Topic: Lionhead bought out by Microsoft

[Flames_of_chaos]

Gamespot and GAF reported that Microsoft bought em out and Lionhead are immediately working exclusivly on Xbox360 and Windows (most likely VISTA). I wonder how this will turn out since Microsofts last major dev purchase sort of turned out to be a dud in a way. I wonder if Silicon Knights will be next?

[Caliban]

Well, Lionhead was in a bad financial situation and the only suckers that would buy them is Microsoft, predictions? Fable 2 and any other overhyped Molyneux game.

[Djunknown]

Aside from the Black and White series, what else do they have? The Movies didn't do so hot, and Fable, while a solid RPG, wasn't the end-all-be-all of RPG's. Elder Scrolls IV does what Fable wished it could do.

Oh, and 'Sir' Molyneux is overrated. He may have a some good, solid titles, but he's no Will Wright, Sid Meir, etc.

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I wonder if Silicon Knights will be next?

Hmmm... I doubt it for the time beingbecause they also have something cooking with Sega. Sega's hungry for publishing Western developed games, plus  they've been independent for this long. They're almost comparable to Bioware...

[Pale]

Another (relatively) small studio bites the dust... It's always sad.

[wandering]

Well, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for Lionhead. Microsoft isn't EA.

[KDR_11k]

Microsoft loves to buy British developers that are long past their prime, eh?

[capamerica]

I've played 4 of the 5 games Lionhead has made.

Black & White, I though was so-so, I still can't see what the big deal about it was

The Movies, SUCKED, I was amazed how bad it turned out, it was no surprise to be when the console versions were pulled.

Fable, I though was pretty awful. The graphics stunk, the story was practically nonexistent, the voice acting was bad and it was really short. They didn't even deliver on 1/8th of what they said the game would have. And in the end I was so down right board with the game that I turned my character Homosexual just for the hell of it. Then after the 5min of that being somewhat amusing I tried to have the character hit on his own sister, the animals and even the little kids in the towns.  I was that freaken board with it. And that all happen within the first week the game came out. The only reason this game sold as well as it did and got the reviews it did was because of the hype. The reviews couldn't bash the game and give it a low score after all the hype they put into it and saying it was going to be this ground breaking RPG that would be change all RPGs.

The only game I found that Lionhead made that I found a bit fun was Rag-doll Kung Fu.

I'm surprised MS wasted the money to buy Lionhead, then again they did buy Rare.
Only think I can hope is that now that MS owns Lionhead, Fable 2 will be 1/4 what Fable 1 should have been.

[KDR_11k]

One thing to keep in mind about Molyneaux: That guy will tell the press anything he can think of, he may have thought it up five minutes ago. Never believe anything he says about a game that's not shipped to stores yet because he will have changed his views by the time he gets home.

[Bill Aurion]

Penny-Arcade's latest comic pretty much sums up my opinion on the deal...

[hudsonhawk]

Hate on it all you like, I thought that Fable was one of the best RPGs of the generation.  Unique look at the genre, and probably the first game to ever attempt showing the way a hero / villian would fit into society.  Sub-par story, to be fair, but a lot more freedom than the Bioware RPGs.

I didn't really follow the game's hype, so I wasn't biased by that.

That said, I think this acquisition had more to do with MS making sure that Fable 2 gets finished and less to do with them trying to add another top-tier indie developer to their collection.  The 360 needs as many exclusive RPGs as it can get, especially for the Japanese market.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: hudsonhawk That said, I think this acquisition had more to do with MS making sure that Fable 2 gets finished and less to do with them trying to add another top-tier indie developer to their collection.  The 360 needs as many exclusive RPGs as it can get, especially for the Japanese market.

So far, they have ONE top tier indie developer: Bungie.

Everything else is just crap.

[nemo_83]

MS buys Lionhead so they can't make a Revolution game, and then MS tells users you don't need a 360, we're just burning money; you'll be able to play Lionhead's games on a PC.  MS has two heads, and until they can put their company back together they cannont compete within the world console market.

[Smash_Brother]

I don't think Lionhead was in any danger of making a Rev game anytime soon.

It's Ubisoft that I'd be worried about...

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"The 360 needs as many exclusive RPGs as it can get, especially for the Japanese market"

Since when did Japan care about [Xbox + Western RPGs]?

