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Armature Studio working with Capcom

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
StuBurns said:
I didn't know it was that many people, wow.
They didn't all leave after this event as a note, only about half if I remember my resume and mobygame reading correctly.

Quite a few left directly after Prime 1, and 2-3 senior staffers stayed until after Donkey Kong.

This incident was most notable for senior staff leaving though.
 

wrowa

Member
Even before Nintendo bought Retro, people came and went constantly. That's pretty much the defining characteristic of Retro :lol When Retro was founded they had in mind to only hire the most talented people of the industry. But those people are the ones who like to work at different places and on different projects the most.

I can't say that Retro was ever hit badly by that. None of their games were as good as Metroid Prime, but they never designed a single game that wasn't great.

Well, apart of the Sheik game maybe. I always thought the Sheik game was supposed to be DMC-like. First person sounds pretty shitty.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Boney said:
The Sheik game being first person just feels so wrong.
It was probably a pretty natural evolution from their perspective.

They would still be making a first person game with a female lead, but now you would be exploring a more open fantasy world to utilize the Wii's extra RAM.

Also, they could both have pointer controls for ranged weapon and motion control for melee, which would fit very well with the strengths of the Wiimote.

I can see why Nintendo would be opposed to this though, since it's not exactly the most standard Zelda spin-off.
 
Over four years after the Retro exodus and multiple false starts and cancellations later, Armature's first released game* will be the Vita version of the MGS HD Collection.

Hardly as ignominious as, say, kiddie licensed shovelware would be, but to go from a multi-game deal with one of the largest publishers in the industry to co-developing a port of a port with a more established port studio (Bluepoint) is kinda sad. Hopefully, this isn't the only project they have lined up.

*That they're actually credited for, anyway - they weren't for Halo: CEA, were they?
 
Over four years after the Retro exodus and multiple false starts and cancellations later, Armature's first released game will be the Vita version of the MGS HD Collection.

Hardly as ignominious as, say, kiddie licensed shovelware would be, but to go from a multi-game deal with one of the largest publishers in the industry to developing a port of a port is kinda sad. Hopefully, this isn't the only project they have lined up.

As long as they're enjoying their creative freedom, right?
 

Gummb

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about Rayman Legends Wii U.
creative freedom indeed. That is all very interesting though.
 

D_prOdigy

Member
Picking up the paycheck, I guess.

It is a bit sad, though. I wonder if they really thought this sort of work was preferable to staying the course at Retro.
 
Picking up the paycheck, I guess.

It is a bit sad, though. I wonder if they really thought this sort of work was preferable to staying the course at Retro.

It's the complete opposite of the work they had intended to do with EA, that's for sure.

However, I'm curious whether their failure to get original projects greenlit post-EA results from simple bad luck or something else (mismanagement, Keller having a dubious reputation, etc.).
 
If you guys are really having a go at them because of how things have turned out, thats pretty damn lame. Seriously.

Yeah, if what ShockingAlberto posted in this thread last year is accurate, the Armature founders certainly had legitimate reasons for wanting to leave.

Had they known that their EA deal would fall through and that they'd end up having to take up ports and uncredited contract work to stay afloat, Keller et al. might well have decided to just suck it up, but you can't fault them for not having a working crystal ball in '08.
 

Celine

Member
So, it's just Q-Games that's avoided the curse, isn't it?
Rebranded DMA and Angel Studios did quite well years after the N64.

If you guys are really having a go at them because of how things have turned out, thats pretty damn lame. Seriously.
Life is pretty damn lame sometimes. Seriously.

Not that I'm angry at them for what they did, they had good motivations to do so.
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
So, it's just Q-Games that's avoided the curse, isn't it?

Almost half of Q-Games projects are still first-party contracted for Nintendo. So i don't think they count.

But yeah. DMA and Angel Studios being picked up by Rockstar both avoided the curse.
 
Game making is confusing since it requires both a vivid imagination and freedom like in the entertainment sector and the bland routine of any regular industry.
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
this almost writes itself :

It's obvious that it wouldn't be a Capcom project, they went on record to say that "we do not work with armatures"
 

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
They're just building a budget for whatever they want to do, can't really get creativity going from nothing
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
They're just building a budget for whatever they want to do, can't really get creativity going from nothing

if people only played Game Dev Story they'd know this! ;)
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
They're just building a budget for whatever they want to do, can't really get creativity going from nothing

It seems to be a PSN game.

Linkedin said:
Summary

Various Arcade titles
World Driver Championshop--N64
Metroid Prime--Gamecube
Metroid Hunters--DS
Metroid Prime 2--Gamecube
Metroid Prime 3--Wii
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
Playstation Vita Unannounced Project <- MGS Collection
PSN Unannounced Project
Source: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/vie...*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&trk=pbmap
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
Making ONE game on a Nintendo console constitutes "working with them?"

for accuracy sake it was two i think (SSSV and BH)

but i feel more offended that DMA's rich history (including FUCKING LEMMINGS FOR FUCK SAKE) seems to be a footnote to "worked with nintendo"
 

Ridley327

Member
Almost half of Q-Games projects are still first-party contracted for Nintendo. So i don't think they count.

But yeah. DMA and Angel Studios being picked up by Rockstar both avoided the curse.

RockStar North (Grand Theft Auto) and RockStar San Diego (Red Dead Redemption, Midnight Club).

Is it really the same thing? DMA had Lemmings before signing with Nintendo's "Dream Team" (granted, they did lose Lemmings to Sony, but it was still a massive hit) and GTA was in the works while Body Harvest was being developed, and Angel Studios was already doing successful games outside of Nintendo like Midtown Madness and Smuggler's Run before they were purchased.

Perhaps it could be said that two surefire ways to avoid the curse are to either A) have your game dropped by Nintendo over violence issues or B) work on lots of racing games.
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
Making ONE game on a Nintendo console constitutes "working with them?"

DMA was making games long before making Body Harvest, and made tons more after.

UniRacers and Body Harvest. Although Nintendo and DMA had a fallout during Body Harvest and Midway took over the publishing.

Is it really the same thing? DMA had Lemmings before signing with Nintendo's "Dream Team" (granted, they did lose Lemmings to Sony, but it was still a massive hit) and GTA was in the works while Body Harvest was being developed, and Angel Studios was already doing successful games outside of Nintendo like Midtown Madness and Smuggler's Run before they were purchased.

Perhaps it could be said that two surefire ways to avoid the curse are to either A) have your game dropped by Nintendo over violence issues or B) work on lots of racing games.

I don't know. This is just forum urban legend. The best answer might be that in general many developers have suffered transitioning from the 16 bit / early 3D days to the business model of today.
 

DCharlie

And even i am moderately surprised
and now i'm offended that so called Nintendo fans have forgotten about Space Station Silicon Valley

though i forgot about UniRacers ;)
 

Ridley327

Member
I don't know. This is just forum urban legend. The best answer might be that in general many developers have suffered transitioning from the 16 bit / early 3D days to the business model of today.

It could have been early enough. After all, Cuthbert did survive Blasto before forming Q-Games.
 

Celine

Member
Making ONE game on a Nintendo console constitutes "working with them?"

DMA was making games long before making Body Harvest, and made tons more after.
Nah but having Nintendo funding your projects and every 3 months Nintendo management come to witness the progress (even Miyamoto) is.
 
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