If anyone still gives a heck

slightly interesting article here:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/tribesvengeance/news.html?sid=6142322

Irreverent head of recently purchased developer sounds off on the deal, BioShock, VUG, and the future.
Ken Levine has been around the proverbial game-development block. After trying his hand as a playwright and screenwriter, he got involved in the game industry in the mid-1990s. He penned the story and created the game design that went into Looking Glass Studios' groundbreaking Thief: The Dark Project, a game that helped pave the way for today's popular stealth action genre.

Shortly before Thief's release, Levine cofounded Irrational Games in Boston. Although one of its highest-profile projects--the PS2 actioner The Lost--was canceled, the indie studio produced a string of innovative projects. In 1999, Electronic Arts published its acclaimed sci-fi actioner System Shock 2 for the PC. Three years later, Crave published Irrational's next title, Freedom Force, for the PC. The game won sparkling reviews for its take on the World War II-era comics and its innovative blend of action and role-playing. However, Crave and Irrational's relationship crumbled, leading the game's sequel, Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich, to be published by VU Games.

VU went on to publish two other Irrational games. After scrapping the internally developed SWAT: Urban Justice, the publisher hired the indie studio for its replacement, the popular and critical hit SWAT 4. (Irrational is currently working on an expansion.) Unfortunately, when Irrational took over another VU franchise, the results were not nearly as successful. Despite widespread acclaim, Tribes: Vengeance sold poorly when it was released in late 2004--so poorly, that VU ceased online support of the online shooter within a few months.

By that time, Irrational had already begun its next project--BioShock, an innovative sci-fi shooter that it billed as a "spiritual sequel" to System Shock 2. When the game's existence was first revealed in late 2004, no publisher was publicly attached to the project. But it didn't take long for one of the industry's big guns, Take-Two Interactive, to get involved, partnering secretly with Irrational to develop BioShock for PCs and next-generation consoles. The cat was finally let out of the bag earlier this week, when Take-Two announced that not only was it publishing BioShock, but it was also buying Irrational outright.

So, after nearly 10 years of independence, how will Irrational cope with being a wholly owned subsidiary of one of gaming's most famous--and infamous--megapublishers? How far along is development of BioShock? And is the game the only project Irrational is working on? GameSpot asked the outspoken Levine for answers--and got responses of both the enlightening and amusing variety.

GameSpot: When did this deal first start to take shape? Did Take-Two approach you guys or vice versa?

Ken Levine: We had been approached by a bunch of people about an acquisition, but we were already working with Take-Two on BioShock, so there was already a high degree of trust there.

GS: Did Irrational's falling out with VU Games over Tribes: Vengeance have any effect on the deal?

KL: This falling out with VUG is some kind of Jedi mind trick, man. We just finished an expansion pack for them, and it went as smooth as cream cheese. With Tribes, we did a patch, and for whatever reason they decided not to release it.

GS: Will the deal cover any of Irrational's back catalog of games, like SWAT 4 and Tribes: Vengeance, as Take-Two's purchase of Civilization publisher Firaxis did?

KL: Take-Two has acquired our intellectual property, which includes Freedom Force and a couple of other things.

GS: Was the deal cash, stock, or both? What was the amount?

KL: I don't, as a rule, kiss and tell.

GS: How will the deal affect Irrational's operations? Will there be any layoffs?

KL: Quite the opposite. Since the acquisition, the team size on BioShock has nearly doubled.

GS: What about Irrational management--will it remain in place?

KL: I hope so, as I'm fond of money and health care. The truth is, the kind of layoffs you're talking about happen when large companies acquire other large companies and they get rid of duplicate marketing, accounting, and other functions. At a small developer, they're hiring the development talent.

GS: Will the Irrational brand remain intact or will it be renamed? Will future games carry the Irrational brand?

KL: I think the brand was one of the things they were interested in. Somebody said it recently: Irrational's games never suck. I like that for a brand identity.

GS: Which next-gen consoles is BioShock in development for?

KL: We haven't revealed platforms at this time other than to say it's coming for next-generation consoles and PC.

GS: How far along is BioShock in development?

KL: I'd say we're somewhere in the middle. There are people far smarter and more detail-oriented than I am who manage the schedule. I just go to meetings, come up with ideas to annoy Paul Hellquist, the lead designer, and write the story.

