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Rumor: Bungie/Microsoft Split?
Thought this might be worthy of it's own thread since it isn't really 360 or Halo 3 related... but there have been rumors the last couple days that Bungie is splitting from Microsoft.
http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Sto...1438.22348.htm Obviously something to be skeptical about, but I first read about it yesterday and it hasn't been debunked by either Bungie or Microsoft yet. Thoughts? Think it's bullshit? Think it's true? |
I think it's bullshit. For no other reason than to be the first one in this thread to say so.
S2K |
I think it's real because of MS's answer to the "rumor" - paraphrased - 'we haven't made any such announcement and we celebrate the success of Halo.'
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If this happens, MS will obviously keep the rights to the Halo franchise. But it will be a huge blow for the Xbox 360 not having Bungie in its corner. How could MS have let this happen?
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How could they leave Microsoft? Microsoft bought them, right? Oh, I see, they "bought it back" from Microsoft. Ummmm, yeah right. No fucking way Microsoft is giving back the company that makes its highest selling property.
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Per the link:
* They paid a substantial amount of $ for it back * MS keeps rights to Halo * MS has rights of first refusal for all subsequent Bungie games |
Even if Bungie moved on from Microsoft, they'd be crazy not to continue to develop games for the 360. More games for the 360 = more money to develop games for other platforms. I'm personally hoping they go back to developing for the Mac.
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One comment that i saw on Kotaku guessed that a possibility was the threat of a large amount of Bungie developers packing up and starting their own development studio... which certainly wouldn't be out of the ordinary considering how often that happens these days.
If there was a chance of that happening, maybe cutting a deal sounded more attractive? I don't know, i'm leaning towards it being a bunch of shit, but thought it would be fun to post :) |
God I hope they don't make a Halo game for the Wii...the master chief would look rediculous with Mario's head on his shoulders, lol.
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Originally Posted by Suprmallet
I'm personally hoping they go back to developing for the Mac.
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Originally Posted by taffer
People still game on the Mac? Seriously?
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Supposedly a lot of this comes down to Bungie not wanting to be indentured to Microsoft for Halo full-time, which I could understand. Still, you would think Microsoft would do whatever it took (add staff, etc) to keep Bungie making Halo and doing whatever side projects or new IPs they wanted to.
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Originally Posted by GatorDeb
Per the link:
* They paid a substantial amount of $ for it back |
Originally Posted by dvd182
Supposedly a lot of this comes down to Bungie not wanting to be indentured to Microsoft for Halo full-time, which I could understand. Still, you would think Microsoft would do whatever it took (add staff, etc) to keep Bungie making Halo and doing whatever side projects or new IPs they wanted to.
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MS retains the rights to Halo and saves it's pennies for the rumored Take-Two acquisition at the same time? Sounds plausible to me.
Still haven't seen or heard anything concrete(other than it's coming) about GTAIV on PS3 yet... ... I'm just sayin' :shrug: |
Originally Posted by Deftones
Does anyone honestly think this is even a plausible scenario?
And does Bungie make any games other than Halo? |
Originally Posted by fumanstan
One comment that i saw on Kotaku guessed that a possibility was the threat of a large amount of Bungie developers packing up and starting their own development studio... which certainly wouldn't be out of the ordinary considering how often that happens these days.
If there was a chance of that happening, maybe cutting a deal sounded more attractive? I don't know, i'm leaning towards it being a bunch of shit, but thought it would be fun to post :) Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. |
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Originally Posted by sniper308
I know the Bungie name is worth some $$$, but the Halo franchise and the talent are the biggest assets. Why would Bungie pay a "significant amount of money for the studio name back from Microsoft", without the Halo rights, when they could just leave and form a company under another name without paying a significant amount of $$$?
The average consumer doesn't see the faces that make the games, they see Bungie made Halo and now "Bungie" made X game. "From the makers of..." isn't as solid of a sale as company branding. |
Plus Bungie has more invested than just the name. Bungie.net has been an integral part of their operation for years now, and the rights to that site are worth a ton of money to them.
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Based on what I read on several pages I think it's real.
And it's supposed to be officially announced next week. |
Rare will be doing Halo 4.
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Gamespot debunked this pretty thoroughly.
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I'll wait for some official announcement.
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I just can't see how a company can buy themselves back from Microsoft. Even if ever single employee jumped ship and started their own company, don't you think Microsoft can bring in the talent to put out a quality game?
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Originally Posted by Chris_D
Gamespot debunked this pretty thoroughly.
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Originally Posted by Deftones
I just can't see how a company can buy themselves back from Microsoft. Even if ever single employee jumped ship and started their own company, don't you think Microsoft can bring in the talent to put out a quality game?
