Interplay SEC filing on court filing

[Corith]

Would be creepy if Herve managed to cancel yet another J.E. Sawyer game.

No loss there.

The two questions I have are,

IF froggy-boy manages to weasil out, and the deal reverts, what happens to the 6 million beth paid out to keep her from going involutary bankrupt? Money that was for ownership of Fallout? Are they out that money?

And, more importantly, do you suppose somewhere, in some office at Bethesda, somebody is contemplating it was a mistake to pull froggy-boy's pink, plump, rump from the ringer?

 

[Brother None]

IF froggy-boy manages to weasil out, and the deal reverts, what happens to the 6 million beth paid out to keep her from going involutary bankrupt? Money that was for ownership of Fallout? Are they out that money?

It would probably be settled out of the amount Bethesda would be due Interplay for damages and licensing fees.

And, more importantly, do you suppose somewhere, in some office at Bethesda, somebody is contemplating it was a mistake to pull froggy-boy's pink, plump, rump from the ringer?

Not really, no.

 

[coyote_sprit]

Would be creepy if Herve managed to cancel yet another J.E. Sawyer game.

BTW, would sure be interesting to see the contract between IPLY and Beth. Anyone willing to leak it?

You mean something like this?
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/000117091807000324/0001170918-07-000324.txt
I assume you have probably already seen that though.

 

[Ausir]

This agreement (TLA) seems to be only about the MMO. Is the one regarding the distribution of the original games (APA) available anywhere?

Edit: Found it.

Added both to the wiki:

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Asset_Purchase_Agreement
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Trademark_License_Agreement

 

[coyote_sprit]

Section 18 starts at the actual body of the APA.
http://sec.edgar-online.com/interpl...-q-quarterly-report/2007/08/14/Section18.aspx

Also here's a simple txt file of it on the main SEC site.
http://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/000117091807000675/ex10-50.txt

 

[Morbus]

If Obsidian lost the rights for New Vegas, then, it's only likely they'd sue Bethesda for screwing them, right? Which means, if Interplay does win the case, they either allow Obsidian to release the game, or Bethesda gets even more screwed.

Which is awesome I mean no disrespect or anything, but I simply hate Bethesda. God, to see the day they're erased from the face of industry, what joy!

Of course Herve is a who we know, but what the hell, the old clown deserves to be pitied.

 

[Ausir]

Also here's a simple txt file of it on the main SEC site.

Thanks! Got a link to the 2004 Exclusive Licensing Agreement too, by any chance?

 

[Dionysus]

If Obsidian lost the rights for New Vegas, then, it's only likely they'd sue Bethesda for screwing them, right? Which means, if Interplay does win the case, they either allow Obsidian to release the game, or Bethesda gets even more screwed.

Obsidian probably isn't owed much. They are just a hired hand. I suspect that Beth could can the game at their discretion with little severance compensation.

But it's pointless to even entertain those ideas. As far as I can tell, IP isn't even disputing the critical points of Bethesda's claims. They will lose the MMO, and it wouldn't surprise me if Beth just decides to buy everything out of court.

 

[Cold Zer0]

I have to agree that Interplay has slim chances but I would rather see Fallout in their hands then in Bethesda's. Let's just watch and see what will happen. I have full bag of popcorns for this one

Off topic: Brother None, another great avatar. Rick Dangerous is the greatest

 

[Brother None]

Off topic: Brother None, another great avatar. Rick Dangerous is the greatest

My avs will follow my countdown for a month or so.

 

[Deadman87]

I would actually rather see the licence go to (ugh) Bethesda, as Fallout related games (and I use that term loosely) will actually be developed to completion with them at the helm. Beth will make big budget shitty clones of FO, and Interplay would make minor budget shitty clones (if they even manage to get them out of development hell that is).

Scylla or charybdis?

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

How about neither, there can be a world without Fallout you know.
Rather no Fallout games than crappy sequels and spin offs.

Still would be nice if there would be a new PA RPG series to enjoy then, hope that Wasteland remake or sequel is for real.

 

[coyote_sprit]

Also here's a simple txt file of it on the main SEC site.

Thanks! Got a link to the 2004 Exclusive Licensing Agreement too, by any chance?

