Microsoft buys bioware

[Drakron]

Yes but its easier to wait for the collapse and get the licenses you want that buyout the company and then break it apart.

If you are thinking about EA and Ubisoft you sould remenber that Ubisoft have the Tom Clancy's titles and Prince of Persia but the real price for EA was Ubisoft Montreal that is right next to EA own Canada division studios.

Your logic for someone WITHOUT a publishing, distibution network or even development ability was to get the Tomb Raider licenses? the Hitman licenses? Thief license?

Eidos damaged those licenses, their real and only value was their distibution network ... something that Elevation does not have, if my argument is flawed then YOUR argument over Eidos IP is even MORE flawed because Elevation on itself had NO WAY to either publish OR develop games based on Edios IP.

 

[gromit]

Let's not even get into the Anachronox license. *sob*

 

[DemonKing]

Well it's all very well talking about maintaining independence and so on, but if you're getting an extra $300million in funding, your independence must be suffering somewhere along the line.

Actually I'm surprised the Bioware owners hadn't sold out previously - I'm sure they must have had offers...and it must be tempting for small companies made good to take the big dollars and run (Much as Peter Anderson did when he sold off WOTC to Hasbro - which really peeved me off).

Oh well, I guess we can now look forward to such titles as:

Bono's Gate 3

Jade Edge

Nights of the 80s Revival

 

[Twinfalls]

I submit that from today, this site always refer to Bioware as 'Bonoware'.

 

[Kuato]

300 million dollar deal!!!!- screw making games I bet someones getting a huge cut and running as far away from this colossal blunder as they can

 

[DemonKing]

I submit that from today, this site always refer to Bioware as 'Bonoware'.

Shouldn't that be "Bonowhore"?

And when Bio annouce their next console project we can all join hands and sing: "You still haven't made, what we're looking for...".

 

[Twinfalls]

DK

Staff to make a special effort to fit in with management:

 

[errorcode]

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1515&Itemid=2

An interview with Zuschek of Bioware and Goldman of Pandemic...check it out

 

[kingcomrade]

Actually I'm surprised the Bioware owners hadn't sold out previously - I'm sure they must have had offers...and it must be tempting for small companies made good to take the big dollars and run (Much as Peter Anderson did when he sold off WOTC to Hasbro - which really peeved me off).

That one jackass from id software. Forget his name. I would certainly take a chunk of money and go retire somewhere and just spend time playing games and sleeping with my gf/wife than watch my company tank underneath me.

 

[Drakron]

Are you suprised ... I mean GameFAQs were sold for what? 2.5 million?

A lot of dotcoms really lack any legs to stand, the whole market was INSANE back then and then come the crash.

 

[Section8]

Bonoware

So simple, and yet so effective.

I'm just makin' sure it tastes good for the starvin' children.

 

[MarFish]

It seems like they are working on Jade Empire 2, or something like that...

Ray Muzyka - Well, we have five teams currently at the Edmonton office of BioWare, and three of them are developing our new IP projects – BioWare’s new intellectual properties are Jade Empire (epic martial arts roleplaying), Mass Effect (a science fiction setting, as Greg describes above), and Dragon Age (high fantasy, in the spirit of Baldur’s Gate). Another team (our Technology Architecture Group) is working hard on the BioWare Eclipse Engine, and our fifth team is working on community and Live projects, plus a variety of externally developed projects. We’re always expanding though, so we have some neat new things also in development and a couple of surprises in the works, which we’ll announce soon

http://www.gamecloud.com/article.php?article_id=2189

 

[Greatatlantic]

...Your logic for someone WITHOUT a publishing, distibution network or even development ability was to get the Tomb Raider licenses? the Hitman licenses? Thief license?...if my argument is flawed then YOUR argument over Eidos IP is even MORE flawed because Elevation on itself had NO WAY to either publish OR develop games based on Edios IP.

Wait a second here, you said Elevation CLEARLY had no puslbishing capacities, or they would not try to buy a publisher. Now you say EA, one of the largest publishers in the industry wanted to buy another publisher for its publishing facilities? You are being really silly now. I pointed out one situation where some one with developed publishing facilites could gain by buying another publisher(EA and Interplay), i.e. intellectual properties. It wasn't really an argument but a counterexample. I have no idea what sort of capacities Elevation has, but boxes can be subcontracted pretty easy, and how expensive is a mass CD burner? A lot cheaper than Bioware, let me assure you. Buying an established publisher on the cheap due to financial hardship with intention to turn around is one way to enter the industry, but hardly the only one.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Bono is such a fucking belter.

