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British game makers saved by Sony

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Wax Free Vanilla

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British game makers saved by Sony
Alfred Hermida
Technology editor, BBC News website, in Los Angeles

A team of British game makers, who lost their jobs just over six months ago, has landed a major deal with one of the biggest names in entertainment. They have been hired by Sony to make an exclusive game for its next-generation console, the PlayStation 3. It is a major turnaround in the fortunes of Tameem Antoniades and his team at Ninja Theory.

In October, their world was turned upside down with the collapse of top UK indie game developers, Argonaut Games. By then, the team had been working on a prototype of the game, called Heavenly Sword, for 10 months at their Cambridge studios. The game was highlighted by Sony during the launch of its PlayStation 3 at the E3 games expo in Los Angeles.

Soul-destroying times

"The future is quite bright for us now, whereas a few months ago it was very, very grim," Mr Antoniades told the BBC News website.

Following the collapse of Argonaut, Mr Antoniades and his colleagues, Nina Kristensen and Mike Ball, set up their own operation, Ninja Theory. The team continued working on Heavenly Sword, struggling to find a big name backer for the project. But most publishers shied away from committing to funding an untested game for an unknown console.

The potentially $10m (£5.5m) to $20m (£11m) budgets needed to make next-generation games is a major concern for publishers. To get to the deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe was "soul-destroyingly difficult".

"For a moment I started to lose hope there you can survive in this business," said Mr Antoniades.

Ambitious plans

Heavenly Sword is a martial arts epic. Initial demos of the game have impressed attendees at E3. They have shown the heroine of the story battling hordes across striking landscapes. No date has been set for the game's release, but Mr Antoniades reckons it could be finished in 18 months. He has an ambitious 10-year plan for Heavenly Sword, talking about the possibilities of making a version of the game for Sony's handheld, the PSP, or even a film based on the story.

These are just ideas at the moment and rely on the game proving a blockbuster hit for the PlayStation 3. The team was behind Kung Fu Chaos, a game published in 2003 by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox. The game received generally positive reviews but did less well in stores.

Hopes and fears

The deal with Sony comes at a time of consolidation in the games industry. Ironically in September 2004, just a month before Argonaut's collapse, Mr Antoniades had warned of the problems facing independents. He told a conference of game developers that he feared many independent studios would disappear, either by going bust or by being bought out.

Now, Mr Antoniades believes that Ninja Theory has shown that there is hope for small developers.

"We stuck our necks out to achieve what we have achieved," he said.

"We had either the balls or the stupidity to do what we did, but it so nearly didn't work out."
Click to expand...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4568777.stm


Sony seems to have snapped up a cracking title, and saved a developer from going under in the process. Good Sony, very good. :D
 
there was an entire article about the dev house in EDGE. Good read. Glad Sony save them too and at the very last minute too; probably scooped a bargain - Heavenly Sword looks like it has potential. ;)
 
Odnetnin said:
there was an entire article about the dev house in EDGE. Good read. Glad Sony save them too and at the very last minute too; probably scooped a bargain - Heavenly Sword looks like it has potential. ;)
Click to expand...


Anywhere to read it online? I'm interested. :)
 
Despite all the talk that surrounded Killzone 2, this was the game from Sony's conference that really grabbed my attention. The combat variety shown was awesome, and that's the only way a game like that is really going to work.
 
Heavenly Sword is definitely the most interesting thing that Sony showed at E3. Sony seems to have made a good choice in buying this property.
 
The gaming industry needs to address this problem of rising game development costs quickly before we see software begin to skyrocket in retail price, alienating consumers. There really isn't much 3rd parties can do about it though, so its really going to fall on the 1st parties to save the industry's financial hide. Things like this are great but they just solve one company's problem, not the problem with the industry as a whole.

The only things I can think of that would help reduce the costs of game development and distribution would be first party complimentary middleware in every development kit (which should happen!) and first party assisted distribution for all independants, preventing great obscure games from being, well, obscure.

Downloadable software is something that I'd like to see companies push for as well, since it would take the middle man retailer as well as the physical production costs out of the equation. I know many people prefer hard copies and that piracy would get a big hand up from downloadable games, but if it could be successfully accomplished the retail middle men as well as physical packaging and shipping costs could be cut out of the equation, saving a sizable amount of money.

I'm really hoping one of the more business savvy small companies out there come up with a solution to this problem though. Its the biggest current threat to the future of the industry I'd say, as well as having a negative impact even last generation on the selection of diverse, unique titles available.
 
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

cambridge studios (primal, ghosthunter) - average at best

liverpool studios (formula one) - below average racing game

argonaut games (i-ninja, creature shock) - did they produce one good game in their history??

vis (state of emergency) - ugh.thats worser than worse

mucky foot (urban chaos) - average, did i say average???

core design (tomb raider) - on a way downhill

team 17 (worms) - is anyone here, who buys nowadays their worms crap?

