Post by: Bloodworth on March 23, 2005, 05:34:10 AM
SEGA Partners With Silicon Knights To Create Next Generation Content
Acquisitions of Western Content Prime SEGA for Growth
SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (March 23, 2005) – SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA, Europe Ltd. today announced an agreement to acquire and publish next-generation game content from Silicon Knights, the Ontario, Canada-based development team responsible for such hits as Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Eternal Darkness. The partnership brings SEGA more Western-developed content in preparation for high-growth opportunities presented by next-generation hardware platforms.
Under the terms of the worldwide exclusive deal, SEGA and Silicon Knights will collaborate on creating a new franchise for next generation console systems. This agreement, along with recent partnerships with publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (project: The Matrix Online); developer, Monolith Productions (project: Condemned); and the acquisition of esteemed developer, The Creative Assembly (project: Spartan: Total Warrior) continues to highlight SEGA's emphasis on the Western market.
"We intend to establish SEGA as a leading publisher on the next generation of game hardware and only the highest possible quality of Western-developed content will get us there," said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America. "Silicon Knights has a rich history of developing great games that push hardware technology, so we expect this relationship will result in a powerful, new, and highly commercial franchise."
"Silicon Knights believes that the next generation systems will be the catalyst propelling video games as the dominant form of entertainment in this century," said Denis Dyack, President of Silicon Knights. "We are very excited to collaborate with SEGA on a next generation project because we share a vision – to take the medium of games to new heights and move people as never before." SEGA will manage all marketing and distribution activities and work in hand with Silicon Knights to supervise ongoing game development. Both companies have decided not to release product, platform, or release details at this time.
Post by: ThePerm on March 23, 2005, 05:45:28 AM
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on March 23, 2005, 05:51:00 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 05:55:50 AM
(Ack, Sega + SK = worst sales ever?)
Post by: Pale on March 23, 2005, 06:03:57 AM
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on March 23, 2005, 06:04:24 AM
Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
I am completely and utterly confused now!
(Ack, Sega + SK = worst sales ever?)
It would serve them right for snubbing Ninty.
Post by: pudu on March 23, 2005, 06:05:27 AM
Post by: Savior on March 23, 2005, 06:17:07 AM
Too Human published by Sega on the X-box 360? Id say so... For shame,
Post by: kennyb27 on March 23, 2005, 06:32:39 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on March 23, 2005, 06:50:17 AM
Sega sucks now. Ever since Sammy bought them they just release total junk with formally well respected franchises names on the box. Their fanbase has given up on them and they for all intents and purposes are no longer the same company.
There's no advantage to working with them. Sammy doesn't care for game art. They just want product so it's not like this would be great for artistic freedom. And Sega is like a total money pit now so it's not like there's big money to be made. Nintendo is a much safer publisher for ensuring sales.
This still doesn't answer the big question. Why did SK leave Nintendo? I want to know. Did Nintendo do something bad? Is the Revolution going to be too weird so SK bailed? Was SK offered moneyhats by Sega? WHAT?
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 06:54:11 AM
Post by: Smash_Brother on March 23, 2005, 07:16:42 AM
And up until this point, I thought Dyack was a reasonably sensible guy...
-SB
Post by: ThePerm on March 23, 2005, 07:20:36 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 07:23:12 AM
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer game discs; computer game programs; computer game software; electronic game programs; electronic game software; video game discs; video game programs; video game software. FIRST USE: 20020624. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20020624
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 75672853
Filing Date April 1, 1999
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition August 8, 2000
Registration Number 2715977
Registration Date May 13, 2003
Owner (REGISTRANT) Nintendo of America Inc. CORPORATION WASHINGTON 4820-150th Avenue N.E. Redmond WASHINGTON 98052
Attorney of Record Jerald E. Nagae
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
Post by: couchmonkey on March 23, 2005, 08:50:02 AM
My very wild guess is that Nintendo wanted Silicon Knights to be its personal slave. I mean, there was a lot of talk about how great it was working on Metal Gear Solid and how much they love the game and Konami and everything, but Silicon Knights seems to value its independence and the Metal Gear Solid deal may have hinted to Silicon Knights that Nintendo had an agenda and it wasn't going to give Silicon Knights the freedom it wanted.
This is the trend I've seen: On the GameCube, Nintendo has been cutting loose developers and forcing it's franchises on them more often. Rare's only GameCube title had Starfox crammed into it; Treasure got Wario, Left Field (or was it Angel?) was working on 1080 until Nintendo decided their version of 1080 was too arcade-like, and cut the developer loose. Retro was reduced from four original titles to the Metroid studio, and instead of hiring new second parties to develop original content, Nintendo has been farming its franchises out to other developers like Capcom, Sega and Namco.
