This is a huge bummer. I hope these guys can reform and start working in area that is more profitable. Joyride isn't cutting it so there is a racing void in the Kinect lineup. Racers just don't light up the charts like they used to in a general sense so maybe they will have to move to western RPGs, shooters, or even the Facebook money grab.
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Activision Closes Budcat; Bizarre Closing On Friday, February 18th
- Thread starter KennyLinder
- Start date
SirIgbyCeaser
Banned
The worst part is... Blood stone was a great game and it ends saying "James bond will return."
:'(
Fixed**
:'(
Fixed**
Not a Jellyfish
but I am a sheep
SirIgbyCeaser said:
Fixed.
Though it was funny because of the Leo movie called Blood Diamond :lol
riceandbeans
Member
mattiewheels said:
There was little to no marketing for it from what I remember, which is stupid considering it's a first-party game with a huge budget. It was alright. The weather effects and motorcycles were an okay addition, but the gameplay didn't feel too different for me.
NeoGIF
Member
mattiewheels said:
And: http://www.next-gen.biz/features/interview-bizarre-creations’-martyn-chudley?page=0%2C0
Microsoft, you are to blame. Work some shit out and pick this gang back up ASAP!
Rated-Rsuperstar
Member
SirIgbyCeaser said:
I know right. I was looking forward to whatever they had planned for the sequel.
SirIgbyCeaser
Banned
It seems that the story of Bizarre creations is that, ever since next gen came along... they've been overshadowed by bigger IP, they've had bad publishing and communication with US publishers.
Their games come out at difficult times and they're badly marketed. I think the marketing problem could be because they're UK based and don't know how to market to a US audience. But I think a publisher should be in charge of making stuff like that work.
And the death of this Bizarre reminds me of the Denis Dyack school of thought, that game publishers should hold game releases until it's been marketed and focus tested like hollywood movies to find opportune release dates.
Their games come out at difficult times and they're badly marketed. I think the marketing problem could be because they're UK based and don't know how to market to a US audience. But I think a publisher should be in charge of making stuff like that work.
And the death of this Bizarre reminds me of the Denis Dyack school of thought, that game publishers should hold game releases until it's been marketed and focus tested like hollywood movies to find opportune release dates.
CecilRousso
Member
Well, honestly....The Club, Blur, Blood Stone, that trio ain´t looking good. Maybe closing the whole studio is way to much, but it´s hard for studios to make a solid comeback after games like that.
Better than 3? Having never owned a PS2, I can say that it is quite possibly my favourite racing game ever. I still play it for around a few hours in one sitting every few weeks because it's just that satisfying to nail perfect corners and laps. The environments are amazing, the driving model is sublime and the weather is fucking sensational.mattiewheels said:
If you have a 360 and haven't played it, do so immediately!
Big-ass Ramp
hella bullets that's true
What a stupid move.
If I can just add, this is really the first studio closure that has hit home with me. Other devs that have gone under/broken where they did the odd game or two that I was interested in, but Bizarre basically ushered me into next-gen gaming slowly but surely, from MSR through all of the PGR games.
I guess if you're more a Sony fanboy and never had your way with a DC or Xbox, this studio closing would be almost like hearing that Polyphony went under. Not quite... but almost.
Truly devastated over here
I guess if you're more a Sony fanboy and never had your way with a DC or Xbox, this studio closing would be almost like hearing that Polyphony went under. Not quite... but almost.
Truly devastated over here
Agreed, Bizarre carried me into the HD generation, honestly when I bought the Xbox 360, I could have given a fuck less about the HD featureset or anything, it was all about PGR3 for me.Shaneus said:If I can just add, this is really the first studio closure that has hit home with me. Other devs that have gone under/broken where they did the odd game or two that I was interested in, but Bizarre basically ushered me into next-gen gaming slowly but surely, from MSR through all of the PGR games.
I guess if you're more a Sony fanboy and never had your way with a DC or Xbox, this studio closing would be almost like hearing that Polyphony went under. Not quite... but almost.
Truly devastated over here
Remember this trailer? I shat bricks when I saw this.
Dead Man Typing
Member
enzo_gt said:
I think Racing games haven't been popular for a while, but I blame it on the absence of the power house brand in the field. Gran Turismo 5 is going to make a lot of people remember that they like playing racing games, and once their done with GT5 they'll be looking for something new and fresh.
Blur's "Call of Duty style" online progression could be exactly what people will be looking for in a couple of months.
