RPGDot, GameSpy and Gamespot reports on Interplay

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Brother None

This ghoul has seen it all
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Adding some details and making some things clear, From RPGDot:

<blockquote># Interplay has traded all rights to D&D games, including Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale products (except for the existing back catalogue), for full ownership of the 'Dark Alliance' trademark. I'm not clear if future 'Dark Alliance' game will keep the 'Baldur's Gate' prefix. As reported, with no D&D rights future Dark Alliance games will be set in a new game universe that Interplay will devise. There was a hint that an adaptation of SPECIAL would be used for the ruleset. It's likely a new engine will be licensed.

# On Fallout 3, Caen said "Fallout 3 is not actively being developed right now and we will have an announcement soon on that project". Later, several questions were posed by an investor. The exchange went as follows, starting with a question clarifying whether IPLAY would develop or publish Fallout 3:
Caen: We plan on publishing Fallout 3
Caller: Most likely it will be done through an external studio, correct?
Caen: Correct.

(...)

Finally, although reduced from 207 staff to 113, about 75 of those remaining are developers.</blockquote>

<hr>

Year report on Gamespy (thanks, Pope_Viper):

<blockquote>

But some bleaker short term news appeared in a Form 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today. In it the company noted a few problems it was facing: The company owes three months worth of rent on its Irvine, California headquarters and has been served with a Three-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Surrender Possession. If the company can't meet that deadline it will be forced to leave its headquarters and disrupt its business while it seeks a new location.

Interplay also said in the filing that the Internal Revenue Service is seeking approximately $70,000 for payroll tax penalties on taxes that were allegedly not paid for. Interplay estimates that it owes an additional $10,000, which it has accrued in penalties for nonpayment of approximately $99,000 in Federal and State payroll taxes, which were due on March 31, 2004 and are still outstanding. If Interplay can get by these problems then the company expects it can be profitable and successful in the future. </blockquote>

And according to GameSpy, 66% of the net revenue of Interplay last year was in console games.

<hr>

And then it's Gamespot's turn:

<blockquote>"These results mark an important milestone for Interplay. In 2003, we had a return to operating profit and substantially reduced our debt. However, we continue to operate under cash constraints," said Herve Caen, chairman and CEO, Interplay. "Specifically, Interplay is three months in arrears on its corporate lease obligation, may have short-term payroll difficulties and has outstanding payroll tax obligations as of the date of this release. Certainly, financial challenges remain, yet we are proud of what our team has accomplished thus far and we are committed to working even harder to maintain our return to operating profitability."</blockquote>

Link: GameSpot report
Link: GameSpy report
Link: RPGDot report
Link: MSN money center report (thanks to TJHighlndr for that link)

Currently, the stockholder's meetings hasn't been doing the Interplay stock any good. News as I'm posting this: IPLY 0.10 -0.02 -19.83%
 
Well it seems that fallout isn't dead afterall? But I was wondering will the studios mentioned in the poll have enough money to buy the license for fallout? Maybe, it could go to some larger studio who will turn fallout into a cash cow?

Being pessimistic never hurts and with the gaming industry turning more and more like hollywood pessimism seems to be the right way to go.
 
MvD said:
Well it seems that fallout isn't dead afterall? But I was wondering will the studios mentioned in the poll have enough money to buy the license for fallout? Maybe, it could go to some larger studio who will turn fallout into a cash cow?
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I picked the studios on the list based on either people wanting that studio to get it or that studio being capable of getting it. Obsidian and Troika can't afford Fallout 3, but could be backed for it. The far less popular SSE and BioWare could afford it.

Big studios weren't listed because...fuck...who would vote Microsoft? Or Atari?
 
I'm not getting my hopes up. Seems to me Caen has mentioned FO3 in the vaguest sense because he doesn't want to piss people off. There are no details.
I also would be interested to know if anyone questioned him about his apparant corruption with funneling money from interplay to titus...

EDIT I would also point out at RPGDot a 'guest' has posted :'at this point it's not obsidian'. Just seemed pretty definate to make me think its an obsidian dev
http://www.rpgdot.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=82652

If I was inclined to believe a word Caen said I'd take away the impression that FO3 was already in development by someone. Can someone in contact with Obsidian or Troika get any info? Linking this together with Tim Cain's recent comments about being willing to work with iply again....
 
Kharn said:
MvD said:
Well it seems that fallout isn't dead afterall? But I was wondering will the studios mentioned in the poll have enough money to buy the license for fallout? Maybe, it could go to some larger studio who will turn fallout into a cash cow?
Click to expand...