I think Nintendo is becoming a bit control-freaky. It's not all Nintendo's fault: Rare sure hasn't paid off for Microsoft and Retro seemed to be in serious trouble before Nintendo took control of the situation, but I think Nintendo is starting to lose interest in helping developers make exclusive new franchises. It prefers the safe bet of giving a popular franchise to a competent developer. My feeling is that is what scared SK away.
Post by: Savior on March 23, 2005, 08:53:34 AM
Post by: pyrokamileon on March 23, 2005, 09:07:58 AM
Post by: Ian Sane on March 23, 2005, 09:12:20 AM
That's pretty likely. At the time when Twin Snakes was revealed I was pretty annoyed that they were using SK as a glorified port house. I really liked the final product but there's virtually no SK touches in it (though to be fair I'm only familiar with ED). It was a great remake/port of a Konami game and felt like such. Realistically any somewhat competent dev could have made it.
I don't think Nintendo's being control freaky (though they do have a history of being bad at that) I think they're just way too focused on their franchises. Aside from Pikmin, ED, and Animal Crossing (which in Japan was not a new franchise on the Cube) Nintendo hasn't really released any new franchises this gen. It's been all sequels and spinoffs. They always talk about how their franchises are like their legacy. They NEVER said stuff like that before. It was originally all about great games and new ideas. I don't think they're forcing devs to use franchises that much. They're probably just offering it every time and naturally, due to franchise sales having less risk, the devs agree to it. I don't think they got Sega to make them a game and then said "it's going to be F-Zero dammit!" More likely they asked Sega if they wanted to work with one of their franchises and Sega for obvious reasons said yes. It's not so much that they're forcing devs to work with franchises but that they're just not encouraging the creation of new content.
Denis Dyack seemed really interested in working with Metal Gear. I don't think Nintendo twisted his arm or anything.
Post by: Don'tHate742 on March 23, 2005, 09:16:16 AM
Let's just thank God that Sega isn't forcing one of their franchises on SK. Completely new means a completely new possibility it's good. And let's thank God again that Sega isn't developing this game. It now officially has a chance of being a great game.
I just hope it's either Too Human or Raven Blade.
Post by: Rob91883 on March 23, 2005, 09:21:31 AM
I thought I read that Nintendo asked them if they wanted to work with Metal Gear, and Denis was more than accepting of the idea. We really don’t know why Silicon Knights stopped being a 2nd party, but I can tell you that being made to work on Metal Gear isn't the case.
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 09:42:43 AM
Errr, Raven Blade is Retro Studios' game...
And it's absurd to think Metal Gear was forced on SK, drop that line of thinking pronto...
That out of the way, anyone care to theorize about why Ninty's logo is STILL on SK's site? I don't want to hear "because they haven't updated," because the site has been modified as recently as this past September...There has been plenty enough time to cut out a single freaking line of html text...
Post by: Avinash_Tyagi on March 23, 2005, 10:21:35 AM
But likely its just an oversight on the part of the webmaster.
Post by: Cubik83 on March 23, 2005, 10:27:53 AM
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on March 23, 2005, 10:57:54 AM
Doesn't that sound kinda familiar?
Post by: Deguello on March 23, 2005, 11:30:00 AM
Post by: Pale on March 23, 2005, 11:35:23 AM
Post by: joshnickerson on March 23, 2005, 12:04:17 PM
*remembers Sega's publishing "Shadow the Hedgehog"*
SIIIGHHH.....
Post by: BiLdItUp1 on March 23, 2005, 12:29:07 PM
Good point about not getting rid of the Nintendo logo, it is a bit ridiculous...all in all, another reason to look forward to E3.
Post by: couchmonkey on March 23, 2005, 12:32:09 PM
I don't think Nintendo is forcing franchises on developers in most cases, and in particular I don't think that was the case when it comes to Metal Gear Solid, either.But I do think that Nintendo is getting into a situation where it isn't as interested in having second party developers that make brand-new franchises anymore. Rare alone developed about six new franchises for the Nintendo 64 and the other second parties were working on a quite a few new franchises back then as well. Eternal Darkness is the one and only new franchise to come out of a second-party relationship with Nintendo this generation. I'm just taking a wild guess that this may not have appealed to Silicon Knights.
Post by: ruby_onix on March 23, 2005, 01:12:40 PM
I really don't see how Twin Snakes could've been a problem. According to Denis Dyack, Shiggy asked Hideo Kojima over coffee why he hasn't made anything for the Cube. Kojima said "Too busy." Shiggy said "I think I know some great people who aren't doing anything right now." Shiggy grabbed Denis and asked "Do you know Hideo Kojima?" Denis said "Hell yeah!" Shiggy asked "Do you want to work with him on a GameCube game?" Denis said "HELL YEAH!1!!" Shiggy said "Well, that was easy. Denis, meet Hideo. You two can go nuts" and wandered off.
That GameCube game being a remake of MGS1 was apparently Denis's idea, and the reason it bombed is obviously because Konami seemingly-deliberately overshadowed the game entirely with MGS3, in every way that they could.
