Briosafreak
Lived Through the Heat Death
In the last Gamespoting: Stealth Kill collum at Gamespot Tor Thorsen made a pessimistic portrait of Interplay and Fallout3 after the departure of J.E. Sawyer:
<blockquote>
Journalists are supposed to be objective, but the departure of J.E. Sawyer from Black Isle Studios got this reporter downright depressed. It wasn't just that J.E. was one of the more talented and interesting figures in the development game. (By "interesting" I mean slightly nuts, like most top-quality creative types are.) More importantly, the speed of his departure points to something going very wrong behind the scenes of "Van Buren," the official code name for Fallout 3.
Anybody who's perused the Interplay forums recently knows the studio is in trouble. Its forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons title, code-named "Jefferson," was canned earlier this year, reportedly a casualty of a legal tangle with Atari. A host of top-quality talent has fled the studio, including legendary producer Feargus Urqhart. Even worse, Black Isle's parent, Interplay, is hemorrhaging money, having lost over $20 million so far this year.
Black Isle Studios redirected our inquiries to its helpful PR rep.
With Black Isle's bank account and staff shrinking at an alarming rate, there's more than a small chance that Fallout 3 will never make it to a PC near you. For me, that would be a personal tragedy.</blockquote>
The Fallout3 team members were fast in reassuring everyone that the game goes on as planed, with Damien "Puuk" Foletto explaining why the game hasn`t been oficially announced:
<blockquote>It all goes back to announcing too soon. Let's say, for example ONLY, that we announce tomorrow, but the game won't ship for at least another year or so. The big buzz that came with the announcement would simmer down to a light fizz by the time the game is ready for release. Most people might not even care by then. Announcing is all about timing. Usually, most developers like to announce within six months of release so the fires stay hot throughout the whole six months. This gives plenty of time for magazine previews, online designer diaries, screenhot exclusives, etc. Valve had the right idea when they announced, and if it weren't for the pinheads who stole the source code, the game would have shipped six months after announement - while the fires were still hot about HL2.
Bottom line; if we want to make an announcement, we want to do it with great stuff to show and not keep the fans waiting for months on end for shipment.</blockquote>
Well the game production goes on and it`s starting to look really good, that i can tell you guys and girls.
<blockquote>
Journalists are supposed to be objective, but the departure of J.E. Sawyer from Black Isle Studios got this reporter downright depressed. It wasn't just that J.E. was one of the more talented and interesting figures in the development game. (By "interesting" I mean slightly nuts, like most top-quality creative types are.) More importantly, the speed of his departure points to something going very wrong behind the scenes of "Van Buren," the official code name for Fallout 3.
Anybody who's perused the Interplay forums recently knows the studio is in trouble. Its forthcoming Dungeons & Dragons title, code-named "Jefferson," was canned earlier this year, reportedly a casualty of a legal tangle with Atari. A host of top-quality talent has fled the studio, including legendary producer Feargus Urqhart. Even worse, Black Isle's parent, Interplay, is hemorrhaging money, having lost over $20 million so far this year.
Black Isle Studios redirected our inquiries to its helpful PR rep.
With Black Isle's bank account and staff shrinking at an alarming rate, there's more than a small chance that Fallout 3 will never make it to a PC near you. For me, that would be a personal tragedy.</blockquote>
The Fallout3 team members were fast in reassuring everyone that the game goes on as planed, with Damien "Puuk" Foletto explaining why the game hasn`t been oficially announced:
<blockquote>It all goes back to announcing too soon. Let's say, for example ONLY, that we announce tomorrow, but the game won't ship for at least another year or so. The big buzz that came with the announcement would simmer down to a light fizz by the time the game is ready for release. Most people might not even care by then. Announcing is all about timing. Usually, most developers like to announce within six months of release so the fires stay hot throughout the whole six months. This gives plenty of time for magazine previews, online designer diaries, screenhot exclusives, etc. Valve had the right idea when they announced, and if it weren't for the pinheads who stole the source code, the game would have shipped six months after announement - while the fires were still hot about HL2.
Bottom line; if we want to make an announcement, we want to do it with great stuff to show and not keep the fans waiting for months on end for shipment.</blockquote>
Well the game production goes on and it`s starting to look really good, that i can tell you guys and girls.
