FASA lives. (More or less.)

CaptHawkeye · Post by **CaptHawkeye** » 2007-12-07 09:07pm

Gamespot wrote:Internal Microsoft development house FASA Studio was closed down in September after completing the disappointing first-person shooter Shadowrun. Approximately half the staff was "redeployed" to other Microsoft studios, whilst the other half left the company.

Jordan Weisman, formerly creative director at Microsoft and contributor to a number of FASA games, has now launched a new studio called Smith & Tinker, and has bought the rights to FASA's IP.

An announcement on Smith & Tinker's official Web site proclaims that the company has bought the electronic entertainment rights from Microsoft for MechWarrior, Shadowrun, Crimson Skies, and other FASA games. However, it remains coy about what it plans to do with these IPs. "We're not quite ready to announce our plans for each property, but please be assured our goal is to surprise and delight old fans, while welcoming new fans into these fantastic worlds."

The new company's mission statement says that its aim is to "create connected entertainment products that move seamlessly back and forth from online to offline."

Remember how I said a while ago that all hope of a Mechwarrior 5 had ended? It has just been restored.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2007-12-07 09:15pm

*Envisions integrated multiplayer games of MechCommander 3 and MechWarrior 5; drools*

Shame we'll probably never actually see anything like that...

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-12-07 10:06pm

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:*Envisions integrated multiplayer games of MechCommander 3 and MechWarrior 5; drools*

Shame we'll probably never actually see anything like that...

What we'll get is an even more dumbed down Mech Assault.

Let me build my 200t Stugs! They were fun on the table top. Why can't I have them in a game?

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2007-12-08 04:28am

Give me a good single player game first. Ambitious multiplayer projects can wait.

Anyone played the first Mechwarrior game that came out in 1989 ?

It was incredible. It had a 5 year dynamic campaign where you travel the inner sphere, recruit people, make friends and enemies with factions among other things. This is what Mechwarrior should be not a crap plot written by soap oppera rejects who worked on Mechcommander 2 and Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance. Fuck storylines; a sandbox version of the entire Inner Sphere to play with is exactly what MW 5 needs.

Ok storylines are good too. But do them in standalone missions where the player experiences some famous BTech moments like Aidan Pryde's suicidal last stand. What the hell happened to the games that had a main campaign, instant action modes and standalone missions ?

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-12-08 07:26am

Actually.

Fuck Mechwarrior.

Give me a new Crimson Skies title. I want my Crimson Skies for the 360 looking as pretty as Ace Combat.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-12-08 11:51am

Sarevok wrote:Give me a good single player game first. Ambitious multiplayer projects can wait.

Anyone played the first Mechwarrior game that came out in 1989 ?

It was incredible. It had a 5 year dynamic campaign where you travel the inner sphere, recruit people, make friends and enemies with factions among other things. This is what Mechwarrior should be not a crap plot written by soap oppera rejects who worked on Mechcommander 2 and Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance. Fuck storylines; a sandbox version of the entire Inner Sphere to play with is exactly what MW 5 needs.

Ok storylines are good too. But do them in standalone missions where the player experiences some famous BTech moments like Aidan Pryde's suicidal last stand. What the hell happened to the games that had a main campaign, instant action modes and standalone missions ?

We've had enough of the Inner Sphere and their dumb names. I want another Clan-oriented game and I want my god damn Timber Wolf!

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2007-12-08 01:20pm

Uraniun235 wrote:We've had enough of the Inner Sphere and their dumb names. I want another Clan-oriented game and I want my god damn Timber Wolf!

fuck yes

Jade Falcon fo life, yo.

althornin · Post by **althornin** » 2007-12-08 03:48pm

Sarevok wrote:Give me a good single player game first. Ambitious multiplayer projects can wait.

Anyone played the first Mechwarrior game that came out in 1989 ?

It was incredible. It had a 5 year dynamic campaign where you travel the inner sphere, recruit people, make friends and enemies with factions among other things. This is what Mechwarrior should be not a crap plot written by soap oppera rejects who worked on Mechcommander 2 and Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance. Fuck storylines; a sandbox version of the entire Inner Sphere to play with is exactly what MW 5 needs.

You know it actually had a neat plot also?
I remember playing the game whne my brother and I found the actual plot. We were blown away, it was pretty cool

Enigma · Post by **Enigma** » 2007-12-08 04:02pm

Hope for Crimson Skies 2?

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2007-12-08 05:14pm

Enigma wrote:Hope for Crimson Skies 2?

There already have been two Crimson Skies, one for Xbox, an earlier for PC; I have both. But yes, a new, next-gen Crimson Skies would be awesome.

Post by **weemadando** » 2007-12-08 05:22pm

DesertFly wrote:
Enigma wrote:Hope for Crimson Skies 2?
There already have been two Crimson Skies, one for Xbox, an earlier for PC; I have both. But yes, a new, next-gen Crimson Skies would be awesome.

And can I just say how much better the PC one was in every goddamn way?