I looked around for it for some time but then I remembered that Interplay is publicly traded and that's why there are so many documents about this stuff on their side. Zenimax on the other hand is private and don't have to release anything. Only way we're getting the ELA is if Zenimax releases it or it's leaked.

 

[Ixyroth]

How about neither, there can be a world without Fallout you know.
Rather no Fallout games than crappy sequels and spin offs.

Still would be nice if there would be a new PA RPG series to enjoy then, hope that Wasteland remake or sequel is for real.

Indeed. Nothing is preferable at this point. Too bad Failout 3 didn't miscarry along the way.

Too much to ask for, but it'd be great if Interplay/Zeni-Beth results in a double-kill.

 

[programmer.craig]

Well... Oblivion was better than nothing. And Fallout 3 was better than Oblivion. So, personally, I can't really go along with the idea that it's better to have nothing come out under the Fallout name than games by Bethesda. When I used to hate Bethesda that was because other people were making better games. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. For example, I played Mass Effect and Fallout 3 last year. If I had to pick which I preferred, it would be Fallout 3. No doubt about it. I felt like I was on rails playing Mass Effect, the environments seemed to lifeless, the game was too short and they pulled the same old Bioware trick of prematurely catapulting me towards the end game at a point where I was feeling like I was just starting to get into it. The only thing Mass Effect had going for it was story, and that's not enough. It's a bit Ironic that story is the main thing that Fallout 3 lacked. Sucks that I'd only rate FO3 a 4/5 (and I'm not a game reviewer, that means I give it a B not an A) game at best, but I can't think of any other game last year or this year I liked better.

 

[lastofthelight]

The out of court comment is rather keen insight. If Interplay has /any/ slim chance of a case at all, this will never be settled in trial. HC might even be going for some sort of out of court settlement with his counter-claims. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. As pretty much everyone has stated, we know the ending...but how it gets there will bear watching.

 

[SuAside]

Well... Oblivion was better than nothing. And Fallout 3 was better than Oblivion. So, personally, I can't really go along with the idea that it's better to have nothing come out under the Fallout name than games by Bethesda.

you'll find that to many people here, this is like saying "well, getting raped by a supermutant is better than having no sex-life at all".

sorry, doesn't work that way. we'd rather keep the integrity of the games and the setting by playing the old games and new mods, than getting a new game that rapes the setting.

 

[Crni Vuk]

I can only agree with that. Sometimes its better to let a franchise rest and allow people to concentrate on new stories and settings.

Not that I would refuse a Fallout 3. But what we got in the end was just a Oblivion clone in many ways. That is uneeded in the Fallout world.

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Well... Oblivion was better than nothing. And Fallout 3 was better than Oblivion. So, personally, I can't really go along with the idea that it's better to have nothing come out under the Fallout name than games by Bethesda. When I used to hate Bethesda that was because other people were making better games. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore. For example, I played Mass Effect and Fallout 3 last year. If I had to pick which I preferred, it would be Fallout 3. No doubt about it. I felt like I was on rails playing Mass Effect, the environments seemed to lifeless, the game was too short and they pulled the same old Bioware trick of prematurely catapulting me towards the end game at a point where I was feeling like I was just starting to get into it. The only thing Mass Effect had going for it was story, and that's not enough. It's a bit Ironic that story is the main thing that Fallout 3 lacked. Sucks that I'd only rate FO3 a 4/5 (and I'm not a game reviewer, that means I give it a B not an A) game at best, but I can't think of any other game last year or this year I liked better.

I do agree with you on mass effect. Storyline was good but the worlds were lifeless and too repetitive. It was like what we had in oblivion. The same copy past cave over and over and over. Also the combat was well done.

But I disagree with you on saying that fallout 3 was better than oblivion. I would say the main storylines were equally bad in both games, but the side quests were actually interesting in oblivion. Actually some of the oblivion side quests were better written than the main quest, which is absurd. The combat was marginally better in fallout 3 and the characters were just as card board and unforgettable in both games. I think they are equally crappy games.

Oh and if you are going to use a number system, you can't use a letter grade system. The letter grade ends at 50 percent, the number system goes from 1 to 10 where 5 is average not failure.

 

[Darkform]

if I had plenty of money I would buy the rights to Fallout franchise and have a major game company build me a engine and then hire Fallout 1 and 2 moders as the desine team but then I would probably have to learn how to speel first.