Why? I'm not saying there aren't talented people there worth "rescue", but funding games and not buying developers is probably more profitable for MS.Jonnyram said:It would be awesome if MS rescued them somehow. After all, Geometry Wars was like the poster boy for XBLA. It basically sold me a 360. And PGR also did so much for them back in the days of the first Xbox. They could bring them back and have them make PGR5
Besides they don't want (need?) PGR, they've got Forza.
PGR 3 is one of the best racing games i've played this gen. Who remembers the photo mode?? They were the first to start this phenomenon on 360.
MS should pick them up, or at least (as someone mentioned) pull a Ruffian. I thought Crackdown 2 was mediocre - didnt think too much of its predecessor, but PGR2/3 were AAA and missing out on talent from Bizzare does seem bizzare.
Do it MS!
MS should pick them up, or at least (as someone mentioned) pull a Ruffian. I thought Crackdown 2 was mediocre - didnt think too much of its predecessor, but PGR2/3 were AAA and missing out on talent from Bizzare does seem bizzare.
Do it MS!
enzo_gt said:
As A non-racing game fan myself, there are several things that are wrong with the genre in my opinion:
Rubberbanding A.I - The major offender for me that has basically put me off racing games. It's was made to tackle annoying issue that all racing games have; How do you make it so the player can still feel like they're in a race once they're at the front of a pack? Unfortunately, Rubberbanding A.I creates more issues than it solves. What's the point in being good at racing games if the A.I can literally cheat to catch up? It becomes a game of figuring out how the A.I works and putting yourself at the sweet spot so you can boost through the entire pack at the end of the race. It also makes any progression in cars worthless since it doesn't matter if your have a supercharged Lamborghini when the A.I can pass you in a Honda Civic.
Overuse of Licensed Cars leading to lack of identity - This is probably more of a personal thing for me, and it does not apply to games such as Forza and Gran Turismo where it is a huge part of the game, but a lot of even arcade styled racing games nowadays include licensed cars which, frankly, I have no clue about. I generally tend to prefer games with their own created cars with made up stats, as it gives games more of an identity when someone has had to design cars from scratch, and it also stops every game from feeling the same because they all draw from the same pools of cars. Generally, I feel like licensed cars should be kept to sim racers.
Repetition - Another issue I've always had with racing games is the sheer amount of repetition that is present in them. It seems that there's always too many tournaments and races for the amount of content that is actually in the games
With both of the last racing games I bought (Blur and Split/Second) I was ready to be done with them by the time I had reached the 8 hours mark, but Split/Second went on for another 7 or so, and Blur... well, I just gave up on it in the end.
Characters - I don't know who thought it would be a good idea, but having characters and a plot to racing games is just an abhorrently shitty idea. It doesn't really help that they're usually annoying as fuck and do nothing to actually add to your enjoyment of the game. This was probably one of the main reasons why I disliked Blur.
These are just a few of the hurdles racing game devs have to get over if they want the genre to become relevant again.
More on-topic about Bizarre, though - Fuck Activision. At least i did my part though, having bought PGR3 twice, The Club twice, Geometry Wars 1 & 2, and Blur. Hopefully the guys at Bizarre will reform somehow and continue to make great racing games (and hopefully avoid third person shooters).
Bizarre always nailed the trailers. I still get goosebumps when watching the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei2oeTlFhoQ]PGR4 trailer. I also got a similar buzz when Galaxy Bounce (by Chemical Brothers) kicked in on the menu of the very first PGR.enzo_gt said:
Praying for a Ruffian-style rebirth...
PS. I still have my PGR3 launch faceplate on my 360. Looks boss
Difficult to understand, but they were pretty much fucked in the same minute Kottick decided that paying Berine a 15 million $ per year is a no-go.
I still remember discussion with Bizzare guys at their forums in 2008. when I speculated that Activision grabbed them in order to secure a studio with F1 expertise for FOA licence that was in the wild after Sony's bailout.
Imagine their F1 game on current hadrware.
I wish them all the best, they're my favorite racing-developer after Polyophony in last 11 years.
I still remember discussion with Bizzare guys at their forums in 2008. when I speculated that Activision grabbed them in order to secure a studio with F1 expertise for FOA licence that was in the wild after Sony's bailout.
Imagine their F1 game on current hadrware.
I wish them all the best, they're my favorite racing-developer after Polyophony in last 11 years.