Bono: "Let's help the starving children of the world! My band has the world's biggest TV screen. I'm on the board of a venture capital corporation. I have about 6,000 pairs of stupid fucking glasses. Actually, how about someone else help those starving kids. I'm too busy wallowing in my own decadence."

Well, all celebrities are like that. Look no farther than Cher coming out a few months ago after that hurricane hit New Orleans preaching that "you people" need to be less concerned with getting the latest iPods and more concerned with helping "those people". Meanwhile, she has a twenty something million dollar house in Malibu.

Sean Penn getting out in that flatboat to help people in New Orleans was funny as well, considering he filled up the boat with bodyguards and photographers.

 

[Shagnak]

Sean Penn getting out in that flatboat to help people in New Orleans was funny as well, considering he filled up the boat with bodyguards and photographers.

And didn't it sink or almost capsize or something?

 

[Rat Keeng]

Well, at least there's rational celebrities like Celine Dion, who remain calm in times of crisis, and don't go completely apeshit on Larry King.

 

[Drakron]

Wait a second here, you said Elevation CLEARLY had no puslbishing capacities, or they would not try to buy a publisher. Now you say EA, one of the largest publishers in the industry wanted to buy another publisher for its publishing facilities?
...

I never said that, I pointed out what EA was looking for in the event they tried to get UbiSoft.

EA did get a good precentage of UbiSoft stock, they even panicked and tried solutions to prevent a takeover (one was a merger with Atari) so the takeover appeared to been very real for UbiSoft.

And in case you are wondering, it takes a hell more that 300 million to start a publisher company because its not getting a "CD copier and a warehouse"...it needs a network to work with the retailers, making deals with other publishers, provide tech support for the games they publish, etc ...

Look at how mush was LucasArts involved with SW:KotOR ... music and voice talent was provided by then.

Sould I go over advertisement?

 

[Greatatlantic]

Elevation tried a unsucessful bid over Eidos some time ago (they were outbid by someone else), its clear they completly lack publishing abilities or they would not try to control a publisher.

There is your original quote, interpret it however you want. I still say one can enter the publishing business for well under 300 million, its just a matter of how big they want to be when they first enter. It would be highly unusual for a company to do a DHL and come out of no where and be international. Most start servicing a small portion of the industry and simply expand.

 

[kingcomrade]

Sean Penn getting out in that flatboat to help people in New Orleans was funny as well, considering he filled up the boat with bodyguards and photographers.

And didn't it sink or almost capsize or something?

Yeah there was a leak and he was bailing it out with this giant red plastic cup. Moron. Hey, I'm gonna go save peoples!! Media come watch! I'm so fucking brave! He could've helped a lot more just by donating to the red cross, but no, he had to come pretend he was something besides a retarded dipshit.

 

[HardCode]

Sean Penn should have gotten a cattle prod stuck up his ass by Uday Hussein, before he got gunned down by the Marines.

 

[Twinfalls]

Hahaha! Elevation is now rumoured to buy out Lionhead as well. Looks like Fable's original title "Project Ego" was prophetic:

http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=595

All hail Bonohead-Bonoware-Bonodemic!

 

[MarFish]

Hahaha! Elevation is now rumoured to buy out Lionhead as well. Looks like Fable's original title "Project Ego" was prophetic:

http://www.mcvuk.com/newsitem.php?id=595

All hail Bonohead-Bonoware-Bonodemic!

This is fishy

The BioWare / Pandemic merger was announced after it was done, this one is announced before. The only reason why you leak things like this to the press is to try to get a bidding war started and make yourself seem more interesting.

So this is either

a) a blunt attempt by LionHead to get Elevation to look at them
b) a blunt attempt by LionHead to make other buyers look at them by pretending Eleveation is interested in them.

 

[Twinfalls]

Ah, so what you're saying Marfish is that

There's been a lot of talk - maybe, maybe too much talk....