I picked the studios on the list based on either people wanting that studio to get it or that studio being capable of getting it. Obsidian and Troika can't afford Fallout 3, but could be backed for it. The far less popular SSE and BioWare could afford it.

Big studios weren't listed because...fuck...who would vote Microsoft? Or Atari?
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I wasn't really complaining that MS wasn't listed there, I was just , how should I put it? "thinking out loud"

Seriously, I really doubt that this new FO3 is going to impress me. It’s probably going to be more franchising.

Fallout: Racer "Racer in the wastelands" :roll:
 
Of course, it makes more sense to the Caen and Darth Interplay Molester (DIM for short) at Interplay to make a flop game (F:POS) and then not pay rent, resulting in a three day eviction notice being filed.

"What eez thees? We are getting zee eviction? Sacre bleu! What an eenovateef idea to make a game about! Ehuhuhuh!"

Simply put, that's why these people shouldn't be in business anymore. I really don't have any pity for anyone who still works at Interplay, as I'm sure even the janitor knows which way the wind is blowing (especially after his assistant, danien, left), and his job is better set than most there.
 
If Interplay are having problems paying their rent and have tax problems, what makes anyone think they can get Fallout 3 out the door?
 
DarkUnderlord said:
If Interplay are having problems paying their rent and have tax problems, what makes anyone think they can get Fallout 3 out the door?
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Out the door... Down the toilet... Either way, I hope it gets away from them as fast as possible to a better home where it can actually flourish and see the light of day.
 
Slashdot article said:
No Mutants Allowed is also covering it.
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:roll: O really, are we not supposed to cover news concerning Fallout, and Interplay. Isn't that the whole idea of this website?

P.S. I suppose this means it's real? Are we actually going to get Fallout 3 this time, or is it going to be another huge disappointment?
 
Dove said:
P.S. I suppose this means it's real? Are we actually going to get Fallout 3 this time, or is it going to be another huge disappointment?
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This is Interplay we're talking about here.

Was that even a serious question?
 
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Great work Ugly John :ok:
 
I've been visiting this site for a while but this is my first post.

Those poll results are just retarded. Everyone voting for Bioware should have the shit kicked out of them. Do you want a FallOut 3 that is really a FallOut 3 or do you want an action/adventure in the fallout universe like FBOS?

Bioware is good at make rpg-lite games that appeal to the mass market. FallOut is not rpg-lite. Going RT, making characters "ungimpable", easy choice-lite character creation and character development, and other hippy new-age shit is all Bioware would do to increase the mass market appeal.

I was happy VB got cancelled. TB/RT hybrids mean combat will be so simple and the enemies so overubandant that you would not play TB unless you were fighting a boss (like in Arcanum). RT combat equals easy combat against 50000 enemies. That is not Fallout. FallOut is a TB game. Fallout rewarded the players that put a lot of thought into character creation. Stupid people ended up with gimped characters. VB would have been crap, more like Fbos than FO 1 and 2.

If you don't like the FallOut turn-based combat and thought-heavy character creation and advancement play NWN or DS the other plethora of games being developed like this. FO3 is the last chance TB fans have of a quality rpg sequal. Atari hinted at a BG3 and NWN2, RT simple-rpg fans have their games and I wish they would stop trying to wreck the one good thing TB fans might have.

Why would anyone want FO3 not to really be actually FO3 in anything but name and setting. Fbos had the name and setting, guess that must have been FO3, right?

I wouldn't want spiderweb games to make BG3 because they would make it TB, and BG is a a RT game, same as NWN. I don't try to wreck shit for the fans of those games, yet everyone wants to wreck FO3.

Bioware winning the polls, what the hell is wrong with you guys? I have a creeping suspision that FO3 will be more like fbos than FO 1 and 2, thanks to the "mass market." I would love to shoot everyone in the face that voted for Bioware and Obsidian.

Yeah, Obsidian and Bioware would do for FO what InXile are doing to Bard's Tale.

I'm sorry for my first post being an angry post which includes statements of wanting to kill people that do not seem to mind FO3 not being FO3, but, ah, who gives a shit. I can still play Fo 1 and 2.
 
Roqua said:
Bioware winning the polls, what the hell is wrong with you guys? I have a creeping suspision that FO3 will be more like fbos than FO 1 and 2, thanks to the "mass market." I would love to shoot everyone in the face that voted for Bioware and Obsidian.

Yeah, Obsidian and Bioware would do for FO what InXile are doing to Bard's Tale.

I'm sorry for my first post being an angry post which includes statements of wanting to kill people that do not seem to mind FO3 not being FO3, but, ah, who gives a shit. I can still play Fo 1 and 2.
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You'll find most people here agree with you, not a lot of people on these forums want a Fallout 3 by Obsidian, I think. In fact, I myself was kind of surprised by this result, but I guess it's because NMA's visitors cover a wider spectrum than NMA's forum-posters.