Denis's apparent explanion for leaving Nintendo, about having "incompatible philosophies" and stuff like that still makes no sense, and still doesn't synch at all with the gushing praise for Nintendo that he was always dumping on us.
The only thing that changed is that he's doing it for Sega now. The only conclusion that pops up in my mind is that Denis Dyack is a disingenuous brown-noser, who will say anything to anyone if it has a minor chance of improving his own position. But... then why the heck would he switch from brown-nosing Nintendo to brown-nosing Sega? That just makes no sense.
Also, I noticed this part...
Quote
SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA, Europe Ltd. today announced an agreement to acquire and publish next-generation game content from Silicon Knights...
Just Sega of America and Europe? Not Sega-Sammy, or Sega of Japan? That seems a little odd.
Also, what was up with Matt from IGN saying that SK was "working on Xbox games as we speak" several months ago?
Oh and, the big red Nintendo logo is still front-and-center on http://www.siliconknights.com/
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 01:22:08 PM
"If people are searching for how Nintendo is being really aggressive in the future, look to how we're reaching out for collaborations."~February 2004
Post by: The Omen on March 23, 2005, 01:47:33 PM
Quote
That out of the way, anyone care to theorize about why Ninty's logo is STILL on SK's site? I don't want to hear "because they haven't updated," because the site has been modified as recently as this past September...There has been plenty enough time to cut out a single freaking line of html text...
I will speculate. It's because Nintendo will partner up with Sega who partners up with SK for exclusive titles for the REV. Or it's jujst to fuel this damn rumor mill...I certainly6 hope it's because Nintendo has a deal in place with Sega though. If not, nothing makes sense...not the SK move to Sega, not the logo on the site...I mean, Sega?! This is taint amount to industry suicide without a stable force partnering up with them. Enter the masters of stability...Nintendo.
Post by: ThePerm on March 23, 2005, 02:04:40 PM
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on March 23, 2005, 02:16:18 PM
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on March 23, 2005, 04:01:34 PM
Honestly my biggest fear is that Sega will rush SK near the end of development. Sega tends not to care as much about tweaking and polishing when compared to Nintendo and other Japanese publishers.
Also, don't read a thing into having "Nintendo" still on the web site. Most game developers like SK have NO time to update their website. Posting a press release is nothing. Redesigning a web site is a lot of work.
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 04:18:35 PM
And this needs explanation...
Post by: Djunknown on March 23, 2005, 05:17:35 PM
Quote
"We intend to establish SEGA as a leading publisher on the next generation of game hardware and only the highest possible quality of Western-developed content will get us there,
Sad but true. Its been said probably a billion times, but eastern developed titles such as Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shenmue II, got the shaft, not by poor advertising(you could trip over all the adverstising they did with JSRF and PDO), but by Xbox-gamers. I'm taking a wild guess that at least on the 'Cube, they would've have a fighting chance of good sales. No sense in imagining what-if, what's done is done. Now if they Sega the publisher can't reach Western tastes with Western titles, they need to just go home. Take up knitting or something.
New franchise= Too Human? Its sure as hell not a sequel to Eternal Darkness. Seeing has how ED went from the 64 to the 'cube, it would mean 3 console changes for Too Human if that's what they're developing (Playstation, 'Cube[?], unspecified nex-gen platform.)
Post by: ruby_onix on March 23, 2005, 05:50:43 PM
Quote
The company develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment.
Is there anything to be said for the order in which the console makers were listed?
Post by: Bill Aurion on March 23, 2005, 06:28:22 PM
Another interesting quote...
"Collaboration is going to become essential. I remember when Spielberg and Lucas got together to make Raiders of the Lost Ark; I looked at that thing and said "that is the weirdest thing I've ever seen", but when I saw it, it was incredible (...) I think those kinds of collaborations are going to be the future of our industry."
~February 24, 2004 (1up interview)
Post by: Arbok on March 23, 2005, 09:55:56 PM
Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber
Also, don't read a thing into having "Nintendo" still on the web site. Most game developers like SK have NO time to update their website. Posting a press release is nothing. Redesigning a web site is a lot of work.
Speaking from someone who runs a large website, and looking at Silicon Knight's page, I will say I don't agree with that statement at all.
In fact, it takes more work to put up the press release than remove the Nintendo logo in the current design. Here look, I removed the img tag in the code (that's it, took less than 10 seconds) and this is what I got:
Site without logo
If one has Fire Fox and ad blocker, then can do it themselves as well. The Nintendo logo is not an important part of the design. I'd buy that the webmaster there is simply clueless, and maybe didn't notice a huge Nintendo logo on his site, but I'm not going to buy that it's beacuse of the amount of work that has to be put into removing it.
Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on March 23, 2005, 11:23:49 PM
Post by: Mario on March 24, 2005, 01:22:35 AM
Post by: couchmonkey on March 24, 2005, 05:15:36 AM
