Maybe this whole thing is nothing to get excited about, but to assume it is trash since the original people aren't there is ridiculous. How do you play anything new when you don't give new people a chance? No reason not to at least keep an open mind about something.
When the "New People" Are working for old people who have a proven record of trash....it's kinda easy to be cynical.
At worst they make some bad game and no body buy it... but it make some competition on the market wich might force the good developer to do a bit better... that's never bad
I'am not assuming it will be trash, just afraid it might. From what I've seen interplay is hardly at its best...
A little history: "Following their (interplay) acquisition by Titus Software, the company nearly went bankrupt in 2004 but continued operations even after the liquidation of Titus. They ended up re-emerging following the acquisition of the Fallout IP by Bethesda Softworks in 2007 with Interplay back-licensing the rights to the MMOG, Fallout Online. On December 12, 2011, the rights to Fallout Online were transferred to Bethesda Softworks following a lengthy lawsuit and subsequent settlement between Interplay and Bethesda"
Saw an article on Kotaku about this, and laughed. It's a marketing ploy by Interplay, a repeated failure of a company, to try and appease people who cannot manage to remove their rose-tinted glasses. I'm sure the basement dwellers over at No Mutants Allowed are super excited, but the reality is that none of the original Black Isle talent has been reacquired. They're all off doing their own thing, actually being successful.
If what you say is true, then Interplay has made a very distasteful move. Trying to draw in on the well-earned fame of a team of master developers/designers/programmers by reviving the name but none of the talent? Detestable.
I think that time will tell, If another company is going to focus their products on RPGs thats a welcome news, even if the new Black Isle is not assembled from 'the old crew'.
I believe that there are a lot of new and good talents out there which will bring new ideas. as long as there is an Idea and common objective.
I dont expect from Black Isle to be formed of the same guys, maybe 1 or 2 but more than that is just unrealistic.
Also I dont think its a "Ploy", unless you are buying products just by the name of the company and not by its product. We dont have any announcement of what they are working on, not a preview not nothing, we dont know anything, so I think its too early to talk about conspiracy and ploys.. let the time do its job.
I dont know, whwen I hear of this I think "oh it wont be the old team, they wont make anything good. Interplay? Do they even have any money anymore? Yes, this will surely amount to absolutely nothing and will be forgotten within a few months.
But then I look at that logo, and a small (vein) hope finds itself within me, like a small light piercing the darkness.
Interplay does not have any license or agreement that I know of to use any D&D franchise. My understanding is that Atari currently possesses exclusive rights to use the D&D franchise in videogames. If fresh development is happening at the new Black Isle, it's probably not D&D related.
That's good. I'm not negative by nature, but I do believe that it is people that make a company, not it's name or the system it employs. So this is interesting, and at least they don't have any say/effect on previous work.
What they do have is Fallout MMO rights trought
I remembered reading something about this on Gamebanshee, and found this link:
Maybe this whole thing is nothing to get excited about, but to assume it is trash since the original people aren't there is ridiculous. How do you play anything new when you don't give new people a chance? No reason not to at least keep an open mind about something.
I firmly believe in keeping an open mind, I'd consider myself at a disadvantage otherwise and likely to miss out on some great games, but have been reading articles about Interplay for over a decade which make it clear that there's an almost universal truth about having the greatest team in the world - that they will always have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory when managed by poor managers.
Interplay does not have any license or agreement that I know of to use any D&D franchise. My understanding is that Atari currently possesses exclusive rights to use the D&D franchise in videogames. If fresh development is happening at the new Black Isle, it's probably not D&D related.
That's good. I'm not negative by nature, but I do believe that it is people that make a company, not it's name or the system it employs. So this is interesting, and at least they don't have any say/effect on previous work.
What they do have is Fallout MMO rights trought
I remembered reading something about this on Gamebanshee, and found this link:
If what you say is true, then Interplay has made a very distasteful move. Trying to draw in on the well-earned fame of a team of master developers/designers/programmers by reviving the name but none of the talent? Detestable.
Not necessarily. The company owns the brand, and is presumably hiring new guns. I see it as no worse than having sequel movies written by others and directed by others. New Bourne movie, for instance. It could be something good when it's all said and done.
They're not, however, getting my email address. Any so-called update will be on GameSpot, Joystiq and 1000 other sites within, what, twelve seconds of being promulgated? None of them ask for my contact info.
"We're black isle this seems crazy give us your email we'll sell it maybe" ♪♫
Not necessarily. The company owns the brand, and is presumably hiring new guns. I see it as no worse than having sequel movies written by others and directed by others. New Bourne movie, for instance. It could be something good when it's all said and done.
I see it as worse. Why didn't they just put up a new name for this new company/studio/division/whatever? Even if the best rpg ever made comes from there in the future it's still misleading I think.
By the way, would the resurrection bring about any legal issues for BGEE?
@Sabotin They don't want to start over from scratch because the brand is a very real asset that they own. Most studios experience tons of turnover in talent over the years, but they keep the name. This is obviously an extreme example, but they would still be negligent to not monetize an asset.
The only important thing is whether or not they produce a quality RPG product. If they do, I'll be a returning customer. If not, they won't last long.
By the way, would the resurrection bring about any legal issues for BGEE?
No, Atari purchased the rights to publish D&D based computer games from Interplay long ago, and has since been confirmed by Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast. EA/Bioware also still retains some sort of copyright on Baldur's Gate, but they have agreed to BG:EE. Interplay/Black Isle are out of the picture.