Also, I don't think it's justified to crack down on or glorify Obsidian, since they haven't really done anything yet.
 
Yeah, you are right. I haven't seen anything from Obsidian to judge them either way, I'm just judging from the devs I know from there and there past projects that I have played.
 
Roqua said:
I've been visiting this site for a while but this is my first post.
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An intelligent newcomer to the forums that has some idea behind the topic. That would make a lot of people cry out of relief, especially when they have have to deal with things like I have on a regular basis.

Those poll results are just retarded. Everyone voting for Bioware should have the shit kicked out of them. Do you want a FallOut 3 that is really a FallOut 3 or do you want an action/adventure in the fallout universe like FBOS?

Bioware is good at make rpg-lite games that appeal to the mass market.
Click to expand...

One friend from BioWare, a long time ago, pointed out to me the main influences and design style they used for the Infinity Engine. Included are points that make it obvious that BioWare is a bad choice:

[*]Diablo meets AD&D, to try and cash in on those given a life's prescription of ritalin.
[*]Using Fallout's speech system style...then only do it half-ass.
[*]Fed-Ex has been done to death. BioWare knows scripting for Fed-Ex! (Though they don't know how to use it for much else, it appears.)
[*]Evil, or questionable decisions as the wasteland dictates, would be neutered to hell with BioWare. Their idea of evil is only supporting it nowhere near halfway as obviously good parts, or is just good for hire.
[*]One of their own developers basically waved a sign that read "I'm an overpaid incompetent chair warmer" when they said that doing multiple story branches would result in "exponentially more work".

I was happy VB got cancelled. TB/RT hybrids mean combat will be so simple and the enemies so overubandant that you would not play TB unless you were fighting a boss (like in Arcanum). RT combat equals easy combat against 50000 enemies. That is not Fallout. FallOut is a TB game. Fallout rewarded the players that put a lot of thought into character creation. Stupid people ended up with gimped characters. VB would have been crap, more like Fbos than FO 1 and 2.
Click to expand...

I think the amusing thing to note would be that for months a couple of BIS members defended TB/RT "toggle" systems (which take even more work than a single system). That's the thing about these kids coming from "gaming colleges" and the like. They think that to get more consumers, you need to have more features on the box. It doesn't take much intelligence to see that one system done right would alleviate the gripes of people, and without compromising the game's design in the attempt.

Then again, with retards like this working for them at the developer level, it's no wonder Interplay's up shit creek. That's why I call the boy an asst. janitor; I would only trust him to scrub the shitters.

If you don't like the FallOut turn-based combat and thought-heavy character creation and advancement play NWN or DS the other plethora of games being developed like this. FO3 is the last chance TB fans have of a quality rpg sequal. Atari hinted at a BG3 and NWN2, RT simple-rpg fans have their games and I wish they would stop trying to wreck the one good thing TB fans might have.
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Funny you should mention that. The argument used by many, including the aforementioned asst. janitor (I think, could be wrong), was that RT was far more popular because those games that did well had RT combat in them. Anyone with common sense and/or wasn't brainwashed by the game industry's marketing cattle could figure out what it means. Then, of course, those who have been in the industry or around it for awhile could tell you that clones and bandwagon jumping titles mostly do poorly.

I would love to shoot everyone in the face that voted for Bioware and Obsidian.

Yeah, Obsidian and Bioware would do for FO what InXile are doing to Bard's Tale.
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Quite likely so. From what I've constantly heard from Feargus, that kind of rhetoric wasn't just from the higher echelons of Interplay. BioWare and Obsidian will likely keep dry-humping the combination of half-ass Fallout meets Diablo until even more people get sick of them or they actually do learn to stop using D&D as a crutch and go for imaginative design.

Although, it could be pointed out that people would then get tired of the genre, because of having a number of play-once games floating around. Two words that have always given me chuckles - SLAM DUNK! Nothing says shyster than slapping out a half-ass game onto the market while publicly admitting it's a pig in a poke.

As for Silver Style, many people wish the lead on that team would shut up or put up with the Fallout title. There was much rejoicing at SSE for "coming closer to Fo3" or some dreck like that, just because they had two QA people recently turned scripters/devs join up with them. Well, one later left to EA, I don't know/remember about the other. I also doubt SSE because while they do have at least a game under their belt, there is no proof that they know the setting, can do better than the horribly unimaginative quests BioWare usually comes out with, and can really stop crowing about Fallout until they have some reason to do so.
 
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