Company News Interplay earnings report in and Herve gets dumber

[StraitLacedDeviant]

The problem is that the prospect of him getting funding for this isn't all that impossible. MMORPGS are saturated for a reason, the executives think they are going to be the next big thing, even if hard numbers support the opposite conclusion.

They all believe that their project is the one thats going to crack the market, and if some sly marketing exec shows the rabid hardcore fanbase of fallout fans to a CEO without exposing him to the , "i will kill your children if you make a mmo out of fallout" factor it might happen. Stranger things have.

Iif he does succeed in getting it pushed through production it won't see the shelf and he'll end up so far in the deep dark pit of debt he'll never see daylight.

 

[Rosh]

Someone's already working on it...

Or rather, they're trying to cash in on the name of FOOL. They're even thinking that it's positive reinforcement for them to do so.

Check this out.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

The problem is that the prospect of him getting funding for this isn't all that impossible. MMORPGS are saturated for a reason, the executives think they are going to be the next big thing, even if hard numbers support the opposite conclusion.

That used to be the case, but look at all the MMORPGs that have failed so far, especially The Sims Online. There's a lot of developers, publishers, and investors that have lost a huge amount of money on these things. That's the problem with MMORPGs, they cost a fortune to make and maintain, and if they don't pan out, you're screwed. The more competition there is, the more likely it is that your title won't pan out.

 

[Nemo saltat sobrius]

I think that Herb is purposly trying to sink interply in order to liquidate it for more money. Interplay was already having problems keeping afloat when Titus bought them out. The reason he bought all those share in Sept. (i think sept.) is because if someone were to buy the company out he would get more money. I just cannot think that someone would be so stupid accidentally drive a company to ruins

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I think that Herb is purposly trying to sink interply in order to liquidate it for more money. Interplay was already having problems keeping afloat when Titus bought them out. The reason he bought all those share in Sept. (i think sept.) is because if someone were to buy the company out he would get more money. I just cannot think that someone would be so stupid accidentally drive a company to ruins

You'd probably be wrong. Herve and his brother Eric have already ruined Titus and Virgin Interactive. Interplay is now pretty much ruined as well. I doubt he's ruining them on purpose, it's more that the guy has no business sense at all.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

Where the hell did his money come from in the first place when he has business sense like this.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

The french government.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

If I pretend to be french will their government give me millions to waste buying out previously successful companies and driving them into the ground?

 

[Briosafreak]

Not the french governement, french banks.The same banks that stoped giving him money in 2002, wich lead him to start the sale of IPs and cancelations to look good on the books strategy that has been his doom, and cut him off entirely in summer 2003, while retaining the majority of shares on Titus, waiting for the liquidation. He really only has full control over Iplay, wich is probably the reason he didn`t sold it when he could, either at a good price or a reasonable one. Oh the other reason he didn`t sell is his lack of any good sense and business inteligence.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I wonder how he actually got into the Game industry and what he did before this.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Titus the Fox was his claim to fame, and it was a very good platformer in its own regard. It brought him money, and with money, came the idiocy. It would have been nice if Herve and Eric stuck to what they were good at (e.g. making interactive platformers with good audio and visuals) instead trying to run a publishing company.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I wonder how much cash he has left. I'd love to see his bank records.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Not the french governement, french banks.

The French government was giving Titus money back when Titus was developing titles in France. French banks were also giving Titus loans to do things as well.

Just for kicks, though.. Titus(the company) bought up 31% of Interplay at $3.40/share. That's about $100,000,000 in stock purchase. They bought up 17% of Interplay stock at $1.4/share for $23.3 million. Just in those two deals alone, given the value of Interplay stock today, Titus lost $125M on buying up control of Interplay. They also bought up another 25% of Interplay later, but I'm not sure what the stock price was at that time.

Titus the Fox was his claim to fame, and it was a very good platformer in its own regard.

Titus was a company long before Titus the Fox was developed. I remember buying an Arkanoid clone for the Amiga that Titus released back in the late 1980s. The best part is, on the third stage, the collision detection for the paddle didn't work, so the ball *always* passed through it. So, Titus really has never been a good company. After that incident, I never bought another Titus game. In fact, I was shocked when they started buying up Interplay, because I couldn't imagine them staying in business that long if they made an Arkanoid clone that didn't even work.

 

[Rosh]

Flashback Gaoling from the 80's!

"So, Herve, have all of your games been spoectacular turds?"

"Of course! All of our games are fine examples of our craftma-...hey! That was a trick question!"