[jasonditz]

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother
I don't think Lionhead was in any danger of making a Rev game anytime soon.

It's Ubisoft that I'd be worried about...

Molyneux had nothing but good things to say about the Revolution... I believe his exact quote was "I would love to do something for it".  

[IceCold]

"Never underestimate Nintendo"

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: jasonditz Molyneux had nothing but good things to say about the Revolution... I believe his exact quote was "I would love to do something for it".

Really?

In that case, maybe he'll do what all of the top talent and executives of the previous companies MS bought do and leave to join/start other companies.

[hudsonhawk]

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Originally posted by: Smash_Brother

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Originally posted by: hudsonhawk That said, I think this acquisition had more to do with MS making sure that Fable 2 gets finished and less to do with them trying to add another top-tier indie developer to their collection.  The 360 needs as many exclusive RPGs as it can get, especially for the Japanese market.

So far, they have ONE top tier indie developer: Bungie.

Everything else is just crap.

Ensemble
Bungie
Digital Anvil
FASA

And regardless of what you think of Rare now, at the time they were acquired they were top-tier.  But I don't think people would scrutinize their stuff with such passion and vitriol if they weren't top-tier.

But regardless, giving a visionary access to a ton of resources can only be a good thing for gaming (although I thought the same thing when EA acquired Bullfrog).

Just because it's not for your "team's" console doesn't mean you have to throw a hissy fit when someone suggests they make good games.

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: hudsonhawk
Ensemble
Bungie
Digital Anvil
FASA

What did any of those (aside from Bungie) do?

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And regardless of what you think of Rare now, at the time they were acquired they were top-tier.  But I don't think people would scrutinize their stuff with such passion and vitriol if they weren't top-tier.

Er, I think "Grabbed by the Ghoulies", PDO, Conker, and Kameo would have sold poorly and been seen as crap regardless of who made them. SFA was called as such when Rare was still with Nintendo.

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But regardless, giving a visionary access to a ton of resources can only be a good thing for gaming (although I thought the same thing when EA acquired Bullfrog).

I don't think it works that way. Molyneux doesn't have access to MS's billions just because their company bought his. Unless "Viva Pinata" turns out to be a runaway smash hit, then all of the extra resources MS provided Rare have still had little to no effect when it comes to making their games as good as they used to be.

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Just because it's not for your "team's" console doesn't mean you have to throw a hissy fit when someone suggests they make good games.

Good sir, I give credit where it's due, when it's due, and in the quantity intrinsic to its dueness.

If I can lift my leg to hose down games on Nintendo consoles which suck, then I can and will certainly say the same of those on other consoles without fear of being called biased.

[KDR_11k]

What did any of those (aside from Bungie) do?

Let's see:
Ensemble: Age of Empires.
Bungie: Marathon, Myth, Oni, Halo
Digital Anvil: Starlancer, Freelancer, Brute Force
FASA: Battletech ring a bell?

[Smash_Brother]

Never played Age of Empires.

Starlancer was cute but kinda meh.

Freelancer managed to hold my father hostage for a while before he got bored with it but I never played it myself.

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FASA: Battletech ring a bell?

Haven't played it.

[Kairon]

Microsoft's studios have head a measure of success on the PC side of things...but on the console... not as impressive.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

P.S. What happened to Oddworld?

[KDR_11k]

I didn't really expect you to play the Battletech tabletop but maybe you've heard about the games it has spawned? Like MechWarrior?

[Smash_Brother]

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Originally posted by: KDR_11k
I didn't really expect you to play the Battletech tabletop but maybe you've heard about the games it has spawned? Like MechWarrior?

I think I've seen it briefly.

I won't pass judgment on these because I haven't played them, but a better question would be if these companies are doing anything for the 360.

Are they?

[KDR_11k]

Ensemble has an opening for XBLive programmers so I suppose they are going to make console games soon. Don't know what FASA is currently doing but the MechAssault titles and Crimson Skies 2 were console games so they probably are going to make more console titles. Since Brute Force and Starlancer were on the console I'd expect Digital Anvil to work on it as well (though DA seems to have been integrated fully into MGS). Overall there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about what MS's studios are doing ATM but then again I'm not following the XBox specific news.