Katana_Strikes
Member
Really sad to hear but totally expected. There's a lot of games from Activision that just aren't getting marketed and just pushed out the door and sent to die. Unless it's called CoD. Loved most of Bizarre's racers. From the fantastically ambitious MSR on the DC to the spiritual successor PGR (awful name). Blur was crap though.
TBH I can't really see a future for them, anywhere sadly. The PGR series never ever set the charts a light (maybe down to MS though) and with the likes of GT, NFS and Burnout, the market isn't void of a good racer.
TBH I can't really see a future for them, anywhere sadly. The PGR series never ever set the charts a light (maybe down to MS though) and with the likes of GT, NFS and Burnout, the market isn't void of a good racer.
I'm surprised you would continue with Split/Second for so much longer than Blur. S/S made a great first impression, but you literally see everything the game has to offer within an hour or two.
Blur kept things fresh for quite a bit longer and included killer multiplayer support (and I'm not usually a big multiplayer fan).
Blur was definitely more repetitive than the PGR series, however. PGR was great in that they provided so many different types of events across such a wide variety of locales. It always felt as if you were doing something different.
Don't think this is old.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/36404/Bizarre-mood-lifts-with-several-keen-to-buy
miladesn said:
If they've already laid off 200 people what's the point of buying the studio from Activision? Obviously MS has money but everytime a studio gets closed it's like "ohohoh MS buydembuydembuydem", if MS wanted to keep them working on PGR they could have, and they could have bought them long ago.
sinnergy said:
200 people aren't all programmers, it's a full studio and you're asking them to just work on tech? Obviously MS has abandoned the PGR series, Turn 10 has their own programmers, do you fire those people or do you add 200 extra people on the payroll for the same game?
Steverulez
Member
I wouldn't entirely be surprised if Microsofts interest just related to getting some people out of Bizarre to do Geo Wars 3 and take the franchise. The staff will get let go if no-one takes them so from that point of view they could just wait for that. Im not sure many companies would want to take on 200 new people like that.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
StealthGoblin
Banned
It makes sense, but after their previous experiences with Microsoft, I bet they are thinking hard about it. When they signed for Activision there were some bitter words spoken.
mattiewheels said:
The only things I didn't like about 4 were some of the camera positions in the cockpits (either too high or too low), and bikes. Yes, bikes! They're cool, but I couldn't control them. Also, the garages weren't as good as 3.
Graphically it's still the best looking racing game out there. Amazing being able to jump into photomode, then exploring the city.
Anyway, totally forgot that Bizarre made Boom Boom Rocket. Had a lot of fun with that game.
REMEMBER CITADEL
Banned
GarthVaderUK
Banned
Great to hear there are companies interested in buying Bizarre, let's hope a deal can be made!
Bizarre must be really cheap right now
http://www.develop-online.net/news/36396/Rumour-200-jobs-go-as-Activision-axes-Bizarre
those additional $40m is obviously not happening, so Acti payed $67.4m 3 years ago, in it's current state that they are deciding whether to close or sell the studio, I don't think they would ask much for it, Acti probably want to salvage whatever they can, on other hand I don't think any company is willing to have all 200 employees, that's too many, if anybody buys them there will be lay offs.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/36396/Rumour-200-jobs-go-as-Activision-axes-Bizarre
those additional $40m is obviously not happening, so Acti payed $67.4m 3 years ago, in it's current state that they are deciding whether to close or sell the studio, I don't think they would ask much for it, Acti probably want to salvage whatever they can, on other hand I don't think any company is willing to have all 200 employees, that's too many, if anybody buys them there will be lay offs.
miladesn said:
Unless the geometry wars IP comes with it, in which case MS would probably be the only interested party (but then you don't need to hire 200people to make a geometry wars game), I wonder who's going to bite, there's no real point in just buying the payroll of 200 people who are mostly good at making arcade racing games, not many publisher needs an arcade racing studio like Bizarre, even MS already has Turn10 and it's better for Turn10 to diversify their portfolio, probably cheaper too.
I knew Bizarre got shafted but $67 million? Damn, Activision is fucking cheap. maybe they closed them down so they didn't have to fork over the additional $40 million. They're probably going to sell Bizarre at a profit too. Activision: "Yo Bobby get Ed Fries on the phone Bizarre is for sale now for the special price of $375 million."miladesn said:
And no, MS wouldn't buy, Ken Lobb isn't part of the deal this time.