Under MS: Grabbed by the Ghoulies: 71% Conker: Reloaded: 79% PD0: 80% Kameo: 80% Diddy Kong Racing DS: 67% Viva Pinata: 81% During the split: Star Fox Adventures: 80% Under Nintendo: Blast Corps: 89% Diddy Kong Racing: 89% Donkey Kong 64: 87% Banjo-Kazooie: 91% Banjo-Tooie: 91% Goldeneye: 95% Perfect Dark: 95% Conker's Bad Fur Day: 89% They are not the same company. The creative force is gone. Now they have people that were hired to specifically make a 'Rare' game... i.e. Stamper Bros. game since they were the driving creative force. The problem isn't a matter of getting a team to just make great games, you have a team designed to make games to fit a particular mold another team/company crafted and perfected. |
Originally Posted by GatorDeb
Link?
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To be fair, games like Diddy Kong, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Donkey Kong, and Banjo series are generally considered to have been very overrated at the time, and not hold up like a Mario for example. Ok, I'm not backing that up particularly well, but whenever the subject of Rare comes up on podcasts like 1UP or Gamespot that is always the sentiment expressed.
My opinion is that their best 3 games are Blast Corps, Viva Pinata, and Goldeneye in that order, and I sure as hell wouldn't play Goldeneye these days with it's janky n64 controls. It was awesome back in the day though. I remember buying Banjo the day it came out off the back of a slew of 90% plus reviews, and was thoroughly unimpressed. |
Hindsight is 20/20. Sure some may not hold up well, but at the time of release they were well received. It's also not like I posted one web site's scores, but gamerankings which is an average, so everyone must have been fooled. :)
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Well yeah, but it blunts the argument a little that before the MS take over they were golden, and now they're shit. It's really just not true. I mean, if you factor in the N64s weak gaming library as well, you could even suggest that as the reason why some of those older games got so much love back in the day.
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Originally Posted by Chris_D
Well yeah, but it blunts the argument a little that before the MS take over they were golden, and now they're shit. It's really just not true. I mean, if you factor in the N64s weak gaming library as well, you could even suggest that as the reason why some of those older games got so much love back in the day.
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Originally Posted by Chris_D
To be fair, games like Diddy Kong, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Donkey Kong, and Banjo series are generally considered to have been very overrated at the time, and not hold up like a Mario for example.
Diddy Kong never really had that great of reviews from gamers, since many people were comparing it to Mario Kart, even though it wasn't trying to be Mario Kart. |
Originally Posted by SteelgearX
Crap is crap, no matter how you slice it. You don't see Jaguar or 3DO games being placed on a pedestal just because their weren't any other games.
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Originally Posted by Jeremy517
I think the first Banjo game was better than Mario 64 :shrug:
Diddy Kong never really had that great of reviews from gamers, since many people were comparing it to Mario Kart, even though it wasn't trying to be Mario Kart. |
As much as that would suck, I hope the grapes aren't sour enough that there won't be download content for halo 3 in the future.
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Originally Posted by Chris_D
...and I sure as hell wouldn't play Goldeneye these days with it's janky n64 controls. It was awesome back in the day though.
And this is coming from people who own a Wii and a 360 respectively. It's just that (in my opinion) damned good a game. |
Originally Posted by Chris_D
What then was it trying to be?
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Confirmed.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/...005-bungie.htm Published October 5, 2007 REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of the Halo franchise, to embark on a path to become an independent company. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie at the same time continuing its long standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft owned Halo intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie. The critically acclaimed Xbox 360® exclusive Halo® 3 achieved $300 million in global sales in its first week. Released on Tuesday, Sept. 25, Halo 3 is the fastest-selling video game ever and already one of the most successful entertainment properties in history. “Our collaboration with Bungie has resulted in Halo becoming an enduring mainstream hit,” said Shane Kim, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. “While we are supporting Bungie’s desire to return to its independent roots, we will continue to invest in our Halo entertainment property with Bungie and other partners, such as Peter Jackson, on a new interactive series set in the Halo universe. We look forward to great success with Bungie as our long-term relationship continues to evolve through Halo-related titles and new IP created by Bungie.” "This exciting evolution of our relationship with Microsoft will enable us to expand both creatively and organizationally in our mission to create world-class games," said Harold Ryan, studio head for Bungie. "We will continue to develop with our primary focus on Microsoft’s platforms; we greatly value our mutually prosperous relationship with our publisher, Microsoft Game Studios, and we look forward to continuing that affiliation through ‘Halo’ and beyond." Bungie Studios will remain in its current location in Kirkland, Wash. |
No longer rumor, it's official.. starting today. -eek-
They will still work with MS for Halo titles though. Halo Beach Volleyball is the next project. |
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