Post by: TheYoungerPlumber on September 01, 2004, 08:04:59 PM
After years of less than favorable “profit” margins, Acclaim has filed bankruptcy.
Local paper New York Newsday reports that the once-mighty 3rd party publisher filed Chapter 7 at Central Islip’s US Bankruptcy Court in New York. To pay its debt breaching $100 million, the company will liquidate its assets of between $10 and $50 million.
This means we will likely see Acclaim’s more notable intellectual properties sold to the highest bidder, and suggests the company is down for the count.
Post by: KDR_11k on September 01, 2004, 09:05:30 PM
Post by: Mario on September 01, 2004, 11:47:52 PM
Post by: ruby_onix on September 02, 2004, 02:26:46 AM
I'll probably remember you fondly as "that company that used to make NES games".
Post by: RABicle on September 02, 2004, 02:44:27 AM
Post by: Cheat Freak on September 02, 2004, 04:45:13 AM
now if Atari to will just lay down and die the world will be a better place
Post by: KDR_11k on September 02, 2004, 06:17:32 AM
Someone on Slashdot put it like this: "This proves that God is alive and benevolent!"...
Post by: JubJub on September 02, 2004, 07:30:14 AM
The company is laying of hundreds of staff and has been a part of video game history... they've been around for ages.
I personally don't want to see EA as the only game developer in the world, and this loss of Acclaim is just one more step towards formulaic games that we've been playing for too long already. What companies are going to continue to take risks with new franchises and novelty ideas if this happens???
It's also very sad so here people wanting Eidos and Atari to go this way also... joking or not i'd HATE to see Eidos and Atari go bankrupt.
The more publishers, the more variety, and the better choice for us.
Show the respect the company deserves!
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 02, 2004, 07:40:40 AM
Post by: sikboy1029 on September 02, 2004, 07:46:32 AM
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 02, 2004, 08:22:27 AM
Post by: Slab on September 02, 2004, 10:17:56 AM
Post by: Grey Ninja on September 02, 2004, 12:14:04 PM
I have no real fondness for the company, as their only games that I really liked were either ported from something made by another developer, or simply published by a small developer (ie. Burnout). Years and years of crappy games just sort of tarnishes the reputation of any developer.
But I am still somewhat sad to see them go though, even after all their attrocious games and lousy business practices. The world now has one less game developer, be they good or bad. Somehow I suspect that in Acclaim's case, the real problem with them was management and not really talent... and I wish all the staff employed by Acclaim well, and hope that they can move on to actually accomplishing great things.
Post by: ruby_onix on September 02, 2004, 01:19:00 PM
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take a look here http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/215.html there are some great games on that list, it hasn't been years of just crap
That list makes me sad. Honestly. So very much wasted potential.
I mean, it's not just that they spent more than a decade working on videogames, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. (And I don't think it's just "my tastes" either. Even setting my preferences aside, it's very hard to find ANYTHING on that list that comes close to being a "quality" game, except Turok, and maybe some of the WWF games.) It's that they spent more than a decade as quite honestly a WORLD CLASS DEVELOPER working on videogames, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. Not even any fond memories (well, maybe a few, here and there).
Looking at that list just brings back feelings of many, many years of pathetic dissapointment, all balled into a big stinky pile.
They deserved better than that. They got it. Rest in peace Acclaim.
Post by: Djunknown on September 02, 2004, 01:37:22 PM
*Silence*
As usual, the big news happens when I'm not around, but wow I didn't expect this so soon!
I'm sure the corporate weasels have an ace up their sleeve to save their own skins, they're not THAT stupid; its the employees I feel for. Hopefully they'll get picked up or start their own ventures.
Post by: joeamis on September 02, 2004, 05:01:02 PM
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Originally posted by: RABicle
For some reason I'm not as elated as I expected I would be that they've gone. Wait a minute they bloody advertised on tombstones, idiots.
Actually Tombstones are a very good food to advertise videogames on. The people who buy Tombstones are primarily college students, and parents for their children to eat. They hit the demographics right on. Also they aren't the only ones to have advertised videogames on Tombstones... Not to mention neither company really just advertised, but rather it was a special deal/contest thing. And if you still think for some bizarre reason that's a bad food to deal in, you haven't seen nothing.
KDR: Why do you want Eidos to go bankrupt? The Thief games, Hitman games, Dues Ex, R-Type Final, Timesplitters 2, early Tomb Raider games, Herdy Gerdy, Legacy of Kain games, Final Fantasy 7 PC, Commandos series PC, and not to mention their games on older generation systems... are all quality games. Not to mention that Get on Da Mic should help Nintendo market the new microphone peripheral... And just because they didn't develop every game in house, doesn't = them being sh1t. Or do you just respect developers and see no reason for publishers. Or maybe you'd love to see game development become a smaller business in Europe, as Eidos is the largest developer in the UK. And I thought you were an Anachronox fan, without Eidos Ion Storm would've crashed and burned before they released anything. And then there's Eidos taking risks even today, publishing games like Mister Mosquito. They also have never been a company about completely in house development, but I guess in your opinion that's the only companies that should exist. I'm looking forward to Snowblind and their PSP title Free Running, among others.