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh

...

when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
 
ram said:
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

cambridge studios (primal, ghosthunter) - average at best

liverpool studios (formula one) - below average racing game

argonaut games (i-ninja, creature shock) - did they produce one good game in their history??

vis (state of emergency) - ugh.thats worser than worse

mucky foot (urban chaos) - average, did i say average???

core design (tomb raider) - on a way downhill

team 17 (worms) - is anyone here, who buys nowadays their worms crap?

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh

...

when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
Click to expand...

I'd add that sony house that did getaway. F-ing rubbish.

I think you're a bit harsh on the WRC crew. I haven't played any but I read reviews that the games were comparable to V-Rally and Collin McCrae? (which I played and thought was good.)
 
ram said:
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

cambridge studios (primal, ghosthunter) - average at best

liverpool studios (formula one) - below average racing game

argonaut games (i-ninja, creature shock) - did they produce one good game in their history??

vis (state of emergency) - ugh.thats worser than worse

mucky foot (urban chaos) - average, did i say average???

core design (tomb raider) - on a way downhill

team 17 (worms) - is anyone here, who buys nowadays their worms crap?

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh


...

when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
Click to expand...

Only on Gaming Age could a developer thread turn into another WW2 Britian vs Germany fest. :lol:lol
 
ram said:
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

cambridge studios (primal, ghosthunter) - average at best

liverpool studios (formula one) - below average racing game

argonaut games (i-ninja, creature shock) - did they produce one good game in their history??

vis (state of emergency) - ugh.thats worser than worse

mucky foot (urban chaos) - average, did i say average???

core design (tomb raider) - on a way downhill

team 17 (worms) - is anyone here, who buys nowadays their worms crap?

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh

...

when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
Click to expand...

I liked Croc, and even if Team 17 keeps making Worms games, they're great.
 
ram said:
when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
Click to expand...

Rockstar? Codemasters? Rare? Lionhead Studios? Climax? Tonnes more I'm forgetting about too, I'm sure. There are plenty of great devs in Britain.
 
Didn't Argonaut Games also develop the SuperFX chip (along with Star Fox, Stunt Race which utilized the technology) for Super NES and Buck Bumble for N64? They were pretty good games.
 
woodnotes said:
What about the GTA developers, Rockstar North?

What about Rare?

What aout Codemasters?

Lionhead?

Climax?

Jeez!
Click to expand...


This new Rare is slow at game production and GOTG (only game released this gen is shit) No comments on everything else they are producing.


Lionhead's last release was Black and White, I think. And that was shit. BC was cancelled. I think they're working on The Movies. Fable was done by Big Blue Box. And it wasn't very good. You can almost argue that Lionhead sucks.


Climax = Suckdicky = :lol
 
gofreak said:
Rockstar? Codemasters? Rare? Lionhead Studios? Climax? Tonnes more I'm forgetting about too, I'm sure. There are plenty of great devs in Britain.
Click to expand...

i did not say, that the uk has no real good developer. i stated, that it has to many crappy developers. on a sidenote, climax did only a decent job with the xbox moto gp and has a shitload of crappy games (sx superstar, rally fusion, italian job...) in their portfolio. rare is a shadow of the past and lionhead studios didnt deliver the games, that they promised.

sure, there were good games like wipeout, moto gp 2, lemmings... but in comparsion with all that developers within the uk...its a bit poor in my opinion.

and btw.

look at sci games - they are currently the biggest indie developer and publisher in the uk and look at their below average games like conflict desert-storm, constantine, conflict vietnam... thats a sign, that somewhat is terribly going wrong in the videogames world.
 
Doom_Bringer said:
I think they are British. I saw the Burnout Legends Dev Interview at IGN and the guy's accent seemed British to me ;)
Click to expand...

You're right!

Criterion Games headquartered in Guildford, UK, specialises in developing world class video games for PlayStation 2, X-Box and next-generation consoles. It is the creator of the award-winning Burnout franchise, published on Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft X-Box and Nintendo Game Cube systems. :)

Criterion Games is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts. :(
 
The UK put out the current gens highest selling franchise...when was the last time a german developer did that? Or any European developer? or any American developer? Never im betting.
 
ram said:
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

cambridge studios (primal, ghosthunter) - average at best

liverpool studios (formula one) - below average racing game

argonaut games (i-ninja, creature shock) - did they produce one good game in their history??

vis (state of emergency) - ugh.thats worser than worse

mucky foot (urban chaos) - average, did i say average???

core design (tomb raider) - on a way downhill

team 17 (worms) - is anyone here, who buys nowadays their worms crap?

