Microsoft buys Lionhead

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-04-06 09:17am

Reuters wrote:NEW YORK (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said its in-house video game studio acquired Lionhead Studios, the British developer started by the famed game maker Peter Molyneux.

Most recently, Lionhead was responsible for "Fable." Released on Microsoft's Xbox platform, the game has sold more than 2 million units worldwide.

Molyneux is also known for innovative "God games" like "Black & White" that give players omnipotent power over a world.

Microsoft Game Studios said Lionhead would now develop exclusively for the Xbox 360 and Windows-based PCs.

Video game publishers frequently acquire the external developers that are responsible for their hit franchises, not only to increase their own in-house development talent but also to cut down on milestone and royalty payments that independent developers command as part of making a game.

Microsoft had previously acquired high-profile developers like Bungie Studios, maker of the "Halo" franchise, and Rare Ltd., which made some of Nintendo's most popular games of the 1990s.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-04-06 10:28am

Molyneux's games are crap nowdays.

There was a time his games was fun and fresh.

Now look at Black & White, more hype and less content than 99% of all other games.

Laughing Mechanicus · Post by **Laughing Mechanicus** » 2006-04-06 10:48am

I know alot of guys at Lionhead from when I worked there - or at least I used too, alot of them were laid off in the recent job cuts.

I have to wonder if Moly's going to stay with the company for more than a year or so after this...

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-04-06 11:11am

Maybe they'll move from producing tech demos to actual games now that they got someone big to buy them up.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2006-04-06 12:31pm

That was awfully cruel, Xon.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-04-06 12:52pm

Xon wrote:Maybe they'll move from producing tech demos to actual games now that they got someone big to buy them up.

ROFLMAO. Good call. A better description for the vacuum of nothingness that was Black and White I have not heard.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-04-06 01:20pm

So basicly, if you develop for XBox and make decent games, expect Microsoft to buy you.

MS can never seem to make good games on their own. Find me more than one good game that was developed in-house by Microsoft and that they created the IP.

Flight Sim was created by the Bruce Artwick organization IIRC. Age of Empires is Ensemble. Halo is, obviously, Bungie. etc, etc.

The sad part is that Peter Molyneux was one of the proponents of the Revolution. He's gone on about how much he likes it and has even gone onstage at Nintendo conferences. Now apparently MS is forcing him to go 360 and PC exclusive.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-04-06 01:28pm

To be honest I'm pissed at the glorified tech demos Lionhead released. While I didnt pay for any of them(borrowed them from a friend

), there was so much potential that if you added a traditional (read; usable) UI it would be so much better.

There is a lot of "cool tech" slapped into Lionhead "games", but it is like someone was checking off a buzz word list when adding features. Not trying to build a working game.

Mouse gestures
Creatures
Limited sphere of direct influence
"worshippers" that are terminally stupid, you either had too many of the fuckers to manage or not enough. No middle ground (it might exist but you couldnt hit it due to the UI)
Lack of UI means the game just doesnt scale as your worshippers takes off. Some pissy little god you(the player) end up being, a few hundred worshippers and you are pushed to the limit of your ability to micromanage. There is zero capacity for automation or delgation. And the fucking creature doesnt count.

No, I'm not bitter.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2006-04-06 01:30pm

Praxis wrote:MS can never seem to make good games on their own. Find me more than one good game that was developed in-house by Microsoft and that they created the IP.

Hey, you cant complain Microsoft has NIH syndrome with games

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2006-04-06 05:13pm

Praxis wrote: MS can never seem to make good games on their own. Find me more than one good game that was developed in-house by Microsoft and that they created the IP.

Microsoft isn't a video game-centric company like Nintendo is.

Can you name me a game that Sony had developed in-house and that they created the IP?

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-04-06 08:40pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Praxis wrote: MS can never seem to make good games on their own. Find me more than one good game that was developed in-house by Microsoft and that they created the IP.
Microsoft isn't a video game-centric company like Nintendo is.

Can you name me a game that Sony had developed in-house and that they created the IP?