Cheatfreak: why should Atari die? They were the first company to make games for at home viable. They were responsible for tons of arcade games before that happened, and without arcade games, not only would there be no home games today, but who knows what the industry would be today. And now that they're owned by another company who's taken over their rights to their old properties, is a continuation of the earliest profilic game company in the business. God I won't even get into the games, and the multitude of systems Atari has supported over the years (a good thing). Just go through this list: Impressive People seem to have no respect for companies on this forum unless they're currently sniffing Nintendo's butt.
As far as Acclaim, you all seem to dwell on their bad games, and bad news in general on the forum... So Acclaim did release mostly mediocre games in recent years, but they have also released some great games, including this generation. Maybe you guys don't know about enough games other than the ones you like.
Post by: Perfect Cell on September 02, 2004, 05:29:12 PM
Well tough luck... Im glad the makers of awesome titles like BMX XXX, and the Mary and Kate franchise, are gone... Good Riddance!
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 02, 2004, 05:52:44 PM
LOL...I seriously hope you were joking, because the tombstones that Acclaim advertised on(or so was said) are the gravestone type...
Post by: Shin Gallon on September 02, 2004, 06:53:55 PM
Post by: ssj4_android on September 02, 2004, 07:23:00 PM
EDIT again: Whoops, XBN, not OXM. And I have no idea what they gave Halo. I wonder why Burnout 3 isn't being published for the GCN though.
Post by: JubJub on September 02, 2004, 07:31:55 PM
Actually, the Atari of today is not the same company that was Atari 5, 10, 15 or 20 years ago. The Atari you are talking about threw in the towel a couple of years ago, Infogrames are now known at Atari - they just swapped their names.
Generally speaking now though, if 300 game makers are sacked, that makes 300 up & coming game makers with bright new ideas and talent waiting in the wings for longer. Shrinking of the industry is always a bad thing.
Sure, Acclaim weren't the greatest quality developer but i spent many hours on the couch with my housemate playing baseball...
Post by: ruby_onix on September 02, 2004, 10:36:50 PM
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As far as Acclaim, you all seem to dwell on their bad games...
Have you paid attention to the news lately? Their bad games killed a major company.
Actually, it was Nintendo that killed Ack-lame. Don't tell anyone.
Post by: KDR_11k on September 03, 2004, 12:14:14 AM
Eidos might have been a good company once, but they're falling. Many companies have lost their former glory (e.g. EA was once a forerunner of innovation, can you imagine that?) and become crap, those companies should just die. The present performance is all that matters, just because the pony had lots of tricks ten years ago doesn't mean it isn't ready for the meat grinder now.
Post by: Bloodworth on September 03, 2004, 06:30:02 AM
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Cheatfreak: why should Atari die? They were the first company to make games for at home viable.
The Atari name has changed hands so many times, it's pathetic. The Atari you're speaking of already died back in the early 80's. They were good. Then they were bought out by Warner Bros. who quickly fired the founder. Then the company flooded the market with crappy games, causing the entire console industry to collapse, and then they sold off Atari in various parts.
Post by: joeamis on September 04, 2004, 12:49:12 PM
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Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"
LOL...I seriously hope you were joking, because the tombstones that Acclaim advertised on(or so was said) are the gravestone type...
Yea I heard about that rumor years ago, but I thought he was chastising them for advertising on the pizzas, something I wouldn't be surprised someone saying on the forum.
Post by: Bill Aurion on September 04, 2004, 12:55:20 PM
Post by: joeamis on September 04, 2004, 01:12:37 PM
KDR: present performance is not all that matters. For one thing, for your horse analogy, there's many stories of return to glory, after many years of being gone. Watch Sea Biscuit for one example. And in videogames, just because a developer or publisher isn't currently doing phenomenal doesn't mean they deserve to be "put in the meat grinder". They are capable of doing better in the future. By your logic, some countries should've been destroyed when they weren't doing well, or people. Are we only supposed to give the upper class a fighting chance in the world? Should we actively enforce the survival of the fittest ourselves? Or rather let nature take it's course. You know that you could compare Nintendo to Eidos' former glory, Nintendo has fallen an equal amount of what they once were, as Eidos has. But your biased opinion rules above any such comparison.