I'm not sure about Icewind Dale:EE or Planescape: Torment:EE though. The trademark for IWD has been returned to Wizards of the Coast, the trademark for PST appears to be dead. But I'm not sure if Interplay still has copyright on any of the original game art (graphics, sound, text), or if they sold those rights to Atari as well. Guess we'll see if and when negotiations for IWD:EE or PST:EE start.
Both the Bioware homepage and the US Copyright Office still have multiple entries mentioning Baldur's Gate copyright specifically, not only the Infinity Engine. I was wrong about the trademark though, edited!
Interplay does not have any license or agreement that I know of to use any D&D franchise. My understanding is that Atari currently possesses exclusive rights to use the D&D franchise in videogames. If fresh development is happening at the new Black Isle, it's probably not D&D related.
That's good. I'm not negative by nature, but I do believe that it is people that make a company, not it's name or the system it employs. So this is interesting, and at least they don't have any say/effect on previous work.
What they do have is Fallout MMO rights trought
I remembered reading something about this on Gamebanshee, and found this link:
I remain hopeful that it signifies an intention to make the sort of Old School RPGs like BG that I so enjoy. Of course, no guarantee of the quality or such but potentially a move in the right direction.
Though it is of course equally plausible that they intend nothing of the sort. Time will tell.
Interplay does not have any license or agreement that I know of to use any D&D franchise. My understanding is that Atari currently possesses exclusive rights to use the D&D franchise in videogames. If fresh development is happening at the new Black Isle, it's probably not D&D related.
That's good. I'm not negative by nature, but I do believe that it is people that make a company, not it's name or the system it employs. So this is interesting, and at least they don't have any say/effect on previous work.
What they do have is Fallout MMO rights trought
I remembered reading something about this on Gamebanshee, and found this link:
Oh no!! Here goes interplay again with their BS. Read about a possible revival of that beloved studio and i cried and yelled to the heavens...NO!! Interplay cannot be allowed to do this. Interplay is a joke these days and run by greedy buggers who know nothing about running a company(unless it's to the ground). I suspect it's a ploy to raise interplay stocks. What do folks think about this apparent rumour? I didn't keep a copy to paste here as a link but folks can just go to Gamebanshee and read it there.
Comments
A little history:
"Following their (interplay) acquisition by Titus Software, the company nearly went bankrupt in 2004 but continued operations even after the liquidation of Titus. They ended up re-emerging following the acquisition of the Fallout IP by Bethesda Softworks in 2007 with Interplay back-licensing the rights to the MMOG, Fallout Online. On December 12, 2011, the rights to Fallout Online were transferred to Bethesda Softworks following a lengthy lawsuit and subsequent settlement between Interplay and Bethesda"
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100614223039/forgottenrealms/images/thumb/4/49/TSR_logo.svg/250px-TSR_logo.svg.png
that logo was awesome
I believe that there are a lot of new and good talents out there which will bring new ideas. as long as there is an Idea and common objective.
I dont expect from Black Isle to be formed of the same guys, maybe 1 or 2 but more than that is just unrealistic.
Also I dont think its a "Ploy", unless you are buying products just by the name of the company and not by its product. We dont have any announcement of what they are working on, not a preview not nothing, we dont know anything, so I think its too early to talk about conspiracy and ploys.. let the time do its job.
But then I look at that logo, and a small (vein) hope finds itself within me, like a small light piercing the darkness.
(...aka nostalgia)
I do hope this is good news though, I really do.
http://www.ripten.com/2012/03/28/brian-fargo-and-chris-avellone-on-resurrecting-black-isle/
...but still. Who knows?
http://www.shacknews.com/article/60435/bethesda-sues-interplay-over-fallout
So it seems Bethesda don't trust Interplay with their nukacola.
I firmly believe in keeping an open mind, I'd consider myself at a disadvantage otherwise and likely to miss out on some great games, but have been reading articles about Interplay for over a decade which make it clear that there's an almost universal truth about having the greatest team in the world - that they will always have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory when managed by poor managers.
They're not, however, getting my email address. Any so-called update will be on GameSpot, Joystiq and 1000 other sites within, what, twelve seconds of being promulgated? None of them ask for my contact info.
"We're black isle
this seems crazy
give us your email
we'll sell it maybe" ♪♫
By the way, would the resurrection bring about any legal issues for BGEE?
The only important thing is whether or not they produce a quality RPG product. If they do, I'll be a returning customer. If not, they won't last long.
I'm not sure about Icewind Dale:EE or Planescape: Torment:EE though. The trademark for IWD has been returned to Wizards of the Coast, the trademark for PST appears to be dead. But I'm not sure if Interplay still has copyright on any of the original game art (graphics, sound, text), or if they sold those rights to Atari as well. Guess we'll see if and when negotiations for IWD:EE or PST:EE start.
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/01/09/bethesda-and-interplay-settle-fallout-mmo-lawsuits-interplays/
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/09/bethesda-settles-all-fallout-ip-related-lawsuits/
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/01/09/bethesda-settles-lawsuit-over-fallout-license.aspx
But found another site that mentioned details of a settlement, which didn't go into detail...
Though it is of course equally plausible that they intend nothing of the sort. Time will tell.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119214-Interplay-Resurrects-Planescape-Studio-Name
I might be mistaken
Can someone please cast a raise dead on Bullfrog as well?