Yes, the XBox one was fun, but it was miles behind the PC predecessor.

And its not like they couldn't have made a more direct sequel to the PC game than what they did. And following Ace Combat's success I think they'd be more willing to give it a shot.

Block · Post by **Block** » 2007-12-08 07:38pm

They need to make a real sequel to Shadowrun, the one from the old Genesis system. That was one of my and Cmdr. Wilken's all time favorites. That and the original Mechcommander were the two best Fasa games ever, and two all time greats. Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soul Blighter are my top two, I'd love to see a fourth in that series, even though 3 was average. Anyways, this is really cool, and good news.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-12-08 07:42pm

DesertFly wrote:
Enigma wrote:Hope for Crimson Skies 2?
There already have been two Crimson Skies, one for Xbox, an earlier for PC; I have both. But yes, a new, next-gen Crimson Skies would be awesome.

A 'freeform' PC-oriented Crimson Skies where your band of Air Pirates/Air Militia cruise around the countries, meeting famous people and doing missions? That'd be great. I'd go punch Charlie Steel in the face, before bombing Khan's hideout, stealing Crawford's bomber jacket in an air raid, then terrorizing the ISA

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-12-08 08:19pm

What's sad is even something really lame and cookie-cutter like the ROTK games would be great if you dropped in 'big mechs' or 'kewl-ass swashbuckling planes'. An extra layer of strategic depth and flexibility would really help replay too... but given the current gaming climate I'm not convinced it'd ever happen. What we all want is by-the-nose stuff, obviously.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2007-12-08 08:52pm

Block wrote:Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soul Blighter are my top two, I'd love to see a fourth in that series, even though 3 was average. Anyways, this is really cool, and good news.

Wrong bunch of ex-Microsoft properties

VF5SS · Post by **VF5SS** » 2007-12-08 10:42pm

Hopefully they will try and make a new Mechwarrior game with combat that is more dynamic than, "run, shoot, and sometimes fall down."

Block · Post by **Block** » 2007-12-08 10:42pm

Vendetta wrote:
Block wrote:Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soul Blighter are my top two, I'd love to see a fourth in that series, even though 3 was average. Anyways, this is really cool, and good news.
Wrong bunch of ex-Microsoft properties

Well yeah, those were Bungie. Still awesome games, I just tend to ramble sometimes.

Rekkon · Post by **Rekkon** » 2007-12-08 11:18pm

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:
Uraniun235 wrote:We've had enough of the Inner Sphere and their dumb names. I want another Clan-oriented game and I want my god damn Timber Wolf!
fuck yes

Jade Falcon fo life, yo.

Seyla to that! Always wanted to see a MechWarrior game with Battlefield style flexibility. Let me drive a tank, fly aerofighters or fire up a Yellow Jacket VTOL. Heck, if my mech goes down, I want to eject, pull a sidearm and hoof it. Imagine organizing your squad of infantry to take on that one guy in a Locust hunting for you in a war torn city. Pass the grapple rods and C8 please.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2007-12-09 12:15am

TOG vs. Clan Jade Falcon

pretty please?

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2007-12-09 12:39am

Snow Ravens FOREVAH!

Here's hopin for some love for the big, big wings sometime. Mechs, tanks, and air-breathers get all the love.

Also, why the fuck does Weisman have to be involved in this? Mechwarrior: Dark Age was such a goddamn shitty excuse for a massacre of the storyline, and it's all right on his head. With him involved, this'll be mired in all his 'lol mechs with chainsaws' idiocy, rather than anything sexy.

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-12-09 01:47am

One FASA theme actually that I wonder about is Vor. I read about it and it seemed like a pretty bizzare theme, perfect for a new game series. I mean, hey. It's Futurey Space America/Canada/Mexico fighting the Soviet Union in Space, while space mummies, psychic crystals and cyborg cavemen fight each other. That sounds quite original

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2007-12-09 03:30am

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:
Uraniun235 wrote:We've had enough of the Inner Sphere and their dumb names. I want another Clan-oriented game and I want my god damn Timber Wolf!
fuck yes

Jade Falcon fo life, yo.

A remake of Mechwarrior 2 with modern graphics would be enough to make me buy it again.

Uraniun235 · Post by **Uraniun235** » 2007-12-09 04:07am

Brother-Captain Gaius wrote:
Uraniun235 wrote:We've had enough of the Inner Sphere and their dumb names. I want another Clan-oriented game and I want my god damn Timber Wolf!
fuck yes

Jade Falcon fo life, yo.

oh you're one of those people

(clan WOLF represent)

Nephtys · Post by **Nephtys** » 2007-12-09 04:49am

The Dark · Post by **The Dark** » 2007-12-09 06:26pm

Now if only someone would get Crimson Skies away from WizKids and re-release the original game.....

But I agree, I would love a more free-form PC version of Crimson Skies, where you can fly for one of the factions or as a mercenary, with a changing world based on what happens in the game. A slightly more realistic flight engine would be nice, but other than that there's not much I'd demand from the game.