could burst open iPad with the right game. Even if it takes a couple of years to get that far, iPad being new and unproven. The Apple version of Sony's PSP. But with a bigger screen and more capabilities it is slightly less useless. It and the other Apple portables are still like MP3 players for games. They might give you shitty little games, but the price is also reduced.
Also, with Steam Apple might very well decide to create a hardware platform for gaming. It would be a long time coming and Apple's portables just don't cut it for me for meaningful game experiences, that could change. Bungie isn't really a catalyst or anything since they can't produce 1000 apps, but it would be good for them to focus on PC, through Apple and Linux, on a proven and trusted money making platform like Valve's Steam.. and PS3.
They could potentially skip Xbox and Windows PC altogether, outside of Steam. That and it would be good for Bungie to hold over until the next batch of consoles anyway. Meaning Activision probably wouldn't have then even skip Wii HD if they could help it. That said all of the 3 platforms are weak when it comes to online potential compared to PC, Apple Linux and Windows. As in if the game is going to be an MMO, that's Xbox 360 out of the picture. Ps3 doesn't have an MMO presence either.
An MMO for Apple, Linux and Windows PC would simply kick ass. With lesser experiences on the consoles if it is profitable to bother. Analysts are claiming 10 million copies.. which I think is ludicrous without any real information.. but based on available platforms, and distribution across all those platforms, makes it easier to see 10 million copies of anything special selling.
Just to look at Mass Effect which was supposed to be hot shit.. it made a splash yes.. but really doesn't feel like a Galaxy. And Spore ought to have washed everything else away.. but interest dried up quickly after people finally got to play it. Meaning, analysts can say whatever they want, even of the venerable Bungie powered by Activision money.. it isn't a guaranty of anything if they choose the wrong platform and waste money on pointless initiatives, like continuing to support Xbox platform outside of Reach, at least in the current form.
And if they decide not to go back to Apple. That would be an incredible oversight.
Meaning of any of them, Apple's platform is ripe for exploitation. To not.. just criminal.
The halo movie
it is sad that it is dead but with all kinds of serious noise behind game movies it's only a matter of time before another director decides to take a stab at something interesting that could fly as a simple 2 hour movie, compared to a 10 year saga like Halo. They need to commit to many movies before just launching a game. If James Cameron and Ubisoft can screw up an Avatar game.. it's only more proof that game tech needs to mature significantly to catch up to the quality and awesome visuals of movies, but also that movies need games to span the gap between sequels.
When James Cameron says he wants to trim the budget of Avatar to make more of them, it might be a good idea to put games in the middle to keep deepen our immersion in those environments and societies. Sadly Halo never made it, but a bit more planning since the whip is lifted is something that would allow Bungie to plan movies and games, and even TV shows before they start tumbling down the hill head first into a new even more compelling universe.
That and Bungie has experience by working on cinematics, outsourced, for Halo 3 with real movie professionals.
One big question that leaves me with is of it being their desire to stick with DVD, to do in game cinematics in-engine, or if Bungie would be looking at other more awesome ways to convey story aspects of games, outside of interactive gameplay.
Will access to bluray matter to Bungie. Would that impact interest in PS3, higher than lesser platforms like iPhone and Wii..
Would Apple+Bluray attract Bungie? or do they not care beyond just having access to hardware that lines up with their vision, whatever it might be.
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