Support NeoGAF

[Rlan]

Where is the Lemmings brand currently situated? The last game I remember was that Lemmings and Oh no! More Lemmings compilation. Have there been any more since then?

I remember playing Lemmings on the Megadrive, but don't remember past the first 10, maybe 20 levels, and remembering all those passwords just got tedious.

Lemmings 2 had the better idea of different tribes which you could start and save at, so you could end up playing more levels.

I'm hankering for a DS version, but who owns the license? What are the chances? I've recently been playing Chu Chu Rocket! on the GBA, and the way you choose your puzzles would fit right in with Lemmings.

Maybe chuck Lemmings Paintball in there for wireless multiplay?

 

[Link1110]

Well, since the team that made Lemmings is currently raking it in by making Grand Theft Auto (Yes, DMA, the same development team made both,) I'd have to say Lemmings is dead, at least for now.

 

[ChristKiller]

Lemmings Revolution in 2000 was the last Lemmings game to be released. It wasnt horrible but some of the later levels are way too hard.

 

[Jotaro]

Christ I wanted to start a thread about it. I will never forget that game which I played for hours and hours on end on my old POS Macintosh.

The music fucking rocked too!

"Woooh-oh!"

Well, since the team that made Lemmings is currently raking it in by making Grand Theft Auto (Yes, DMA, the same development team made both,) I'd have to say Lemmings is dead, at least for now.

But the brand is still somewhat notorious, why isn't it just handed out to another Rockstar division? And wasn't it an internal Psygnosis team who made Lemmings 2k? (I could be wrong here)

 

[8bit]

I think Sony own the brand these days. Oh, and Lemmings 3D killed the series for me, it's the only to this day where the movement made me feel sick.

 

[Shard]

Yea, Sony owns Lemmings.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Damn that sucks if true. DS is tailor made for it.

 

[Red Scarlet]

I still have all the passwords I wrote down for that game on the Amiga, when I was like 8.

Doesn't Sony own Psygnosis?

 

[dog$]

You don't hear much about Lemmings these days.

Remember about 5+ years ago when it would dependably show up in every Top 50/100 of All Time list?

 

[radioheadrule83]

Lemmings was DMA design... so Take 2 probably own it, now that they're Rockstar North. A Take 2 affiliate Talonsoft published Lemmings Revolution in 2000...

Unless they sold it to Psygnosis before they became Sony Liverpool. In which case Sony does. But I've not heard anything of the sort though. They probably just bought a liscence to use it...

A new 2d lemmings would kick all sorts of ass on any platform.

 

[Rlan]

Sony own Lemmings? Those Bastards!

 

[cja]

GamesTM has a nice 6 page retro on Lemmings this month. Sony own the brand. The original developers from DMA are all over the place; Real Time Worlds, Denki, Visual Science and Midway Texas were mentioned in the article.

 

[Agent X]

If I recall correctly, Sony used to own Lemmings due to their acquisition of Psygnosis, but they sold the rights to Take-Two about 4 or 5 years ago. Take-Two also owns DMA Design, who originally created Lemmings; DMA Design is now Rockstar North, responsible for the Grand Theft Auto games.

 

[Rlan]

Looking through Gamespress, it seems Take-Two released lemmings for the GBC back in 2000, but I also found this:

IFONE GRANTED EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS TO 'LEMMINGS' GAME FRANCHISE ON WIRELESS DEVICES

Classic action-puzzle game coming to wireless devices

Manchester, 25th August 2004: iFone, the wireless entertainment publisher, has signed a multi-year agreement with Psygnosis, a Sony Computer Entertainment company, for rights to the best-selling Lemmings game franchise. This agreement grants iFone exclusive wireless rights to Lemmings in Europe and North America, with the first Lemmings wireless games scheduled for Christmas 2004.

'Lemmings' is one of the world's most successful games franchises, having sold over 10 million copies since its launch in 1990. The memorable lemmings characters of the game are small, green-haired beings that mindlessly walk en masse into any danger in their path. The first Lemmings game broke new ground in gameplay, winning multiple maximum review scores in games magazines.

"The Lemmings franchise is an excellent fit for the wireless gaming environment - it is already a huge brand, it is incredibly addictive and fits the small form factor perfectly," stated Morgan O'Rahilly, iFone CEO. "The franchise is one of the few seminal gaming experiences, a deceptively simple action-puzzle that gives hours of entertainment."

iFone has an excellent reputation for publishing blockbuster games to the mobile phone environment, having already brought Tetris®, Monopoly and Cluedo to the small screen. iFone games are regularly amongst the world's best-selling wireless games.

-ends-

Thing is, Psygnosis wasn't even called that when this press release was made [as mentioned above], so it's riddled with errors..

 

[Tarazet]

Considering the PS1 compilation of Lemmings and Oh No! More Lemmings sold about 14 copies in the US, I don't think it's coming back anytime soon. It's definitely one of the all time classics, though. The puzzle design is absolutely fiendish, especially those levels where you have the same exact layout as an earlier level, but you have less materials to work with.

 

[Agent X]

So, it appears Sony still owns Lemmings? If so, then they need to get to work on a Lemmings game for PSP pronto!

Considering the PS1 compilation of Lemmings and Oh No! More Lemmings sold about 14 copies in the US, I don't think it's coming back anytime soon.

I have the PlayStation version. It's a very good version of the game, although the new "Yippee!" voice that the Lemmings utter when they exit a level can become very annoying when a lot of them exit in rapid succession. Also, I was a bit surprised the two-player mode didn't make it in here.

It's definitely one of the all time classics, though. The puzzle design is absolutely fiendish, especially those levels where you have the same exact layout as an earlier level, but you have less materials to work with.

Oh, some of those levels are great, especially when you decide to try the "obvious" approach.