Quite a few.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/index.cf ... ssonyenter

SCEA
Dark Cloud (RPG)
I.Q. Remix+: Intelligent Qube (Music)
Ico (Action/Fantasy)
Kinetica (Mech Racing)
NBA Shootout 2003 (Sports-Basketball)
NFL Gameday 2001 (Sports-Football)
Popolocrois III
Rise to Honor (Action/Martial Arts)
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain (Action/Shooter)
The Mark of Kri (Action)
TVDJ

SCEE
Dropship: United Peace Force
EyeToy: Play/Groove (Miscellaneous)
Formula One 2001
Formula One 2002
Formula One 2003
GhostHunter (Horror)
Hardware
Primal (Action)
This is Football 2002 (Sports)
Wipeout Fusion
World Tour Soccer 2002 (Sports)
World Tour Soccer 2003 (Sports)

SCEI
Ally of Justice
Ape Escape 2 (Action)
Ape Escape 2001 (Action)
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (RPG)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2
Fantavision (Puzzle)
Forbidden Siren (Suspense)
Hungry Ghosts
Mojib Ribbon
Operator's Side
Otosaz
Phase Paradox
Poinie's Poin
Sky Gunner
Sky Odyssey
Space Fishermen
Surveillance

EDIT: Looks like Microsoft did develop Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, Phantom dust, and some sports games. So the software side of their games division hasn't been completely quiet.

And some demo disks

lol

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-04-06 09:18pm

Xon wrote:To be honest I'm pissed at the glorified tech demos Lionhead released. While I didnt pay for any of them(borrowed them from a friend ), there was so much potential that if you added a traditional (read; usable) UI it would be so much better.

There is a lot of "cool tech" slapped into Lionhead "games", but it is like someone was checking off a buzz word list when adding features. Not trying to build a working game.

Mouse gestures

Creatures

Limited sphere of direct influence

"worshippers" that are terminally stupid, you either had too many of the fuckers to manage or not enough. No middle ground (it might exist but you couldnt hit it due to the UI)

Lack of UI means the game just doesnt scale as your worshippers takes off. Some pissy little god you(the player) end up being, a few hundred worshippers and you are pushed to the limit of your ability to micromanage. There is zero capacity for automation or delgation. And the fucking creature doesnt count.
No, I'm not bitter.

Go above all that- what exactly was the point of Black and White? It was bloody pointless. There was no sense of ... well, doing anything substantial, really. Just dicking around on some lame island play pen.

Star-Blighter · Post by **Star-Blighter** » 2006-04-06 10:02pm

Vympel wrote:What exactly was the point of Black and White? It was bloody pointless. There was no sense of ... well, doing anything substantial, really. Just dicking around on some lame island play pen.

I'm getting this feeling with more and more new games. I finished Quake IV, DoA IV, Perfect Dark Zero, and Call of Duty II. In retrospect I wonder why I even bothered to purchase them in the first place when they would just get tossed aside so quickly. Only Call of Duty gave me any sense of real achievment.

Even the damned 360 gives me moans of dispair. The piece of shit has a loose loading tray that actually gets stuck and requires pushing it in the final 10th of its movement range. It gets errors consistently when started up without a disk in the drive, occasionally freezing up when playing Halo II. And where the fuck is my backwards compatibility?!? I can't play Black since it isn't out for 360 yet and the much vaunted ability to play Xbox games seems to drop through the floor when it comes to any game but Halo II (Crimson skies, Need4Speed Most Wanted, and any other relics from the age of Xbox don't work for me). I've searched for workarounds and updates to atleast let me play Black but none seem to exist.

Why exactly would anyone want such a ham-stringed, ill-concieved, and boarderline unfinshed product is beyond me. I am truly kicking myself for falling for graphics and hype that never had merrit to begin with. Nintendo Revolution, here I come....

My rant for the day.

Max · Post by **Max** » 2006-04-08 07:15pm

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-04-08 08:05pm

Star-Blighter wrote:I've searched for workarounds and updates to atleast let me play Black but none seem to exist.

Emulation for Black was added about a week ago. Put the disc in, it will download the update.

From what I hear, however, as soon as you get over the gun porn factor it's pretty hollow stuff.

Star-Blighter · Post by **Star-Blighter** » 2006-04-08 10:04pm

Vendetta wrote:
Star-Blighter wrote:I've searched for workarounds and updates to atleast let me play Black but none seem to exist.
Emulation for Black was added about a week ago. Put the disc in, it will download the update.

From what I hear, however, as soon as you get over the gun porn factor it's pretty hollow stuff.

That makes sense since the last time I tried making it run was three weeks ago. I'll give it another go. The only reason I play it is for gun porn wankage anyways...

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2006-04-09 09:23am

Praxis wrote:The sad part is that Peter Molyneux was one of the proponents of the Revolution. He's gone on about how much he likes it and has even gone onstage at Nintendo conferences. Now apparently MS is forcing him to go 360 and PC exclusive.

If he wants to do Revolution games, he can always leave. I don't think there are many game developing companies that would turn him down, especially if he would have a new concept...