GS: Was BioShock the primary reason behind the Irrational acquisition?

KL: No, I'd have to go with my awesome pectoral muscles.

GS: Is Irrational working on any other games at the moment? If so, what are they, and which platforms are they for?

KL: We have another title in development at our studio in Australia, but we're not talking about it at this time.

GS: Once all the next-generation consoles are on the market, will Irrational's focus remain on the PC?

KL: Irrational is a game developer, and I'm a game player. I'm pretty platform agnostic myself, and the company shares that point of view.

Heres annother bit of stuff for anyone who still cares. I really didn't think it deserved it's own thread, and it's probably already ofn but then again it's Tribes Talk so I'm not even going to bother to search:

http://www.threedy.com/site/forum/showthread.php?p=418277

Interesting read there FS

And my god that assassin model looks sexy.

I am just glad that the industry recognizes that IGA got shafted, and T:V was an excellent game.

Irrational's games never suck.

I am just glad that the industry recognizes that IGA got shafted, and T:V was an excellent game.

You're insane.

not really. T:V got mostly great reviews from the industry.

I hope IG burns in hell

whatever

not really. T:V got mostly great reviews from the industry.

Maybe you should question the state of the industry then? Excluding those who were at benefit from pre-release hype, who besides them gave T:V great reviews?

The people still playing it, perhaps? All 12 of them? :ROFL:

I second the "T:V is a great game" notion, with complete honesty and seriousness.

Don't worry about flaming me. I've heard it all already.

I give a heck.I think his patch is bullshit. I think his game sucks. IG can burn. good article.

stfu, IG is one of the better companies out there, despite what you think, T:V is a reasonably exceptional game, one of the deepest MP games out there currently...no anything compared to the depth of play in the previous 2 but there is alot more depth there than in UT or CS:S. and you cant say all IG's games suck...did you even play system shock, or any other IG games besides TV?

lol you guys are all clowns.

stfu, IG is one of the better companies out there, despite what you think, T:V is a reasonably exceptional game, one of the deepest MP games out there currently...no anything compared to the depth of play in the previous 2 but there is alot more depth there than in UT or CS:S. and you cant say all IG's games suck...did you even play system shock, or any other IG games besides TV?

Firstly you shouldn't confuse IG, with IG(A). And furthermore, you shouldn't confuse IG-anything, with Looking Glass Studios. LGS was the developer behind System Shock, not IG, or IG(A).

Fanboy's, like yourself, can try and argue otherwise, but the facts are there. LGS wasn't / isn't Irrational Games, and Irrational Games(Boston) certainly isn't Irrational Games(Austrailia). Though some made the move from LGS to Irrational Games, they're still not the same entity.

And, as if IG(A)'s lack of experience with First Person Shooters wasn't enough, keep in mind their only prior title was Freedom Force, a shit-tacular RTS, their T:V design / development team consisted of only, if I remember correctly, 3 people that had even "heard of" or "played" Tribes prior to T:V's development cycle.

Makes sense, doesn't it? You start with the Unreal Engine. You throw in a few shitty modders(that didn't understand replication I might add), throw in a few shitty ass coders that couldn't code their way out of a "hello world" competition, throw in a bunch of morons that have no clue what Tribes is, or was about, throw in a few execs that want a shitty, dumbed down piece of shit game that they hope will sell(as we see though, it didnt)...and there you have T:V!

Hell, goto www.irrationalgames.com right now. Tell me where you see a link to Tribes Vengeance. You won't see it on Irrationals page, however you might find links to Freedom Force and SystemShock....go figure.

I see a link to T:V in the top right corner.

i am not nor ever have been a "fanboy" of IG. i have played it and enjoy it, and from my experiance, IG has put out good games pretty consistently. if i happened to be a "fanboy" of IG i would have already know everything you just posted...i dont because i dont care. I see IG's logo on a box, i assume they made it, not the same dev team obviously, but within the same company. i dont really care if its one of the several entities the company exists as.

I see a link to T:V in the top right corner.


hahahah, holy hell, hes right!

Sorry, guess I was looking for Tribes. Not some mech-like looking piece of shit they consider 'Tribes' armor.

Good catch, though!

heck? are bad words still censored?