Post by: KDR_11k on September 04, 2004, 09:03:42 PM
joe: Nintendo doesn't produce absolutely horrible, buggy pieces of crap yet. Once they do I'm willing to bet even the former Nintendo fanboys will want to see them dead. Eidos might redeem themselves, yes, but they better do it soon. You can't harp on past events forever. Eidos needs to rise again, if they fail they should just die. So far I don't see any attempts at Eidos to make that comeback (as opposed to Midway, who made that anouncement and apparently kept their promise).
Post by: ruby_onix on September 05, 2004, 12:25:00 AM
Bushnell was a nerd and a dirty hippie (oooo... I'm gonna get it for saying that ^_^), so he didn't get along with the suits at Time Warner (but will I get it for saying that?). After Bushnell said that the 2600 needed to be dropped by Atari, and replaced with something more modern and powerful and expensive, the suits thought he had lost his mind, so they had him replaced. Time Warner milked the 2600 until the videogame industry collapsed.
Then Time Warner split Atari into "Atari" (the hardware maker), and "Atari Games". And sold the hardware division to the Tramiel family.
Time Warner decided to completely change Atari's image, so they renamed them "Tengen" and started making NES games. Then they sent a lawyer into the patent office, saying they needed the specs for the NES's security chip, because Nintendo was suing them for breaking the lockout (which they weren't). Then using Nintendo's own blueprints, they broke Nintendo's lockout and made pirate games, and got sued by Nintendo. They said, "See, we told you so. Nintendo's suing us. Just like we said." Nobody fell for it.
The Tramiels tried to make the "Jaguar" console and the handheld "Lynx", but both were basically failures, and the Tramiel's hardware-making Atari went out of business. (Where are they now, I wonder?) I personally thought it would've been cool for Microsoft to buy the Atari-hardware rights before making the XBox. "Microsoft Presents: The Atari XBox!" But, they didn't. Ah well.
Atari Games eventually got picked up by Midway, who made that Wayne Gretzky hockey game for the N64, and probably a bunch of other stuff, but eventually gave up on sticking the "Atari" name onto things.
Infogrames bought what was left of Atari Games in order to get some of their rights and licences, and evenutally said "Hey, what they heck, we're allowed to do it." and changed their name to "Atari".
Post by: KDR_11k on September 05, 2004, 07:28:45 AM
Post by: nitsu niflheim on September 05, 2004, 01:03:39 PM
Post by: Infernal Monkey on September 05, 2004, 03:32:11 PM
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Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
That said, I think I do remember a game of some type being advertised on Tombstone pizzas...Though I can't recall what it could be or if I'm just making this up in my head...
Shadowman. They slapped stickers advertising it all over tombstones and wondered why people got angry.
Post by: joeamis on September 05, 2004, 07:26:15 PM
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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
Atari didn't change ownership to Infogrames, they died, long ago. Infogrames bought the trademark and changed their own name to Atari. There is NO connection between the old Atari and the current Atari (IIRC this is actually the fourth company using the Atari name).
joe: Nintendo doesn't produce absolutely horrible, buggy pieces of crap yet.
My point was that Infogrames now holds the rights to just about all the old Atari games.
And the point about Nintendo falling as much as Eidos I meant financially and commercially. You said present performance is all that matters, and just because a company was good ten years ago (which is stretching it a bit) doesn't mean they don't deserve to be put in the meat grinder now. Many Nintendo fans have said the same thing, alot of them who owned former systems and have now switched. And theres the whole thing about them posting losses for the first time in their history. As for Eidos needing to step up to the plate now, sure, but they're still putting out quality games today. Sure they're publishing them and not developing them, but they never were a big time developer, they've always been on the publishing side of business since they started.
Post by: Deguello on September 06, 2004, 05:31:52 PM
Hahahahahahahaha! I know you are wrong there.
Post by: joeamis on September 06, 2004, 06:39:17 PM
As far as financials they made profit of over 10 billion in just over a decade, and then posted losses right after that happened (in the companys long history), I think that's quite a big jump in financials. Further impacted by the fact that the company had 95% of market share for portable systems and still posted losses...
"The company forecasts a first-half current loss of 7.0 billion yen, compared with a 25 billion yen profit estimated earlier."
"its first interim loss since going public in 1962."
7 billion yen= 63,584,981.99 USD and 25 billion yen= 227,087,387.38 USD. So that equals a loss of (add the two figures together and...) $290,672,369.37 million dollars.
Round that figure and you have losses of $291 million dollars, which is more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
Then theres the commercial variable, the fact how the majority of consumers see them today, and the difference in the sales of their home consoles, going down more and more each generation. The nes sold over 60 million at a time when the industry was small, the snes sold over 49 million, N64 sold over 32 million, and now the Cube is at about 15 million and will be lucky if it can reach 25 million.