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh

...

when i look at germany, i`ll see only a few developers, but they take out many high-profile games like legend of kay, far cry, gothic, aquanox...
Click to expand...

Cambridge studios make great games. Especially Ghost hunter which was a great and very entertaining atmospheric game. I don't know why their games are so underated and I honestly don't care. But please play their games before judging them. You'll probably not regret it.
 
fortified_concept said:
Cambridge studios make great games. Especially Ghost hunter which was a great and very entertaining atmospheric game. I don't know why their games are so underated and I honestly don't care. But please play their games before judging them. You'll probably not regret it.
Click to expand...

haha.. ghost hunter was shit. I played it. Absolutely disgusting game design + stupid story + implementation. Gave my headache. Just as flawed was Primal. I wish I'd not spent money on those 2 games.

And I bougth them both @ $15 USD each and I still felt cheated.
 
Odnetnin said:
haha.. ghost hunter was shit. I played it. Absolutely disgusting game design + stupid story + implementation. Gave my headache. Just as flawed was Primal. I wish I'd not spent money on those 2 games.

And I bougth them both @ $15 USD each and I still felt cheated.
Click to expand...

But... but... I love this game.
 
ram said:
sorry to say that, but the uk has far to many crappy developers. look at:

evolution studios (wrc) - 4 games and not one good rally game - argh

...
Click to expand...

You take that back! :)

WRC 2 and WRC 4 are the best.
 
Watch this game come out at the same time as Devil May Cry 4...

and heres to hoping Heavenly Sword sells well.....>.> <.< :lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
fortified_concept said:
Cambridge studios make great games. Especially Ghost hunter which was a great and very entertaining atmospheric game. I don't know why their games are so underated and I honestly don't care. But please play their games before judging them. You'll probably not regret it.
Click to expand...

i played primal and to some extend ghost hunter. both games have very good visuals, but lacking in terms of gameplay, handling and kamera. ghost hunter lacks orginality too - the overall design is just soooo horrible. uagh... (crocodilemen are so scary... >:O)

Defensor said:
You take that back! :)

WRC 2 and WRC 4 are the best.
Click to expand...

no! :)

i got wrc / wrc 3 / wrc 4 at home and all games cannot compare to colin mcrae in terms of steering / handling/ and overall rally feeling.
 
ram said:
no! :)

i got wrc / wrc 3 / wrc 4 at home and all games cannot compare to colin mcrae in terms of steering / handling/ and overall rally feeling.
Click to expand...

Come on... at least use Richard Burns Rally if you're going to compare rally games. CMR after number 2 = A Joke :lol

pcostabel said:
seems to work now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i've just read it and it's a great story. I hope the game is a massive success for both developer and publisher.


PUBLISHER #1
“We want you to make the game that you are passionate about”.
“Make it memorable”
“Be ambitious”.

VS

PUBLISHER #2
“We're waiting for our American office”
Click to expand...

:lol

I take it Publisher number 1 is Sony? I wonder who number two is because that's a stinking attitude.
 
Still reading through their story, it's very interesting. Happy to see them being signed with Sony, they are a talented bunch. Oh and I found this pic in the story:

hs_screenshots_03thumb.jpg

Very impressive. Love the atmosphere.
 
Pedigree Chum said:
Still reading through their story, it's very interesting. Happy to see them being signed with Sony, they are a talented bunch. Oh and I found this pic in the story:

hs_screenshots_03thumb.jpg

Very impressive. Love the atmosphere.
Click to expand...

the far off gren ruins/ buildings in the back is positively ICO.
 
Odnetnin said:
the far off gren ruins/ buildings in the back is positively ICO.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The trailer at Sony's PC didn't really show off the expansive level designs of the game. It mainly focused on huge battles, that I don't really care about. Gimme a huge world to play around in and I'm happy.
 
Ghost said:
The UK put out the current gens highest selling franchise...when was the last time a german developer did that? Or any European developer? or any American developer? Never im betting.
Click to expand...
Never including this gen actually. Mario is the highest selling franchise this gen.
 
Wax Free Vanilla said:
Come on... at least use Richard Burns Rally if you're going to compare rally games. CMR after number 2 = A Joke :lol
Click to expand...

yeah - richard burns rally was great - but the low framerate was a real letdown. simulations, hardcore simulations should use 60fps (for pal 50fps) and not the half of that. to me, colin mcrae 2005 is just the best rally game out there (and i didnt like the 3rd and fourth).
 
when the screens for this game came out a while ago, not a single person liked them. But now they are 'awesome' :P

Also the spin on this article is stupid. Should we say MS saved Rare? Or should we say Sega saved The Creative Assembly? Should we say EA saved DICE?
 
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